Ok, so you want to talk about "how hard can it be" to follow instructions? Tech Support |
- Ok, so you want to talk about "how hard can it be" to follow instructions?
- How difficult is it to follow simple instructions?
- But how do I check voicemail?
- Aloha Barbie
| Ok, so you want to talk about "how hard can it be" to follow instructions? Posted: 23 Jul 2019 06:50 PM PDT Many years ago, in the Novell/DOS days, I worked 1st level support for a large law firm. Users were met by a login screen that said "Welcome to BigLawFirm. You are connected to server group A" (or B, or C). The user had to connect to the right server group. One day I got a call from a mid-level attorney, who had been with the firm for several years. The call basically went like this... Me: Thank you for calling support, how can I help you? Atty: I can't log in. Me: You're probably connected to the wrong group. Can you please read me the bottom line of your screen, where it shows your group? Atty: (long pause) Atty: Dell Me: Hold on. Puts Atty on hold until I stop laughing. Me: OK, the top line of your screen should also show the group. Can you please read me the top line? Atty: "Bad command or filename", which means the users tried to login to the wrong group. Me: That can't be the top line. Please read me the line above it. Atty: Oh, OK. Bad command or filename. Me: (Mutes phone, sighs, and unmutes). And the line above that? Me: Uh huh, and the one above that? Me: And the next one up? Atty: "Welcome to BigLawFirm. You are connected to...". Oh, you meant the TOP line! This turned in to the first winner in our "Can you believe this?" contest, which ran weekly from then on. [link] [comments]  |
| How difficult is it to follow simple instructions? Posted: 23 Jul 2019 03:34 PM PDT Sometimes I wonder how a person can operate anything without some level of common sense. This just happened today. the company I work for does IT support and installations of biometric access (fingerprint readers, photo id badges, access cards) and CCTV systems and different software packages for different needs (door access, time and attendance, etc) but the license on one of the time and attendance programmes we supplied a branch of one of our biggest clients (smallest company we service is about 10 to 12, largest is several thousand spread throughout South Africa and Southern Africa) is about to expire and each user of this program has to email us once we've sent each user steps, in super clear instructions that even my young daughter can understand, how to get the 'activation request file' just so that we can pass it along to our supplier of the program to supply us with the activation code. Below is a briefed up version of the chain of emails between ME and Jack* (not persons name) Me - Good day there Jack*, my name is willbeonekenobi from <my company name> and according to our records, <Time and Attendance> software is about to expire (14 days left on your install) on your pc. I will need for you to follow the steps below to send me the activation request file that is unique to your pc.
(15 minutes later) Jack - Good day willbeonekenobi. For past few days I've been getting this error message that is in the picture (attachment is a pdf of a printed photo from a potato camera showing that the program is about to expire and will need to re-activate soon) Me - That attached picture is why I am asking you to follow the steps in my first email (the one you replied to) as the program is going to expire in 14 days. (25 minutes later) Jack - Where in the first email are the steps you want me to do? Why can't you do them? Me - The steps are at the end of the first email and we do not have access to your pc as that is against your companies IT policy. (2 minutes later) Jack - And do I have to do this now or later? Me - We can do this now or whenever you feel like during the next 14 days to avoid any downtime. (35 minutes later) Jack - <reply is 424 pages of garbled mess, like user had opened the contents of the file in notepad, and copied its contents into the reply> Me - Unfortunately that is not what I requested. Please send me the file itself as an attachment. (15 minutes later) Jack - When I opened up the file I saw it like this. Is this not good enough? Me - I need the actual file to pass along to the supplier. I dont need the contents. Please send me the actual file. The file name will most likely be <companyname\_branch\_user>.arqf. (3 minutes later) Jack - I deleted it. How do I get it back. Me- Recreate it using the steps in the first email. (5 minutes later). Jack - Okay I have recreated the file please re-activate. <there is no attachment> Me - Unfortunately we still need the file. (2 hours later) Jack - I thought I had attached it, I apologise. <file is attached> I then immediately send it off to our supplier. 2 minutes later I get a reply with the users activation code. Me - Okay Jack, your re-activation code is XXXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXX. To reactivate using this code you just need to follow the instructions in the first email again but instead of clicking on the 'Save Activation Request', you must click on the 'Registration' button. Once you input the code the 'Activate' button will 'light up' and when it does you must click on it. Then your program would be licensed for another year. (15 minutes later) Jack - Thanks, software is now working. 4 hours wasted on something that could've been done in 10 minutes. Also this used to happen to this person every 6 months (as they only bought 6 month licenses) and now this is definitely going to happen once a year. TLDR - User ignores easy steps in first email, a 10 minute task <with no less than 3 emails between myself and the client and 1 to supplier> ends up taking almost 4 hours and 18 emails between myself and client. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 23 Jul 2019 10:31 PM PDT LTL, FTP, Mobile, not primary account, etc. This happened recently. Our company provides support to a smaller sister company (more like ugly stepchild). This includes fiscal, administrative, and internal tech support (among other things). Their archaic Mitel system was dieing and we were prepping a migration to Cisco, matching what we already have/support. We were about a week from cutover when the old system died. Luckily we had the new hardware at ~99% config'd (the week away was mostly waiting on paperwork, training scheduling, and a service cutover) so we rush deployed in under 2 hrs. It also happened to be a minimally staffed week so we only had to train the Administrative Secretary, two Admin, and a few others on site. I was on site and helping the AS get familiarized with her new phone. Me: now that the main line is setup on your phone you need to get a voicemail message on setup on it. All you have to do is select the main line like this [presses line button], hit this voicemail button [presses voicemail button] then follow the prompts. Welcome to Cisco Unity connection... Me: [hangs up call] your temp passcode is 1234. When you log in it will prompt you to change your passcode and walk you through recording your greeting message. AS: ok. But we should probably have voicemail on the main line. How do I set that up? Me: [stares blankly then shakes it off] Yes, we setup voicemail on that line. As I wa... AS: [quite interruptingly] Well then I really need to set that up. How do I get into the voicemail. It's very important I get that setup soon. How long until its ready. Me: you press this button to select the line [points at button] then this one to enter voicemail [points at other button] AS: but what do I press to make sure I'm getting into the main line and not my peronal voicemail. Me: [questions reality; points at line button] AS: ok, but which button is for voicemail? Me: [takes a deep breath to try and hide the sigh] the button that looks like a tape reel [points at button] AS: What is my pin? Are they the same as before? How am I supposed to get in if I don't know my pin? ...I wish I was making this up or over exaggerating it... but this is verbatim, as well as I recall it (from about a week ago). This conversation went on like this for about 20min for voicemail and transferring calls. I was later told she recorded her personal voicemail on the main line and the main line voicemail on her personal extension (she had insisted on recording them after we had left which is why I hung up after demonstrating dialing into voicemail). We spent the next few days writing up both detailed and quick reference guides and, after receiving them, every call from AS was her swearing what she needed wasn't on either then us meticulously hand-holding her through horribly simple guides (I should point out, the system is being used successfully yet we have had only one other call since sharing the reference guides, and it was because we forgot to setup their voicemail box). It warms my heart knowing that she is also the self-appointed tech liaison at the facility and tries to intercept all tech requests before they get to us because she's oh so good at it and her staff is horrible at communicating anyway. TL;DR: walked user through how to use voicemail in new phone system then they proceeded as if the conversation never took place. c'est la vie [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2019 05:21 AM PDT I work as frontline tech support for a SaaS company in the midwest. We handle accounts all over the US, including Hawaii. This is the call that made a run of the mill Tuesday a little more special. Me: "Thank you for calling [redacted] Tech Support. My name is Nilmandir. How can I help?" Aloha Barbie: "Yeah, [software] isn't acting right. It keeps closing." Me: (going into my call opening spiel, getting her verified) "So, what's happening when you open [software]?" AB: "It doesn't start. It keeps saying that I need an internet connection to use the program but I'm on the network." (a deep, almost painful sigh escapes me) Me: "Okay, are you able to pull up Google?" AB: "Yes." Me: "In the address bar, type in isitthursday.com, and then hit the enter key." (long pause) Me: "Is there anything on screen?" AB: "Yeah." (a sigh so deep that I have to put her on mute) Me: "What does it say?" AB: "It has a dinosaur and says 'Unable to connect to the internet.'" (tech gods be praised) Me: "It looks like you don't have a connection to the internet and that is why [software] won't open. It requires a connection. I advise to contact your local ISP or IT company for more assistance." AB: "Okay. Thank you." It took me a solid five minutes to stop laughing. Most of our users are not this ... technology challenged (I talk with a lot of IT people). She was an outlier. Hopefully. [link] [comments]  |
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