Friday, January 10, 2014

Show a Little Love to the Help Desk


“I changed all my passwords to "incorrect." So whenever I forget, it says, "Your password is incorrect." Steve Carell

Some telephone calls to computer support:

Computer Support (CS): “Okay, it’s not plugged in.”
Him: “It’s plugged in–it goes right to the back of the computer!”
(CS): “No, that’s a serial cable, not a power cable.”
Him: “What’s this orange one then?”
(CS): “That connects the computer to the network. It’s also not a power cable and doesn’t connect to the dispenser anyway. The one for the dispenser is black and has a three-prong plug on the end.”
Him: “Listen to me, young lady, I have been on this earth for 56 years and I know what a power cord looks like!”
(CS): “Yes, well, I’ve been on this earth 34 years and I know that some things have to be plugged into an outlet to work.”
Him: “Oh. There it is. Okay, it’s working now. Thanks.”
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New user calls support staff early one morning, complaining that his computer won't power up even though everything is plugged in just as it was the night before. Tech walks down to check it out, finds the user pressing the power button on his empty laptop docking station. Tech asks: "Where's the laptop?" User: "I left that at home. Do I need that to get on my computer here?"
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(CS): "What kind of computer do you have?" "A white one."
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New employee complains to help desk that there's something wrong with her password. The user says that it is not because the Caps lock is on. "The problem is that whenever I type the password, it just shows stars," says user. Those asterisks are to protect you, tech explains, so if someone were standing behind you, they wouldn't be able to read your password. "Yeah," user says, "but they show up even when there is no one standing behind me."
******************
(CS): "Click on the 'My Computer' icon on to the left of the screen."
Customer: "Your left or my left?" 


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(CS): "Good day. How may I help you?"
Male customer: "Hello, I can't print."
(CS): "Would you click on start for me."
Customer: "Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates, you know!"
******************
Customer: "Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says, 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says it can't find it."
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(CS): "What does the screen say now."
Person: "It says, 'Hit ENTER when ready'."
(CS): "Well?"
Person: "How do I know when it's ready?"
******************
Customer: "I turned on my PC this morning, and the screen is black." (CS): "Is the monitor on?"
Customer: "Yes."
(CS): "OK, turn the monitor off."
Customer: "Oh, wow! It just started working! I wonder what happened?"
******************
Thank goodness my computer problem didn’t fall in any of these categories. I called the Help Desk at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management where I am teaching an online class this term. Internet Explorer was crashing multiple times when I tried to access my class. William said I needed to use Firefox because it is a user-friendly browser. Who knew? I wanted to reward him for his patience and expertise in solving my problem.

Today’s gift was to submit a feedback form acknowledging William for his courteous professional customer service. He even followed up with an email containing the link to download the browser. I am sure he has to endure a lot of faculty and students who have issues like the ones above. I hope his boss shows him a little love and tells him about the positive reinforcement I gave him for the good that he does.

In Giving,

Robin

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