Inactive Directory...

[jperegrine.livejournal.com]

Who is the genius who thought this one up? The company runs a strictly Windows based network. They have something on the order of 800-1000 machines. Each and every machine is configured as its own WORKGROUP??? And you expect to be able to centrally manage this how?! You want to use which account (from which workgroup) to push software? I think I'd have died laughing if I hadn't had to seriously explain this to their IT consultant AND manager.

Goes to show: Those who can - do. Those who should - support. Those who can't find a clue with both hands, a map, and a GPS - consult.

(no subject)

[sami-rdwd.livejournal.com]

It's so wonderful going from a call where I want to pull my hair out from the stupidity of the customer to a call where I'm turned into a glorified secretary... "I need to speak to someone in Records".. "Sure, I'll transfer you"

Never Press The Big Red Button

[grayhawkfh.livejournal.com]

So, some new equipment was installed in our server far (I think it was air handlers). As part of the contract, we were to receive a training session, and it would be taped so it could be used in the future.

Now, a quick note about the power to the server farm is in order. There are two emergency cutoff switches to the room. The external one, if triggered, will shunt power from the emergency backup generators to the farm. The switch inside the farm, however, is "Dead Man's Switch". It kills all power to the servers. Period. We return to the story in progress...

I was not present for the training. After all, it wasn't for me. If there's a problem with the air handlers, I call the necessary maintenance staff. So I can only describe what happened as it was told to me.

But what apparently happened was that the in-duh-vidual giving the presentation reached over to point out the dead man's switch, and learned the hard way that his depth perception was not all it should be.

Next thing we know, the server status monitor is screaming bright blue murder at us. I was coming back from running a ticket to see the monitor glowing red, the lead network engineer standing on his desk (so he can see over the cube farm walls) with a phone in one hand and a stress ball in the other, and the hell desk phones ringing madly off the hook.

This was almost 2 hours ago. The trainers beat a hasty retreat (lest they be tarred & feathered), and we're still working on getting everything back up. I have...6 tickets waiting for me to work on them, and I just got word that I'll be able to work on them. Out opinion is that the trainers need to get their arses back here with a company credit card so we can go set up a very large bar tab somewhere...

Oh, did I mention that this was taped? Did I also mention that the downtime was being tracked? I think that there's a trainer that will be looking for a new job soon.

(x-posted to my personal LJ)

baxter, speak english, i can't understand you!

[thecolorblue.livejournal.com]

i love languages and linguistics and other cultures but please, for the love of god, if you're going to call tech support, you must be able to speak english and understand what "forward slash," "capital letters" and other such technical terms mean. honestly, it is hard enough to explain this stuff to NATIVE english speakers, and i already have to repeat myself at least ten times to get them to the right website. but if you don't even have the basic linguistic understanding to parse the sentences i am saying, how am i supposed to help you?

i know this sounds horribly racist, but it's true. of course, the flipside of this is outsourced (to bangalore) tech support, and the customers not being able to understand the techs. i'm all for linguistic diversity, but some level beyond basic language skills needs to be in place for us to be able to understand each other. this is why, despite the fact that i can speak spanish, i don't take calls in spanish -- because i don't have the technical vocabulary.

grr.

G-ds Be Damned Remote Management Staff

[the-elfster.livejournal.com]

G-ds be damned! I've got four remote dial-up (yes Virginia, we have a handful of folks in the middle of bum-feck Texas) that had problems with SBC logons. It was an SBC problem, and they got it fixed fairly quickly. However, the Remote Management Staff is bitching like its the end of the fecking earth -- over FOUR FECKING (L)USERS! It wasn't that big of an issue then, its not that big of an issue now...but they gotta kvetch about it because they've got nothing else to stick it to Tier II Technical Support over. I'm supposed to be here supporting them -- not becoming their G-ds be damned whipping boy. Sheesh.