Possibly, but this has happened before and the usual fix is a restart of the app in the server (possibly with a server reboot), not a computer reboot for the users. Either way, the IT guy had 1) never heard of the application, so 2) didn’t follow the instructions provided to the department, which have a giant note about this recurring problem saying “just restart the app on the server” and so 3) was useless to me after having forced me to go through 7 levels of “for this type of service, press 1, for this press 2,…” in order to get to him.
I’m new to the application, so I didn’t know until I spoke to the project manager what the recurring problem was. Now I know, and next time I know who to ask in order to do what needs to be done. But you’d think the guys whose job it is to do it would have some clue too. (Our IT is outsourced, btw…to a company generally considered to charge a lot of money and give very little in return).
Maybe your place only had one shared network drive, but what typically happens is there are lots of shared network drives, and the support people have no idea which one you’re supposed to be connected to. You don’t know either (which is why you’re asking), so they have to come investigate.
For me, it’s typically 20 questions:
[ul]
[li]My J: drive is gone.[/li][li]What share is your J: drive?[/li][li]???[/li][li]What kind of files are on the J: drive?[/li][li]Stuff we save.[/li][li]Who’s we?[/li][li]The lab.[/li][li]Which lab?[/li][/ul]
etc.
We only have one server, but it has 30 or so shares (not including users’ directories), and I have no idea which user on which computer uses which particular shares. To make it more complicated, some users have multiple shares, so even if I have an idea of which ones they might use, I don’t know which one is on J:.
mnemosyne, I’m not sure what the problem could be, I’m going to send your ticket to level 2. [mute]God what a fucking pain in the ass just listen to me already! [/mute] Someone will be calling you shortly.
Oh yea you think we don’t mute and berate you? We do.
Yeah, I understand that. I know the letter is arbitrary and irrelevant, while it became rather clear that most of my coworkers didn’t know that so I definitely see what you’re saying.
I just found it frustrating that short of already knowing the exact path, I wasn’t able to explain to the IT guy which path I was looking for. I mean, using an example, if I want the Technical services share drive, the one that serves the Quality Control lab and still has the name from before the company was bought…I’d like to think that’s enough information for them to find QClab.techserv.oldcompanyname, no?
Which is why every time I ever had an IT request that I knew would be re-occurring in the lab, I wrote down step-by-step instructions and gave them to my coworkers because 99% of the time it’s a 1 minute fix and it just wasn’t worth having to deal with calling IT. I kind of took over the job in the lab for a while!
Some occasionally forget to hit the mute button!
Level 2 ticket…yay! More spam in my inbox and still no resolution to the problem!
Tech support reps have certain guidelines for the products they can support, and the ones they can’t… and the calls are monitered. Sucks, but the TSR doesn’t make the rules.
Tell me again why, only on the teachers’ computers in the faculty room and on the teacher’s computer in the labs, we do not have access to Gmail? This is considered a breach of security.
However, if I step two feet away and go to ANY of the student computers, I can get onto Gmail in an instant.
And no, there is nothing a on student’s computer I cannot access regarding company files.
And as long as I am asking, you refuse to give me the newest updates to Adobe CS5, claiming the school only has a limited amount of license agreements. But in conversations, I heard you gladly gave a copy to two instructors who don’t even teach it. Geez, if they were at least cute sluts, I could understand, but they are not even your gender of choice, let alone cute. I won’t say anything - but you do know I could get your ass in trouble for doing it. Thanks for nuthin’.
That usually involves my boss telling me to give someone something they want, even if they can’t justify it. If I’m not giving you something you need, I’m not giving it to someone else that doesn’t need it, unless told otherwise by someone higher up.
Unless, of course, they’re cute sluts of the gender of my choice.
My computer at work doesn’t allow English-language words. Now my password is something insane that I’ve never used before and will never use again. I loathe the guy who devised that rule.
We have web apps that every now and then users can’t log on to. They need to re-start/log off/on to renew their local Kerberos ticket as they had left their machine on too long. When they’re told this you can hear their eyes roll over the phone but they have to do it if they want to log on.
Sometimes the best option is just to throw a re-boot at the machine and see do you have a problem afterwards. It does things like free up any held processes etc. It’s quicker than starting a trawl of documentation etc.
I get this all the time. very Annoying. Also queries logged through the web like:
I sent an email and it hasn’t got there yet can you check if it went?
I deleted a file from my share can you restore?*
The last time I got a call like the restore call I close it with the text “file restored”. When the user got back to me to say that their file wasn’t restored I replied “oh you wanted a specific file restored?” I know the user pretty well and she took it on the chin. I wouldn’t have pulled that on someone I didn’t know though as you never know what kind of prick you’re dealing with.
e.g a triangle starting with “z” but shift on the “z” as usualy a uppercase is also required. So you end up with Zse4rfvcx. Nice passwords and easy to remeber and enter as all you ahve to remember is the shape and the starting point.
I admit that I hadn’t thought of that, though I do tend to reboot my work computer once or twice a week out of habit (my home laptop is a whole other matter…!)
I still maintain that the IT guy should at least have known about the existence of this application, even if he didn’t know how to fix it (and better yet, follow the instructions provided to his company in order to direct the request to someone who can help). I’m told the instructions/support matrix have been re-sent to the IT company, so here’s hoping it doesn’t go badly.
Not directed at the OP in particular as I’ve never met him; but certainly directed at numerous tech support types I’ve had the misfortune to deal with:
[ul]
[li]Are you aware that when dealing with the public you tend to lose your employer customers?[/li][li]Are you aware that your self-proclaimed “virtues” (oooh, I’m so badass!) are, in fact, a lack of social skills, and are not something to be proud of?[/li][li]Are you aware that mocking those who don’t possess your particular skillset makes you an unpleasant twerp, and that these people can do many things you cannot but don’t mock you for them?[/li][li]Are you aware that you have a desperate lack of self-esteem and find validation out of failure to interact with other people in a normal way?[/ul][/li]
I’ve been fortunate enough to deal with some great, charismatic, friendly tech support people and I’m always grateful to find I’m dealing with someone who has social skills. Unfortunately, the stereotype seems to prove true more often than not. It’s a shame.
It seems to me that socials skills should be an important part of a job which primarily involves dealing with other people.
When I asked you about my computer running really slowly and the fan sounding like it was going into warp drive and you told me I was “on the list” to get a new computer in a couple months, were you telling me the truth, or just trying to get rid of me?
Do you think you are intellectually superior simply because you obtained some certifications from the local community college?
If you are such a computer whiz, why are you helping Bob from Accounting configure his printer instead of working for Google or some Silicon Valley tech startup?
Do you understand that typically your job is to support the real business of the company and that you are not, in fact, the business of the company.
Why would you take a job that typically requires that you are pleasent to people?
Do you realize that it isn’t our fault that you hate your job?
Do you really wonder why companies are outsourcing your job?
