Posted Help Desk Attitude, IT Customer Service on Monday, February 20th, 2006.
Informal “rules” to make MashupCamp more constructive are pictured on the ZDNet’s article Around the MashupCamp fire. I love their “Law of Two Feet” …the basic priciple being to “learn, contribute, or move on to something new”. It’s simple advice that can help keep any IT department, Help Desk, or development team focused and productive.
Stupid jokes and viral videos aside, developers and IT staff spend a lot of time rethinking the “best” ways to solve the 20+/- similar problems. Each time slight differences in the exact situation (often vendor- or service provider-related) and resources available force you to put in so much extra effort. Just an informal posting of this rule on the intranet, code repository, and in conference rooms would server as an excellent reminder to keep things constructive. Taken one step further with the support of management and the concept to learn, contribute, or move on could help even the most junior staff members to gracefully refocus a discussion if starts a too frequent death-dive into a gripe-fest.
Posted Windows Mobile Devices, Help Desk Attitude, Software - Microsoft Programs on Friday, December 9th, 2005.
We’re running Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphones in my office now and I’m not happy about it. Any other IT managers working at legal or accounting firms can understand the frustration of being unable to stop technophile partners from bringing in new technology. With many partners asserting their “ownership” the firm it’s near-impossible to get a consensus on when to implement “cool” things. …but I can always tolerate that, I’m really unhappy about the Windows Mobile 5.0 OS and its new ActiveSync system.
<Actual Troubleshooting tip here:>
Odds are that you’re using USB to connect to the PC, and that your having problems with it… that’s the same thing we saw with every device our users installed before consulting the manuals/IT-staff. For solutions, first check out the basic Windows Mobile Help site, in case any new patches will eliminate errors. Then, look to the ActiveSync 4.0 USB Guide for pseudo-tips like “it’s not ActiveSync, check your firewall/VPN/USB docking station/parental control tools” - so why is a “USB Guide” if the problems described are all TCP/IP issues?
The number one solution, try to enable the ActiveSync ports and executables (listed on the “USB Guide”) before installing ActiveSync. Once we saw communication errors a reset of the device and a reinstall of ActiveSync was almost always required.
</:End of Actual Troubleshooting tip>
While my users may not like that their shiny, new PDAs don’t work, I’m slightly consoled by the fact that I’ve managed to stem the tide of Windows Mobile 5 for this long. After all, Stephen Manes a writer for Forbes has already seen the issue and gotten the article published: Smart Phone. Stupid Software. (signup required or use BugMeNot.com for login, and article may only be free for a limited time, so check Google’s cache for the full article).
I think anyone’s best bet at supporting Windows Mobile 5.0 is …to prevent those devices from being purchased until they’re running Windows Mobile 5.1-5.9. Just remember to skip 6.0 too…
If you’re an employer, consider my attitude about supporting new products - it’s great to get to learn on the newest toys, but it stinks when I’m surprised by a completely new system. Really, new technology launches are a great chance for employers to provide a low-cost, high-value benefit for IT employees. The problem here is that neither myself nor any of our admins/techs know Windows Mobile 5, but we’re being asked to support it. Instead of learning new things on our own schedule we have to put aside all the network upgrades and development projects to learn how to use, and then how to fix, a few desktop devices. Since most of my staff is in this business because they like technology (it sure isn’t for easy money and short working hours) I could really help with retention and Help Desk attitude if the firm would buy an extra device that I could give out to whomever would be willing to put in the extra time to learn it.