Troubleshooting a technology problem involves primarily hit-and-miss, trial and error methods.
To restate a problem description using the user's exact words is called paraphrasing.
Most hardware troubleshooters don't use Internet search engines to locate potential problem solutions because they rarely know the exact model number of hardware devices with problems.
A "techie" who works exclusively with hardware and software, rarely comes into contact with people, and who talks in technical jargon, will probably not enjoy a career in the user support field .
Most problems a support specialist encounters are ones they have seen before or can quickly locate the solution to in a database of problem solutions.
The strategy of removing components to return a computer back to a base configuration is designed to eliminate variables that may make a computer problem more difficult to solve.
Most PC troubleshooters do not use problem diagnosis utility software to work on what appears to be primarily a hardware problem.
As I mentioned above, troubleshooting in support is particularly difficult because of the human aspect. Not only do you need to go through all the steps above, you also need to bring another person along on the journey. And they will probably be upset. And busy. And not entirely convinced that you know what you’re doing. In order to get the customer to agree to walk through the steps and provide you with the right information, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Fortunately, troubleshooting is like any other customer support skill — by breaking it down to a repeatable process and through practice, anyone can improve their troubleshooting ability. Steve Litt has created a 10-step Universal Troubleshooting Process, useful for solving any problem. I think 10 steps is too many to easily remember, so instead, I think of troubleshooting in three distinct phases:
In customer support, investing in better troubleshooting skills pays off in the form of happier customers and more efficient agents.
Logs and product usage information can often help more than asking customers what they see. Jumping on a screen share or using tracking software like FullStory can help gather information much faster than back and forth emails, so use all the tools you have available.
If your support team doesn’t have a solid base of product and domain knowledge, they will struggle to effectively troubleshoot, even with a good model to follow. To identify where you have a product knowledge issue as opposed to a lack of troubleshooting skill, review the agent’s recent work.
By comparing a broken setup to a working model, you can spot differences that might be causing problems.
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Troubleshooting a technology problem involves primarily hit-and-miss, trial and error methods.
To restate a problem description using the user's exact words is called paraphrasing.
Most hardware troubleshooters don't use Internet search engines to locate potential problem solutions because they rarely know the exact model number of hardware devices with problems.
A "techie" who works exclusively with hardware and software, rarely comes into contact with people, and who talks in technical jargon, will probably not enjoy a career in the user support field .
Most problems a support specialist encounters are ones they have seen before or can quickly locate the solution to in a database of problem solutions.
The strategy of removing components to return a computer back to a base configuration is designed to eliminate variables that may make a computer problem more difficult to solve.
Most PC troubleshooters do not use problem diagnosis utility software to work on what appears to be primarily a hardware problem.