User Guide to Tech Support Success It seems that the most painful thing about owning a PC is getting help when something goes wrong. Many phone support techs come across to the user as impatient and condescending. Very often, the user is left with the impression that the support tech doesn't understand the problem, let alone the solution! So where can the user turn to get the best solution for the problem at hand? Don't fret - help is here - in the form of this article! The intent of this article is to present the average PC user with some guidelines for getting the best computer help possible. The guidelines offered here will apply equally to the various forms of help with little difference. If critical differences do exist, I will do my best to point them out for you. Types of Tech Support Basically, there are four types of computer tech support available to the user. All but one of these methods require the user to communicate with one or more other individuals. The remaining method requires the user to research a solution independently, using various available resources. What follows below is a brief explanation of the four support methods available. Method 1 - User Research Obtaining tech support via this method basically means that the user will have to find a solution without the direct assistance or input of a support person. Typically, the user will seek answers in various prepared resources, including online troubleshooting guides, online tutorials, and other published materials (manuals, reference books, newsletters, etc.). This method can be time consuming, but it can also be very educational for the user. The biggest drawback to this problem is that the user must know where to look in order to find any answers. Method 2 - Telephone Support This method is probably the most widely used, but it is often the least effective. This is due in part to the time spent waiting for help, as well as the increasing frequency of per-incident or per-call charges for help. In addition, many phone help desks are staffed by folks with little or no real-world experience in the areas for which they are providing support! More on this later, but for now let's just say that most companies consider tech support to be a necessary evil, and not a revenue-producing segment of their operation. Method 3 - Face-to-Face Support In this type of support situation, the user is relating one-on-one with the support tech, in a live face-to-face environment. The user has either brought the problem equipment to the tech, or the tech is making an on-site visit to effect a solution. Many folks feel that this is the best support situation, but it too has its drawbacks. We will discuss them in more depth later as well. The reason that this method is so well liked is its immediacy. Method 4 - Community Support Community support is tech support provided by a group of people. Such groups can be made up of fellow users as well as professional support personnel. As with all of the other methods, this one also has benefits and drawbacks, but many users have come to find that the benefits far outweigh any drawbacks. The PC Q&A Computer Forum is an example of community support. Obstacles to Successful Support Why is it that so many users have so many bad tech support experiences? Through long experience, I have discovered that there are several stumbling blocks that hinder support success: perception errors misconceptions confusion lack of preparation poor communication between user and support personnel Perception errors occur when a users has noted a particular behavior in a PC system, believes the behavior to be improper, and seeks help in resolving the perceived problem. Often, the behavior in question is by design, but the user is not aware of that when seeking help. If the perceived problem is then miscommunicated to the support person, an unsatisfactory experience will result. A good example of this is the client who called, asking why his Win98 notebook PC showed a floppy disk drive A: even though the drive was physically removed from the system. He had tried numerous "fixes" for his "problem" including some that had been suggested by the manufacturer's support techs, and others from various computer help forums. After hearing him out, I directed him to a Microsoft Knowledge Base (MSKB) article (Q205942). This article explains that such behavior is exactly in accordance with the wishes of the Win98 authors. The user perceived a problem, but in reality did not have one. A misconception is the effect of a user incorrectly believing that a certain action will have a certain result. As an example, a common misconception that I have encountered is the fairly widespread belief that "a computer that is protected by an antivirus utility cannot become infected by a virus." This is patently false, as the antivirus utility will at best reduce the likelihood of an infection, but it cannot absolutely prevent it. Confusion most often occurs when the support person assumes a level of knowledge or experience in the user that does not in fact exist. It will also occur whenever the user is faced with an unexpected result when performing a task as directed by the support person. Suppose the support person wants the user to execute some basic DOS commands. The user is brought to a DOS prompt, and is then instructed to "Type cd \windows, and then type edit win.ini. Press Enter." The user types cd windows edit win.ini and then presses Enter, only to be returned an error message reading, "Too many parameters - edit". By and large, confusion is usually the end product of poor communication. Lack of preparation is not necessarily a death sentence for the support session. What it can do is lead to lengthier sessions and/or multiple sessions being needed, which in turn will degrade the overall level of support available to both you and other users. It is astonishing how many users will call for help without being at the PC, without the PC being up and running (when operational), and even without being able to get to the PC with the phone! I recently had a call from a user who was having dial-up problems. As a preliminary question, I asked if she could dial out via modem and talk on the phone at the same time, which of course she could not do. She had her phone extension on her desk plugged into the modem, and thus sharing its line. That may be necessary if the user only has one line, but such was not the case in her situation. Without being rude, I instructed her to call me back when she had the phone connected to its own line. Poor communication has probably led to more failed support sessions than any other single cause. As long as communication is good, all of the other obstacles can be overcome. If however there is a lack of effective communication, it will difficult indeed to solve any problem, real or perceived. Communication is more than just saying and hearing words - it is understanding what is said, and saying what is meant! In the example cited above in the paragraph about confusion, the user did exactly what the tech instructed. Did the tech assume that the user would know to press Enter after typing in the change directory command? Some Observations You may have noticed that all of the obstacles mentioned above seem to be fairly one-sided - that is, that it seems like the blame for failed tech support is being laid at the feet of the user. That is simply not so! What is so is that the user only has control over those aspects of the support experience. There are surely other factors involved, and I will point some of them out as we go here, but I will focus on the things that the user can do to enhance the support experience. For example, the user has no control over the levels of knowledge or experience on the part of the support tech. Often, the first- tier support techs are little more than call screeners, whose purpose it seems is to solve the easy problems and let the rest go on up the ladder. From the user's point of view, that system is frustrating at best. Sometimes the support techs can do nothing more than attempt to match the reported problem symptoms to existing entries in a knowledge base (KB). So what happens to that unlucky user who just happens to be the first to report a new problem? If it is a new problem, it may not have any KB matches at all. If it does have matches, the recorded fixes probably will not work, as the problem itself differs from the one for which the fix was developed. The user also has no control over the overall product support hierarchy of the company involved. As I said earlier, many companies consider support to be a necessary evil. Providing user support requires the expenditure of money - an investment with no visible return. Even in those companies that impose a per- incident or per-call user charge for support, those charges will probably not cover the costs of providing support. All of this can lead to techs who are not really well-paid, and who are trying to handle more calls than is practical. One reason that support techs sometimes seem too busy to listen is because sometimes they are! What seems like a major problem to the user is, in reality, just one in a long string of similar events to the support tech. To each and every user out there, the problem at hand is the most important one, right? However, to the support tech, it's just another call. Sometimes the tech's knowledge and experience are great. Sometimes the opposite is true. Unfortunately, the user cannot possibly know beforehand which tech will get the call. In some cases though, even the least knowledgeable support tech is more computer-savvy than the user, but often these folks don't want the user to know how little they really know! I am constantly amazed at some of the things that I have heard from support techs. With one major PC manufacturer, it would seem that the standard fix for almost all problems is to do a restore to factory-shipped condition. Yes, sometimes that is the fix, but it should be a last resort, not a first step! Many users have had bad experiences with carry-in service as well. Virtually anyone can start up a PC support business, so the fact that a business exists means nothing at all when it comes to the quality of their support offerings. I know a young lady who works as on on-site tech for a local PC shop. I have received numerous pleas for help from her when she gets stuck. These calls invariably come from the customer's location! That's a real good way to instill faith and confidence - call for help with the customer sitting there. At the same time though, I have to be fair - she could have blundered her way through, making the problem worse as she went. The saving grace here is that the customers knew less than she did, and were impressed by how resourceful she is. I wonder why she doesn't call her boss for help? For many users, community support is rapidly becoming the support method of choice. This method is one in which your problem is presented to a group of people for the purpose of getting their suggestions for possible solutions. It has the simultaneous advantage and disadvantage of having the problem considered by any number of people. There is no way of knowing how long it will take to get an answer, or even how accurate the answer will be. At the same time, because of the community environment, there is a built-in system of checks and balances, wherein a blatantly incorrect or dangerous suggestion will usually be corrected by another community member. One major advantage of this type of support is the sheer number of participants. It's simple numbers - the more people who consider a problem, the more likely a solution will be. It is no accident that many manufacturers host user forums. In fact, some companies even assign people to "sit in" on these forums. Look at it this way - if the users are willing to provide support to each other, that's that much less that the manufacturer has to do. Sponsoring a user forum is considerably less expensive than the salary of even one support tech. You would probably be surprised at how many fixes published by manufacturers were "discovered" by an employee lurking around a user forum. Nuts and Bolts OK - this has all been pretty philosophical, right? Now let's get down to the nuts and bolts of getting good tech support. There are several things that the user can do to help ensure a satisfactory solution to most PC problems. Know your equipment. Many users seek support but are often completely unaware of the specific equipment involved. Consider the effect of going into an auto parts store for a pair of wiper blades, and having no idea whatsoever of the make and model of the car that needs the blades! Now consider the absurdity of asking a support tech why your system says the hard drive is full without knowing any details about the hard drive or the system in which it is installed. If the system for which you need help is a mass-produced system, provide the make and model number at the very least. Some systems will carry further identifying numbers that may be necessary for obtaining proper support. These might include a "type number", a "version number", a "revision level", a "service ID", a "support ID", or a "configuration number". All systems should have a serial number, although this number may not be helpful when identifying specific components. In addition to the above information, provide details on any upgrades to the system, including any BIOS updates, RAM upgrades, hard drive upgrades, and so forth, as well as the operating system version installed. Mass-produced systems can often be identified as to factory standard equipment based on the model and type numbers alone. For example, a Compaq Presario 5005R can easily be identified as a 1.1GHz Athlon system with 128MB SDRAM on a 200MHz mainboard, shipped with a 40GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-RW drive, and a 16MB NVidia TNT2 display adapter. Simply put, if it's a 5005R, that's the way it left the factory. Custom-built systems require more info than their mass-produces cousins, as each system is built to its buyer's specifications. A single model family from a given manufacturer might have any one of several available processors, and will often even use different mainboards. For this reason, the actual make and model of the system are probably irrelevant when seeking support. Rather, the user should include such info as mainboard make and model, CPU type and speed, and the specific make and model details for other installed devices like display adapter, NIC, sound card, modem, SCSI adapter, and so on. Some PC builders are kind enough to provide details on the component installed in a particular system. These makers will often maintain a database of installed components versus system serial number. Others, while they may keep such records, do not have them readily available to their support personnel. It is always a good idea to compile a record of your own, which can then be kept handy for future reference. This record should be updated with the pertinent information regarding BIOS or firmware updates, driver versions installed, and any other information that you believe you might want. A PC component inventory - http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/techsupport_list.html - will help you to keep track of each installed component. The secret here is to keep it updated as changes are made to the system. Be prepared. By this, I mean that the user should have the equipment documentation at hand, together with any and all driver disks and the OS installation disks. If the problem is with a particular application, have the pertinent disks and manuals for that application at hand, as should be any applicable customer numbers and/or product serial numbers. If you have prepared a component inventory as described above, now is the time to pull it out! For telephone support, have the phone available when sitting at the PC if at all possible. If the problem involves dial-up online access, the user should have the phone and the PC on separate phone lines if at all possible. If the problem is not of a type that keeps the PC from starting, have the PC up and running when you call for help. Think about the circumstances that led up to the problem. For example, was there any new software installed? How about hardware - were any changes made there? Was an automated update of any kind done? Think through the chain of events carefully and try to identify anything that may have contributed to the problem. I once took a support call from a user who stated that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred prior to the onset of his problem. Closer questioning led to the revelation that he had downloaded and installed several apps that morning. He did not consider that to be a likely cause though, as he downloads software on an almost daily basis - making it an "ordinary" event for him. Ordinary events can and do cause problems, so keep them in mind as well. If the problem is of an intermittent nature, try to determine the sequence of events that leads up to the problem. If the problem occurs the same way repeatedly, the chances of tracking it down are better than they would be if the problem could not be duplicated. Document any repair steps taken. In any support scenario, the more information that is provided to the support tech, the more likely it is that a solution will be found. If you have taken certain steps in an attempt to solve a problem, be sure to let the tech know what steps they were, and what the results of those steps were. When calling most phone support centers, the user will be given a reference number for the support incident. Be sure to record this number! In theory, should the user need to call again on the same issue, the number is supposed to allow the follow-up support tech to see the history of the incident. It doesn't always work as expected. Some techs make few notes as to the particulars of a problem. In those cases, the incident number won't do much other than prove that there was a previous call! If the tech kept proper notes regarding the user contact, the user will be spared the need for repetition of the history. In addition, it is likely that the follow-up tech will not have the user repeat the same "fixes" as those that were previously attempted. Documenting the repair steps can also aid the user in the future should the problem occur again later, or should the user encounter the same problem on a different system. At the very least, it will add to the user's general pool of PC knowledge, and the information will likely be useful in a community support environment. Be concise. When explaining a PC problem, your chances of getting a proper solution will depend greatly on how well your actual problem is understood by the support tech. If you receive an on- screen error message, write it down. The exact wording of an error message can be helpful when trying to track down its cause. While it's true that some error messages are very generic, there are also some that are quite specific. The user is not expected to know which is which, but it is expected that any displayed error messages will be accurately reported when seeking help. Try not to ask "general" questions when seeking help, as general questions will usually get general responses. If you need to know how to change display resolution, ask that! Don't ask how to change "display settings". A question like that will normally be answered with a question - "Which settings do you want to change?". Learn the proper terminology. This is an important point, if only to protect your own sanity! Many support techs will rapidly become impatient if they have to stop and explain each and every term that is used. It is not specifically necessary for the user to know how the various parts of a system operate, but it really is necessary to know what the parts are called. The same thing applies to the user interface, to the pointing device, and to the keyboard. It's a little bit unnerving to the support tech to realize that the user thinks that the monitor is the computer, as once happened when a caller told me that there was no place to insert a diskette on his computer. Earlier I spoke about confusion and poor communication. Not long ago, I had to deal with a very confused user who had been somewhat frustrated after spending more than an hour on the phone with the tech support department of a major PC maker. Her confusion stemmed from the fact that she did not know the correct terminology, and the tech with whom she spoke did not understand that! When I got involved, it was to find out why she was having "repeated hard disk failures", as reported to me by her supervisor. She is an art teacher in a local grade school. Unbelievably, she had gone through her school's in-house support chain before going to the PC maker for help. When she complained to her supervisor, it was decided that an outside "expert" was needed to solve the problem. What I discovered immediately upon talking with her was that her "hard disks" were 3.5" floppy disks. In her mind, "floppy disks" were the 5.25" diskettes. The diskettes that she had were Mac formatted, which was the cause of her problem. I still don't really know what she thought the actual hard disk drive was called! So where was the breakdown in that example? Did the in-house tech really listen to the complaint? If so, how much thought went into a solution? Repeated hard disk failures? Was the PC in question ever looked at by the tech? Who fixed the system following each failure? Why did the problem ever get as far as the manufacturer's support line? Worse yet, once it did get there, how did it escalate even further? The obvious answer is that a combination of obstacles occurred - confusion and poor communication, aided and abetted by a lack of familiarity with basic PC terminology and poor support technique. Don't give up. The above example shows us the importance of this, even if it did get way out of hand before a solution was found. Somewhere, somehow, an answer to the problem exists, whatever the problem may be. The answer may not always be as simple as explaining the difference between Mac and IBM formats. It may not be as simple as replacing the phone cord that the cat chewed on. It may not even be as simple as plugging the monitor power cord in. But there is an answer! Keep looking until it's found. Some solutions require extreme measures like the replacement of a major component or the complete reinstallation of the operating system. At times, that simply cannot be avoided, as painful as it may be. On the other hand, don't rush to these extreme steps, either. If you are not comfortable with the advice given, it's OK to get a second opinion. That's the great thing about the community support concept - there are generally enough contributors with a variety of differing backgrounds so that several ideas may be offered. As a rule, if one response shows up repeatedly - if many contributors offer the same suggestion - there is probably a very good chance that the suggestion is valid. By the same token, do not rule out the seemingly off-the- wall suggestion that is offered by a lone respondent, especially if the problem is one that has defied the more common and conventional fixes. Wrapping It Up The moral of this long story is that the more effort you put forth towards finding a solution, the more likely it is that you will be satisfied. If you, to whom the solution should be most important, don't expend any real energy in solving your problem, it's unlikely that others will do it for you. In a community- support environment, common courtesy calls for you to inform the community when your problem has been solved, and what the solution was. Until you do so, there may be folks out there looking for a solution that is no longer needed, and the time spent doing so could be spent helping others who do need help. Remember too that you may want to come back to that community for additional help later! http://www.PCNineOneOne.com