Re: Yes the users are bad
At some point, the world in general must have come to the (incorrect) conclusion that I prefer technical terms babbled out basically at random by users who think they know what these terms mean, but don't. For example, I was helping someone get some remote working up and running when this lockdown got into view, containing the following interaction:
Them: I know the VPN you set up and I'm connected to it, but the network doesn't work.
Me: Do you mean you have no internet access, no access to local resources, or both?
Them: No, the internet is working, but the server isn't.
Me: Ah. Local resources then. Can you go to [internal address deleted] and tell me what it says?
Them: No, that thing works. It's the server that doesn't work.
Me: The server doesn't work?
Them: Yes.
Me: The page you said works is on the server.
Them: I know that. The server is working, but the router isn't pinging the network when I ask it to.
Me: What specifically are you trying to do?
Them: I'm trying to access the network protocol.
Me: What is the end goal for what you're doing?
Them: I have to open the accounting data.
Me: How do you do that?
Them: I open this program and use it to open the database.
Me: And where is the database?
Them: It's online, but the firewall isn't letting me open it.
Me: You read that with an accounting program, right?
Them: Yes. That is working fine.
Me: What happens when you try to open that program?
Them: It crashes with an error message.
Me: What does the message say?
Them: It says the network driver address was invalid. [When finally read verbatim, it says the file couldn't be found]
The issue ended up being a configuration problem in client-side software. I helped solve it. If they could realize that server, router, firewall, and network aren't just catchall words that apply to any kind of technical thing, we could have skipped that and many other sections of that particular conversation. The most useful thing that I think would improve my impromptu support calls would be that error messages are only ever read verbatim and are read fully the first time I ask, without the typical response of "It isn't important" or "That's not the problem". It's surprising how many of these I get given that I don't work in support. These experiences and the many stories here have convinced me to stay away if I can.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
