by zutgorak | Mar 4, 2011 |
You hear me? It’s a waste of time! How so? Well let me explain it a little bit.
I am not talking about using Google correctly, but rather they way that people
today tend to use Google. The company itself is a huge success and albeit it has
had some flops (Google Wave, anyone?) it has all in all created a suite that
has made the former software giants tremble in their boots. Kudos to em I say!
But, the term “googling” has surfaced for a reason. It is used instead of “searching”.
That in itself is a testament to the impact Google has had on the common mind.
I am not sure wich searchengine that delivers the most accurate search results
and I really dont mind scrolling a little to find whatever I am looking for, however
what I do hate is blaring ads everywhere that takes away my focus from what I am
doing and that is why I started using Google way back when. Yes, I use it myself.
However, with Google a few negative things has come into play.
First out, the Googlebrains
Now, for some reason these people are the biggest timewasters on the planet to anyone
who has ever worked where URLs are involved. First off they seem to think that Google
actually IS the internet. Well, here is a newsflash. Its not. Internet is older then Google.
Second, Google may be a big, even the biggest, company regarding the ‘net but it doesnt
control it unless you let it.
Now, here is a pet peeve. Googling a URL.
DONT! It is a major time waster. Someone sent you the URL for a reason and most likely
that reason is for you to save time, instead of locating the correct URL, they simply handed
it to you. And here are the 2 scenarios that takes place:
1. You click the URL or paste it into the adressbar of your browser and voila! You are on the correct page.
2. You browse to www.google.com,
copy the link, in some cases even painstakingly type the URL into the search bar and hit “search”
You find something that resembles what you look for, click it, and ends up at another page that
was not the one you needed/wanted and you do the whole procedure again.
Stop it already!
Google really should have educations in “Using searchengines 101” or at least push this URL more:
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479
FOR PETE’S SAKE DONT GOOGLE IT, JUST CLICK IT!
Now, imagine this: You are on a tight schedule, you are just about to leave, and you work
with telephone support for this or that product, and you know that the correct answer
is on a short and handy URL.
Stressed as you are, you hand the URL to the caller and you can actually HEAR how this
person uses google for the URL, then reads out loud on a vastly different topic. If you are
lucky, it may be on the correct domain, but totally wrong information. so, you have to do it
over and over again. Instead of a 2 minute conversation, you end up having a 15 minute
conversation and STILL have to explain the why and how of the question at hand and you
have missed your bus home.
Welcome to the real world.
I think I have got most out of my system now, but I may break out more on this
when my mood goes sour.
Ya all take care now.
*****************************UPDATE****************************
Wasn’t the URL clear enough for people? Take a look at this:
by zutgorak | Feb 10, 2010 |
Some might remember the battle I had with my voice a while back, well, right now I am
having a battle in my mind already. I managed to contract a cold for the first time in I dont know
how long, I have had fever, and of course, throat pains. And this scares the hell outta me because
now I have a job that I enjoy and I want to evolve and do the best I can but to do that I have to
be able to use my voice. However, it appears that the boss I have now actually cares about his
little workers, instead of just ignoring us. That simple “get well soon” meant a lot to hear when
you are more used to hearing “Get yer arse back to work you as soon as you can.”
What scares me the most is that this is giving me a good mind job. What if its the same thing
again? I know it most likely isn’t but still. What if? I am a damn good support tech. I can calm
most people and make them analyze the problem and in most cases, solve the problem so that
the client understands why that problem occured and what can be done to prevent similar problems
in the future. The customers I talk to are generally happy with the support I provide and
well, I enjoy the feeling of helping. However, to do that effectivly, I have a tool that is now
more or less disabled, I can stand headaches, migraines even an upset stomach, but when
my voice is down, my performance also goes down with it. I need to be able to talk to the
client so as to not get things the wrong way, or hear audibly that the client is using the wrong
terms and hence wont be getting the help that is needed.
All this is taxing on my mind, but I know one thing. I wont back down. I know the tricks this time
around. I am not gonna let my throat kill off my voice and put me out of fighting. I picked up a lot
from the last doctor and right now I am putting it all to the test, and with a little luck, I will
be back at work very shortly, as shortly as possible, and keep evolving into the support tech that
you all want to call.
by zutgorak | Oct 27, 2008 |
I really dont know what type of situation that you people
comes from, but those of you that work in customer support
in various ways knows that the old device “The customer
is always right” is dead wrong. Personally, I would like
to go to the hardware store that invented the expression
and force the boss there to eat the damn plaque without
softener or salt.
Todays world is customer driven, we know that to be a fact
but it appears that the general consensus is that because
of the above mentioned statement, the clients can request..
let me rephrase that, DEMAND that things are done his
way or .. and no highway option supplied. So lets take this
in an internet support perspective and in a perspective
that I myself am very familiar with. I host a Multi User
Dungeon, MUD for short. and I have players from Canada
USA, Japan, Sweden, Portugal and Croatia. I may have more
contries, but those are the ones I am certain of, and
from a techs point of view, we all know that the
routes that they take to get to my server is a little
different based on where they are located.
Now, one of the more recurring things I see is this:
(names withheld of course)
<i116> XXXXXXXX chats ‘Too much lag, can some imm restart the server?’
Ok, this in itself isnt a problem, I can see why someone
would think that the server needs a reboot, as they most
likely use windows that gets sluggy after a few days uptime,
but my server very much isnt. What is even funnier is the
reply that usually comes directly afterwards.
<i116> YYYYYYY chats ‘No, dont! I am not lagging and I am waiting for
tynstri repop’
Seriously. The fact that I am not lagging is easy to see if you check
what IP adress I connect from. For your info, in case some numbskull
wants to try to hack it, is 127.0.0.1 (go ahead punk, try to blast
that IPnumber off the net) but the conversation above very often
is followed by a mail to me stating that “i am lagging, player x
is not, it has to be either your connection or a codeflaw”
I dont know what dimension you are from, but in THIS one, if
there are 15 people that things works perfectly for and 1
that has trouble, it usually isnt the server or the 15 other
people that is the issue.
Even more hilarious is when I try to explain about routing
and how things pass through different places, they demand that
either A: FIX THIS! or B: TALK TO YOUR ISP SO THEY FIX THAT!
Now… if the problem isnt in my gear, or in the ISPs gear
what can they do?
It is something like a manufacturer makes a car, using
a second vendors parts. basically buys the engine, drive
shaft etc etc and suddenly a customer decides that it would
be smarter to have a different drivetrain to that engine
and demands that the manufacturer suddenly switch drivetrain
on all cars just because in the customers way to see things
the second drivetrain would be better because its another
brand.
— sheesh
by zutgorak | Aug 15, 2008 |
Imagine if tomorrow morning, you see a very blatant headline on
your morning paper stating “All call centers in the world decided to go
on a strike at midnight”
Can you imagine the confusion in the world?
You cant? Well, let let get you thinking then. You finish
reading your paper, you put it down, and decide to check your mail,
nothing odd with that, I do it every day. But this time, you cant
even get out on the internet. So, what do you do? Well, I know what
I would do. Check the connection, check and restart the router
and the modem. Nothing happens. I cant get a connection.
So, I call my ISP… who has their support on a call center. Whoopee, no reply
due to the strike.
So, I call a friend that work at that company. He is kind, but since his
workplace is on strike, he doesnt have access to the systems and hence
cant help me.
During the day, I get the invoice from my phone company where there
suddenly is a HUGE figure for some service that I never signed up for.
So, I call the phone company, and get met with a black strike wall again,
even tho the invoice is due to be paid in just a few days.
Ok, then. Ill wait I guess .. so now i dont have any internet, and neither
will my phone work in a few days time. And frankly, you get more and more
isolated.
Later, after a few days of strike, my car gets a block on it, so I cant drive
my car, its effectively locked in position. So I call up the parking company
that predictably enough has their customer service at … you guess it.
A call center.
So you see, in a certain degree, the call centers are driving a large part
of our global world. Without them we can pretty fast get blind and mute
and alone.
And yet, people who call customer service act like they own said world
treating the support personell like dirt, not worthy of the time talking to
them, and god forbid, let them help you.
The only call center that has happy customers is the one that is calling
from the lottery companies to report that you won.
Is that the way its supposed to be? Is it? In my book, the men and women
who does the support work are worth gold medals and if they ask you to
wait while they check something up, you bloody well wait.
Oh well, I guess im biased, but wouldnt a world wide strike be fun?
