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The Frustrations of Supporting Users In Remote Offices
Esther Schindler writes "You're not alone in your struggle against people who think a shell is something you hold to your ear," writes Carol Pinchefsky. "Other techies are out there supporting users in remote offices, fighting the good fight against computer- and user-related mishaps – or at least tolerating user frustration with a modicum of grace." One example she gives is a tech support person whose systems in Brazil went down — during Carnival: "...We had to wait more than a week for the locals to sober up enough to reconnect the line. In the end, I had to walk a tech (who did not know the system) through the process step by step via an interpreter. Of course, the interpreter was not technical. So it was kind of like explaining to your mom to tell your grandfather (who is hard of hearing) how to do something while she is on the phone and he is across the room from her."
Users in remote offices are the best users! They can email, they can call, and they all get a ticket opened for their issue. But they can't come make a scene in your department (or worse, at your own desk) because "the data pull I asked for last week is clearly out of date, my customer from yesterday isn't listed" etc. I would much rather support users via email, via ticketing, and via phone if necessary, than support them in person.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
IT needs to let go of PEBKAC and ID-10-T errors. Your users have difficult jobs and they probably don't want to deal with you any more than you want to deal with them. They probably aren't "bothering" you for fun. If they are, you're doing your job well.
Yes, they can be dense. But guess what -- they are human and so are you! They make mistakes. So do you!
I enjoy The IT Crowd and BOFH, but those are fantasies and should remain such.
There are many reasons to show appreciation for the work your coworkers do. The most important is that without them, you may be lucky enough to find yourself in their shoes.
What a useless and whinging article! You find remote support frustrating? Some of us recall the days before remote support was an option, having to hop in a car and drive somewhere every time a problem occurred. Remote support is a f*cking godsend. Don't work in support if you can't handle a bit of frustration.
For me it's important to keep in mind, I get paid the same regardless, so it's not worth getting twisted up about it. Communicate slowly and clearly, use simple instructions, ask politely for feedback (what do you see on your screen now?) and you'll eventually get there. Unless your remote user is trying to defuse a bomb, how long this takes probably doesn't matter much in the long run. So relax.
Once, at 3AM or so, modem out of commission, no way to log in, I talked an operator through editing a backup script that another admin had broken. (Made a change, didn't test it.) It took a long time, but we got it done and I didn't have to drive in. In his favor, the operator was excellent at following instructions and telling me what exactly he was seeing on the screen.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
What a useless and whinging article! You find remote support frustrating?
It's more than that. these "support" people find their "users" objectionable - the people for whom they serve and the reason they have a job.
Many if not most people use computers for a varying scale of applications. Most of these people are not "computer professionals". If you are in "support", your job is to "support" these people. If you can't handle that, it's time for a new job.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
The problem is the person complaining isn't very good at his job or prepared for situations that should be expected.
He seems to think getting something done during Carnival is supposed to be easier than getting anything done in France during August or over Christmas weekend in Spain or the USA.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
No, your problems are not "people who think a shell is something you hold to your ear"; your bigger problems are people who *think* they know something, specially when in positions of power, or the miraculous consultants management brings him, that where captured by the consulting firm as rookies (because you know, rookies dont have vices and are better to "reprogram") that think they are the best thing since sliced bread, but only know how to use expensive suits, spew pretty reports and shrink wrap what bobs that hates you tells them during the "discover/gathering facts" phase.
It would make far more sense for the Brazilian tech to learn English. Many technical docs are available only in English. It is the language of science and technology, and any journal or conference that wants an international audience is conducted in English. It is the language of international business. If the Brazilian tech has any ambition, he is going to have to learn it.
I once spent three weeks in Sao Paulo. I don't speak Portuguese, and only know a little Spanish, but I didn't have much problem. Plenty of people there knew enough English to get their point across, and most tech people that I met were fluent.
If you are big enough to have a branch office in Timbuktu then you should be big enough for there to be someone in the home office that speaks whatever they speak there.
Of course this runs counter to the current corporate culture fad of cost cutting and defining success based on quarterly profits and stock results.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
When conducting remote support, the cell phone is an invaluable tool. For one, you can talk to someone directly as you walk them through the wiring closet / rack if needed. Most importantly, is the ability for them to take photos and send them via SMS. Video capture can be important if you suspect activity lights are wonky (failing switch, rare but happens). But most important, you are providing them to tools to help you dive remotely and be self-sufficient. Remember the phrase "help me, help you".
Life is not for the lazy.
I'd gladly sit on the phone
You're doing it wrong.
See, this is the kind of problem that makes it difficult for tech support to help you.
One example she gives is a tech support person whose systems in Brazil went down — during Carnival: "...We had to wait more than a week for the locals to sober up enough to reconnect the line. In the end, I had to walk a tech (who did not know the system) through the process step by step via an interpreter. Of course, the interpreter was not technical. So it was kind of like explaining to your mom to tell your grandfather (who is hard of hearing) how to do something while she is on the phone and he is across the room from her."
Ok, that's just... I don't even know what it is... ethnocentric? It's stupid... not everyone in Brazil gets wasted during carnival. Businesses still run, things still work. If you had a line go down for a week without repair, that wasn't your remote users fault. That was your businesses fault for having a shit contract. Where we work we have tens of thousands of data and voice connections in every remote area you can imagine and there's no way something could go out for a week without a very good excuse like the building burnt down, or there was a flood. Even then we'd find a way around the problem temporarily. It's been more than one time I've kept a company in business with Cat5 strung through some trees.
And the language thing? Give me an Fing break. I had to support a doctor in India that did not speak english, so I made a wild guess, hit the directory of the hospital and looked for an American sounding name. Sure enough it was an American and he was nice, helped translate. I sent him detailed instructions and he helped walk the other doctor through it. That's our Job If I'm a window washer, I'm not going to complain when I come across a dirty one.
Calmly try your best for 40 hours/week or whatever you agreed to. Explain limitations and possible solutions, like user training and shifting parts of infrastructure to where you are in a better position to maintain it. Then set the limits, but don't be rude. You don't pay the company's bills, your users do.
... for not having contacted a local tech contractor with some english speaking skills that could help. Someone that comes in a couple hours now and then to solve any issues.
Remote tech support is all fine and dandy, but sometimes you do need (technically literate) hands and eyes on the ground. I've taken care of servers on a different continent - 99% of the time I just ssh-ed in. The 1% I've had someone local - and technical! - drive in with a laptop and help.
I apologize for the lack of a signature.
She works with a whole system in Brazil via an non technical interpreter? Did it ever occur to her to learn Portuguese language?
I disagree.
For your company, remote users are the most expensive to support. It often takes several minutes to try to make the user understand what you want them to do, and to do it PROPERLY, where locally, you could just go to a user's desk and fix the problem in seconds.
When dealing with local users, you get to use *ALL* of your senses to diagnose a problem. Does the computer feel abnormally hot? Does it smell like something burning? Can you see that the little tab on the ethernet cable is broken off?
Likewise, users on the other end of the phone are trying to describe a problem to you using only their voice, and they don't know the jargon: "There is this THING on my browser and it won't go away."
What is this THING that they are talking about? A window? An icon? A toolbar?
All of these factors use up a lot of time, and time costs money.
Also, isolating yourself from the users limits the quality of your work. If you work with them, and see how they use their computers, it will give you a better overall view which helps you support them even better in the future.