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IT professionals can be the number one defence for your business or organisation which means they work hard, even if you don’t always understand what it is they do. Sometimes it can be difficult communicating with your IT support so here are a few things you should know about them the next time you want to interact:
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We are on your side
It may feel like we are against you when you feel you need new equipment but we are working within a budget, as all departments do and often new doesn’t always equal the best. We are always there to help you use the equipment you have and listen when you think you need more, we are not against you but don’t forget how expensive tech is, sometimes we aren’t the ones saying no, the budget is.
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DON’T CLICK THE LINK
We have discussed Phishing Emails in our previous article, as well as how to spot them, but if you aren’t expecting an email or it seems to good to be true, don’t click the link. Otherwise we have to spend the morning/afternoon/evening performing IT surgery on your devices and checking it didn’t infect the main network to protect everyone else. If you are in doubt, contact the company directly or give one of us a shout, we can spot it a mile away (and if we can’t we have protected environments that we can use to double check.)
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Turning it on/off again is an actual thing
It is an ongoing joke that most of the world is in on and it sometimes seems like IT support are messing around when they ask you to try turning your machines on and off again, however the action has merit and is the first, in a long line of troubleshooting that could solve a variety of issues. This is partly because sometimes when a computer error or glitch happens it’s because the software is becoming end of life and needs updating, or your computer has been on for an entire month and could do with a little break to start and refresh. If something is going wrong, close and save your applications and try turning it on and off again before calling tech support, you may find you can deal with it on your own.
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Everything needs power
It’s surprising how many calls we get when something isn’t working, only to find that it either isn’t plugged in or it’s been switched off at the switch and no-one has noticed. Always make sure you are plugged into an outlet, your device is charged and the switch is turned on.
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We aren’t miracle workers
If you haven’t saved your work in 10 days and your computer dies or you have lost an email from 1992 that you want us to retrieve, it’s not always possible. There are a lot of sneaky tricks that we can try and we can delve into the depths of a computer log, but if the data isn’t there, we can’t give it to you. Sorry!
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It’s not an exact science
Unlike actual science there isn’t always a definite fix for everything and as technology advances, your IT support has to adapt and advance with it. This means that we can’t always jump straight onto a solution and fix it straight away. Imagine you get a new phone, it takes a few days for you to learn the new keyboard or layout, it’s the same for us with new software or tech, even updates for things we have been doing for 10 years, it’s not that we don’t know what we are doing, we just need a moment to get used to things. Also, different users have different settings on their devices which means we need a minute to adapt to your way of thinking.
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You don’t need to diagnose the problem, that’s what we are here for
It’s fantastic when users have a bit of understanding on their machines because it means you are able to use them effectively, however when they go wrong and you can’t fix it, that’s our job. We just need to know the symptoms of the problem, anything you have tried and what you were doing when it occurred and we can get to work. We know you are trying to be helpful by suggesting what you think is the problem, but we have a system and commonly it’s not the same thing.
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Stop illegally downloading
We know you do it, you are on our network, we then have an obligation to follow this up and potentially report it. Don’t download illegally, particularly when you are at work, we can see it, it’s awkward and 9 times out of 10 we can trace it back to you and everyone has to have a discussion, it’s not worth your time or ours. This goes for watching “those sites” too.
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The Slow Computer Dilemma
It is a phrase that IT support and professionals are used to hearing, a LOT, “my computer is slow.” However, this is not always the case and can actually be the way it is being used, for example, do you have a ton of tabs open or have you updated recently? Are you trying to do something it wasn’t designed to do or using software that requires more processing power than you have. Speak to your IT professional about what it is you are doing with your computer before going down the slow route, there are plenty of things they can do to help speed it up that may not be the computer at all.
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Give us credit
It sounds self-indulgent however there is a lot of time and energy that goes into IT support and you don’t necessarily see the out of hours work or the morning weekend server re-boots that go into ensuring your systems are as stable as possible. But the Wi-Fi in unavailable for 5 minutes and we get a hundred phone calls immediately about us not being able to do our jobs. When you pass them in the halls or at work, thank your IT support guy, particularly when everything is going well, it means he’s been putting the hours in and going above and beyond.
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We don’t get the final say
Many IT support staff don’t have the authority to buy you a new laptop or okay the latest tech in the office, event IT managers have to discuss things with finance or other departments but we can be powerful allies. If you can prove a business need for your new tech and convince us, we can help persuade others that it is necessary, plus we are the ones who will have to set it up, maintain it and implement any solutions you put in place so it’s good to get us on board beforehand.
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We hate printers too!
They are the bane of our existence, need replacing, are naughty on networks and a lot of them are stuck in the 90’s but they are essential for offices, the hospitality industry and pretty much everything, so until they invent something better, we are all just stuck with them!
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Communication is key
How are we supposed to know something is wrong or how long it has been doing it if you don’t tell us? We can appreciate that a malfunctioning computer is frustrating (we definitely know this!) but we need you to explain everything so we can diagnose and fix it as quickly as possible without adding the unnecessary guesswork of trying to understand what you need doing to it.
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Data Protection is a legal requirement
Secure passwords, two-form authentication and other policies that your IT department put in place aren’t only there to protect your data, it’s to protect the information companywide. With new GDPR regulations, not taking the proper precautions to protect your own, business or client data can result in huge fines and data protection leaks. Not to mention the spyware, ransomware or nasties that can corrupt your own data. As annoying as it is, please follow our protection protocols, they help everyone.
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Karma’s a beautiful thing
IT support help an array of users, businesses and keep networks running, all while dealing with any little issue (or the printer…again) that you have. So be nice, respectful and appreciate that we are doing the best we can and are working on elements that you can’t see, rather than sitting in a basement and gaming all day (some of us do that too.) But ultimately, if you are looking to skip the queue or get something done ASAP, you can catch more flies with honey.
At the end of the day, IT support is there to help you, just try to remember that we are human as well!
Find out more about our IT Solutions here.
