For the purposes of this article, "Creating A Ticket" is used to refer to the tracking systems that pretty much any organization with more than 1 IT employee use to monitor the progress of broken systems. Chances are, if you have a way to call or email for support, a ticket is being generated, and a number is provided regarding it. One of the common "new" measures to keep IT from getting overwhelmed is the concept of "Self Service" tickets - generally you as the End User will use some sort of Internet/Intranet page in order to notify the IT department that something is broken.
I provide the following 10 tips to help End Users properly interface with their IT Support coworkers:
1. Follow the Proper Procedure: It amazes me how many times someone calls and tells me that they have an urgent issue with their PC that has been going on for weeks, and I ask them if they submitted a ticket and they respond with "no." Frequently, they tell me that they emailed a tech that helped them in the past, or mentioned it in passing to someone in the hallway. Some of them just seem to think that I have ESP and know automatically whenever their Outlook crashes. Now every company is different, so do check the guidelines for your particular organization, but everywhere that I have worked has followed a pretty strict guideline. Do Not Directly Contact 1 Technician, Unless Your Company Only HAS One Technician. Turn over in IT is high. People get sick, or go on vacation and don't set their out of office messages. No less than three people interrupt me with questions every time I leave my desk, so chances are I've forgotten the first issue by the time I've reached my desk.
This is also a case of poor etiquette. If an established procedure exists, it does so for a reason. Generally it is so issues can be dealt with in a timely, organized manner. Trying to circumvent the system puts you in a poor position because three days later when your system is still broke, you have no proof that you spoke to anyone. The Right Way to Do It: Create a ticket, or call your Company's Hotline, whatever the proper procedure is. If there's a particular tech that you wish to assist you with on the matter, e-mail them your information, and any ticket/confirmation numbers that you received.
2. Give Detail When Submitting Tickets, or Calling IT: A lot of people in the business world are extremely busy, flitting from meeting to meeting with little time between. As they have little time to wait on hold with IT, they tend to submit Self Service tickets documenting the problem. However, what inevitably happens is that the ticket says something extremely vague like "My Computer is Not Functioning Correctly," and because they are never at their desk, it's hard for the Tech to figure out what they're talking about. Most times, this results in the technician taking a look at the system, not seeing anything obviously wrong with it, and closing out the ticket. The Right Way To Do It: Give as much detail as you think is potentially relevant to the issue. This is especially important if only one program or piece of hardware is malfunctioning. For example, I generally don't check a printer to see if it works unless the ticket says that the computer isn't printing. If you know Model Numbers, Error Codes/Messages, IP Addresses, etc., this information needs to be included in the ticket.
3. DON'T TYPE LIKE THIS, GODDAMNIT: Most of the people that I have worked with have taken all-caps as a sign that the user would like their ticket downgraded to "Low" priority. And don't even get me started about how we feel when people swear at us. The Right Way To Do It: Always remember, phone calls to IT, emails, and tickets are all monitored. Be professional.
4. Tell The Truth!: I can't stress this enough. There are two things that people lie about: Fault, and Frequency. The Fault category is what you were doing when the issue occurred. Don't pretend that you never look at Facebook, or that you, "Didn't install anything" before the problem occurred. CERTAINLY don't tell me that you never access Facebook after I have already pulled the site out of your History, and shown you that it goes directly to your page. Frequency is regarding the number of times a machine has broken before, the number of times you've tried to contact me, etc. Guess what? All of the above is tracked. I can pull phone records that show that you've never tried to call me. I can pull previous tickets that show that while your computer did break twice before, both times were because of Facebook-related viruses. The Right Way To Do It: Admit everything. IT is going to figure it out anyway, and when we realize how much time we wasted because you couldn't just admit to downloading addons to help you play Farmville better, we are far more likely to go run and tell your boss than we would be if you just confessed upfront.
5. IT Needs Private Time Too!: Perhaps this is just a problem that I encounter as a woman, because men's bathroom etiquette is a bit more heavily discussed in popular culture than women's. But at every place I have worked, I have had one or two individuals who have insisted upon discussing whatever ailed their computer when we were both in the bathroom! All this achieves is proving that you're tactless (and pretty gross, in my opinion). The same goes for lunch breaks as well. The Right Way to Do It: As noted prior, email is typically the best way to contact IT.
6. Oh hey there, buddy!: There's always at least one guy in the company that does it - the moment he needs something fixed, he's your best friend. He shows up at your office door, makes three seconds of small talk, and then, "Oh, by the way, can you look at my Email?" Then two days later when you encounter him in the hallway, he doesn't even nod when you say Hi. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book to act nice when you need something and then promptly stop the act once your needs have been fulfilled. The Right Way To Do It: Your IT staff are people too! Try being nice whenever you encounter them, and you'll find your issues are resolved much quicker! Seriously, it doesn't hurt to say Hi every now and again.
7. Oh Also, My PC at Home Is Acting Weird...: It amazes me how many people assume that while I am working on their office PC, that I will also assist them on issues they're experiencing with their home PC. I've actually confronted a few users before over why they thought it was ok to do this, and basically, the response was, "Well, you're already here, and it's a computer." This mentality is flawed. You don't call up your company accountant and request that he do your taxes while he's at work. Just because IT advice is intangible doesn't mean it's free. Also, I don't want to have to deal with you being angry with me when I tell you to download Kaspersky Antivirus, and you decide to download some free piece of malware that's posing as antivirus. The Right Way To Do It: If you followed the advice for #6, and you are on friendly terms with IT, it is alright to occasionally ask a question, but you should ideally check good old Google for some information first. I would rather have you come to me and say, "I think I have this virus, is it true that Kaspersky will remove it?" than have you say, "I'm getting popups all the time, what do I do?" And of course, I always support bribery. I'm not saying PAY your IT person to help you, I'm just saying that if brownies happen to end up on my desk next to a broken computer, it'll probably get taken care of.
8. We Understand You're Angry, Please Don't Direct It At Us!: Let's face it, if you're talking to the IT staff in the first place, chances are something's either broken. People have differing ways of dealing with frustration, and some are better at it than others. But do try to avoid the "You gave me this computer and now it's broken so it's your fault." There are few things worse than going out of our way to help someone, and to that person do nothing but try and chew our heads off! It's okay to be frustrated with the situation, but technicians remember the "angry" clients, and strive to avoid them when they see their name on the caller ID in the future. Obviously, if the technician did something that broke your PC in the first place that's a bit different, but in those scenarios, it's better to calmly speak to the technician's supervisor, who can handle things in a bit more rational fashion. The Right Way To Do It: First, don't call the second you realize your PC is acting up. Restart the PC, as that is literally the solution for a good third of the calls I receive. While the PC is restarting, do something that you find relaxing, so you can have a rational conversation with the technician. If you're agitated when you call, it's just going to take longer to resolve the issue.
9. Regarding Last Minute Emergencies: It happens to everyone. That project that you were assigned three weeks ago that will "only take an hour," is due by lunchtime. You open up Powerpoint to do it, and it crashes. These circumstances typically lead to some of the most difficult issues to handle as a technician, because the user is freaking out, they aren't communicating clearly, and they are unwilling to try things like restarting because they think it's a waste of time. In worse case scenarios, I've seen people lie to their bosses, stating that their PC has been broken for weeks just to avoid having to get in trouble for being late! Well guess what, when your boss calls us up, we have a log of when you called and what it was about, so that's not going to work! The Right Way To Do It: As stated above, restart your PC and take a deep breath before calling us (or while you're calling). Try to be as calm as possible as you explain the problem. If you admit, "Hey, I completely screwed up and forgot to do this, now it is due soon and my PC is broke" we will likely be willing to work with you. Yelling/Screaming/Crying is all counter-productive.
10. Gratitude Fixes Everything: Very few people tell us thank you, or seem in the slightest bit grateful when we help them. If you are one of these people, we will remember you, and it will help you out in the future.
And a Bonus:
11: Google It!: 90% of issues that I see as a technician are quick, easy fixes. If you try Googling something before calling IT, you're not only going to avoid feeling dumb when the tech fixes it with a reboot, you're also going to LEARN SOMETHING!
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