Chapter 1 Safety and Professionalism

1102

■ The Professional Tech

Professional Appearance and Attire

The Traits of a Tech

Honesty/Integrity

Honesty means to tell the truth, and integrity means doing the right thing.

*Techno-babble is the use of (often nonsensical) jargon and technical terms to intimidate and silence a challenge to a technical issue.

Every user’s password represents a potential danger spot for techs. We’re constantly rebooting computers, accessing protected data, and performing other jobs that require passwords. The rule here is to avoid learning other folks’ passwords at all costs

Ethic of Reciprocity, also known as the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In a tech’s life, this can translate as “Treat people’s things as you would have other people treat yours.” Don’t use or touch anything—keyboard, printer, laptop, monitor, mouse, phone, pen, paper, or cube toy—without first asking permission. Follow this rule at all times, even when the customer isn’t looking.

Dependability/Responsibility

*Dependability and responsibility are another pair of traits that, while they don’t mean the same thing, often go together. A dependable person performs agreed-upon actions. A responsible person is answerable for her actions. Again, the freedom of the typical IT person’s job makes dependability and responsibility utterly critical.

*Paperwork

*Most computer repair companies require a signed Authorization of Work or Work Authorization form to document the company name, billing information, date, scope of work, and that sort of thing. Even if you do your own repairs, these forms can save you from angst and from litigation. You can create your own or do an Internet search for examples.

Sensitivity

*Sensitivity is the ability to appreciate another’s feeling and emotions. Sensitivity requires observing others closely, taking time to appreciate their feelings, and acting in such a way that makes them feel comfortable.

■ Effective Communication

Assertive Communication

As a technician, you must show users the error of their ways without creating anger or conflict. You do this by using assertive communication. Assertive communication isn’t pushy or bossy, but it’s also not the language of a pushover. Assertive communication first requires you to show the other person that you understand and appreciate the importance of his feelings. Use statements such as “I know how frustrating it feels to lose data,” or “I understand how infuriating it is when the network goes down and you can’t get your job done.”

Respectful Communication

You don’t do the user’s job, but you should respect that job and person as an essential cog in the organization. Communicate with users the way you would like them to communicate with you, were the roles reversed. Again, this follows the Ethic of Reciprocity.

Apply the Ethic of Reciprocity

The Ethic of Reciprocity appears in almost every religion on the planet, with versions attributed to Confucius, Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed, among others. Just for practice, try the Ethic of Reciprocity out in nontechnical situations, such as when buying something from the corner store or grocery. Consciously analyze how the clerk behind the counter would want a customer to interact with him or her. Now put yourself in the clerk’s shoes. How would you want a customer to communicate with you? Act accordingly!

Getting Answers

Then ask the proper follow-up questions with the goal of getting answers that will help you troubleshoot the problem.

*Follow up with fact-seeking questions. “When did it last work?” “Has it ever worked in this way?” “Has any software changed recently?” “Has any new hardware been added?” Ask open-ended questions to narrow the scope of the problem (“Which applications are running when the computer locks up?”).

Expectations and Follow-Up

Users are terrified when their computers and networks go down so hard that they need to call in a professional. Odds are good that they’ve left critical, or at least important, data on the computer. Odds are equally good they need this computer to work to do their job. When they’re ready to lay down money for a professional, they’re expecting you to make their system exactly the way it was before it broke.

Timeline

If you can give the customer a best guess as to how long the repair will take, you’ll be a hero. Don’t be afraid to hold off on your time frame prediction until you’ve diagnosed the machine. If you truly don’t have a feel for the time involved, tell the customer that and then tell him or her what you’ll need to know before you can make the prediction.

Options

Many times with a computer issue, you can fix the problem and avoid a similar problem in the future in several ways. These options boil down to money. Offer repair/replacement options, as needed, and let the customer decide which route to take.

Documentation

At the completion of work, provide proper documentation of the services provided. Describe the problem, including the time and day you started work, the solution (again including the time and day the work ended), the number of hours you worked, and a list of all parts you replaced. If the customer owns the replaced parts, offer them to the customer (this is especially true if you replace any storage media). This documentation may or may not include your charges.

Follow-Up

Follow up with the customer/user at a later date to verify satisfaction. This can be simple follow-up, usually just a phone call, to confirm that the customer is happy with your work. This gives the customer a chance to detail any special issues that may have arisen, and it also adds that final extra touch that ensures he or she will call you again when encountering a technical problem.

■ Be Prepared!

*Effective communication with your customer enables you to start the troubleshooting process, getting details about the problem and clues about things that happened around the same time. To continue troubleshooting, though, you need to be adept at handling computing devices. That starts with knowing how to handle computer components safely and how to use the tools of a tech. You also need a very clear troubleshooting methodology to guide your efforts. Let’s look at these issues.

*All computing devices are well protected against ESD on the outside. Unless you take a screwdriver or pry tool and open up a PC or other computing device, you don’t need to concern yourself with ESD.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

There are times when electricity improperly jumps from one place to another in ways that cause damage, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). An EMP shows up in many ways. Lightning is a form of EMP. Lightning hitting your electrical equipment certainly makes for a bad day! Nuclear detonations also create a massive EMP burst (yikes!), but the EMP of most concern to techs is electrostatic discharge (ESD).

*Static electricity, and therefore the risk of ESD, is much more prevalent in dry, cool environments.

*ESD simply means the passage of a static electrical charge from one item to another.

*Metal to Skin

Make sure the metal plate on the ESD strap touches the skin of your wrist. Don’t put it on over the sleeve of a long-sleeved shirt.

Antistatic Tools

ESD only takes place when two objects that store different amounts (the hip electrical term to use is potential) of static electricity come in contact. The secret to avoiding ESD is to keep you and the parts of the computer you touch at the same electrical potential, otherwise known as grounding yourself to the computing device.

You can accomplish this by connecting yourself to the computer via a handy little device called an electrostatic discharge (ESD) strap. This simple device consists of a wire that connects on one end to an alligator clip and on the other end to a small metal plate that secures to your wrist with an elastic strap.

Techs use antistatic mats to eliminate this risk. An electrostatic discharge mat—or ESD mat—acts as a point of common potential; it’s typical to purchase a combination ESD strap and mat that all connect to keep you, the computer, and any loose components at the same electrical potential

ESD straps and mats use tiny resistors—devices that stop or resist the flow of electricity—to prevent a static charge from racing through the device. These resistors can fail over time, so it’s always a good idea to read the documentation that comes with your antistatic tools to see how to test those small resistors properly.

Any electrical component not in a computer case needs to be stored in an antistatic bag, a specially designed bag that sheds whatever static electricity you have when you touch it, thus preventing any damage to components stored within.

*Almost all components come in an antistatic bag when purchased. Experienced techs never throw these bags away, as you never know when you’ll want to pull a part out and place it on a shelf for a while.

*Always put components in an antistatic bag, not on the bag.

Before working on a computer in such a situation, take a moment to touch the power supply—I’ll show you where it is in Chapter 2—to make sure you are at the same electrical potential as the computer. Repeat every once in a while, as you work. Although this isn’t as good as a wrist strap, this equipment-grounding is better than nothing at all.

*Use these tools for proper component handling and storage: ESD straps, ESD mats, antistatic bags, and equipment grounding.

*Always disconnect power before repairing a personal computing device.

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)

A magnetic field interfering with electronics is electromagnetic interference (EMI). EMI isn’t nearly as dangerous as ESD, but it can cause permanent damage to some components and erase data on some storage devices. You can prevent EMI by keeping magnets away from computer equipment. Certain components are particularly susceptible to EMI, especially storage devices like hard drives.

*The biggest problem with EMI is that we often use magnets without even knowing we are doing so. Any device with an electrical motor has a magnet. Many telephones have magnets. Power bricks for laptops and speakers also have magnets. Even a lowly screwdriver might have a magnet. Keep them away!

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)

Do you ever hear strange noises on your speakers even though you aren’t playing any sounds? Do you ever get strange noises on your cell phone? If so, you’ve probably run into radio frequency interference (RFI). Many devices emit radio waves:

■ Cell phones

■ Wireless network cards/access points

■ Cordless phones

■ Baby monitors

■ Microwave ovens

*In general, the radio waves that these devices emit are very weak, and almost all electronic devices are shielded to prevent RFI.

*RFI will never cause any damage, but it can be incredibly irritating. The best way to prevent RFI is to keep radio-emitting devices as far away as possible from other electronics.

*RFI becomes a big problem when two devices share the same frequencies. Baby monitors, Internet of Things (IoT) devices (like wireless surveillance cameras), and many wireless networks share the same range of frequencies. They sometimes interfere with each other, causing poor signals or even blocking signals completely.

*Tech Tip

Protective Bag Types

Computer gear manufacturers package their products in a variety of ways to shield against accidental damage, whether that’s physical damage, ESD, EMI, or RFI. The typical pink translucent computer bag is coated with a film that prevents the bag from producing static electricity and mildly protects the contents against physical contact (and thus damage). Two types of metal bags offer shielding against EMI and RFI as well as ESD. These are the silvery bags you’ll see hard drives packed in, for example, and the black-and-silver woven bags you’ll sometimes see. These bags are easy to purchase online and are a cheap insurance policy to protect your expensive components.

Physical Tools

The basic tech toolkit consists of a Phillips-head screwdriver and not much else—seriously—but a half-dozen tools round out a fully functional toolkit. Most kits have a star-headed Torx wrench, a nut driver or two, a pair of plastic tweezers, a little grabber tool (the technical term is parts retriever), a hemostat, and both Phillips-head and flat-head screwdrivers.

*A lot of techs throw in an extension magnet to grab hard-to-reach bits that drop into cases (an exception to the “no magnets” rule).

* printed circuit boards (PCBs) that make up a large percentage of devices inside the system unit.

Personal Safety

*When thinking about safety, maintain compliance with government regulations. You may be required to wear certain protective gear or take extra precautions while in the workplace. Make sure you also follow any environmental rules for the disposal of old parts, especially with things like batteries and toner cartridges, which may contain hazardous or toxic materials. Check with your employer or your local government’s Web site for more information.

* A non-contact thermometer is another useful tool to have on hand. Not only is it more precise than your hand, it can read the temperature of components deep in hard-to-reach corners of a device.

* When you build out a computer space, such as a server closet (the room that has a lot of important computers in it), use standard carpentry safety techniques. Wear an air filter mask, when cutting drywall, for example. Wear safety goggles when using power tools.

Disconnect a computer from its electrical source before you work on it, if possible. In the rare event where you need to work on a live system, take caution. Provide electrical fire safety equipment in rooms or locations that have a fire risk, such as server rooms. All those electronics and all that juice make a dangerous combination in those rare circumstances in which bad things happen. Keep properly rated (Class C) fire extinguishers handy.

1101

Troubleshooting Methodology

An effective troubleshooting methodology follows a set of steps to diagnose and fix a computer. Troubleshooting methodology includes talking to users to determine how and when the problem took place, determining a cause, testing, verification, and documentation.

1. Identify the problem

■ Gather information from the user, identify user changes, and, if applicable, perform backups before making changes

■ Inquire regarding environmental or infrastructure changes

2. Establish a theory of probable cause (question the obvious)

■ If necessary, conduct external or internal research based on symptoms

3. Test the theory to determine the cause

■ Once the theory is confirmed, determine the next steps to resolve the problem

■ If the theory is not confirmed, re-establish a new theory or escalate

4. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution

■ Refer to the vendor’s instruction for guidance

5. Verify full system functionality and, if applicable, implement preventive measures

6. Document the findings, actions, and outcomes

Identify the Problem

First, you need to identify the problem by talking to the user. Get the user to show you what’s not good. Is it an error code? Is something not accessible? Is a device not responding?

*In most troubleshooting situations, it’s important to back up critical files before making changes to a system.

Establish a Theory of Probable Cause (Question the Obvious)

Now it’s time to analyze the issue and come up with a theory as to what is wrong, a theory of probable cause. Personally, I prefer the word “guess” at this point because very few errors are so obvious that you’ll know what to do. Fall back on your knowledge of the computing process to localize the issue based on the symptoms. Keep your guesses…err…theories…simple. One of the great problems for techs is their desire to overlook the obvious problems in their desire to dig into the system

Research In many situations, you’ll need to access other resources to root out the most probable cause of the problem. Therefore, if necessary, you should conduct external or internal research based on the symptoms.

Use the Internet for external research. With the Internet quite literally at the fingertips of anyone with access to a smartphone or tablet, a short search online can result in swift answers to tech problems.

Internal research means asking other techs on-site for help. It means checking company records regarding a particular machine (for example, checking a problem-tracking database where previous issues have been recorded). This kind of search will reveal any known problems with the machine or with the user’s actions.

Outside the Case Take a moment to look for clues before you open up the case. Most importantly, use all your senses in the process.

What do you see? Is a connector mangled or a plastic part clearly damaged? Even if that connector or part works fine, the physical abuse could provide extra information. If the user can’t connect to a network, check the cable. Was something rolled over it that could have broken the thin internal wires? Is that a jelly smear near the jammed optical drive door?

Test the Theory to Determine the Cause

Okay, so you’ve decided on a theory that makes sense. It’s time to test the theory to see if it fixes the problem. A challenge to fixing a computer is that the theory and the fix pretty much prove themselves at the same time. In many cases, testing your theory does nothing more than verify that something is broken. If that’s the case, then replace the broken part.

If you don’t have the skills—or the permissions—to fix the issue, you need to escalate the problem.Escalation is the process your company (or sometimes just you) goes through when you—the person assigned to repair a problem—are not able to get the job done. It’s okay to escalate a problem because no one can fix every problem.

Establish a Plan of Action to Resolve the Problem

You need to establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution. Sometimes the plan requires a few steps before you can implement the solution. You might need additional resources such as known-good replacement parts. A backup of user data should be part of establishing the plan of action.

*When working on vendor-specific equipment, refer to the vendor’s instructions for guidance on how to troubleshoot. Often the vendor knows the quirks or possible failure points in their gear because many of their customers have broken things in the same place or same fashion.

Verify and Prevent

Fantastic! Through either your careful work or escalation, you’ve solved the problem, or so you think. Remember two items here. First, even though you think the problem is fixed, you need to verify with the customer/user that it’s fixed. Second, try to do something to prevent the problem from happening again in the future, if possible.

Verify Full System Functionality You need to verify full system functionality to make sure the user is happy. Let’s say a user can’t print. You determine that the Print Spooler service is stalled due to a locked-up laser printer. You reset the printer and all of the jobs start printing. Job done, right?

The best way to verify full system functionality is to have the user do whatever she needs to do on the repaired system for a few minutes while you watch. Any minor errors will quickly become apparent, and you might learn some interesting aspects of how the user does her job. Knowing what your users do is critical for good techs to help them do their jobs better.

If Applicable, Implement Preventive Measures A very smart tech once told me, “A truly good support tech’s work goal should be to never have to get out of his chair.” That’s a pretty tall order, but it makes sense to me. Do whatever you can to prevent this problem from repeating. For some problems, there are obvious actions to take, such as making sure anti-malware is installed so a computer doesn’t get infected again. Sometimes there’s no action to take at all: nothing can prevent a hard drive that decides to die.

* But you can take one more critical action in almost every case: education. Take advantage of the time with the user to informally train him about the problem. Show him the dangers of malware or tell him that sometimes hard drives just die. The more your users know, the less time you’ll spend out of your chair.

Document Findings, Actions, and Outcomes

Based on his famous quote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” I think the philosopher George Santayana would have made a great technician. As a tech, the last step of every troubleshooting job should be to document your findings, actions, and outcomes. This documentation might be highly formalized in some organizations, or it might just be a few notes you jot down for your own use, but you must document!

* Documenting problems helps you track the troubleshooting history of a computing device over time, enabling you to make longer-term determinations about retiring it or changing out more parts. If you and fellow techs fix a specific problem with Mary’s laptop several times, for example, you might decide to swap out her whole system rather than fix it a fourth time.

If your colleague Joe drops a monitor on his foot and breaks both the monitor and his foot, for example, you need to fill out an incident report, just as you would with any kind of accident: electrical, chemical, or physical. An incident report should detail what happened and where it happened. This helps your supervisors take the appropriate actions quickly and efficiently.