The joys of providing Technical Support...
Though it's not the primary function of my job, nor what I went to school for, providing tech support for an agency that uses computers is unavoidable. There's not too much praise or fun to be had in that portion of the job. I mean sure there are the couple divisions that may or may not throw down a holiday bonus if they feel you treated them right. Aside from that, there's not too much to enjoy about technical support. Oh yeah, well maybe there is one little gem...
I do get to stand and stare in amazement at the interesting issues I get called in for. I'm sure that every tech has stories of clients saying their computer won't turn on and then investigating to find that the thing isn't even plugged in, or speakers not working because they were carelessly plugged into the microphone jack. Those are a dime a dozen, I had a few such support requests within my first couple of weeks. Every now and then, however, you'll get something that will really make your day.
The request was for me to see why a certain monitor wasn't displaying anything. I asked the person to make sure that the power was plugged in and also that the line connecting the monitor to the computer was connected hoping to save myself a short trip. They claimed that both cords were plugged in and so it came down to a physical inspection. It didn't take long for me to find out what the problem was. Certainly the monitor had power going to it and the cord that went to the computer was connected. However, it was quite impossible for the monitor to recieve a signal considering that the cord going to the computer was severed. The user was aparently surprised that this issue was the source of the problem, which made me afraid to even ask how the line had become torn (or more likely cut). The cord has now become my trophy, a sign of my dedication to provide the best technical support I can no matter how bad the client may have screwed up.
I do get to stand and stare in amazement at the interesting issues I get called in for. I'm sure that every tech has stories of clients saying their computer won't turn on and then investigating to find that the thing isn't even plugged in, or speakers not working because they were carelessly plugged into the microphone jack. Those are a dime a dozen, I had a few such support requests within my first couple of weeks. Every now and then, however, you'll get something that will really make your day.
The request was for me to see why a certain monitor wasn't displaying anything. I asked the person to make sure that the power was plugged in and also that the line connecting the monitor to the computer was connected hoping to save myself a short trip. They claimed that both cords were plugged in and so it came down to a physical inspection. It didn't take long for me to find out what the problem was. Certainly the monitor had power going to it and the cord that went to the computer was connected. However, it was quite impossible for the monitor to recieve a signal considering that the cord going to the computer was severed. The user was aparently surprised that this issue was the source of the problem, which made me afraid to even ask how the line had become torn (or more likely cut). The cord has now become my trophy, a sign of my dedication to provide the best technical support I can no matter how bad the client may have screwed up.