Technology is a dynamic landscape and the conventional wisdom of 'best practices' changes. Many major problems start out small or can be avoided by asking questions before taking action.

Quick Tip 1 The best problems are the ones you avoid

Contact us with questions before purchasing / installation of technology for your business.  Oftentimes, one of our team members has experience from another client’s environment and you can benefit from that 'institutional knowledge'.

Quick Tip 2 Be descriptive

The subject of your email request should be a summary of the issue:

DON’T: “Help!” - just isn’t that useful

DO: “I can’t print to copier but rest of the office can”

Body of the email request should include a few critical details and don't forget to use your WITS:

Who: Contact person (if different from ticket originator)

Info: Detailed description of the request / problem

Time: How long the issue has been taking place and when it needs to be resolved

Scale: How many people are affected

Quick Tip 3 A picture is worth 1,000 words

Include a screen shot whenever possible of any error message that comes up on the screen:

When error message appears, press Ctrl + Print Screen to copy it to the clipboard Open up MS Word or your email program and press Ctrl + V to paste the image Save the file and send in via email or upload via online support portal

Quick Tip 4 Has anything changed? Really? Honest, we won’t tell.

Computers can be quirky. Everyone has experienced the sinking feeling of installing a new device or program only to have it cause more problems than it solved. Our job is to get you running again as quickly as possible. The more information we have up front, the better.

Don’t filter out details you think are irrelevant.  Sometimes things are connected even when they don’t seem to be on the surface-- and sometimes the reverse is true.  Experience is the only guide.

Quick Tip 5 Ask around

Before you call in with an issue – it is usually a good idea to find out if anyone else is experiencing the same thing.

They may have already reported the issue and a ticket is currently being worked on.

Knowing how many people are affected helps to identify scale of problem and best places to start troubleshooting.

Quick Tip 6 Don’t be afraid to use the phone

Sure, email is efficient- but some things that take only a few minutes to say take a lot longer to put into an email and you still can’t communicate clearly.  Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and have a real, live human facilitate this process.