Good stuff. Thought it would be a funny way to start the week for all of us tech people.

Post from: EveryJoe

IT Support Song from Tim Hawkins

No, I will not fix your computer. Why?
a) It’s a Mac so I don’t ***** know how.
b) Jobs said it wouldn’t break.
        -From: krystalo, a Digg user

Once I finished laughing out loud, I realized something — this is very true! People bring their devices into the IT shop all the time without any regard for what the device is. Take for instance, a 2000 computer global company.

They run entirely on Windows. Their desktops, Windows XP, their laptops, Windows XP, their servers, Windows Server — see, all Windows. Along comes Mr. I Want It (IWI) with his MacBook Pro or iTouch or iPhone. He plops it down on the desk and says, “Hey, my kid broke this, can you fix it?”

The way most of the IT crowd would like to answer is, “No, it’s a Mac. I don’t fix that junk. Plus, didn’t you rant and rave about how secure, stable and awesome it was to me last week? What happened, not so great after all?” But we know better so we simply say, “I’m sorry, I can’t work on personal computers.” Or, “I really don’t have the time to do it now, maybe later.” (In hopes that the person either forgets that it’s broken or realizes they have free tech support from Apple.)

Now this isn’t to say that we don’t want to help out. It’s just that we don’t want to help you with your personal PC issues. You can’t pay us enough and we usually don’t have time to deal with it. We have a corporate job to do. Plus, if you had a PC, you could make amazing music with Windows 98. Now that’d be something to watch.

Courtesy of: LaughingSquid.com

Post from: EveryJoe

No computer fixing today buddy

Don’t yell and don’t swear, if you want me to take your request seriously and not dump it at the bottom of my list of things to do then talk to me professionally. I have things to do and you have things to do and it only exacerbates things when you raise your voice when I explain that it will take some time to get to your request. There are 50 other people who called before you and gave me the same story.

We all think we’re important people. Whether you are the mail room attendant or CEO, you think you are the most important person in the world. News flash for you — You’re not! It’s never easy to deal with multiple problems coming in at one time. One call for a printer down, one for email not working and yet another for the simple reason that the phone doesn’t ring loud enough (get a hearing aid). It’s even harder to deal with an angry, cursing, loud-mouthed person who has a problem and it generally leads to hurt feelings and tears shed later on.

A simple, email (if email is available) or phone call to the help desk is all that it takes to get the ball rolling. The job of the IT gurus at the receiving end is to take it all in and prioritize. Obviously the sprinklers going off in the main network closet is a much higher priority than your printer not spitting out the latest Sunday comic. So deal. That over worked, sometimes underpaid and never over appreciated IT guy will fix your issue. Just cut them a little slack — they are probably also understaffed.

Post from: EveryJoe

Patience is a virtue

First, a question (or two) — What is the worst situation that you have experienced while dealing with an IT department? What is the worst situation that you have experienced while working in an IT department? Now as you can see, I want your stories from both sides. I believe in what my father used to say, “I don’t pick favorites between you and your brother. I dislike both of you equally.” So please, leave a comment below and I promise, I’ll read it.

Now, on to the story. Just a couple of weeks ago I had a wonderful coworker ask me:

How do I fix my monitor?

I started to rattle off a canned answer before I realized that they had not told me any information about what the issue was. When I pressed them for more information, they had no idea of how to respond. As we went back and forth with questions like, “Is the monitor on? Is it dim? Does it have lines across it?” I came to realize that this issue stems from a much larger problem — We in IT don’t have all the answers. I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true. This is especially true when we don’t have all the information.

The reason I’m telling you this is that most of the time when a problem arises relating to a computer, people grab the closest tech-savvy person and ask them to fix it. This does not work. People are trained in different aspects of IT. If you were an accountant, you probably wouldn’t want me running to you each time I was short on cash. Why? Because you’re not a loan shark. Sure you deal in money but that doesn’t make you qualified nor interested in what it is I have to say. The same rings true in IT. A desktop support guy (or gal) is probably trained in desktop computer issues. This doesn’t include servers, networks, car engines or your blender. So please, be kind to your IT guy and give them the information that they need so they can either solve your issue or point you in the right direction.

By the way, in case you were wondering — This user had unplugged the VGA cable from their computer while cleaning. They didn’t think it did anything so they coiled it up, nice and neat, and taped it to the back of the monitor.

Post from: EveryJoe

A new way of thinking