Friday, April 13, 2012

Airline Captain Tech Support

I have a friend who's an airline captain for a major airline.  He's also an awesome surfer.  And when we talk our conversation is very casual and totally surfed out!  We were sitting on our boards one day waiting for waves, and I asked him if he has to talk over the plane's public address system very often, or if he delegates it.  He said, "Oh, dude-- it's the worst!  I have to play it so straight!"  That story still makes me laugh!

Good airline pilots are good for many reasons.  One is that they keep their passengers updated when things might not appear to be going as originally planned.  Like when you're in the line-up to take off at some airports and the captain comes on the P.A. and lets you know that your plane is sixth in line to take off.  That's helpful information!  It didn't fix anything, but just getting the status update helps you feel more comfortable.

That's how we, as IT professionals, need to approach tech support.  When there's a lull in the action, before they can start to feel like maybe they're being ignored, let them know the status of things!  Letting them know, for instance, that you're waiting to hear from the manufacturer on something helps them know you're doing all you can on their behalf.

Put yourself in their shoes.  If you'd start to feel impatient or neglected at a certain point, become their advocate and proactively give them a status update!  It takes very little effort and goes a long way towards earning their trust and appreciation.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

New Article on 3 Things Needing Attention on Every Network


I released a new article to the publisher on three things that need attention on every network. Click here to read a free advance copy!

MBS is Growing Up! Finally!

Our firm, MBS, has been serving Christian churches and ministries for nearly 26 years!  When we started we offered six different services which the Lord used to meet clients' needs; but over the years He has led us to focus better and better.  Beginning in 2011 our only focus is serving the IT needs of Christian churches and ministries.

We also launched the next generation of those services in the Fall of 2011:  cloud hosting of Exchange, SQL, and VoIP servers.  All done in our secure, state-of-the-art data center.  Honestly, I have been surprised at how well The Church is responding to those hosted services!  I'm very excited about it; we love serving Christian churches and ministries well!

This month we added a new tool for our internal use: a help desk support ticket tracking system.  With our growing team of IT engineers we needed a better way to keep track of our clients' support requests.  Though we may eventually outgrow it, we're using SpiceWorks.  When a client emails our support team it automatically generates a support ticket.  It's only been live about a week and already I'm liking it!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Sending Text to Phones from Email Clients (i.e. Outlook)

Sometimes it's handy to send someone a text message (SMS) via email.  It's easy to do!  Just address the email to the intended recipient's cell phone number-- including the area code but without a preceding 1-- and append it as follows:
  • ATT:  @txt.att.net
  • Sprint:  @messaging.sprintpcs.com
  • T-Mobile:  @tmomail.net
  • Verizon:  @vtext.com
For instance, if you wanted to send a VerizonWireless customer a text message via email, address is to 7145551212@vtext.com.

Easy!

    Wednesday, March 28, 2012

    New Article on Our Relationship with Our Mobile Devices


    I just wrote a fun and helpful article on how to manage our mobile devices.  Click here to read it!

    Monday, March 26, 2012

    Windows' Hidden Admin Account

    When Microsoft support told me to switch to the hidden Admin account I fell out of my chair!  Well, figuratively speaking, anyway.  And guess what!  It doesn't have a password!  Go figure...

    Tuesday, March 13, 2012

    New Article on IT's Role in Strategic Planning

    Most church and ministry leadership teams are unaware of how visions cast and implementations planned affect or are affected by their computer systems. Let’s look at how leadership can improve this process and achieve more successful results.

    Click here to read the article.