Cantankerous Customers
In a fit of rage, a student exclaims, "WHY DO WE HAVE THIS STUPID DUO THING ANYWAYS?!?!"
How do you respond?
Something along the lines of "Listen, we know it's a pain to have that extra step to log in, but a bunch of students were falling for phishing attempts and having their direct deposits stolen. No bueno!"
What is one preventative hardware measure a person can take to extend the life of their computer?
REGULARLY CLEAN AND DUST YOUR COMPUTER! Dusty component clog fans, clogged fans cause a hot computer, hot computers are sad computers. Also: Don't eat/drink around it, don't drop it, don't leave it plugged in all the time (charging your battery to 80% and letting it drain to 40% can extend the life by four times!!).
A student comes in saying they are unable to log into the COE computer labs. What are TWO possible causes?
An engineering student who has not activated their resources (demo), or a non engineering student who is le out of luck.
Name 3 things that are "appropriate" helpdesk activites and 3 things that are "inappropriate" helpdesk activities when you are on shift.
Subjective. Things I'd consider appropriate:
Doing homework, watching videos (one earbud, facing the door), listening to music (above), reading a book, etc.
Things I'd consider inappropriate: Watching videos/listening to music with both headphones in, leaving for extended periods of time with the door open, eating food (while a student is being helped), taking up multiple desks with homework, etc.
How many GB of RAM are required by the College of Engineering per the Laptop Purchasing Guidelines?
8 GB.
Name three main avenues that can be used to infect someone's computer (via malware or virus).
Phishing, accidental ad clicking, infection via USB, not installing updates, infected downloads, etc etc.
If a customer is being rude while being helped at the desk, what is the threshold for asking them to leave and/or reporting it to your lead?
Like many things customer service, this can be subjective. We absolutely do not tolerate abuse (verbal or physical), but we do have some responsibility being in a service environment to have some tolerance for grumpy people (tech issues suck!). No matter what, you are empowered to tell your lead about any situation you felt was uncomfortable!
What is the difference between an SSD and an HDD? What is one pro and con of each?
SSD refers to solid state drive, which use complicated electronics rather than moving parts to store information. HDD refers to hard disk drive, and stores information using mechanical parts. HDD's are cheaper and can store much more data, but is slow to do so, while SSD's allow for faster boot times and more speed all around, but is more expensive and can store less data.
A student comes in asking for help reactivating their Solidworks license. What is the best approach to solve their problem?
If a student's license has expired, it usually means they are running software that is out of date. It may take a bit, but the best approach is to uninstall the old version and reinstall the newest according to the COE instructions. This also applies to other software (like Matlab). Personally I've found that trying to deactivate, remove, and reactivate new licenses can take just as much time as starting fresh. Plus, they may be missing out on features available in the newest software.
What is the best approach to helping a student whom you cannot understand due to a language barrier?
This can be a big challenge, especially if the student's laptop is also in a different language. In the moment, do your best to identify and solve the problem using the information available. Ask them to demonstrate the issue for you which can help a lot. In the immortal words of God King Nick Brown: "You just gotta do your best to wing it."
What is the difference between an x32 and an x64 system? Can you run an x32 program on an x64 OS? How about the reverse?
The number of bits (32 vs 64) that a system is capable of processing is directly related to how much ram that computer can take advantage of. A x32 OS can use about 4 GB RAM, which is not a lot in today's times! You can run a x32 on an x64, but not vice versa.
A student comes in to the desk and is unable to edit or add files to their Z drive. What is the most likely cause and solution?
The student has likely gone over their 6GB storage quota and therefore has a soft freeze on their account. To fix the problem they need to make room on their drive within the given period.
What's the number one thing you can do to facilitate a positive customer experience?
Smile! Plus being friendly in general. IT can make for a frustrating job, but it's also our job to make the most of it. Hey, you're getting paid to help random people! And 9 times out of 10, we make their day better with our help.
What designation(s) of wireless are accepted by the OSU college of engineering per the laptop requirements?
5 GHz-capable dual band, often labelled as 802.11ac, 802.11a/n, 802.11abgn. You can check what kind of wireless card is installed using Device Manager.
You are performing a dual boot on a Mac laptop, and one of the partitions becomes corrupted. What should you do next?
Boot into recovery mode (hold Command R while booting), open Disk Utility, select the corrupted partition, and hit repair. If no dice, you may have to delete the partition altogether and start over. Make sure there's enough space available on the machine to begin with!