Where did my tech support go?

With the incredible growth of the iOS app store, I’ve occasionally had a need for tech support for some of the apps I use. Increasingly though, I’m finding that the quality of tech support for some iOS apps falls between ineffective and non-existent. When you stop to think about it, this can be interesting, disconcerting, annoying, and understandable – take your pick.

 

Interesting – I find it interesting, because if people want to roll out a new software product, I’d think that they also want to provide support. Good products with good support usually translate into happy users. Happy users recommend the product to their friends, and that translates into even more happy users. So when companies have bad or no tech support, it sends the message that they want to make the initial sale, and they don’t care if it breaks after you buy it.

 

Disconcerting – It’s disconcerting as well, because when I find a product I really like, I tend to use it a lot. I want to know that the company is going to be able to take the product successfully through future OS upgrades. I’d also like to know that they’re still working on the thing. After all, if they’re just going to abandon the product (and ultimately me), I want to know that as well so I can find another product that does have some support.

 

Annoying – When you find a “good” or even “okay” product, it can take a little time to get it to do what you want, integrate it into your workflow, and find the little ways to get the most out of it. When you can’t figure something out or when something just plain doesn’t work, you want to be able to get an answer from someone.

 

Understandable – Finally, the lack of good tech support is understandable. A lot of apps are free. Many cost only 99 cents. If you’re not see much (or any) return on your work, there isn’t a lot of incentive to provide support beyond that of personal satisfaction and knowing that you’ve done a good job. Additionally, many apps are rolled out by individuals rather than companies. Often software development could be just a hobby or a sideline. With other responsibilities, perhaps tech support just isn’t one of them.

 

If my bad experience with tech support had just been a one-off, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to write about it, but increasingly I’m finding this to be the rule rather than the exception. I’ve found bad tech support on apps ranging from free to $15, from almost unknown developers to well-known companies with far greater resources.

 

As I said, the quality really varies. At worst, an e-mail to technical support just floats off into the ether never to be heard from again. The next step up comes from companies who helpfully provide an immediate auto reply but never actually follow up on the problem. Then there are those who actually reply, solicit a lot of technical details from you, and then do nothing with your feedback. There are developer who do painstaking testing, replicate the problem, but tell you that unfortunately there is nothing they can do about it. And then there are those who promise that it will be fixed in the next release.

 

And somewhere out there at the far end of the spectrum, there are those developers who see the problem and either help you fix it or roll out a timely update that addresses the issue.

 

Unfortunately, those developers are few and far between – at least in my experience. When I first started working with software, there was a lot more tech support. It wasn’t always good, but – given enough time – they usually got the problem solved. And at least they knew how to return a phone call or an e-mail message.

IT Skills in the Trenches

I saw a great article on PCWorld the other day: 30 Skills Every IT Person Needs. I enjoy reading through lists like these, because it’s interesting to see what various people view as critical skills. There are a couple of these that particularly resonate with me.

2. Work the help desk.

As IT people (particularly managers) specialize in their given areas, there can be a gradual and often unintentional gravitation away from core, front-line support responsibilities. Certainly specialization tends to whittle away at some of the broad-based support skills as techies focus more on a particular area of interest. With specialization there can also be a loss of contact with the widest possible user base in an organization. Because of this I find it extremely valuable to keep working at some of the standard front-line issues. Whether it’s a printer problem or a permissions issue, this serves an important dual role. It helps me maintain an awareness of front line issues, and it keeps me in touch with the end-users, their needs and concerns. Of course this isn’t always possible, but I firmly believe that IT personnel should never allow themselves to become too far removed from the front lines. That first-hand knowledge and experience is just too valuable.

15. Work all night on a team project.

This is another item I believe to be particularly important for managers. We occasionally have projects (or situations) that I refer to as “all hands on deck” events. In these cases all department members – including student workers- pitch in with ideas, suggestions, planning, and hands-on work. As the PCWorld article mentions, these kinds of projects help build camaraderie among department members. Beyond that though, it reinforces the idea that managers should be personally involved in large, complicated projects. Rather than just adopting a “hold down the fort” or a Picard-esque “make it so” attitude as they walk out the door, the manager should set the expectation that late-night hours can be anyone’s responsibility. No one likes pulling an all-nighter, but the all-nighter CAN be a shared experience of success and accomplishment.