those of you who work in support, get in here!

A

atomiser

Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2004
Messages
619
hello there!

after a particularly shoddy morning in the office i'm curious to learn how your support organisation is structured.

do you have a skilled service desk who actually understand:

what a computing environment is,
the basics of what a client is, what a server is,
how to check whether a network point is patched in,
that a machine needs an ip address to communicate on a tcp/ip network,
how a client gets said address,
knows the basics of how email works,
understands that to be able to get to a website you need to be able to resolve a name to an ip address,
understands that if an application on a *single* users pc halts with a fatal exception error but they are still logged into ldap, can access email, the internet etc that it's likely to be an issue that a) a reboot will fix and b) that the specialised team of people who troubleshoot dynamic routing protocols for a living really dont care about,
etc...

i.e. are they capable of what i would probably term first/second line support? or rather:

asking the right questions to eliminate stupidity before escalating the call up the support chain.

and then do you then have further teams of more specialised people? such as:

server people who look after ldap, file/print, dns, dhcp...
network people who look after cabling, switches, routers, leased lines...
security people who look after firewalls, authentication servers, remote access... etc

do you have proper procedures and processes for troubleshooting common issues? a knowledge base? a list of who looks after what? a defined escalation procedure? system owners who are responsible and accountable for stuff?

answers on a postcard!
 
Well that sounds like your looking to change providers or something. But well I'm currently working as a Level 1 tech support.

Well I would have to say yes to all of your questions. Also it depends on the luck you have. For example you can get someone like me that has more than basic computer skills and has a positive view of the client. Or you can get some guy that's been working here for a few years and doesn't care if he puts you on hold for 30 minutes. Or some guy has very little knowledge and at the first question he doesn't know he'll transfer you to a 2nd level. We offer support from sap to server's, we have espcialized groups for all these applications/needs. Working with multiple vendors is when you then stumble into people that either don't care about your problem, or don't know what to do.

It's an everyday day battle working here, if you have an impatient user with a critical issue and he's not providing much info it really limits your troubleshooting capabilities.

I understand your frustration, because when i have to channel the user to other groups for support I have to suffer like you do to try and get someone to fix a simple issue.

so my final question, is who's your provider?
 
atomiser said:
do you have a skilled service desk who actually understand:
Click to expand...

Yes, or we don't hire them (interview process is normally a phone screen with HR, couple of online tests, another phone screen by IT, and then a day of interviews with HR and IT staff [up to 8 people]).

There is user support, and there is systems support (network/servers). 90% of the user issues are handled by user support.
 
Not to sound racist or anything (im mexican by the way) but all the experience/contact I have had with hindu helpdesk employees has been horrible! I mean i do their same work, but when I have to call another vendor it's just a pain in the arse! I don't know if your experience was with an off shore helpdesk atomiser. If you want cheap and efficient offshore tech support, you should come to juarez. I know for sure our english is way better than those other guys. Lol a little inside joke, most of these guys use the sound G for almost all the alphabet. G for gebra, g for japan, number g. lol if you worked here you would get it :p.
 
I'm a TS Level IV, and also manage around 60 field technicians. I made a long post about this situation a few weeks ago. You should be able to find it with search.

In short, Level 1 tech's have varying levels of experience. It depends on how long they have been on the job. The fact that Level 1 HD positions are one of the highest turn-over positions in the IT industry does not help. Many upper managers consider L1 TS a rotating position, and do not put much into training for this reason. Show em' the script book, and turn em' loose. IMHO, this is a VERY bad thing, and the complaint levels you read about concerning help desks is a clear indication of this.

In the typical corporation, a call comes in to the HD, which as you know may not be anywhere near the users office, and initial support begins. If it's done right, any issues that cannot be resolved by the L1 will be passed to a L2, usually in the same HD location. If it still cannot be resolved, it is typically routed to a L3 or L4, usually on the customers site or possibly a field tech dispatch, for resolution.

For better or worse, that's typically how it goes.
 
I salute you for doing it right. Hopefully your company also pays them enough to keep the turn-over rates down :)

Malk-a-mite said:
Yes, or we don't hire them (interview process is normally a phone screen with HR, couple of online tests, another phone screen by IT, and then a day of interviews with HR and IT staff [up to 8 people]).

There is user support, and there is systems support (network/servers). 90% of the user issues are handled by user support.
Click to expand...
 
yes

we have 4 sites in the UK 3 small sites in Spain and a few Road Warriors

Right at this moment we have a network upgrade, server upgrades, switching to MPLS, licence re organisation, re-cable jobs on and our first line, second line and third line is all done by myself....

Our IT department has ended up with just myself and that is it, it's f**king hard work I can tell you. The number of complaints about me is sky high but what can I do? I can't be in two places at one time I can only do what I can do until this mess is sorted and the general staff just don't care. Also, just to make things harder there is an old guy who wants to work in our IT because 10 years ago he worked on a network. He thinks he knows it all (after a few talks with him he know nothing) but he is always digging the knife in behind my back, making people lose confidence etc. He will do anything to get into the IT department but there is no way I will allow that, he wants rid of me by bad mouthing and saying "I worked on a network 5 times as big as this, he is doing this wrong and that wrong" but what he is saying is none sense! eg In a note to the Directors he said "I asked for remote desktop to my PC by forwarding port 3389 and Jay said no. He wishes me to go via the VPN and remote desktop but I do not wish to do this. forwarding the port is safer than going via a VPN, I don't think Jay understand what he is doing" Despite the fact that I have also worked for HUGE networks spanning the globe and have 10 years under my belt as network admin and 4 years as department manager for a massive company.

Users just think that Network and IT staff are a commodity and just love to complain about any small issue (even if they caused it and they could fix it if they just used their brain)

Anyway thats WAY off topic ...... lol
 
it's quite interesting those of you who think i am complaining about a provider that i may be using... unfourtunately i am employed by the provider that i am complaining about! namely the internal support team for a large public sector organisation! i am a level 2/3 tech for our security infrastructure - firewalls, remote access, authentication servers and the like. jay_oasis - i feel for you man, i must remember that no matter how bad things are, there is always someone worse off than me! techlarry - i have just read your previous posts, now have nothing but respect for you, and bow down to you in a waynes world 'were not worthy' style! malk-a-mite - i wish we had even *half* the recruitment process you guys have! i reckon it might be time to move on, i've been here too long, about time i got off my ass into the real world!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top