Helpdesk Call of The Day

End User: My data projector is't working can you help me please?

Tech Support: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

End User: Yeah I've tried that but it still won't work

Tech Support: Is it definitely turned on?

End User: Yes its definitely turned on!

Tech Support: Ok, I'll come down and have a look.

After pressing the on button and removing the lens cap it started to work...

I bit my lip and waited until I got back to the Helldesk before I started banging my head on my desk.

Helpdesk Call Of The Day

Tech Support: “Hello IT”
End User: “Hi!  I’m having that problem with my computer again”
Tech Support: “What problem’s that then”
End User: “You know, the one I always have when I come back from annual leave”

We love it when you make us try and guess what your problem is – we enjoy a challenge.  Why bother saving time by telling us what problem you are having when you can waste our time like this?!


Anyway, I persevered and carried on the conversation (it was the first call of the day so I wasn’t fully awake so the sarcasm hadn’t kicked in yet)…

Tech Support: “You’ll have to remind me as I’ve closed hundreds of support calls since then – so what’s on your screen at the moment?”
End User: “It looks like computers used to look like ages ago”

Great.  That makes loads of sense now doesn’t it?!  How hard can it be to read out what is says on the screen that’s right in front of you???

I decided to try a different approach that even a junior school pupil would be able to answer…

Tech Support: “What colour is the screen?”
End User: “Black”
Tech Support: “What happens if you press the power button?”
End User: “Which button’s that?”

It was at this point I was starting to lose the will to live...

Tech Support: “The one you use to turn the laptop on – press it and see what happens”
End User: “Oh, it’s doing something now.  That looks better.  I’m at the log on screen now, thanks!”

Give me strength!  It sounds like I'm making it up but this really happened and it's not the first time someone has called up and we've had to ask them to press the power button to turn their computer on.

 

Helpdesk Call of the Day

End User: I'm having a problem with my phone. Everytime I email a photo to myself it doesn't appear in my work emails.

Tech Support: Show me on your phone what you're doing and I'll see if I can spot what's wrong.


The EU then opened a photo on his Smartphone and then selected the email option, he then pointed to the screen...


End User: This is the email address I've put in and it's not my work email address so when I get back to my work computer the photo isn’t there - it's just not working.


After staring at the EU blankly for a few seconds in disbelief, I realised he was being serious and was actually telling me he was emailing the photos to his personal email address and couldnt understand why they were not going to his work email address!  He seemed to think that if he stared at the screen long enough it would magically enter the correct email address.

After explaining several times that if he wanted them sending to his work email address he had to type in his work email address and not his home one, I just gave up and handed him a USB cable and told him when he connects his phone to his computer to press the USB mode option on his phone and then just treat it as a memory stick.

A few moments later he came back and couldn’t even plug it in to his computer properly so I had to go to his computer, plug in his phone, press USB mode and view the photos via My Computer.

How To Become an IT Technician

So you want to become an IT Technician but don’t know where to begin?

Well it all depends on where you’re starting from, if you’re still in education then make sure you do well in Science/Physics, English and Maths.  Science/Physics because it helps you become inquisitive and you learn how things work, English because you’ll be sending lots of emails as an IT Technician so spelling and grammar are important and Maths because in the business world, lots of issues arise with reports which are packed full of figures that you’ll need to try and understand.

If you’re not currently in education - perhaps you left some time ago and are working in another field such as the Retail Industry or as a Builder and are looking for a change of career.  Don’t worry if you don’t have relevant Science, English and Maths qualifications, in these particular industries you’ll already be good at Maths for example as Retail is all about figures and Builders have to put quotes and invoices together so you have achieved these skills in a different way.

What do I need to have to become an IT Technician?

Hardware Skills
Operating Systems Skills
Software Application Skills
Customer Service Skills
IT Certification
Experience

Hardware Skills

Build your own desktop computer, from scratch.  You don’t need to buy brand new components, you can pick up second hand motherboards, CPUs, RAM and cases from places like eBay or even (here in the UK) car boot sales.  My only advice is to buy the motherboard, CPU and possibly RAM from the same person/place to ensure compatibility.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t work properly the first time you power it on as that's part of your learning experience!

Medieval Helpdesk

The helldesk is not a new thing, they even had them in Medieval times as this short clip proves:

Training Video - Manning The Internet Helpdesk

This IT Support Helldesk Training Video is a little over 6 minutes long so make sure you are sitting comfortably before you begin watching it.

Ensure that you have a notepad and pen handy to make notes on the various techniques that can help you learn to be an IT Support Helldesk Operator.

It's a few years old now but still completely relevant...

Training Video - End Users Are Stupid

Anyone who has ever worked on a Helldesk will tell you that the End Users are stupid.  Not always, but most of the time.  This next short training video by Bonnie Burton explains that people are so stupid that anti-idiot warning labels have to be put on quite a lot of products like one on a hair dryer that says not to use it in a shower or bath...

Training Video - Using Smilies In Emails

Emails are supposed to be short and sweet, straight to the point as it's a quick way of communicating with your end users.

When an End User sends an email to tech support then it will either contain bugger all words or reams and reams of text.  If it's the latter then it will probably be full of smiley faces :) and lol's etc. if you have persistant End Users who use far too many smilies in their emails then you may need to send them a link to the following video: