Tell ‘em all about it

Today nearly everyone has some interaction with technology. With technology come occasional problems. Where there are problems, there is tech support.

Tech support folks are typically quite helpful, but there are a few things you can do to enable them to assist you as quickly as possible.

What is the problem?

Tell the tech what happened, like “I can’t get online,” “I can’t send email,” or “I can’t find a webpage.” Be concise.

Include as much information as possible.

There is no such thing as too much information; it is a technical impossibility. The technician will always have questions, and trying to head them off at the pass is the right thing to do.

1. Exactly what was done to cause the issue to occur?

Let the tech know how you make the issue happen. For example, if you are contacting your ISP (Internet Service Provider) with difficulty getting online, be prepared to explain what operating system you are using, and perhaps even your ISP account number. They may look up your account in their system to discover the modem you rent from them needs to be upgraded.

If you are contacting tech support with a problem on a website, let them know what browser you are using, and the URL of the troublesome website. The URL is also called the address and looks similar to this: “http://www.ideabankmarketing.com/services/”.

2. When did it happen?

Depending on the issue, knowing the exact time the issue occurred can be very helpful for the tech. This would allow him/her to pinpoint data, and locate information that would otherwise be inaccessible.
 

Case closed.

Giving the tech as much information as possible will help your issue to be resolved in as timely a manner as possible.

Pro Tips

Find out what operating system you are using.

On a Microsoft Windows computer, locate the My Computer icon on the desktop. Right click on the icon and select Properties.

If you are on a Macintosh computer, look for the “Apple” menu at the top of your screen and choose “About this computer” or “About this Mac”.

Restart is another method for both Windows and Macintosh computers. Turn the computer off and then back on. Before the computer is ready to use, a graphic will display indicating which version of operating system you are using.
 

Find out what browser you are using.

To determine what browser you are using you can usually just look at the name of the window. Just doing that should let you know what the name is of the browser.

 
Find out the version of your browser.

With your browser open, go to the very top menu. The menu will typically say “File Edit View” and other options. Look for a menu item “Help”. If you are using Internet Explorer or FireFox, look for the menu item labeled “About Firefox” or “About Internet Explorer”. If you are using Chrome click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar and select About Google Chrome.