Significance of IT Support, the Role of Fault Logs and Techniques
Introduction
As a company that sells IT products and services such as: desktops, laptops and offering maintenance supports. There are many tools and techniques that you will need to consider before you give your products out to the customers. In this guide you will gain full knowledge of IT support and the importance of fault logs and techniques.
Tools
There are several tools used to troubleshoot your computers such as VNC, remote diagnostic and control panel. Troubleshooting is used to repair a program. If the problem has not been fixed it will then give you a list of alternative steps to fix the problem. VNC: otherwise known as a (Virtual Network Computing) gives any owner of a computer the chance to remotely access the computer from another PC. This tool/software is frequently used in IT support so all issues can be fixed without an IT technician having to come down and sort out the problem. However, there is a possibility that the amount of work will gradually increase as they have more places to track.
Another tool is a Monitoring tool which is used to keep track of what happens on different pc’s. The most used and most heard of monitoring tool is the parental control. Parental controls are mostly used to control what children look up online or download; many companies also use parental controls to keep employees in line which leads to a better working environment and more work gets done. However, it can cost a lot to download monitoring applications.
Employees may feel as though they're not trusted by being monitored which is a slight risk. Fault logsTechnicians use fault logs to take down notes of all problems that have happened. This helps the technician to keep track of all the faults that have happened and if they ever happen again it can be solved without any difficulty.
In general, fault logs are found on computers but some technicians may have a paper version for backup or for easy access. Having fault logs saves time as all you need to do is look on the previous faults and use that to help you solve the problem. It is a fast and effiecient way to help your customer.
There are many different faults your computer can have but here are a few of the main problems:
Computer is slow
When your computer is slow it often means you have to clean the hard disk of unwanted files. Another reason is that your computer can also have too many browser tabs open. If that is the case, then you simply need to close some of the unwanted tabs and hopefully it will start to run faster. Opening a new tab gets saved in your RAM and if you do not have a substantial amount of RAM left then you will slowly begin to run out of RAM which then starts to slow down your computer. There could be other simple reasons why your computer could be running slowly. For example, there is a possibly that all you need to do is restart your computer as restarting flushes out your whole system and the problem should be dealt with when you turn it back on.
Computer is frozen
When your computer is frozen it can be a sign of insufficient RAM leading you to have to reboot your computer. you will need to restart it and clean up your system to avoid it freezing again. Your computer could possibly be overheating which can sometimes also cause systems to freeze. Your CPU is very sensitive and cant handle a lot of heat and that may be the cause of your computer freezing.
Computer wont start
A computer that doesnt start could simply be a failing power supply. You will need to check that the computer is plugged into the power port properly. Some reasons why your computer won’t start is due to a piece of hardware failing. There’s also a possibility that you haven’t turned it on yet which sounds very obvious but be sure to double check. Also there’s a chance that the fuse has blown and if that has happened it means no power will be able to flow through.
The screen is blank
If the computer is blank but the screen is on there is possibly an issue with the connection between the screen and the computer. you will need to check if the screen is plugged into the power port and that the connection between the screen and computer hard drive is secure. Also check that the brightness on the screen is up, the screen might not be blank it may just be dark which will mean you just need to adjust the brightness which is easy to do.
Although your computer can run into faults they can be easily fixed either by yourself or technical staff. Simply call the technical staff and answer a few of their questions so they can get an understanding of what the problem is. Once the technical staff known the issue you both can work through it either face to face or on the phone to fix the problem. That is one reason why questioning is important.
Questioning
Technicians will ask questions to help them understand the problem in hand. They can ask either face to face or on the phone depending on where they are. Without questioning it will take the technicians longer to find out the problem and solve it which is why questioning is a vital technique to have. It also gives the technician a chance to tell them how the problem came about and how it can be avoided in the future.
There are many sources of information that can assist the IT staff with identifying and solving faults.
- Manual
- Colleagues
- The internet
- Product specification
The manual is a book or pamphlet that contains information about a program or a piece of hardware. Nowadays, manuals are mostly found online as an electronic documentation. Manuals/electronic documentation are easy to access and will provide the IT staff with a step by step guide on how to faults and how to stop them. The manual is easy to follow and could possibly stop the faults from happening again if the steps are followed correctly.
There is no shame in asking your co-workers for help especially if your colleague specialises in this field of work. Colleagues is often forgotten as a source of information but is actually one of the most important sources. Colleagues with specialist expertise can expand your knowledge and help you become better at your job. Use their skill to your advantage and gain some insight and tips that you may have not known before. Colleagues in your job that have a higher roll than you and have more skills will be able to assist you with questions that can’t be answered anywhere else. To gather information people tend to ask people around them to get help.
The world wide web is the most common source of information. FACT: “There are more than a billion websites on the internet”. One of these websites will surely provide the technical support team with the right information to help them. All the tech team need to do is some in depth research and read into the information that you find. You might even find information that you didint know and could help you complete it more accurately and quickly. Websites like Wikipedia gives you all the information you will need. For example, VNC it gives you a full explanation of the history of it and what it is used for. However, you need to be aware that Wikipedia is edited and that some of the information may not be 100% correct. Videos on YouTube can also give you advice on how to fix faults. Just like Wikipedia, Videos on YouTube also tells you about how VNC works however it gives you a visual explanation. As people are giving you this information it may not all be correct as well but it is still worth watching.
Product specification is a document that provides important information about a product and its required characteristics. The IT staff can use this to understand what needs to be done to the product and how problems can be stopped. For example: projectors, online there is a specification purely for projectors. It tells you all the important things including a list of rules that you will need to be aware of. Having this product specification will help the IT staff with the faults they are trying to fix or any alterations they want to make. There are specifications on every product which you can find online with in depth information for anyone to read.
The importance of accurate fault logsFault logs are used to record incidents and errors on a system which can be hardware or software and it takes a certain technique to fix it. Its then noted down in the log so it can be used in the future if problem happens again and you will not need to troubleshoot it. Keeping an accurate fault log saves a huge amount of time. Technicians are busy people with a lot of work to do, without accurate fault logs they will spend the majority of their time correcting mistakes and troubleshooting.
It is important to make your logs accurate and write down as much information as you can to avoid incorrectly fixing mistakes or not fixing them at all. If technicians spend their time possibly hours trying to figure out the mistakes or trying to find a way to fix the problem their workload will gradually pile up on them making it hard to handle or even complete or their work. Having fault logs help the technicians keep a balanced work life without any extra stress or worries about not being able to fix a problem or complete their work. No technician wants to spend their time installing a computer when it has already been done before which is why fault logs are important as it stops technician’s from having to do it again.
Cloud support and teamviewer
There are many advances in support systems technology. In this report i will be explaining and evaluating the recent advances of cloud support and teamviewer. Teamviewer:Teamviewer is a computer software for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings and file transfer between computers. Teamviewer was developed in Germany and was founded in 2005 then then released on chrome os. Later on it was released on all operating systems such as: Android, IOS, linux and many more.
Teamviewer is mostly for remote administration(any method of controlling a computer from a remote location) and web conferencing(refers to any type of web collaborative work)Teamviewer is the latest version of the software and co-operates with Mac and windows(which are operating systems) and mobile devices such as: Android, Apple Iphone and Apple Ipad. Its a popular piece of software used for internet based remote access and support. The software can connect to any pc or server. Teamviewer is available for everyone and is completely free of charge for personal non commercial use.
Cloud engineer
A cloud engineer is an IT professional responsible for any technological jobs that have any connection to cloud computing, including design, planning, management, maintenance and support. A cloud service is any service made available to users on demand via the internet from a cloud computing providers server as opposed to being provided from a companys own on premise servers.Cloud support engineers are responsible for maintaining cloud computing systems. They may also provide technical support to customers who are having issues with the system.
