Dell computer technical support and auto tech phone service

Dell technical support Dell has put in place an astute computer technical support service that can be accessed when the user has an enquiry about any aspect of the Dell hardware. The technical support staff at Dell employs computer-oriented diagnostics to ensure that their answers are swift and accurate as well. One can either reach the technical support team at support.dell.com or alternatively you can call them.

Prior to making a call to the support team, it is recommended that you be ready with your Express Service Code. This code will assist the support team to route the call with more efficacy. In place of the Express Service Code the team can ask for your Service Tag which can be found at the bottom or back of your computer.

One is advised to fill out a diagnostic checklist that is usually contained in the set up guide. When calling the team be sure to have your computer on – it is best to make the call from a phone that is near the machine. Being near the machine will be extremely convenient as you will be able to input various commands or perform some troubleshooting as advised by the team. At the time you intend to make the call you should be having all the requisite documentation. These will help you ascertain the start-up content files of the computer. Dell offer also easy monthly payments through their Dell Financial service.

Various aspects of Dell computer support There are many different things that you may wish to find out as a user of a Dell machine. You may be requiring help in the reinstallation of your machine’s operating system. In this case you are advised to consult your operating system disc. If you need to have a diagnostic program run in your machine or maybe you feel that you must update some drivers then you can check the corresponding disc. For the latest updates you can download them from support.dell.com.

You may require upgrading your machine with a new hard-drive, or using additional or new memory, sometimes you may want to replace an obsolete part or reinstall a part altogether. In this case the service manual will come in handy. This can be found at the same website i.e. support.dell.com. Some other helpful information has to do with safety practices, checking on order status, FAQs, locating downloads and drivers etc. These can all be handled at support.dell.com.

Dell tech support Much if not all of the computer tech support can be handled online at support.dell.com.

Contacting Dell support on phone Dell customers in the United States can call the support team on 800-WWW-DELL (800-999-3355). For persons who do not have activated connection to the internet the technical phone numbers can be retrieved from the purchase invoices, product catalog, bill, or packing slip. Dell has an Auto Tech Service which provides clients with pre-recorded answers to the FAQs. There is also an Automated Order Status Service which can help a client track the location of a particular order.

Source :-citunionbk.com

Test MSN Messenger 8 / Windows Live Messenger

As mentioned in the article "MSN Messenger 8 beta, a new version of MSN Messenger is currently in development. However, it should be soon but say MSN Messenger Windows Live Messenger.

MSN Messenger 8 will join the Live range of Microsoft software. In any event announced on this site http://ideas.live.com/. It is for this reason that the software should take the name of Windows Live Messenger.

Some new additions are announced: more than winks and emotions, the video, calls to fixed or mobile phones with Windows Live Call, a function of shared folders. In short, it looks forward to the 8 MSN Messenger / Windows Live Messenger.

You will find some information about MSN Messenger 8 / Windows Live Messenger on the MSN Backstage.

It is also possible to test the next version of MSN Messenger even if it is only a beta version: Want to test Windows Live Messenger?.

Finally, the site Troubleshoot Your PC has made a test MSN Messenger 8: MSN Messenger 8: first contact. However, we can see that the test should not be the last because it is MSN Messenger 8 BETA and not Windows Live Messenger.

Some beta testers have already access to version 8.0 of MSN Messenger. Currently, little information is available on future features of MSN Messenger 8.0. At most, we know it will bear the contacts from Yahoo Messenger.

Among rumors of MSN Messenger 8.0 beta, there's talk:

* Management of skins (themes) to modify the
* Full integration of Windows Media Player
* Better management of the download (more details and Pause)
* Further integration of MSN Spaces (creation of blogs) and Hotmail
* Functionality localization
* A greater integration with Windows XP / Windows Vista
* The display of top 10 MSN Music Radio
* Support for animated images person
* The use of MSN Messenger on a mobile phone
* A rating of personal images

At the moment, it is difficile what will really part of the final version of MSN Messenger 8.0.

A beta version of MSN Messenger 8 should be available by the end of the year. As for the final version of MSN 8.0, it will have to wait until 2006.

Call via Internet

Call via Internet, it's all still new. And what can you do exactly that and what does it me? On these questions I will answer.

Call via Internet
This is also called VOIP, it stands for Voice Over IP. This is a way to a digital voice on an IP network to transmit. A home is such an IP network, but also the Internet. Call via the Internet is cheaper than calling a normal telephone network. Sometimes even free calls, for some companies, this is one reason for their telecom infrastructure to build. For home users, there are interesting possibilities. You can also 'voip' from your own computer with internet connection or your normal phone. In the latter case you should conclude a contract with a VOIP provider.

Call a normal phone
To call a regular phone through the internet you have to go into the sea with a provider of Internet telephony, or VoDSL (Voice over DSL). Some businesses that have Internet subscriptions on offer are:

* Tiscali
* UPC
* Multikabel
* @ Home

At this moment it is not possible to call via the Internet regardless of an Internet purchase. Well try this for the consumers to get to providers.

If you use a regular phone using internet you can connect directly to your modem. So you have no computer. Some advantages and disadvantages in a row.

Benefits
* Reliable as a fixed part of your internet connection for telefoonie reserved.
* Relatively easy to install
* No computer necessary

Disadvantages
* Call through a VOIP provider is cheaper than normal calls, but not free.

Calling from a computer
The call from computer to computer is free. By far the most popular program to make calls via the Internet is Skype. You will not call a number but a name. You can own username (nich name) call.

A prerequisite for using the Internet from computer to computer is to provide computer software (Skype) have been inverted tall. Furthermore you will need:

* A fast internet connection (cable or ADSL compliant)
* A sound card and speakertjes
* A microphone (or boxjes and microphone in one headset)


It is also possible from your computer to make real phone at home and abroad to call. The creators of Skype have this' SkypeOut 'mind. You paid for the call via the Internet a reduced rate. Some pros and cons in a nutshell:

Benefits
* Inexpensive. Computer-to-computer calls are free, where you are calling.
* Talk to real numbers as possible at low cost. (SkypeOut)

Disadvantages
* Slightly less reliable, because in internet and telephone line are the same.
* Software, computer and peripheral equipment required.

Trojan removal steps

Trojan horses can sometimes be easy to remove spyware using Remove Programs. These programs can identify the horse's name or act. This should be your first step before it more difficult for removal procedures.

Step 1: determine the Trojan

If you know you have a horse to start Step 2. Before you begin to remove Trojans, you must be able to identify malicious software. Fortunately, your computer will already give you a clear indication that you have a Trojan horse virus. When you have a computer Trojan horse is usually a mistake to send you information, do not occur in the normal course of an application. This error is known as DLL errors. The process of the DLL is linked to a specific horse. Therefore, if you can identify the DLL, you can identify the horse. There is a net tons, this will help you determine the process DLL. Copy and paste the error so long as the DLL error as one of the sites www.processlibrary.com. And then give you all the information you it is a malicious software, or the normal process. If it has a Trojan horse which will give you the name of exe file.

Step 2: Show hidden files

Hidden files can be manually clear the Trojan horse is impossible. Usually need to find hidden content, digging your computer for malicious software. The best anti-spyware programs can search your hidden files automatically. You'll need to need to take several steps to show all hidden files and folders.

In XP

1. Close all programs
2. Click on My Computer icon.
3. Select Tools menu and click Folder Options.
4. Choose to view the new tab window.
5. Examination revealed the contents of system folders.
6. In the hidden files and folders, select Show hidden files and folders.
7. Unhide file extensions for known file types and Hide protected operating system files.
8. Click the Apply button and restart

In Vista

1. Close all programs so that you on your desktop.
2. Click the Start button.
3. Click Control Panel.
4. In Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization.
5. Click Show hidden files or folders.
6. In the hidden files and folders section select Show hidden files and folders.
7. Unhide extensions for known file types and Hide protected operating system files.
8. Click the Apply button and restart.

Step 3: stop the Trojan process

And then try to remove the Trojan horse on your system, the first step is to load your personal computer into Safe Mode and stop all processes related to Trojan.

1. In Safe Mode, open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl - Alt - Delete key.
2. Click to highlight the process of it.
3.Click the end of the process of


Step 4: Edit the registry

In order to completely delete the Trojan from your system, you need to delete the registry entries. In this way, will not be able to re-install itself. The Trojan horse is a "procedure" of the process, so you can find the interpretation of the RUN registry folder. The registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE "software" Microsoft "Windows" CurrentVersion> "run
This action will help you eliminate and opportunities, it re-install itself. As follows:

1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type regedit
4. Find this registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /Software /Microsoft /In Windows /CurrentVersion /Run /

5. In the right part of this process click. Such as the Trojan horse "rusvdgpo". Delete all the EXE and DLL with the horse's name.
6. To delete the value.

Step 5: Check your start-ups

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. At the command screen type "Msconfig.exe in"
4. In the "System Configuration Utility", click "start" tab
5. To cancel any course, is linked to the Trojans.
6. Click "OK"
7. Restart

Message: Invalid boot ini error

Regularly come in for various people, the message: invalid boot.ini. What does this now and what can be done? The boot.ini file is a startup that makes allocations for the start-up and therefore is essential in Windows XP. How to solve this please read below.

Error Message "Invalid Boot.ini" or "Windows could not start" in the boot

When you start your computer after you have upgraded to Microsoft Windows XP, is one of the following error messages (or both) is displayed:
Invalid Boot.ini
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: WindowsSystem32Hal.dll
Causes
This problem may occur if the Boot.ini file is missing, damaged or contains incorrect entries.
Solution
To resolve this issue by the computer to boot from the CD-ROM Windows XP, the Recovery Console to start and then the Boot.ini file again to make the tool
Bootcfg.exe.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Configure your computer so that it can be booted from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For more information, see your computer documentation or contact the manufacturer of your computer.

2. Insert the CD-ROM Windows XP in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive and restart the computer.

3. Press any key to restart the computer to boot from the CD-ROM with Windows XP when the message "Press any key as the computer from a CD-ROM to boot" is displayed.

4. In the screen "Welcome to Setup" press R to start the Recovery Console.

5. Select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console on the computer can be selected from two or more operating systems on startup.

6. Request, type the administrator password and press ENTER.

7. Type bootcfg / list to the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER. The entries in the current Boot.ini file appear.

8. Type bootcfg / rebuild at the MS-DOS prompt and press ENTER. With this command, the hard disk of the computer searched for installations of Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows NT, and the results are displayed. Follow the instructions on the screen to the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file to add. Here's how an installation of Windows XP can be added to the Boot.ini file:
a. If a message similar to the following, press Y:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
C: Windows. Installation to boot list? (Yes / No / All)

b. There is a message to the following:
Enter the identification at startup
This is the name of the operating system. Type this message in the name of the operating system and press ENTER. You type here Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. There is a message to the following:
Give the option for booting the operating system
Type in this message / fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Select CPU fingertips

Usually most everyone is just buy a processor with the greatest speed is can meet the need. However this is not really true, when you buy a CPU with a high speed, can be high time to choose, but think the CPU has high speed so the savings will not need to buy RAM with the volume. It is not for the benefit of the optimization system.

In time the computer are the exchange of memory, a CPU with high speed will waste a lot of time in the waiting idle this. Period usually occur continuously so that the performance system is not high.

Therefore we make the definition of clear criteria for choosing the right CPU for your computer. This guide will help you choose the set of processor best suited for your system.

Criteria for system

Each system has its own purpose by it. You must make clear the purpose of use for your computer. For example, if the computer is used as a resource family is shared and surfing the web should not choose the computer configuration, such as high gaming machine. To consider all the objectives for the system before choosing CPU. That makes you a savings account may not need to buy the set of processors have speed too high. It also means you can use that amount for other purposes, such as buying a hard drive with larger capacity for example.

Considering the model in use

Most instructions say about choosing via CPU-based applications will use, but we believe that the model used is more important than the own applications. For example, you can see very clearly with a system used for office tasks will not need a high speed CPU. But conversely, with a number of images to the other, they really need a set of processors is very high.

In working days, a staff may open a browser window, editor window word, some Acrobat files are used for reference purposes and also while the slideshow is created by PowerPoint.

Some people collect some photos for the family photo albums, can conducting work such as get photos from camera, then upload them onto a website.

What model do you think it should require strict?

Note that the form used will change. Would be very difficult to predict accurately the performance of the form you will change how, and therefore you should not buy a CPU expensive to serve the application requirements strict.

UAC control in Windows 7

User Access Control should be the controversialists feature from Windows Vista. After moan and ignorance of users is Microsoft UAC system customize Windows 7.

"We have clearly received the message that you are frustrated. You find the UAC requests to frequent, annoying and confusing." Road system is not because, as emphasized the Windows team, User Access Control is more secure Windows yet.

In summary UAC ensures that whenever a system component of a program like Windows, the user must give his permission for this. When he became administrator of the computer, a simple press an OK button. In another case, the user an administrator password.

Initially UAC indeed caused much frustration. Many programs are unnecessary use Windows system - a deluge of UAC pop-ups delivered. In addition, many Windows components, other major components call and request a window trigger. Sometimes the ridiculous, if you, for example under some circumstances a piece of text to copy and paste.

But there is one major problem: most home users remain logged in as administrator and have developed a culture of just the UAC window away. The actual reading is almost nobody. A Microsoft research show that only thirteen percent of respondents could recall anything specific about the UAC windows that they have seen.

It is concerned that large numbers of users because of the requests as usual animals react instead of critical applications to read and correct decisions. In addition, the real power users to simply disable UAC system. Conclusion: the UAC system misses many (home) users purpose.

Therefore UAC in Windows 7 be adjusted, that the Windows team is concentrating on four areas. It should avoid unnecessary UAC windows deleted, so users can only be confronted with important warnings. Microsoft wants to consult with the developers of programs for most UAC heist worry.

For the power user, a more layered system, which should convince him to not fully UAC off. If an experienced user can specify in which cases User Access Control him to trouble.

What is new in Windows 7

Microsoft has finally made official the release date of Windows 7 scheduled for Thursday 22 October. This confirms the rumors that circulated for several months with a launch at the end of the year and not 2010 as the Redmond company argued there is little time.

We know how the launch and success hoped for, this new OS is crucial for Microsoft. The Redmond company has to make us forget the disappointment caused by Vista, while turning the page to Windows XP endless play of overtime, including through the market for "low cost".

Migration program free to Windows 7

Precisely, Microsoft has already announced that Windows 7, unlike Vista, will be available for Ultraportables cheaply via a so-called Starter Edition. A strategic choice much at a time when a new major player, Android could come play spoilsport on the market if the carrier netBook and their little brothers, nettops.

Regarding desktops and laptops more conventional, the publisher has confirmed that a program of free migration to Windows 7 was scheduled for customers who purchased a machine with Vista, without giving further details.

Windows 7 features

> System Tray: In Windows 7, you have complete control over your system tray. You can remove, change, and even move around the different applications that reside there.

> DirectX is extended to 2D, animation and “fine-looking” text.

> Remote Desktop supports multiple monitors. Easier access to VPNs

> Windows 7 has a reduced memory footprint and they’ve reduced the disk I/O reads “substantially.” In the demo, a 1 Ghz/1 GB RAM netbook had 500 MB RAM available after boot.

> Overall, the system is faster. The taskbar responds almost instantaneously. The boot time is also faster.

> You can use BitLocker to encrypt a USB memory stick.

> Better power management in Windows 7 means longer battery life for notebooks and netbooks.

> You can both create and boot natively from a Windows 7 VHD.

> Touch support: On touch-enabled devices, you can interact with the OS via touch, gestures, flicks, etc. Windows 7 supports multi-touch. There’s also around 25% more space between items in the context menus to allow easier control when touching.

24x7 TECHNICAL SUPPORT

24x7 Technical support means that service provided Computer technical help and support in any time in a day. It is possible through connect your computer online. 24x7 technical
service provider diagnose and solve computer problems with tacking remote session Online and trouble shoot your Computer problem right in front of your eyes. Getting your
computer tech support online is very easy. For getting the online computer technical support you would have to visit and register into the service provider web site. They gives
you a time duration subscription. The subscription could be six month or one year, it is depend on your requirement.

At this point it 24x7 computer tech support can help fix your computer problem with phone tech support or using our specialized screen sharing software. Online computer
technician will suggest how long it will take to fix your computer problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Mostly computer problems can be fixed in under an hour, in
fact some problems may take as little as 5 minutes to solve. Once you subscribe an account for getting computer technical help, you are ready to getting tech support. Through
Their website a technician can connect to your computer, then you grant them access to view your screen and take control of your keyboard and mouse. Sit back, watch and learn
as technician fix your problem for you right in front of your eyes! Its a great learning experience, its simple and fast.

Honesty is and always has been the best policy of this kind of online tech support. Their technicians priority is to provide you with computer tech support and fix your computer fast and efficiently; While ensuring customer satisfaction. We want to provide computer tech support to as many customers as possible quickly because They know your minutes are valuable. All of Their technicians who provide computer tech support are designated and highly qualified. Qualifications include Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, CCNA Cisco Certified, and more. Technicians getting constant training so they can continue to improve their expertise for providing you with experienced computer help and technical service. When Online support provides you with computer tech support, They provide you service in the comfort of your own home. They enable you to maintain your privacy and still get that personal one to one service without letting a stranger in your home. Unplugging wires and driving to the service center to fix your computer will become a thing of the past once you sign up for our computer tech support plans. Live Tech Online makes fixing your computer easy.

iYogi Acquires Clean Machine Inc.

Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine appointed as President Global Channel Sales at iYogi

New York, NY, May 11th, 2009 : iYogi, a global direct to consumer and small business remote technical support provider, today announced it’s acquisition of Clean Machine Inc, a provider of remotely administered PC security and performance management services. Clean Machine will operate as a separate brand under the iYogi services umbrella along with the recently lunched Support Dock (www.supportdock.com) and its comprehensive range of 24/7 technical support services for computers, printers, MP3 players, digital camera, routers, servers and more than 100 software applications. Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine is appointed as the President of Global Channel Sales for iYogi.

iYogi will integrate technology and innovation that Clean Machine Inc. has developed for delivering an enhanced service experience by proactively managing the health and security for PC's and Apple Computers. This acquisition also broadens iYogi's access to key markets through Clean Machine's existing partnerships. Larry Gordon's past experience and successful track record will accelerate iYogi's expansion through his focus on global alliances.
Commenting on the acquisition of Clean Machine Inc., Uday Challu, CEO & Co-founder of iYogi, said,

"This acquisition will help iYogi to enhance our customer experience and extend our market reach to the millions of consumers that are challenged by the increasingly complex technology environment. Clean Machine's proactive maintenance and management of PCs in home and small business environment will be our launch platform for building the next generation of managed services for consumers."

"We are delighted to have Larry spearheading partnerships and global alliances for iYogi. His incredible experience in marketing, sales and building global alliances will help forge partnerships with retailers, multiple service operators, software publishers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and other such companies that are at the frontlines for managing tech support issues for consumers and small businesses",

added Challu.

With more than 20 years of experience, Larry Gordon has played a variety of strategic roles in marketing, sales and building alliances. Larry was the Executive Vice President at Capgemini and Kanbay. He was also VP of Global Marketing for Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leader in global IT services and Director of Marketing for New York based Information Builders.

"I am excited to join a company that shares a common mission to Clean Machine in creating a global brand for delivering the best technical support to consumers and small businesses. We also share a common approach of utilizing highly skilled talent with leading edge tools, thereby delivering services at incredible price-points, with high margins for our partners",

said Larry Gordon, the newly appointed President of Global Channel Sales at iYogi.

ABOUT IYOGI

Headquartered in Gurgaon, India with offices in New York, USA, iYogi provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. IYogi's 24/7 phone and remote technical assistance, spans across a comprehensive range of technologies we use every day from a wide range of vendors. Utilizing its proprietary technology iMantra , and highly qualified technicians, iYogi delivers amongst the highest benchmarks for resolution and customer satisfaction. iYogi is privately held and funded by SAP Ventures, Canaan Partners, and SVB India Capital Partners. iYogi was recently awarded the Red Herring Global 100 Award, recognizing it as one of the 100 most innovative private companies driving the future of technology. For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

ABOUT CLEAN MACHINE

Clean Machine Inc. is a NJ-based and incorporated company that helps consumers and small business owners easily manage and protect their computing environments safely and cost effectively. The company is has a unique, powerful and inexpensive PC concierge service. Specifically, each customer is assigned a highly-trained tech concierge who remotely examines their computer system on a scheduled and very secure basis. The PC concierge will immediately fix software-based problems and prevent new threats to the customer's computing environment including offensive pop-ups, browser redirects and slow performance, and then provides a detailed report. Clean Machine's proprietary Radar(TM) technology (Remote Access Detection Audit and Repair) allows its expert technicians to remotely resolve any problems, eliminating the need for customers to go through the frustrating process of speaking with a tech support expert, and still having to do the work themselves. In other words, the Clean Machine PC concierges do it all. For more information on Clean Machine please visit www.pccleanmachine.com.

Bosch Security Systems announced earlier this week that they have made several upgrades to their CCTV technical support center in Lancaster, Penn. On

Bosch Security Systems announced earlier this week that they have made several upgrades to their CCTV remote technical support center in Lancaster, Penn.

One of the biggest upgrades that the company made to the center was to add a team dedicated especially to solving issues related to customers with IP video surveillance products. Essentially, according to Bosch Technical Manager Don Boling, they have created "two CCTV teams," one that handles analog applications and one that handles IP.

"This structure is helping the company develop deeper expertise within each product groups’ remote technical support team," Boling said a in a prepared statement.

In addition, the center itself has been restructured to feature an open seating plan and centralized equipment racks to help encourage cooperation and sharing of information among the staff.

Source: ipsecuritywatch.com/web/online/IPSW-News/Bosch-upgrades-technical-support-center/512$14716

Changing Technical Support for the Better

Hiring is a major decision because you will be getting the technical support skills, personality quirks, emotional stability, and overall attitude of each person. The goal is also to maintain long-term staff (more on this later), so you will want to live with the consequences of your selections for a long time. Consequently, spend some time thinking about what you really need in a support person.

The first step in this process is to create a list of the minimum technical skills you want your new team to have. You can then prioritize that list and decide which skills will apply to which position. Skills may include:

• Operating system, database and specific application knowledge
• Problem-solving skills
• Phone presence
• Spelling and grammar skills

You should also think about what character traits you want your team to have. Here are some important ones for technical support staff:

1. Trainability

Some people learn faster than others and fortunately you can test a candidate for this during an interview. Find a few puzzles that build upon each other in complexity, show the first to your candidate, and then ask him/her to solve the second one. Can this person apply the information under pressure? If not, he/she is probably the wrong person for your team.

2. Responsibility

Your team members will constantly be taking care of other people’s problems, so they need to have a strong sense of responsibility. This is easy to determine—look for people who take responsibility in their personal lives. This can be gauged by asking questions about one’s connections to family, or even how they are paying back their student loans.

3. Empathy

We once hired a management consultant to help us figure out how to cut costs. She was dubious about one of my technical support people, so she chose to sit at a desk where she could hear him doing support. After a few weeks she revised her opinion, saying, “The angrier and more frustrated the customer gets, the more he communicates, ‘I understand your frustration.’” Empathy.

I usually ask a candidate’s references, “Would you describe this person as empathetic?” If you want to get candidates to take a Meyers-Briggs personality test, you will find that the ‘F’ personality types tend to be more empathetic than others. I didn’t give my people personality tests until after they were hired, but as it turns out, all of them are ‘F’s. My wife also happens to be an ‘F’. What does that say about me? In part, it says that I’m an INTJ, and I over-analyze everything.

4. Logic

Logical support people have the ability to approach a tricky system with the assumption that somehow it all makes sense. That is very important, so I test for logic during all of my interviews. All you have to do is find a few logic puzzles online and make them multiple-choice. Give them to the candidate and let them work on them for five minutes before going over it. See how they do before you consider hiring them.

5. Curiosity

Working in technical support is essentially solving a long series of rational problems. Sometimes, however, the problems aren’t so rational. A person who is naturally curious will be much more diligent in searching for solutions than someone who is not. In interviews, I ask about hobbies to find out if a person is curious. Curious people tend to have active hobbies (e.g. building things, learning how various systems work, etc.).

6. Character

Imagine that you are going on a long vacation, and the person you are interviewing is a friend of yours. Would you trust this person to take care of all of your personal business while you are gone—feed your pets, get your mail, water your plants, pay your bills? If not, don’t hire them.

Management 101

Hiring is important for getting the right people in the first place, and management is important for both keeping them and helping them be successful. Here are some key things to address in your management plan:

Proper Training

Just imagine trying to do technical support on systems that you aren’t trained on. “No ma’am, I don’t know how that is supposed to work.” This is why proper training of new staff is extremely important. In addition, your current staff are probably under-trained. As you reinvent your technical support processes, get real product training scheduled for their first few days. And make ongoing training—especially around new releases—a priority.

Note that you are going not going to be able to train people on the exact problems they will need to solve. Don’t put them into entirely unfamiliar systems and ask them to demonstrate proficiency quickly. Be reasonable and realistic when you train.

Goals and Boundaries

Goals are easy. Make them SMART. (SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely. Do a search on ‘SMART’ goals if you need help—it’s an article series by itself.)

Boundaries are a bit more complicated. People need to know what they can promise on behalf of the company and what they cannot. It frees them from guesswork and hesitation, as well as responsibility for the tough decisions. My father, who worked in the contracts department of a large company, knew exactly how much money his signature could vouch for. That is an example of a well-set boundary, in my opinion.

Communication

Someone once told me that a manager’s job is to help people do their jobs better. I take that to mean that I am the one-man technical support team enablement department. Every member of your technical support team will need help and advice, and they have to know that your door is always open. Not only that, but you should also try to be proactive in your leadership, rather than wait for them to call with problems.

Performance Reviews

Everybody needs to know how they are doing, which is why your staff will benefit from performance reviews. If you want to keep your people long-term, and you do, then you will also need to have a job growth plan in place.

Holding regular team meetings will allow you to review the performance of the team as a group. For example, each team member might be burning through cases twice as fast, but if the incoming case load has tripled, the team has a problem. Everyone needs to be aware of this dynamic and understand how the team is doing on the whole. If there is a problem, I usually approach it without assigning blame. “I was thinking about this process, and I’m not sure that we’re really following it like we should be. I’m also not sure that it’s the best process. Let’s discuss the process—why it is the way it is, why we don’t follow it when we don’t, and how we might improve it.” Letting the whole team participate in such discussions will provide you with significant insight and suggestions that will benefit your department in the long run.

Trusting Your Staff

The point will come when you just have to trust your people to do their jobs. This gives them a sense of self-confidence that will ultimately improve their performance, so go get a hobby. Do whatever it takes to allow yourself to stand back and let the magic work.

Keeping Morale Up

Your team will have plenty of reasons for morale to drop, considering the anger and frustration they will deal with day in and day out. For this reason, you need to do small things for them to keep them happy. For example, my team gets lunch more often than any other department in the company, and when a customer compliments them, I ask them to email it to the entire company.

Source : accountingsoftware411.com/Press/PressDocView.aspx?docid=9974

Market undergos huge pressure due to lack of technical support

The breach of important technical support invited more spec selling, which put the market under a lot of pressure throughout the week. After some damage was done on the daily chart over the last couple of months, the market was trying to hang on to a major uptrend line on the weekly chart, which ran through about 66.50 cents this week, but to no avail. The market clearly broke through this line of defense, which triggered a lot of spec selling that forced the market down to a low of 63.10 cents before rebounding slightly.

Speculators were clearly the driving force behind this selloff and there was again a lot of talk about the potential impact the CFTC investigation might have on spec long positions. Some prominent market commentators stated that a regulatory backlash against hedge funds could lead many of them to exit positions. However, we do not necessarily share this pessimism, because in the case of cotton these specs do not have that much of a long position left to liquidate.

According to the latest CFTC "Commitment of Traders" report, large speculators held just 45'000 contracts of outright longs, down from almost 99'000 contracts at the end of February.

Meanwhile, large outright spec shorts increased their position to almost 27'000 contracts, up by over 9'000 contracts in the week of May 20 - 27 alone and up by over 21'000 contracts since the end of February.

Source: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/company-news/plexuscotton/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=57691

Technical support global partner program

Xceedium, a company providing security and compliance solutions, said it has launched the Xceedium Xcelerate Partner Program to expand its market presence.

The debut program is designed to enable partners to quickly tap into compliance requirements for the financial, utility, manufacturing and government markets, and to enhance their current security practices with products and services revenue.

"We're a high-growth startup that's been growing very rapidly, in a direct manner with our own sales people," explained Cheryl Traverse, CEO for Jersey City, N.J.-based Xceedium. "We've now reached the point where our volume demands to go and build a channel. So we hired Dave Ballard -- an experienced channel person from HP Opsware -- to basically build this channel for us."

Moreover, Xceedium identified its pain points and subsequently delivered new requirements for the estimated $15 billion (US) compliance markets, Traverse continued.

"Where we come in is the privileged (internal IT operations) user and external user (vendor, applications developer, or outsourced IT operations person)," she said. "Eighty-six percent of all internal attacks came from a current or former technical support employee and 60 percent of all companies do some sort of technical outsourcing . . . in the government (sector) that figure is 70 percent.

"Lay all the compliance regulations on top of that . . . and you've put the pressure on companies to come up with ways to take the privileged and external users and figure out a way to implement and validate controls for them."

"We are targeting a select group of partners with existing security practices that are looking for differentiators in key hot markets, such as PCI compliance, vendor access control, enhanced security for the Citrix environments and secure touch free support," said Ballard, the vice president of sales at Xceedium. "Most importantly, we've put together a solid team dedicated to enabling and supporting these partners."

The Xcelerate Partner Program includes:

Channel Commitment -- a dedicated team of partner resources to help partners quickly roll out and sustain their businesses.

Partner Portal -- an exclusive online repository of partner-specific sales, marketing and technical tools.

Dedicated Technical Support -- a separate 800 number and exclusive instant messaging link directly to technical support reps.

Opportunity Registration -- Partners can register their deals and receive all the support necessary to close opportunities; also provides partners with price protection and qualifies them for additional margin.

Maintenance Renewals -- Xceedium would work with partners on renewal tracking and alerting to ensure regular, up- to- date maintenance for their customers.

Education -- all the necessary training to sell and install Xceedium solutions from delivering pre-sales tools through to implementation.

Field Support -- Xceedium works directly with partners in the field to ensure clients receive the highest level of service and education both prior to and following their deployment of Xceedium solutions.

Joint Marketing -- joint press releases, seminars, tradeshow exhibits, conferences and webinars to increase their visibility in the marketplace.

Joint Development of Security Assessment Practice -- For solutions partners and systems integrators, Xceedium provides a comprehensive set of tools and services for risk assessment, policy creation and deployment, and reporting and usage data for privileged users.

Xceedium channel and solution partners benefit from a comprehensive training process, including sales training and pre- and post-sales technical training. Additionally, partners at the solutions partner and systems integrator level receive Xceedium Security Assessment enablement training. Xceedium also offers a Referral Partner Program for those organizations that would like to recommend Xceedium Gatekeeper and Xceedium services to their customers.

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Source : http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=23303

GlobalLogic Speeds Software Time to Market with Open Source Application Framework

VIENNA, Va., April 16 - GlobalLogic, Inc., the leader in global product development, has introduced an open source framework, Velocity Objects, that can shorten a product's time to market by as much as 30 percent. Velocity Objects, based on the company's award-winning GlobalLogic Velocity(TM) Method and Platform for distributed agile software development (, combines J2EE components with best practices so that GlobalLogic's engineers can bring client products to market even faster.

"There is no need to reinvent the wheel each time a software product is developed," said Peter Harrison, CEO of GlobalLogic. "There are many components that are common across products, and code can be re-used. GlobalLogic has spent the last six years assembling a library of reusable components and frameworks that can accelerate the development of the next generation of software products and services."

Velocity Objects provides a sound architecture, framework and building blocks for developing high quality products swiftly. It ensures quality by integrating best-of-breed open source technologies and code components developed by GlobalLogic and its partners, which have already been used successfully in other commercial products. The offering speeds development by making components reusable and eliminating the need to write infrastructure code or research the hundreds of available frameworks to find the right one for a given product.

"We needed a cutting-edge technological solution for meeting our aggressive automation needs. The solution needs to scale linearly and at the same time be extensible enough to cater to future requirements," explained Ashish Sharma, Manager Technology at iYogi, a VC-backed company in the technical support industry. "GlobalLogic's Velocity Objects helped iYogi craft a product by assembling the 'best-of-breed' components available in the open source world. Sound design principles, along with reusable frameworks and components, helped us reduce the time to market. Additionally, the flexible architecture served well to seamlessly incorporate our growing demands."

GlobalLogic Velocity is employed across a growing number of the company's 140 technology client software product development initiatives Objects is particularly applicable to the company's newly announced Version 1.0 service offering, which helps both entrepreneurs and established technology companies rapidly launch new products and enter new markets without the need for an engineering team Velocity Objects is already helping these clients accelerate quality products to market.



source : http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/543200

'Consumer Reports': Apple technical support is aces

The surveyed its readers to gather their experiences with technical support for personal computing, and Apple's organization far outpaced its rivals in the PC industry. Readers assigned the company a score of 83 for its computer technical support, which translates to "very satisfied" on Consumer Reports' rating scale. You have to be a Consumer Reports subscriber if you want to access the articles and graphs on its Web site.

Lenovo and Dell ranked second and third, respectively, with scores of 66 and 60, or "fairly well satisfied." Hewlett-Packard, , received the lowest score and the worst rating for its technical support staffers. Apple also led the desktop technical support pack with a score of 81, trailed by Dell and Gateway with scores below 60.

Apple has also ranked well on the , a yearly measure of consumer taste in various brands. The company solves problems quickly, especially for customers who take their Mac to one of the company's retail stores for service. But if you don't live near an Apple Store, the company offers the shortest amount of free telephone support of any of the PC companies.

When it comes to the number of problems that appear, Apple's record wasn't as stellar. The company was ranked last in the number of defects that cropped up in its notebooks between 2003 and 2007, although the margin of error in that survey meant that all the surveyed manufacturers essentially tied with defects found in between 20 percent and 23 percent of their notebooks.

source: news.com/8301-13579_3-9937231-37.html?tag=nefd.only

Amazon LaunchesTechnical Support For EC2 Developers

Customers of Amazon Web Services can signup to get questions answered or to receive TECHNICAL SUPPORT for operational issues during development, testing or integration of applications running on Amazon's infrastructure. The service covers an unlimited number of technical support cases and is available through a monthly subscription with no long-term contracts.

Amazon leases processing power and storage on its giant data center over the Web. The retailer's Elastic Computer Cloud is the development and deployment environment; storage is through its Simple Storage Service, or S3; and the Simple Queue Service, or SQS, covers storage, computing and query processing. The new technical support plans cover all of those services.

Amazon is offering two premium support plans, a Silver and Gold. The former offers response times ranging from four business hours for high severity issues to two business days for less serious problems. The cost is the greater of $100 a month or 10% of total monthly usage of the applicable Amazon services.

The Gold plan provides 24-hour phone technical support and response times of one hour for urgent issues. Pricing is the greater of $400 per month or 10% to 20% of total monthly usage of the applicable services.

In addition to the support plans, Amazon launched a Web-based dashboard that provides information on the operational status of each of its services. The dashboard uses green, yellow or red indicators to display the health of services with additional information "provided as relevant," Amazon said. Customers have access to this service at no charge either through the status page on the Web or via an RSS feed.

For developers who don't want to pay for support, Amazon offers online forums, FAQs and a resource center. Amazon has launched a site for customers who want to sign up for the premium service.

Source: informationweek.com/news/software/development/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207400320

Chaos as bank computer crash wipes out ATMs

Tens of thousands of people were feeling short changed last night after a massive system failure wiped out all the Northern Bank's ATMs.

Throughout the province yesterday, frustrated people found themselves unable to withdraw money from hundreds of machines.

Customers trying to use Northern Bank debit and credit cards also faced misery as their transactions were refused, leaving many embarrassed and unable to make purchases.

The problem - which arose after the Danish- owned institution's central system crashed - affected all of the Northern Bank's 94 branches nationwide, including 25 in the greater Belfast area.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, a spokesperson for the bank apologised to customers and blamed a glitch in the ATM network.

"This issue is the result of a technical problem with IBM who support this network," she said.

"We are working closely with IBM to restore service to our customers as soon as possible.

"We apologise unreservedly to any customers who are being affected by this situation."

Last night, the Belfast Telegraph tried to withdraw money from cash points at two of the major branches in the city centre, but found them still 'temporarily out of service'.

The spokesperson, however, stressed that engineers were making every effort to repair the fault and said the network would be up and running again as soon as possible.

"Any customer who urgently needs to withdraw cash can still do so at any Northern Bank branch or can use their chequebook," she added.

Messages outside the Northern Bank's headquartwers in Belfast yesterday alerted customers to the problem.

But it is understood that the system crash went wider than Northern Ireland, also affecting machines in Europe owned by the Northern's parent Danske Bank.

This is the second time in recent months that the Northern Bank has been at the centre of a problem with cash machines.

In February, it emerged that Nationwide customers using Northern cash machines were not having pay-outs debited from their accounts.In that case, however, the error was not linked to Northern Bank technology, but to Nationwide's.

source:belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article3598167.ece