A common misconception among end users is that we (i.e. the IT department) charge them per ticket. While I don’t know where that misconception comes from, let me say right out that my experience of more than twenty years in the industry is that this simply is not true.
(more…)Tag: support
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A further metric for support
I have previously written about key metrics for support departments – and I stand by everything I said then. I have, however, come to the conclusion that another metric should be placed under consideration. A quick recap, however, of the metrics I proposed then, as well as what they are intended to measure:
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From support analyst to DevOps thinker
The title of this post might seem a bit on the conceited side. After all, who am I to claim to be a DevOps practitioner, much less thinker? I will simply say that I am working to implement DevOps principles in my day to day life, am spending more than a little time reading, thinking, and writing about DevOps, and though I may not be considered a DevOps thinker today, I certainly aspire to join their ranks. The title, then, is a statement of aspiration, more than a statement of achievement.
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The importance of logging as much information as possible.
In my last post, I wrote about one of my recent support tickets. What annoys me about that ticket is that I could have solved it a lot sooner, if only the tech that had logged the call had taken down more information that “Video replay doesn’t work”.
When logging a support ticket, especially when you are going to pass it on to another tech, it is important to log as much information as possible. I’m not telling you to write the Great American Novel, but if you properly log what the problem is, when it occurred, and what has been done to resolve the problem, you solve two potential problems:
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Five tips for getting better support
A while back, I wrote about giving better support to users. This time, I’m turning the tables; here are five tips to get better support: (more…)
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Improvise, Adapt, Overcome – Evolve
Improvise, adapt, overcome has for a long time been a mantra within armed forces around the world who, when faced with gruelling challenges and little or no epuipment, have improvised to face the challenge, adapted to the challenge and lastly overcome the challenge.
The same attitude is necessary in IT support. Support departments around the world will tell you that they are constantly under-staffed, over-worked, and lacking both training and equipment, be it software or hardware.
In my experience, the most successful support technicians are the ones who do the best with what they have. A can-do attitude, and a willingness to face any problem head on, rolling with the punches, and asking for more on the other side.
Here’s what these terms mean to me:
Improvise:
In terms of IT Service and Support, improvisation means working around a problem, finding a temporary fix. Practical example: A user calls in, and is unable to print. You set the user up with a different printer as a temporary fix, solving the more immediate problem.
Adapt:
Adapting to the problem means finding a permanent workaround, using what tools are available, as well as online resources, to work around the problem permanently, though not resolving it. Practical example: A user calls in, and tells you their anti-virus solution is not working. You install a different anti-virus solution.
Overcome:
Overcoming the problem means finding a permanent fix, resolving the problem. Practical example: A user reports being unable to create PDF documents. You install PDF-creating software.
The last part of the title of this article is also drawn from the military. A training exercise is not called an exercise, but an evolution. In terms of IT Service and Support, evolve means not only improvising a temporary fix, adapting to a problem and providing a permanent work-around or overcoming a problem, permanently fixing it, but at the end of it having learnt from the experience, and even documenting the solution for future reference. -
Firefox 2.0.0.13 crashes, unable to add extensions part one – the problem
I’ve been using Firefox for a few years now, and love it dearly. After the update to version 2.0.0.13, I have experienced the following problems with it:
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