The Technology Ladder
The hammer came before the scissors, the phone before the cellphone, the Internet before the iPhone. E-readers are replacing traditional books, and online coupon codes are making cut-out coupons quaint. Does the invention of the earlier works mean that it was more necessary to our existence to have the hammer than the scissors, and thus it is something that we should be acquainted with more. Further, does it benefi
The 3 Different Kinds of TSRs
A long time ago, when guns were first invented, Harold, Randolf and John were three soldiers in training. One day there was a session on how to use a gun.Harold, a day before the session, went out to drink. He was the lazy guy, the happy go lucky, a common pest for the officers, but a friend to almost every cadet. When the session came he went but was so sleepy that he heard what the technician was saying, but coul
Learning the Value of Silence
I read somewhere that in order to be happy and content in life, one needs balance. For instance, if one is fed with noise, one needs silence. And as a tech support rep, I found this to be true.
Imagine being surrounded by noise on eight out of the nine hours of your shift, every day, while other people are soundly sleeping. Imagine phones ringing, keys tapping, agents shouting, ink cartridges and fax machines whin
Safety Tips on Your Way to Work
Call center agents, like technical support representatives, work in shifting schedules. There are times when you have to go to work at night. You may even have to go to the office in the wee hours of the morning. Because of this, safety is always a primary concern. This is an issue every agent has to deal with whether he lives near the office or somewhere far like in one of those Park City condos.
Crime rate is rel
A Tech Rep’s Lonely Valentine
As we all know, tech support reps have it tough. We live in a different time zone, totally alien to our location. Then there’s the shifting schedules, and of course the demands of the job. Being a tech support rep can sometimes make you lose touch with reality, such as when technical terms start creeping into your conversation with your dinner date, or when you start talking PHP and SQL and ruining a romantic
A Clock That Doesn’t Require Any Tech Support… for 10,000 Years
If you happen to be in the customer support business for prestigious timekeeping brands such as Rolex, or even more “pedestrian” fare with redeemable coupon codes such as Swatch, you know that despite what the ads say, these watches are not the indestructible pieces of timekeeping technology they are supposed to be.
In fact, among today’s everyday gadgets, the ordinary wristwatch is one of the mos
Holiday Work
Some jobs get to have breaks for the holidays. There’s no need for them to show up in the office and get work done on Christmas Eve or New Year’s. Most of the world either shuts down or understands they can’t do business because others have shut down. This means that, for the most part, there’s no need for the agents that process car loans or the folks that make marketing calls for a new DSL
Getting through Christmas Night at Work
So the party has ended, and you’ve received your hefty Christmas bonus.
On top of that, also took home prizes from the Town Hall party, had your unused leaves converted to cash, and even got a gift basket from your boss.
Unfortunately, all that has passed and now you’re back to work…. on Christmas night.
While everybody else is tucking into their Christmas ham and turkey, or huddling around the wa
Stress Troubleshooting Techniques for TSRs
Irate customers, no available (or willing) supervisors, and hundreds of calls on cue are some of the major stress-causing scenarios in a call center. For a technical support representative like you, there are probably a few hundred more. There are the numerous FAQs to memorize, troubleshooting methods that generally do not solve the problem, and the continuous fight to not be the first not to break when the custome
Don’ts When Dealing with Angry Customers
Left without a choice, you have to deal with irate customers on the line. There are a bunch of reasons which make them furious—diet pills that cause them frequent trips to the restroom, substandard inflatable pools, static class-c IP hosting, or even the simplest concern of a flatscreen TV that doesn’t turn on.
Again, their anger may not always be your fault. But, it is part of your job to handle them with grac