Yes, technology needs electricity to work. Tech Support |
- Yes, technology needs electricity to work.
- A Near-Death Experience
- Just remote in!
- Domain Joined PC's
- CLIR or how I learned to stop worrying and just post to reddit
- The dreaded knowledgebase...
- The humble restart
- Netnotworking Sidestory: Cables. Lots of cables.
| Yes, technology needs electricity to work. Posted: 29 Aug 2018 07:00 AM PDT Hi TFTS, First-time poster here, hope that I'm not breaking any rules. Many years ago, before I became a cynical smarty-pants, My first big job in IT industry was doing warranty support for one of the big computer manufacturers. The one that you ordered direct from. In any case, I got through training, and first week on the phones, I get my first introduction to the angry side of things...
... ... ... (Blink)
(Facepalm)
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| Posted: 29 Aug 2018 08:35 PM PDT Hi! Been a while since I posted. I have been replacing a bunch of old $Hell $Perspireon desktops to brand stinking new $IQ $ProfessionalFurniture small form factor desktops. Quite beastly, no spinning storage, it's basically a laptop but in a desktop format. Now you can imagine, a PC not moved for a few years is bound to be a dusty, maybe a few cobwebs. But, let me share with you what I found. I was sent to bring the old $Hell computers from the main to the satellite office and replace the older than dirt AIOs that were in the satellite office. However, front desk gets a brand spanking new $ProfessionalFurniture lap-desktop. As I'm unplugging the old one, I notice that the power strip is covered with spider/cob webs (maintenance apparently has been slacking) and proceed with no difference. Then I see... it. It was a BLACK WIDOW (link included for those fortunate to have never seen them), and It was about 2 inches from my hand, and VERY angry that I just destroyed it's house. I, while nearly simultaneously sh*tting myself, scream and pull my hand back as fast as I could, grab the nearest cardboard box, and start smashing all around and on the power strip. However, I don't see any splatters on the box. That means that death machine is around. (If you're confused on why I am so scared, the only cure for a black widow bite is to sit in pain and agony for 24 straight hours while being injected adrenaline to keep your heart pumping, and if you go out, you're out for good.) I finish the install using a piece of foam from the monitor box so I don't reach my hand near that power strip, and do it in record time. The cabling looks like my underwear at the time, but it all works (thank God) and I start to configure the computer. I tell the person (old clueless lady who has a track record for not listening to IT or management) who works at that desk this whole situation, they say "oh okay" and sit right down and start working, despite my many warnings to NOT do just that. Well, if they won't listen, they can die. They're still alive, but that is WAY too close for comfort for me. When I asked about what she would do if she sees the spider, she says she will grab the hand sanitizer bottle and spray it on the spider... yeah, good luck. That'll just make it clean. And more angry. I have another story that's currently unfolding with the same user and same computer. I'll report back once it's done! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2018 11:10 AM PDT Here's a thing that happened to me at work - another in my series of "internet super powers" I guess? TLDR at end $Me (guess who) $C (Client) one thing to note, I work for a large university. $Me : Thank you for calling $department This is $me, can I get your ID $C : My internet doesn't work! $me: ok.... what is your ID? $C: my internet is down. $me: I need an ID to start a ticket $C: **gives ID** ok so remote in and fix it $me: *confused* Remote in? $C: Yes, like you always do, use $(Program we use to remote in) to remote in and fix the internet! I have no Internet!! **pause to make sure not someone playing a joke on me** $me : I... can't remote in as you a $C: **cuts me of** then what good are you?! *hangs up* Well, that's fun. **2 mintues later** $me : Hi this is $me with $department, how can I help $C: My internet doesn't work, and I want you to fix it! $me: as I was trying to tell you before, if you are not connected to the internet, i can't remote in... we do that over the internet... $C: Why would you need the internet to remote in? You IT GUYS ARE SO DUMB, I NEED THE INTERNET JUST REMOTE IN! $me: In order to remote in, you have to have the internet, the program establishes the connection over the internet, without it I can't see what you are seeing. I can try to help without remoting in though, First can you make sure that your wifi is on or that your Ethernet cord is plugged in? $C: ...*dejected/embarrassed sounding* bye. No more calls from the client so, cord error? TLDR; Did you know you don't have to have internet to have an IT guy remote in? We are magic! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2018 12:50 PM PDT Background: One of our clients had ordered new PC's to be setup to replace their existing PC's. All of the PC's were shipped to our building and were being configured locally before being setup on site. NOTE: All PCs had been domain joined via VPN before they were taken on site.... Except 1... Lvl 1 Tech: All of the PCs have been configured and are ready to be implemented at our client location, except for 1 PC. Lvl 3 Tech: What is left to do on the last PC? Lvl 1 Tech: Not sure we are unable to login to the PC. Someone probably fat fingered the password when setting it up so we have to create a recovery drive and reset the password. Lvl 3 Tech: Well just plug it in via Ethernet cable and sign in with the domain admin account. Lvl 1 Tech: I cant, the PC hasn't been domain joined yet and only has a local user account on it. Lvl 3 Tech: Well ill just take it with me when i go on site and when i connect it to their internet i can login via their domain admin account. Lvl 1 Tech: You cant login with a domain admin account if its not joined to the domain and we cant login locally. Lvl 3 Tech: Your not listening to me, that wont matter once its connected to their local internet on site Lvl 1 Tech: .......... Lvl 1 Tech: .......... Lvl 1 Tech: *continues to try and explain that what she is trying to do is impossible* Lvl 3 Tech: Dont worry about it. I will worry about it once its on site tomorrow Lvl 1 Tech: *looks at the other level one and shakes head* *laughs* Okay, let us know how it goes. **Tomorrow** Lvl 3 Tech: *On-site, Calling into support* I still cannot get into this pc and its plugged into the Ethernet, you guys didnt configure this properly! *FIN* Context: The level 3 tech is a 50-60 year old who has 2 grand kids. We have no idea how she even got a level 3 position but she did. Her knowledge of IT is about as much as my 12 year old sisters *NONE* Hope you guys enjoyed. [link] [comments]  |
| CLIR or how I learned to stop worrying and just post to reddit Posted: 29 Aug 2018 10:03 AM PDT Hello there! First time TFTS, be gentle! Today's story revolves around the wonderful shenanigans of plain telephony. I work for an internet/phone provider. Due to some construction work, 1st level techs, 2nd level techs & complaint management share a pretty big temporary office. Customer calls in an issue: there's a single phone number in Germany they can't reach, which is clearly our fault and we should fix it. Colleague creates a trouble ticket. I am the lucky one to get the assignment. We first check their line. Everything's working fine. We test the destination number from our end. Can reach the number without problems. We let the customer test several national and international numbers. All work fine. Only this single one number they can't reach. Since there's nothing out of the ordinary I consult with our voice expert. He double-checks all settings, looks perfectly fine, only difference to our own test line it the customer has CLIR (calling line identification restriction aka. hiding your phone number) active. So we enable the feature on our end and try again. Suddenly we can't reach the destination number. Disabling it for the customer line, informing them about it and asking them to make the call. Works like a charm. Apparently the destination number automatically rejects all calls with CLIR active. Alright. So I call the customer and inform them about that. Explain that there's nothing 'wrong' at our end, but the destination number automatically rejects calls that don't show the originating number and that if they want to reach the number have to turn CLIR off via a code on the phone. Took a time but they got it (or at least I felt like they've understood). Called the destination number and explained the same thing to them, in case they weren't aware that they had this feature active. Case close. Suddenly colleague XY reopens the ticket. Said customer wants us to fix the issue, as they want to call every number without sending their own. So I call the customer again and explain to them - again - that this is out of our power. It's not us that prevents them from reaching the destination number, it's the destination number's settings that automatically block calls with active CLIR. So far so good. Case closed. A while later colleague ZA taps me on the shoulder. ZA works in complaint management. Apparently said customer filed a complaint an hour later, since they "can't reach a certain number in Germany without sending their phone number" and is threatening to cancel her landline. Told ZA what was up again and that there's no solution to their problem (unless the destination number changes their policy). When ZA asked if I could call the customer back and explain it to them I respectfully decline though.... [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2018 05:36 AM PDT I once worked a contract job for a local government as a helpdesk employee. That contract lasted roughly one year. A couple of years later, the helpdesk at this local government was short handed and hiring for full time positions. Hiring new people happens at the speed of government, which meant that the helpdesk was short handed for almost six months by the time they hired me. There were TWO helpdesk techs supporting roughly 1200 users. I was "fast tracked" because I had worked well with this team and was already familiar with the policies and procedures. When I was hired, each of those techs had well over 100 old tickets in their queues and they were falling behind daily. It was assumed by those techs and by me that I would immediately start picking up tickets and helping them with their backlog. We were wrong. I was immediately assigned exclusively to the rollout of a new antivirus software, which took close to three months. The day I was released to work on tickets, I had over 100 tickets in my queue. With my help, we were able to clear out some of the backlog. I mostly handled OLD tickets and new emergencies, while letting the other two try to dig out their own queues. The CIO, in his infinite wisdom, hired *THREE* contractors to give us a hand... or so we thought... Those THREE contractors which would have been *SO* helpful to dig out the helpdesk backlog were instead hired to write a "knowledgebase" that was supposed to help us do our jobs. It took over a year to complete this "knowledgebase". These three contractors would hold meetings in the tech area, pester the techs about common problems, pester the programmers about their projects, and generally demand documentation on everything. So, not only did they not help the helpdesk close any tickets, they took an active role in slowing us down. When the knowlegebase was finally revealed, we learned that it was a software knowlegebase. Our CIO gave us glowing reports of how wonderful the knowledgebase was and suggested that we start using it immediately. A month or so passes with none of the techs using the knowledgebase and we have some new meetings again extolling the virtues of the knowledgebase and suggestions that we start using it. We were told to bring examples of how we used the knowledgebase to the next staff meeting. At the next staff meeting, again, none of us can show that we used the knowledgebase at all. This initiates a furious dressing down of all the helpdesk techs and how we are lazy and ungrateful and we should be using the knowlegebase for the sake of efficiency. He demands that we show tickets where we used the knowledgebase for the next staff meeting, or there will be "repercussions". Even with these threats over my head, I was only able to show that I used the knowledgebase ONCE. A user contacted me about not being able to send an email to some particular recipient. A few seconds of looking at the return email shows that there was no such recipient. A few more seconds of looking through the users inbox, shows that the user typoed the recipient's email address. I then sent him a link to the knowledgebase on how to use Outlook. This would not in any way help the user to not make a typo, but it was the closest thing to using the knowledgebase that I had run across. You see... our shiny new knowledgebase was about software and how to use it. There were sections on word, excel, outlook, and the various and sundry programs that were used throughout the organization. More than ninety-five percent of the calls received by the helpdesk were not about how to use the software. The tickets we got were about hardware failures, software failures, malware, password resets, etc. etc. etc. Pretty much nobody ever asked us how to use any particular piece of software. This made it almost impossible to use this new knowledgebase for much of anything. When the next staff meeting came along and once again, we could only barely show that we used the knowledgebase at all... The CIO lost all of his bluster and asked us WHY we weren't using the knowledgebase more. We responded that we simply did not get tickets about how to use any particular software... we got tickets when something went wrong at a hardware or software level. By and large, the people either knew how to use the software or got along without it. So... the CIO got a gleam in his eye and asked us to start writing HARDWARE articles for his new knowledgebase. I chose to write an article on a very common problem, "My computer won't come on." It was BEAUTIFUL... it had full color pictures and closeups. It showed both ends of a computer power cable and pictures of what they should be plugged into. It explained in great detail that the computer could not operate without electricity. It had a picture of the power switch on the most common computer in use. Before I could get into trouble for the epic levels of snark in this document, a new mayor was elected and the CIO was summarily dismissed. The three contractors were also summarily dismissed and as far as I know, the new knowledgebase was deleted and never spoken of again. By this time, the helpdesk had FINALLY dug out from under the backlog and was operating reasonably efficiently. Especially since the contractors were no longer pestering us for documentation of systems that for security reasons could not be published. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Aug 2018 11:52 AM PDT Last school year I was helping my school's IT department when my Fitness teacher came to me: Him: >My compute won't work. Me: >What do you mean 'it won't work' Him: >I don't know Me: >Bring it here As he is going off to grab the "not working" computer, I begin to type up an email to IT expecting it to be an issue out of my scope. (didn't ever send that email) Him: >Here it is Looking at the screen, it was on the login screen and there was some error with an "ok" button, and no input device worked, not the trackpad, the trackpoint or keyboard. Me: >Watch this -powers the computer off and on- Me: >Login so I can see if that fixed the issue. -He logs in- -error never popped up again- The following day, the same teacher comes to me saying that his computer is buzzing and to com to his office after class, again expecting the worst, I go and start typing up an email to IT. (never sent that one either) Class ends and I walk into his office hearing a buzzing noise, as I walk up to the computer, I notice that it is not coming from the computer, but from the PC speakers... -unplugs the audio jack from the computer, and plugs it back in making sure that it is fully seated in the computer- -Silence- Lesson: Please RESTART your computer, it solves almost everything. [link] [comments]  |
| Netnotworking Sidestory: Cables. Lots of cables. Posted: 29 Aug 2018 05:46 AM PDT Hey, long time no see! Been away for a bit, some nice two and a half weeks of vacation completely off the grid. This is not a netnotworking story, but just the general craziness of things over here. And it's a rather short one. Backstory I consider myself as a very friendly person. Being nice to people is what helps you avoid problems or helps you quickly solve them. This is why i tend to befriend people around me that i might need help from. No matter if it's facility management, logistics, external craftsmen, whatever. So the guy relevant for this story is one of those craftsmen. A bit old, funny, no BS guy. He's always around even though he's working for a contractor. I'll call him Jerry in this story, because of the cat. Usually he's the guy that does non-power cabling for us, be it fiber or twisted pair. He also does desk wiring. The desk wiring is the relevant part this time, he was busy wiring some desks with those USB3 Docking stations. Remember those docking stations for IBM/Lenovo laptops? Like that, just with a single USB3 cable. As we are in the process of getting a few new buildings up and running, Jerry is always busy on the construction site and knows the most current state of it. This is also the perfect excuse for me to sneak from my desk and It was a hot sunny day, shortly before my vacation. I was donning a shit-eating grin on our post-lunch walk around the location that was conveniently built on a hill right in the middle of a valley, all surrounded by small forests and humongous vineyards. Though the scenery was not the reason for said grin, but the jealousy of my colleagues at my attire. As usual i did not give a damn and decided to wear shorts to work. Our walk leads us through the whole parking lot that by now completely surrounds the fairly large location - about 6000 people work here by now, two years ago i was one of the first over 4000th. Just as we went back onto company premises, a well known yellow van pulls up to us.
TL;DR: These are not the cables you're looking for. Previous Stories: [link] [comments]  |
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