When I worked for The Learning Company if I ever had a computer problem all I had to do was contact the IT department to come help me out. Within 5 minutes one particular IT guy would come to my little cubicle and make everything right. He had glasses, long sideburns and always wore large belt buckles. If I am not mistaken he had a love for country music and trucks. I may have been invited to a concert once or twice. Regardless, he made everything all better; like when I did not understand why our connection was down, or the printer did not hook up or um even when I could not figure out where the network was.
Small Business has No IT guy
Sometimes I sit and wonder where my IT guy is now, I daydream that he might some day come in and sweep my computer off my desk and make all my computer problems go away. I miss him, I miss my IT guy, I have no IT guy.....I am the IT guy.
Today was one of those days where I sat and wondered about my IT department. The reason was due to a snafu or a "reasons we can't explain" as the lovely lady at AT&T called it. My internet went down and I had to figure out why, yep me, myself and I on the phone with AT&T.
Tech Support On The Phone
First I argued back and forth with tech support regarding the fact that we had changed our plan and changed our DSL lines and I was pretty sure that AT&T had turned off the wrong line (it has happened numerous times and only AFTER we turned a line off or changed it). The guy told me his name was Angel....yes he said Angel and he could help me. He also said no, he was sure my router was broken, or my phone line, modem or....maybe rabid squirrels ate through the cables and reconfigured my computer while I was out - I sort of stopped listening after the seventh possibility. Well maybe he did not say squirrels, but he might have - I had no idea what he was talking about.
We went back and forth with what could of happened for about ten minutes. I finally interrupted him and asked him to help me fix it...just explain to me slowly what I had to do. I may have gotten a tad irritated but I did not start crying (been there, done that). He started by explaining to me what cord to un-plug from the modem, and back into the router, the phone, then the computer. The phone conversation went something like this;
Angel: "Take the blue cord from your router and put it into your computer. Now ma'am take the cord from your modem and put it in your router, now put the cord from your Modem into your computer. Did you do that ma'am?"
Me: "Yes I (grunt, whimper) sorry I had to pull my hard drive out and I am now laying (breathing hard)on the ground plugging and un-plugging cords...I did that."
Angel: "Are you okay ma'am....you sound like you are struggling ma'am."
Me: "I am fine Angel, just having to tear my entire system apart and plug and un-plug things."
Angel: "Phone line working or not ma'am? What about the internet ma'am?"
Me: " I am on the phone so that works. No Angel, the internet is not working."
Angel: "Try to plug this number in....now this one...now this one....does that work Ma'am?"
Me: "Nope, no not that one....no that does not work either."
Angel: "What does your router say ma'am?"
Me: (It doesn't say anything.....hahahahaha but it blinks) "Sorry I was day dreaming, um it is not lit up, it is blinking."
Angel: "Do you have internet now ma'am? How about now? Now ma'am?"
Jamie: "No, no....wait now it works. It works! It works in safe mode and when I bypass the router."
Angel: "Okay good that is a start. Is your modem old or new ma'am?"
Jamie "Um, here is the deal could you please stop calling me ma'am? I hate being called ma'am. It makes me feel old and I am not old enough to be called ma'am....call me Jamie, please."
Angel:"How old are you ma'am....er Ms. Lentzner.......I mean Jamie?"
Jamie"I am 40."
Angel "Wow - that's how old my Mom is. I am 22"
Jamie "Never mind, Thanks - ma'am is fine."
How do I talk to an Angel?
All kidding aside after 2 hours on the phone with Angel I was ready to get his home address and send him a Christmas card. He was very patient and not once told me that I may be a total ignoramus for not understanding my internet, or remembering ANY of my passwords. We discussed our past vacations, how he still got carded and his lack of a Texas accent (he was working at a call center in Texas). I was a tad bit smitten by him - he had helped me and all was good. All was going to be hunky-dory....until he told me this.
Angel: "Um Jamie (yes we got past the ma'am formality) I am not certified to take this call any further. I need to forward you to the Tech Support that handles router problems. Uh.....and they will be charging you for the call. I am real sorry, you can ask for a payment plan...."
Me: "Fine, whatever....thanks for your help, you have been very nice. Sorry for uh being rude in the beginning. Take care.....(call me?)"
Angel:"You too Mrs. Lentzner, ma'am....Jamie I mean. I will send you an email"
Three Hours Later
I got into a fight with another more senior IT department person, her name was Talon. Is it just me or have I entered like a strange universe with names? It was like a Percy Jackson book, or a Greek Mythology novel I may have read in college. I was sure that her supervisor Zeus was going to get on the line.
Anyway, I was trying to prove that my phone line was NOT disconnected since I was talking to her on it. I also go to argue that NO I could not go on the website to fix the problem because....I HAD NO INTERNET! My accountant (mother) came in to the office on her day off to help with the problem. She got to argue and fight with Tallon also. And, once again we were reminded no less than 7 times that this was our problem and we had to pay for this service. Ya....that would be the service that AT&T screwed up when they turned off one of our phone lines, then turned it back on - this screwed up our Internet address. We finally got a tech support person (I was hoping his name was Falcon, Medusa or Apollo....but I think it was Frank) to get our Internet working.
And That's The End
At the end of the day all was well at Jamie's Painting & Design. Our internet was up, email was working and the birds were chirping............uh not really, but we had internet so Hallelujah! We (me and my Mom) did get it all up and running, even without an IT department and me having not one idea which cord went where or what the hell I was doing. Guess my IT department consists of me, my mother, Talon, Angel and Frank. I hope Angel doesn't come into my office tomorrow and try to get me to go to a Billy Ray Cyrus concert....I may have to say yes.
LOL!!! My IT guy married me and then gave me a computer, and the internet and kids.
Posted by: kyooty | August 06, 2010 at 12:39 PM
This was the same conversation we had with AT&T last week, as well as Xerox trying to get my printer to print wirelessly in the new office! OF course it's always the other person's problem and they all want to point fingers at each other. We even paid $25 to Xerox for a one time fix! Did they fix it??? NO! Still no printer for me.
Posted by: London Edwards | August 08, 2010 at 10:04 AM
Hoh, that really cracks me up! I mean, everything went well in the end, with you and your mom and the cast of AT&T collaborating and getting the internet connection fixed.
I've been working for an upstart company, and we're relying on some of these Boston IT companies to get everything IT-related in order. Guess if my workstation breaks down one of these, I gotta pay attention to how they'll fix it.
Posted by: Lisa Moore | February 01, 2011 at 12:49 AM
I am the owner of My IT Department and I happened upon this page as I was doing some research for my site. I was the guy that built, trained, setup or managed those IT guys that would come up to your cubical to fix the issues. After a number of my friends went into business in Long Island NY they had the same complaint as you. In general the transition from a corporate IT department to a small business IT solution can be an eye opener. The old adage, don't know what you got till it's gone is really applicable! Come on admit it you cursed the IT department at some point when you were at the The Learning Center!!!
I created my company and hired my staff from corporate IT departments and we run our business as a corporate IT department for small business. Obviously we are not always on site and we are here only for your business, but it shouldn't feel that way to you! Hence our motto My IT Department wants to be your IT department.
Unfortunately you are outside of our service area and you seem to have found a company you are satisfied with but if we could help in any way please feel free to contact me directly.
Posted by: Lenny F | July 15, 2011 at 07:16 AM