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December 10, 2009 -- So, I got on a technical support call the other day (yes it happens to me to) and the technician asked me to run through a couple of tests that I had already run. For a couple of milliseconds, I felt exactly what I can tell my clients feel when I ask them to do the same thing. But, in fact, a second pair of eyes are always good, so I ran through the procedures again. And, got the same results. I tell you this story so you will see that I feel the same frustrations my clients and you probably feel when dealing with technical support. The truth is that there is a lot you can do to help make a technical support call easier for yourself and to get the technician working with you. This post provides some tips about how to do this.
Be specific about the problem. So, as I was writing the first sentence of this paragraph, the cursor froze. My reaction was that this was the worst time [I have a meeting in two hours and twenty minutes at a location an hour away from my office,] for my computer to stop working. And, that's the reaction most of us have when we can't do something on our computer. I hear that a lot when people call me. The problem is that it is hard for someone on the other end of the line to know how to react beyond, "I'm sorry to hear that." What is more likely to elicit help is a specific description of the problem. It took me several minutes when a client called me to find out that a particular program was not working, but otherwise the computer was fine. You can get to troubleshooting faster if you can tell the technician as precisely as possible what the problem is.
Write down any error messages that you see. Do you want to get the tech going? Tell him or her, "I saw an error message, but I didn't write it down." Then pause a couple of seconds and say, "Just kidding." He or she will probably spill coffee on his or her pants or desk. The content of error messages are critically important because they cab often tell the technician what to look at. And, it is sometimes impossible to recreate the origianl error message, so the technician is left guessing. If you see an error message, copy and paste it or write it down. Yes, I know it's a pain especially when you're trying to appease the boss and deal with a problem.
Try to remember anything that has changed on your computer. While problems arise out of nowhere, they not infrequently result from a change made to the system. It may be a change you are not even aware of. An update to one piece of software can break other programs, for example. Sometimes, a newly installed program can also break your system. Several years ago, my associate was called to the desk of a user whose computer was freezing at random points and had to be rebooted. He asked her if anything had changed on her computer, to which she answered "No." He started working on her compute when he noticed a "free" music program that we did not install. He removed it and the computer was again humming without problems. She had "forgotten" that she had installed it.
Tell the technician everything you have already done to troubleshoot the problem. This may help the technician to move the troubleshooting along faster. If you have already rebooted the computer, you may not have to do it again. [Gary's law is that 95 percent of problems are solved by rebooting.] Taking good notes about what you have done and what the results were can be particularly helpful.
Be patient when the technician asks you to repeat some procedure you have already carried out. The technician is not doubting that you did what you said you did. However, he or she may wonder why you got results that were unexpected. Of, he or she may be looking for something different. Also, remember, a second pair of eyes never hurts and frequently helps, so the tehcnician may notice something when you rerun the procedure that you weren't looking for or missed. And, if you wonder why you have to do it again, ask.
Engage the technician. He or she is like you, a human being. Making that connection and getting the two of you on the same team will ease the work for both of you. Be patient.
Be prepared to hang up and call back. This may seem to contradict the last point, but sometime, as in other relationships, it doesn't work out. The technician seems to be going down the wrong road or is ignoring what you are saying and the session seems to be going nowhere. Give your technician a good chance, but if things truly are not working, ask to have your case escalated to the next higher level of support. Or, in an extreme case, simply hang up and call in again.
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