When I worked the help desk, we used to use a system that allowed us to record a quick announcement so that we could invite people to hang up after they had heard it. We could then get an automatic count of how many calls we got in an outage. Rather than spend ages explaining over and over again about an incident, we could take only calls that were about other matters than the big problem.

When the emergency was over, it was necessary to inform the users. We utilized a pyramid calling system whereby we would call a list of department heads, who would then call a list of team leaders beneath them. In this way we could pass the information quicker than we could have done if we had started to call a whole long list of individual users.

While this might at first sight appear to be a little impersonal, we felt that it was more important to pass the information as quickly as possible. We invited any people who wished to call in and get an update on the problem, but we found that this offer was seldom taken up. We found that people were more keen to get back to work than they were to find out about our technical problems. What they really needed to know was that we were aware of the problem and were working to fix it.

Sometimes I think we spend too long explaining faults to customers and not enough time fixing the problem. The customer appeared to agree with us as well. We found that the level of communication was satisfactory for them, which came as a bit of a surprise. Our Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) system was always a bone of contention with them, because they regarded it as impersonal and unfriendly.

Nobody likes the ACD: the users hear their call being answered by a recording and the help desk analysts can feel pressured by watching the call waiting display and seeing them stack up, yet I don’t know how we could manage without it. When there are only four or five people on the desk and twenty calls come in together something has to take up the slack.

How do you feel about your ACD? Is it a big help to you or do you find it a system too far removed? Take the poll now.

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The Webcast is sponsored by Citrix Online and will explore how integrating remote-support technology is the path to increasing the number of satisfied customers. This is a live event so registration is required:

“How to Provide World-Class Help Desk Support in Remote Environments” - Click the title for a full description.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008
1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT / 6:00 PM GMT

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Equipment standardization is generally a good idea. Whenever possible, having as few “species” as possible to support makes life easier all around. Few of the organizations where I have worked have been able to replace hardware in such volume that we could standardize on a specific model at any time. We have held to soft standards, though, usually buying similar model revisions from a single specific vendor each purchasing cycle.

Our standard desktop machines have Windows installed. Not because I have any problem servicing Apple hardware, but because Windows is the most cost-effective choice for our work. In addition to receiving competitive prices from our hardware vendor, our university offers certain volume-licensed software packages for Windows at significantly reduced prices. Comparable deals on Macintosh-compatible software do not exist.

Not long ago, our division outsourced the graphic design of our published research reports. Our in-house designer had left the organization, and we hired a new manager who would be coordinating the production of our publications. This new employee was not supposed to be doing any layout or graphics work herself, and coordinating with our design contractor was only going to be one part of her job portfolio. When preparing for the publication manager’s start date, I saw no reason not to provide her with one of our standard Windows desktops.

The only problem was that the designer the management team had chosen used a Macintosh-based workflow. Complications arose for our publication manager almost immediately because we had her using a Windows machine. Even though all the design programs exist for both platforms, when your printer and your designer are using Macs, life can become difficult if you insist on using Windows. The biggest issue for us was fonts. Our publication manager would want to make a small edit to the text in a PDF using Acrobat, and we would discover that the Windows version of a specific font would have slightly different character spacing than the Macintosh version. Any edits made on our end would throw off the text flow in the document.

When we tried migrating our publication manager to a Mac, her problems went away. The other tasks she was responsible for did not necessitate any specific software that required Windows, and by using a Mac, she found she fit in better with the design and print process. By making an exception to our usual standard, we were able to provide her with a tool that better suited her work.

Standardization can certainly make working the help desk easier, but techs should always bear in mind that IT is about providing the right tool for the job. Sometimes, that might mean making an exception to the usual standard.

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The Four Germiest Surfaces:

• Phones
• Desks
• Computer keyboard
• Computer mouse

I don’t want to paint a picture of myself with an image of being a germaphobia kind of guy (accurately known as mysophobia), someone like Howard Hughes, because that’s not me at all.

mysophobia (noun): abnormal fear of or distaste for uncleanliness or contamination.

Like I said, that’s not me, but I sure do think about all the crud that builds up on keyboards around the office, especially when I have to sit in front of someone else’s to fix a user issue. I don’t pull out the latex gloves, but I have intentionally washed my hands after using another person’s keyboard. Besides, those dirty and grungy keyboards just look bad, don’t you think?

When keyboards became cheap enough, they actually became a throw-away item just to get somebody a clean one. This was especially true when a new employee was given another person’s computer — I’d always provide a new mouse and keyboard. After one such instance, however, instead of throwing one away, I decided to put it into the dishwasher to see what would happen. I was amazed at how clean the thing got. It actually looked brand-new.

I turned it upside down, shook the heck out of it so all the excess water would run out, and then placed it upside down onto some paper towels so it could further drip-dry. Every once in a while, I’d shake it again and place it in a slightly different position to make sure all the water would drain out of it.

When I tested it a few days later, I made sure to plug it into a computer that was expendable; if it trashed the computer, I wouldn’t care. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover that the keyboard worked perfectly — and it looked great. Since then, I’ve washed about a dozen keyboards in the dishwasher, and I haven’t had one issue with any of them.

It’s interesting to do an Internet search with the key words keyboard dishwasher. Most major keyboard manufacturers, like Microsoft and Logitech, only recommend cleaning them with the can of air or a damp cloth, but I’m obviously not the only one who’s had success putting them in the dishwasher. In fact, I even ran across one manufacturer who marked their keyboard dishwasher safe.

Disclaimer: Put your own keyboard in the dishwasher at your own risk.

I remember an instance that happened years ago (about twenty years ago) when I was working for an architect who was so tight with a dollar that he’d snap someone’s head off at the mere suggestion of spending any money. I laughed when a coworker actually bought another keyboard with his own money after he spilled a can of soda onto it. This was twenty years ago, mind you, when keyboards were more sensitive and much more expensive. I think it set the guy back almost one hundred dollars. Perhaps he should have tried the dishwasher experiment first.

Okay, we seem to like polls around here, so let’s ask the question.

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Everytime somebody calls the help desk, we raise a ticket. At the end of the month the managers sit down and count how many tickets have been raised and how long we spent fixing them.

It has been the practice of the teams that I have worked with to log multiple calls caused by a single failure on one ticket, because to raise an individual ticket every time a user rang to ask why the network is down would take more time than we have to use.

This seems a sensible thing to do, but at the end of the month, unless the managers responsible look into each occurrence, an event that may have caused the whole department to work furiously all afternoon would carry the same weight as a forgotten password or a faulty mouse.

One of the problems we face is the increasing incidence of line managers being remote from the operation. All the evidence they have to work with is based on the reports they take off the logging system, but the spreadsheet does not show how the logs affected the system. Reporting total downtime, number of password resets, and total number of tickets raised may give only a partial picture of what has occurred on the system. It might take a written report from the help desk team leader to give a narrative to the events of the week.

On a ship, the captain keeps a log of the day-to-day running of the vessel, noting everything from the number of sick and injured to the distance traveled, the amount of fuel used, and the number of other vessels sighted. In the event of an inquiry, it helps to recall any information that might at the time seem trivial but turn out to be helpful later.

I advocate keeping a help desk log that records such information as who is at work, how many calls were taken, and what, if any, unusual events took place. This log can form part of the monthly reports and put some flesh on the bones of the normal reports that are generated purely from statistics. Whenever you are assembling reports from stats and making decisions from them, you should remember the famous line said to originate from either Benjamin Disraeli or Mark Twain:

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

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CompTIA, the IT industry organization responsible for various vendor-neutral technology certifications, is preparing to reorganize their A+ exam for computer support professionals. The process to revise the test involves gathering feedback from experienced technicians as to how well the exam objectives test for skills that will be needed in the field.

I was pleased to learn that CompTIA is asking for feedback on their certification objectives. Opening the process to external review should help ensure that the certification remains relevant and current. I decided to follow the links to the surveys in hopes of contributing. Also, upon completing a feedback survey, one can register for a prize drawing. Hey, I’m concerned about the integrity of the A+ certification, but prizes are nice, too.

It’s a good thing that the exam revision does not rely entirely on the survey process, because I think the questionnaire is kind of absurd. Here’s an example of one of the early questions from the IT Tech job analysis survey:

Please rate the importance of the tasks, knowledge and/or skills sets of the following objective for the borderline qualified candidate.

Objective 1.1 - Given a scenario, install, configure and maintain personal computer components. Storage devices: HDD (SATA, PATA, solid state), FDD, optical drives (CD/DVD/RW/Blu-Ray), removable, external. Motherboards: jumper settings, CMOS battery, advanced bios settings, Bus speeds, chipsets, firmware updates, socket types, expansion slots, memory slots, front panel connectors, I/O ports (sound, video, USB, serial, IEEE 1394/firewire, parallel, NIC, modem, PS/2), Power supplies: wattages and capacity, connector types and quantity, output voltages. Processors/CPUs: socket type, speed, number of cores, power consumption, cache, front side bus, 32bit vs. 64bit. Memory. Adapter cards: graphic cards, sound cards, storage controllers: RAID cards, eSATA cards, (RAID Array: levels 0, 1,5), I/O cards: Firewire, USB, Parallel, serial. Wired and wireless network cards, capture cards (TV, video), media reader. Cooling systems: heat sinks, thermal compound, CPU fans, case fans.

Please rate on a 1-5 scale, with 1 meaning “Not Important,” 2 meaning “Of Little Importance,” 3 meaning “Somewhat Important,” 4 meaning “Important,” and 5 meaning “Very Important.”

Um, yeah. Lots of the questions are written like that. In every case, something in the laundry list is definitely “very important,” even in a “borderline qualified” candidate. 5’s all around.

Seriously, though: how is anyone expected to answer a question that’s written that broadly?

Upon reflection, it is clear that such broad survey questions are not intended to determine the relevance of any specific item of technical knowledge. CompTIA is using these surveys instead to determine what proportion of the exam should be devoted to each of their existing objective areas. That’s important, certainly, but why make the process difficult by using poorly written surveys? CompTIA should have edited each survey down to its final question, where respondents simply fill in the percentage of the A+ test they think should be devoted to each subject area. Done and done. Easy-peasy. Instead, their surveys were designed poorly, and I came away feeling like CompTIA had wasted my time.

If you like the idea of contributing to the development of the A+ certification exam — in whatever minuscule way these surveys may offer — you can follow the links below to give your feedback. Do you think the A+ certification is useful? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

CompTIA A+ Essentials job analysis survey

CompTIA A+ IT Technician job analysis survey

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With my most recent computer upgrades, I installed the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. Although the hardware to support 64-bit has been around for a while, not all software manufacturers have made the leap. Moreover, device drivers continue to be an issue, and many devices simply aren’t 64-bit compatible.

It seems that in my environment, it’s full steam ahead for 64-bit. I also now have 64-bit drivers for all my printers, plotters, scanners, and so on. Although I still have some 32-bit configurations scattered about, all my new machines will reflect the newer technology.

How about you? Take the poll. Have you made the 64-bit leap? If not, join the discussion and tell us what the biggest obstacle is. Perhaps some TR peers could share some ideas on how it might be overcome.

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One thought I was turning over in my head was an idea for Help Desk “open days.” It would be a way to get people to walk into the office and meet the people who work there. I would make up a few leaflets, laminate a few cards that listed the opening hours and contact details, and hold question-and-answer sessions, so that the help desk could keep abreast of the issues that affect the users directly.

To me it is very important to keep track of what is going on not only in the IT department but also in the general user community. If there is an influx of new people in the company, we need to make sure that all the preparatory work is done, that they have logins and equipment, and that the necessary places are booked on training courses. If you have the help desk as part of the company and not some remote voice on the end of the phone, it means that people will feel easier about coming forward and asking for things.

It is also harder for them to give you a hard time if they know you as a person.

It has often been the practice of some companies to hide the help desk away in a basement or even in another building, thus emphasizing the remote nature of our work. That is fine if you are supporting remote workers, but I feel it is better if the help desk is part of the community and people look on us as colleagues rather than as another external supplier of services that may not have anything to do with the business.

My estimate is that there is a 80/20 skill balance between customer service and technical skills for the average help desk analyst, and I feel that it is important that we all recognize this balance. In the past I have encountered people with superlative technical skills and knowledge who I would never allow within a hundred yards of a customer; paradoxically, I know many excellent help desk analysts who have very little technical knowledge but who do have the skills to listen, record, and glean information from all sources in order to build resolutions.

With this in mind, opening the help desk up to visitors will give end users a better image of the IT department and will give the help desk free access to the issues faced in the real world by real users.

TechRepublic’s User Support newsletter, delivered Tuesday and Friday, features blogs, tips, and white papers designed for IT support pros. Automatically sign up today!

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The consumer electronics catalogs that come across my threshold are chock full of mini notebook offerings. It seems like retailers are hoping that a sub $400 computer might be this Christmas’s must-have gift. I get the attraction.

Computers are a product that people are very price sensitive toward. When an honest-to-goodness laptop computer can be had for less than a video game console, now that gets people’s attention. Everyone likes getting a good deal, and a computer is still perceived as a big-ticket item.

These mini notebooks are light, but not too light. Ask most “full” laptop users what their biggest complaint is with their machine, and they probably will tell you that it’s heavy. At three pounds or less, these netbooks seem like they would be good for road warriors and students alike, without sacrificing too much usability. The computer industry has been down the ultra-portable road before with the UMPC. The ultra-mobile PC didn’t take off because they were too expensive and too inconvenient to carry and use. Larger than a PDA or smart phone but smaller than a laptop, these devices just didn’t find a market. Try to explain exactly what a UMPC is to the average person, and they’ll just visualize a smaller laptop. Netbooks have the advantage of being a form factor that everyone can grok.

Netbooks are robust enough to handle the basics. With competent, low power CPUs like those now being produced by Intel, these machines can browse the Web and edit Office documents without any trouble at all. If netbooks take off the way that their manufacturers hope, what will that mean for those of us who take care of computers professionally? If indeed 50 million netbooks are shipped in the next four years, any tech that deals directly with consumers had better be prepared to see a surge of these machines coming in for service. I don’t expect these machines to make any significant headway in the enterprise market, though. What do you think?

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Some time ago, I was asked to look in to videoconferencing systems so our company could hold virtual meetings with out-of-town clients. We discussed having a couple of cameras — one on a front wall to show the people in the meeting and another camera on the ceiling that could capture the image of drawings and documents on the conference table — an interface with our company network, so we could access files from our file servers; and a large screen that could be split to show any number of views. Initially, I was pretty excited about tackling the project, even though it was something I’ve had absolutely zero experience with. Not to worry, however. How hard could it be to pick out a couple of cameras and a display and figure out how to make it all work?

My first stop was my favorite computer superstore to peruse through their inventory of Internet cameras, look at the wide-screen LCD screens, and pick the brains of some sales associates to get a better idea of the scope of what I need to consider. Well, other than some simple and low-cost cameras that mounted on top of a computer monitor, I didn’t have much luck. They could provide the hardware to facilitate broadcasting simple Internet images, but when I talked about dual-cameras, high-powered zoom capability, audio features, split screens, and such, they had neither the equipment I needed nor a clue as to how I’d do it.

My next stop was the Internet for a bit of research. A search for Video Conferencing resulted in over 68 million hits. Surely if I reviewed a couple dozen of those sites, I’d have a pretty good idea of what I needed for my project. Well, there’s actually so much information out there, that the answers to my questions remained elusive.

Perhaps I should talk to some of our clients to see what they have, so I called my counterparts at those companies to see how they do things, and they were all more than willing to share their knowledge (as I would be). I called only a few, but without exception, they all contracted the project to a firm that specialized in videoconferencing systems — none had done it internally. I had hoped to turn a $14,000 project into a $7,000 one, thereby having a money-saving feather in my cap, but perhaps it was not to be, at least not this time.

Anyway, after a few hours of research and several phone calls to other IT professionals, and not being any closer to a system recommendation and cost estimate than I was before, I decided to make the following recommendation: I think we should call in a consultant, someone who specializes in videoconferencing systems.

In the end, that’s exactly what we did — and after watching the installation process, I’m glad I decided to pass the project on to others. It took two people two days to complete the installation, which involved mounting the cameras and display; routing the cables through the walls, above the ceiling, under the floor, and through the conference table leg; and completing the configuration and testing. The only thing I was involved in was providing some of the configuration information, such as IP adressing and such. What we ended up with is a very nice Polycom VSX 7000 Video Conferencing System, one that’s much better and more professional than one I could have put together myself.

Although I do have a tendency to want to do most things myself, I do ocassionally pass the job on to others. This is one time I’m glad I did.

How about you? Do you always try to do it yourself, or do you contract out certain projects? And what can you share with the TR community about your experience with videoconferencing systems?

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