Technical Support: It's all very technical..just no support

Coming from an IT/Online industry I definitely have my fair share of technical support enquiries to deal with. Part of our service to clients is to provide training and support in using a web based marketing system.

For the most part most of the enquiries are genuine and the client just needs that extra bit of support. Sometimes however you get the type of enquiry that makes you think there is no hope for mankind. These types of calls can make you jaded and you forget to empathise with the user. We all understand things differently.

Last night I experienced a bit of IT/Technical chaos myself and after the delightful customer IT support I received (NOT) I have made a very big mental note to be more understanding from now on whenever I get support calls.

My little drama involved my newly installed home security system to go off at random times throughout the night. Last night it happened twice, while I was at home without the security system even being armed. I was a little frazzled to say the least so then having to spend the next 45 minutes with a techie guy speaking to me in a condescending tone like I was a slow, deaf, special needs customer...well it nearly sent me over the edge.

I cracked it, chucked a little tanty and told him to sort it out. I'm happy to say that this morning my husband came in to save the day and has it all sorted. But I certainly now have a little more perspective of the other side of the situation and what it's like to be in the shoes of the person seeking support.

I also came across a funny article the other day, covering just this topic and some things that your Computer Techie just won't tell you. I hope it cheers your day as it did mine :)

- Turn it off and turn it back on again. Nine times out of 10 rebooting your computer and any equipment that connects to it will solve the problem.
- We're like Santa: we know if you've been bad or good. Fessing up to what really happened right before the system crashed is going to save time- and I'm going to find it out anyway.
- Sometimes we talk about you in code. If you hear "HKI error" (for human keyboard interface) or "PEBCAK" (problem exists between chair and keyboard), we're insulting you.
- If you don't understand me, I'm not doing my job. Confusing tech jargon is a sign of insecurity, not intelligence.

Happy Friday!

Bella