03.26.09

What End-Users Really Mean When They Call Tech Support

Posted in Information Systems/Technology at 1:00 pm by Paul Ambrose

An interesting perspective from Bill Detwiler of TechRepublic!

They say: “I haven’t touched anything.”
They mean: “I have just fiddled with some registry settings/DLLs/system settings, installed some unauthorized software, and now it won’t work at all.”

They say: “I really truly haven’t touched anything.”
They mean: “I’ve really done it this time.”

They say: “What would happen if…?”
They mean: “I’ve just done this and feel a bit silly. How would I fix it without anyone knowing?”

They say: “I’m a personal friend of the chairman.”
They mean: “He once swore at me for using his parking space.”

They say: “I’m running Windows 97.”
They mean: “I don’t know the difference between an operating system and an office package.”

They say: “Of course everything is plugged in! Do you think I’m stupid?”
They mean: “Something is not plugged in.”

They say: “I really can’t waste any more time on this, goodbye!”
They mean: “I just spotted what I did wrong, and I’m very embarrassed.”

They say: “My screen is blurred and I get headaches.”
They mean: “The guy across the corridor just got a new monitor and I want one too.”

They say: “Is there a problem with the network?”
They mean: “I forgot my password.”

They say: “It won’t let me in and I know I entered the password correctly.”
“I have caps lock on.”

They say: “I checked my caps lock and I still can’t log in.”
They mean: “I forgot my password, and the last time this happened I had my caps lock on.”

They say: “Has this problem been reported by anyone else?”
They mean: “Am I the only clueless pony on the block?”

You can access the full list from Bill’s video blog.

03.11.09

What Tech Supports Really Mean!

Posted in Information Systems/Technology at 4:36 pm by Paul Ambrose

Effective communication skills and a professional demeanor as just as critical as technical knowledge for tech support personnel, according to Bill Detwiler of TechRepublic. Never lie or speak to your users in a patronizing manner. They are your clients and they deserve the same respect as you would expect from someone serving you. Bill identifies what tech supports are really saying when they answer you in this ligthearted video. Here are some excerpts:

Tech say: It would be possible the best at this point to reinstall the software
They mean: I don’t know how to fix this, nor does anyone else here

Tech say: Umm, that’s a good one
They mean: I am wondering what in the world you are taking about

Tech say: I’ll check with my team later
They mean: I am sure they won’t know either, but I will confirm that possibility

Tech say: Yes, we passed the problem to our developers and they are working on a fix
They mean: Even the developers don’t have a clue, but they may be able to come up with a workaround if they ever get any time to work in the problem in the next decade.

Tech say: Let me check with a colleague
They mean: I’ll just press a mute button now because I can’t stop laughing

Tech say: What operating system you are on?
They mean: Do you even know what an operating system is?

Tech say: Are you getting a login error?
They mean: You have forgotten your password, haven’t you?

Tech say: I apologize unreservedly for my mistake
They mean: Oh no, I just broke the first help desk law!

01.28.09

Five things that suck about working in IT

Posted in Information Systems/Technology at 2:10 pm by Paul Ambrose

Jason Hiner of TechRepublic lists the following as the top 5 things that makes working in the field of IT challenging:

  1. You get a lot of fingers get pointed in your direction
  2. People assume you are an expert in all things tech
  3. IT pros need to continually retrain on their own dime
  4. The hours are long and irregular
  5. The IT job market is tumultuous

But Jason also offers strategies and tips on how to handle these make a career in IT rewarding. Visit his video blog to find out more.

12.17.08

10 best IT certifications

Posted in Information Systems/Technology at 11:04 am by Paul Ambrose

Here’s the list from TechRepublic:

  1. MCITP: New-generation Microsoft Certified IT Professional for database developers, database administrators, enterprise messaging administrators, and server administrators.
  2. MCTS: New-generation Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist for IT staff involved in installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting a specific Microsoft technology.
  3. Security+: CompTIA’s security certification to showcase security fundamentals such as systems security, network infrastructure, access control, auditing, and organizational security principles.
  4. MCPD: New-generation Microsoft Certified Professional Developer developers and programmers to show case a developer’s ability to build and maintain software solutions using Visual Studio 2008 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.
  5. CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate for network administrators to show proficiency in administering Cisco equipment.
  6. A+: CompTIA’s A+ certification for IT staff involved in support incuding desktop installation, problem diagnosis, preventive maintenance, computer or network error troubleshooting.
  7. PMP: Project management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) to validatie skills and knowledge required to plan, execute, budget, and lead a technology project.
  8. MCSE/MCSA: Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator to validate a wide range of relevant expertise from client and server administration to security issues on specific, widely used platforms. Also helps demonstrate the holder’s capacity to complete a long and comprehensive education, training, and certification program requiring intensive study.
  9. CISSP: (ISC)2’s Certified Information Systems Security Professional for industry pros with at least five years of full-time experience for validating candidates’ expertise with operations and network and physical security, as well as their ability to manage risk and understand legal compliance responsibilities and other security-related elements.
  10. Linux+: CompTIA’s Linux+ validates basic Linux client and server skills, is designed for professionals with at least six to 12 months of hands-on Linux experience.

Detailed article is avialable at TechRepublic at the following link.

11.03.08

5 Key IT Affecting Decisions the Next President has to Make

Posted in Information Systems/Technology at 8:43 pm by Paul Ambrose

Jason Hiner at Tech Republic discusses the following important IT issues facing us in the near term on his blog.

  1. Net-Neutrality: This proposed legislation would prevent telecommunications providers from controlling, prioritizing, or filtering the types of applications and content that Internet customers use.
  2. Broadband Development: The US is lagging behind in the penetration and affordability of broadband connections. Lack of competition and over-consolidation due to current US policies and regulations are hampering the growth of broadband in a consumer friendly manner.
  3. R&D Tax Credit: The US is the home to some of the best and brightest IT innovators (such as Apple, Microsoft [yes!], and Google) and we need to foster innovation by incentizing them to continue investing in R&D.
  4. H1B Visas: We need these to continue staffing high tech companies with engineers and computer scientists.
  5. Green Tech: IT can be revolutionized to be more earth friendly, but it is an expensive proposition. Tax breaks would help.

You can access the full article on Jason’s blog.

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