A Simple Guide to Understanding Tech Support Jargon
If you’ve attended a meeting before with an outsourced tech support agency or with professionals in the industry, then you’ve probably encountered someone blurting out tech terms incomprehensible to others outside the field. During these situations, someone almost always ends up saying, “In English, please.”
This familiar image rings true to customers talking to tech support specialists and support specialists working with anyone outside their department. It’s like a conversation with two people speaking in two different languages.
It can be quite overwhelming for people who aren’t technologically well-versed to explain a complicated issue to a specialist. In the same way, it can be difficult for experts to find and offer solutions if that person is unable to communicate the problem clearly. The future success of technical support depends on how well your team is able to overcome these "language barriers".
Get in the Know With the Technobabble
To anyone but a tech specialist, jargon and error messages may appear like just a hunk of gibberish. As an IT worker, business owner, or professional in a technical industry, it’s your responsibility to familiarize yourself with these terms in case you encounter them. More importantly, ”talking the talk” will help in keeping a smooth flow of communication between you and your outsourced tech support team, allowing you to build a more productive working relationship with them.
What you need is a glossary of no-fuss, snackable definitions of technical jargon to wrap your head around unfamiliar terms quickly. To help you bridge the language gap, here are 40 tech terms broken down for everyone’s understanding. It’s time to crack the code!
Tips to Ensure Your Tech Support Conversation Goes Smoothly
Communication is a give-and-take process—working with a tech support specialist is exclusively about that. When you encounter an issue way beyond your knowledge and control, there goes your tech team to the rescue. You have to work together to make the job a little less complicated to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Here are ways to make your conversation with your outsourced tech support specialist a more pleasant and less painful experience.
Be Prepared Before Making the Call
Before you ring them up or message them about your concern, make sure that you know what to say. The more prepared you are to explain the details, the less time you’ll have to spend going round and round about the problem. Here are a few things to observe before you pick up the phone:
Timeline: When did the issue turn up? How long has it been occurring since?
Troubleshooting: Have you tried fixing the problem yourself before? Whether it made the problem worse or held it off for awhile, you need to let your tech staff know if you’ve done anything already.
Error message: For instance, System Error Codes, Browser Error Codes, Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)
If there are no error messages, write down exactly what’s going on (e.g., screen freezes every time you open a specific application). Saying “it just stopped working” won’t help.
Write these down before you call for help. Not only will this help your tech support better understand the issue, but it’ll give then more time and possibly less effort to find a solution.
Explain the Problem Clearly
When it’s time to report the problem, you can’t just point to the screen and shrug your shoulders implying you have no idea what happened. You need to give them more than “the internet doesn’t work.”
Vague: “The internet stopped working.”
Clear: “Chrome stopped working, but Firefox works fine.”
Explain in full detail what you did before and after the issue arose. Don’t hold back any information. You wouldn’t know which are irrelevant and which aren’t, so telling them as much detail as possible can help speed up the process.
Follow the Instructions
Before you ask “are you sure this will work?” Test it out first. Make sure that you follow all the steps.
If your tech support asks you to check something, you need to follow the instructions to the letter. Even if you’ve tested it before and found nothing, do as they say—they know what they’re on to. There’s a reason why they’re walking you through this, so it’s crucial that you follow their lead. If you don’t understand the instruction, don’t be afraid to ask.
Repeat the Details
One way to prevent miscommunication is by repeating after what they say. For example:
Support specialist: “Go to menu A, look for X then click Y, then select Z.”
You: “Okay, I found menu A, I clicked on X, then I clicked y, and then z.”
Doesn’t this sound clearer than “Okay, done”? Repeating what they’re saying as you go through the steps—being more specific—both of you will feel confident that you’ve completed the instruction. This proves that you understood each other.
Ask for a Ticket Number
Also called a reference number or incidence number, a ticket number refers to your tech support’s ticket management system which records the problems they receive.
They are required to track the details of your call in the reference number so if another specialist has to take over, he or she can pick up from where you left off. This especially helps if you need to call again.
TL; DR
Don’t let the language barrier become this huge, thick wall between you and your tech staff. You’ll misinterpret some techy terms, but don’t worry. This just means you have to be more patient and mindful of the gap—and find ways on how you can both meet halfway. Brushing up your knowledge on some technobabble and avoiding costly tech support mistakes is a good start.
Support specialists are always happy to help and solve mysteries. Having an excellent outsourced tech support in your team to walk you and your customers through any technology crisis can help you get back to work in no time, keeping your business operations running ever so smoothly.
The tech support world can be difficult to navigate without the right support staff. Find out how the experts at Intelligent Bee can help improve your business today!
