Mar 30 2010

Episode 62: Technical Support

Play

Support can be a pain in the neck, this week we give you some tips to ease the process.

News and Follow-ups – 02:18

  • Mail Bag – Brian Barthold – Learning Mercurial

Geek Tool – 05:30

Webapps – 09:10

Topic – 13:45

  • Online (Email/Webapp/IM)
    • Check your Reply Time
      • Emailing too quickly can make it an IM
      • Waiting too long to email can create upset users
    • Consider using a support tracker
    • Keep a list of questions so you can scan through them and find commonly asked questions.
    • Add common questions to the documentation
    • Have documentation explaining how to ask a question/provide enough details to get an answer
    • Give users a way to comment or leave feedback about the documentation they are currently viewing
    • Try to think of ways of eliminating the problem from ever happening again as opposed to fixing the current problem at hand
  • Phone
    • Single support or freelance consider using Google voice
    • Screen sharing can be a godsend (LogMeIn Express)
    • The keyboard wont work
      • “Instead,” Chen suggests, “say ‘Okay, sometimes the connection gets a little dusty and the connection gets weak. Could you unplug the connector, blow into it to get the dust out, then plug it back in?’
  • Tools
    • Osticket – http://osticket.com