Shark Tank: That's just so, so wrong
- IT TOPICS:Applications, Devices, Hardware, Management, Networking, Security
This remote laptop user is having network problems, so support pilot fish starts troubleshooting. Is your network adapter built-in or a PC card? fish asks. "PC card," user says. What type? "It just says Dell." Fish walks user through reseating the PC card and even swapping it for her neighbor's, with no success. Finally he asks for her laptop's service tag number and looks it up -- and learns the laptop should have a built-in adapter. "I finally ask her to search the PC card for a part number," says fish. "She tells me '0120C.' A quick search confirms that's Dell's part number for a PC card slot plastic filler."
Eh?
Help desk gets a request: "This is not high priority, but either the speakers on my computer do not seem to be working or my hearing is getting bad. I have it turned all the way up as far as I can tell. Thanks." Sighs pilot fish, "Our support staff will be able to fix a problem with the speakers, but if it was my hearing and I thought it was going, I think it would be ranked up there as a high-priority request myself."
Precision Mailing
Company upgrades an application that key clients use, and that will require an upgrade on the clients' PCs, too. This pilot fish is sending out CDs with instructions and calls to tell the tech contact for one client that the upgrade is on its way. "I told her I was putting a CD in the mail and she could expect to see it Saturday or Monday," reports fish. "She said, 'Can you make it Monday? We're closed on Saturdays.'"
Not My Fault
Passwords are a problem for this user -- he's forever asking to have them reset. This pilot fish finally begs him to please remember his password and to write it down in a safe place so he won't lose it. "His answer to me was that he was tired of requesting password resets too," says fish. "He said that the system was at fault for forgetting his password. He was 100% sure the system kept forgetting the password, not him."
Got Paper?
User calls IT pilot fish, asking for a list of employees and their departments so she can send the annual Christmas hams. "Just put the list in interoffice mail," she tells fish. Can't I just e-mail the list to you? fish asks. User: "No, I need it on paper so I can make copies."
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