by Arthur Prokosch
Systems Administrator and Technical Support Veteran

Technology can enable and empower you, but it can also bring all progress to a halt. When your computer, printer, Blackberry or other tech device stops working, it’s time to call technical support. Here a seasoned technical support professional shares tips for getting the support you need as quickly and affordably as possible on the job and at home.

Take a Deep Breath

Technical support can take many forms: in-house, on-call, support contracts, software or hardware vendors, or even pay-by-the-incident (such as Geek Squad, Best Buy’s franchised support). Any of these resources can be a lifesaver.

However, all of them also carry costs and tradeoffs that make it a good idea to learn strategies to efficiently use technical support. Your productivity – and your budget – will thank you for doing so.

First, a note about frustration. We’ve all felt infuriated when an impassive display or error message stands between us and completing an (often urgent!) task. Unfortunately, increased frustration can make it harder to notice small details that might suggest a solution, or to respond alertly to unexpected questions and instructions that tech support may have for you.

Taking a quick break before calling technical support – or even before following the below suggestions – can lead to a quicker, better resolution to your problem. A break could be as simple as getting a cup of water or coffee, making an unrelated phone call, or even just turning away from the computer and stretching for a minute.

Regardless of how much a technical problem is getting under your skin, it will generally fall into one of these categories:

• How-to: You’re trying to accomplish an unfamiliar task, and it’s not clear how to go about it.
• It broke: Something that should work based on previous experience, stopped working.
• Is this legit?: You’re seeing an unfamiliar message and aren’t sure whether to follow its directions.

“How-to”

You can sometimes find the answer to a relatively narrow “how-to” question without calling technical support. Spend a couple of minutes skimming the Help section of the program you are using or by searching on the Web. Set a time limit of five or 10 minutes for yourself, however. It does you no good to conserve tech support time if you’re wasting your own.

Let’s say the task is to add footnotes to a report. When browsing Help, you may have much better luck with one method (Topics, Index, Search, ...) over another, so be prepared to switch methods as well as use synonyms when searching (e.g., footer for footnotes, etc.).

When searching the Web, you’ll get best results using two to three words to describe your task, plus the program name and version. For example searching "footnotes end of page word 2003" on Google yields good results.

“It Broke!”

If something does not appear to be working, a more structured response is appropriate.

1. First, try again after a minute. If it works again and the problem doesn’t recur, it’s likely that there was a momentary “hiccup” affecting your network or some part of the Internet.
2. If a website is unreachable or misbehaving, check to see if you can load other websites; google.com is a good test.
   • If yes, try emptying your cache (Wikipedia has good instructions) and restarting your browser.
   • If no, make sure your network cable is firmly inserted into your computer (it is easy to kick cables beneath the desk without realizing it). If you connect wirelessly, be sure that you’re attached to the correct network with sufficient signal strength.
3. If email can’t be read and/or sent, try your organization’s webmail. If it works, it’s a temporary workaround. If not, you have valuable detail for tech support.
4. Before contacting tech support, write down any error messages. If it’s more than a couple words and numbers, take a snapshot. On Windows, press PrtSc (for “print screen”), start Word, and then click edit/paste. On a Mac, press Shift+Command+3, and look for “picture 1.png” on your desktop. You could also take a picture with your cell phone.
5. The first question tech support may ask (“what changed before it broke?”) is often the most difficult to provide an accurate answer to. Anticipate this question if you can by thinking back to the last time that “it” worked, and jotting down a couple of things that may have changed in the interim. This might include connecting a new camera, installing a new program or toolbar, or switching from a wired connection to wireless.

“Is this legit?”

If a new email or notification has you wondering “is this legit?,” be wary.

• If in doubt as to whether an email asking for passwords, account information or personal information is a scam – it almost definitely is. Delete it. Only call tech support if they’ve specifically asked you to.
• If a pop-up “bubble” appears telling you that system updates are ready to install, follow the directions of tech support. However, generally the safest thing to do is to ignore it for the day. Then shut down your computer that night, which will automatically install legitimate updates.

If the above suggestions don’t cover your question, please make sure to contact tech support. They (and you!) would much rather have an extra call than spend a day cleaning out unwanted software and/or changing passwords.

Arthur Prokosch has spent over 10 years providing technical support and other technical services to nonprofits.

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