Tech Tip of the Day: "My password's not working." If you are in a larger organization, I guarantee this is not enough information to correctly resolve your issue. If you are in a smaller organization...it's still probably not enough information. Nearly every business out there at this point utilizes multiple systems with password security.
Because a lot of programmers are generally lazy and do not want to have to figure out adding LDAP authentication(using your domain credentials) to their program, you have a separate password for a lot of separate apps.
When you need a password reset, please be specific about what you are trying to access so that your IT professional can reset the correct password. This will include you knowing what the name of the program or service you are trying to access actually is. Otherwise, the wrong password may get reset, for another application, which will cause you to have to change that one, as well as the one you originally called about.
Help us, help you.
Slightly related note, your IT guy cannot reset your outside gmail/hotmail/facebook/yahoo/etc account...
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Are you having a dance party?
Tech Tip of the Day: Say your IT guy answers the phone, what would you like him to hear?
A) The pertinent information to help address your issue(i.e. who you are, where you are, what your issue is)
B) Your ten closest coworkers and the 80's hair band you have playing over Pandora
C) The traffic from the interstate right outside your open window
D) The industrial wood chipper you somehow fit into your office
Speakerphones are wonderful tools...when used appropriately. A one-on-one conversation in an open area, is not the definition of appropriate. Very few speakerphones are high enough quality to truly cancel out background noise and keep voice quality at a decent level. Those that are, are very expensive, and are generally used in conference rooms.
Conference rooms ARE an appropriate venue for a speakerphone. As is the quiet confines of a decently insulated office, with the doors and windows closed. If you work in a cubicle, open area, or outside, no one can understand you. Please get off the speakerphone, pick up the receiver, and have a genuinely more pleasant telephone experience.
A) The pertinent information to help address your issue(i.e. who you are, where you are, what your issue is)
B) Your ten closest coworkers and the 80's hair band you have playing over Pandora
C) The traffic from the interstate right outside your open window
D) The industrial wood chipper you somehow fit into your office
Speakerphones are wonderful tools...when used appropriately. A one-on-one conversation in an open area, is not the definition of appropriate. Very few speakerphones are high enough quality to truly cancel out background noise and keep voice quality at a decent level. Those that are, are very expensive, and are generally used in conference rooms.
Conference rooms ARE an appropriate venue for a speakerphone. As is the quiet confines of a decently insulated office, with the doors and windows closed. If you work in a cubicle, open area, or outside, no one can understand you. Please get off the speakerphone, pick up the receiver, and have a genuinely more pleasant telephone experience.
Friday, December 27, 2013
X Y Z B D Q
Tech Tip of the Day: Chances are if you work at a decent sized company, and use a computer for a good portion of your day, you utilize a "mapped drive." This is a folder that has been shared from another computer/server/etc, and then mapped to a drive letter on your computer. This could be a "T Drive", "F Drive", "Z Drive", or just about any other lettered drive.
"I need an M drive" usually contains zero useful information for your IT professional.
The letter of the drive is arbitrary. Very rarely does an organization use only one specific drive letter for one specific share company wide. There are only 26 letters, some of which are unavailable because your computer has to have them for other local drives like your hard drive, optical drive, or thumb drive.
We can map any share out there to any letter available, but it will not necessarily be the share you really want. I just shared a folder on my computer with nothing but pictures of kitties in sweaters, I'll make that your M drive, you can thank me later for the hours of cuddly viewing.
The information we really need is the "UNC Path." This is the actual location of the share, and is what input into the drive mapping so that the letter knows what the location is. It looks like \\SomeServerName\SomeFolderName. If you look at someone else's mapped drive for what you need you can get that information for us. It will look like "SomeFolderName on SomeServerName."
If you can get that information ahead of time, it will save your IT guy and you a LOT of time running around, trying to find this information.
In the meantime, here's a kitty....
"I need an M drive" usually contains zero useful information for your IT professional.
The letter of the drive is arbitrary. Very rarely does an organization use only one specific drive letter for one specific share company wide. There are only 26 letters, some of which are unavailable because your computer has to have them for other local drives like your hard drive, optical drive, or thumb drive.
We can map any share out there to any letter available, but it will not necessarily be the share you really want. I just shared a folder on my computer with nothing but pictures of kitties in sweaters, I'll make that your M drive, you can thank me later for the hours of cuddly viewing.
The information we really need is the "UNC Path." This is the actual location of the share, and is what input into the drive mapping so that the letter knows what the location is. It looks like \\SomeServerName\SomeFolderName. If you look at someone else's mapped drive for what you need you can get that information for us. It will look like "SomeFolderName on SomeServerName."
If you can get that information ahead of time, it will save your IT guy and you a LOT of time running around, trying to find this information.
In the meantime, here's a kitty....
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Why'd it do that!?!?
Tech Tip of the Day: Things happen. That's the way the world works, and IT resources are no exception. When a file shows as corrupt, or an error occurs on a program, or something on your screen has moved, an IT professional isn't always going to know how it happened. We can guess, sometimes there is an explanation.
How'd this virus or spyware get on my computer. I could make an educated guess, but you will most likely not like the answer...you are the only person who uses that computer after all.
Computers do have moving parts as well, and just like in a car, moving parts wear out. This is why files get corrupt, your computer slows down, things start making weird noises, etc. It just happens.
Just as in life, things in the IT world happen without explanation, we're here to fix them, and mitigate the negative effects when they do happen.
How'd this virus or spyware get on my computer. I could make an educated guess, but you will most likely not like the answer...you are the only person who uses that computer after all.
Computers do have moving parts as well, and just like in a car, moving parts wear out. This is why files get corrupt, your computer slows down, things start making weird noises, etc. It just happens.
Just as in life, things in the IT world happen without explanation, we're here to fix them, and mitigate the negative effects when they do happen.
Monday, December 23, 2013
I don't need it, I only asked for it
Tech Tip of the Day: "Oh, you don't need that, I just have a question." This is not an appropriate response when asked for information by an It professional. We generally do not ask for information we do not need, as that is just more paperwork/documentation that we have to do. Trust me, we have enough documentation already.
If we ask for your username, ID number, or some other identifier, we are not collecting them or playing user BINGO(I think I just came up with a new game). We have to be accountable for nearly all the time spent in the work day. You are utilizing some of that time, so we have to have a way to document how that time was spent. This is especially true is you are calling a service desk. They have to account for every call they answer, and their best way to keep track of calls is by whom called.
We also like to document as many specifics as we can about what your issue is, what you've done to try to work around or fix it yourself, and how widespread it is. All of this helps keep from redundant troubleshooting if the issue needs to be passed to someone else with a differing skill set to correct the underlying issue.
If we ask a question, please just answer it...
If we ask for your username, ID number, or some other identifier, we are not collecting them or playing user BINGO(I think I just came up with a new game). We have to be accountable for nearly all the time spent in the work day. You are utilizing some of that time, so we have to have a way to document how that time was spent. This is especially true is you are calling a service desk. They have to account for every call they answer, and their best way to keep track of calls is by whom called.
We also like to document as many specifics as we can about what your issue is, what you've done to try to work around or fix it yourself, and how widespread it is. All of this helps keep from redundant troubleshooting if the issue needs to be passed to someone else with a differing skill set to correct the underlying issue.
If we ask a question, please just answer it...
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Are we there yet?
Tech Tip of the Day: While they may be the primary part of the IT department that you speak with, the service desk does not know when your issue will actually be addressed. No matter how you phrase the question, the answer will be something to the affect of, "I don't know."
The different teams in IT have a constantly changing workload. They have to prioritize and re-prioritize their problems multiple times a day. I realize that making that one extra click to print from Word really does affect whether or not you can do your job, just like the fact that Pandora keeps cutting in and out prevents you from completing that TPS report.
They will get to you, and the service desk will be perfectly willing to check with another team to see if there is an updated status, but they rarely can give you an accurate time/date that someone will fix your problems.
The different teams in IT have a constantly changing workload. They have to prioritize and re-prioritize their problems multiple times a day. I realize that making that one extra click to print from Word really does affect whether or not you can do your job, just like the fact that Pandora keeps cutting in and out prevents you from completing that TPS report.
They will get to you, and the service desk will be perfectly willing to check with another team to see if there is an updated status, but they rarely can give you an accurate time/date that someone will fix your problems.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
It's dark in here
Tech Tip of the Day: Just as your IT department doesn't support everything that plugs into the wall, we do not support that magic thing that comes out of the outlet. If none of the computers, monitors, printers....or lights... will turn on, there's a good chance that your power is out. There's nothing that your IT guy can do about that. Computers need electricity to run, that's just the way it all works.
If you have a laptop and can run on battery, great! But don't expect your internet or other network resources to necessarily work. The networking equipment also requires electricity in order to work correctly. Some of it may be on a battery backup, or generator, but not all of it is. Your resources may be limited until full power is restored.
If you have a laptop and can run on battery, great! But don't expect your internet or other network resources to necessarily work. The networking equipment also requires electricity in order to work correctly. Some of it may be on a battery backup, or generator, but not all of it is. Your resources may be limited until full power is restored.
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