checklist?

[fixthecopier]

Techs on this site have ranted about this before, so far be it for me to not beat a dead horse. I would love to offer assistance to more people who post, but I find the lack of information frustrating. In some cases the person just post a code and ask what to do. I am sure this causes a lot of tech to ignore rather than beg for important info needed to analyze the problem. I see post where someone suggest something and the poster responds that he has already tried that. Well, why was it not mentioned? I think sometimes I come off as an ass when I point out to the poster. A real tech should know better. It also amazes me how many techs will respond to a lot of these questions without knowing basic info such as, how many copies are on the drum you have a print quality issue with?, 10,000 or 300,000. If I were doing a work order, that would make a big difference in how I am going to look at the issue. Factory trained techs have access to manuals they should have referenced and tried the basic stuff on. I understand that some people posting are from remote areas of the world and do not have access to a lot of our resources, and I am happy to help them, but it would be nice to know this in advance.

For true techs, posting here should be because you have already done everything by the book and it still don't work. You need another tech who suffered through the same issue to tell you something tech support doesn't know, or you don't have spare parts and need a second opinion before you order a board. I am by no means a genius, but I know how all copiers are supposed to work, and I can use that to troubleshoot most issues. I have posted questions here before, but I go through what I think people would suggest and try that, google the issue to see how common it is, ask all the other techs at the shop, place a call with tech support and when they run out of ideas, then I post.

In the interest of trying to be helpful, how many of you would think that when posting tech questions, we had a form or checklist to fill out. It would help the people posting get better answers, and the people responding give better answers.


model...

meter...

items changed...

new or used parts...

environment...

this type of stuff as an example

[slimslob]

Not only does it help us give better answers, it also helps us get to those answers sooner. The sooner we can get someone the correct answer, the sooner that person has a happy customer.

[blackcat4866]

You're right about several things. For one, I ignore posts that demonstrate that the poster has not even cracked the manual, or stood in front of the machine. I'm tired of begging for basic information. I won't beg any more. If you want a serious answer ... (oh, yeah, I covered that).

I think some of that is ego. Some techs think that if they don't offer any detail, we won't be able to tell that their ignorant. So what!? We're all ignorant (some more than others). So my advice is to just get over it, and post everything you know, and any guesses that you may have.

The checklist suggestion has gone around before. I think it's a good thing, just hard to get anybody to use. Maybe we could have a link in the New Thread screen that would walk the poster through what would be useful information. I personally would find it helpful to have prompts as to suitable information, but there will be a group of members that feel oppressed by the man. If it were available as an option, voluntarily, it might get used. Maybe the Suggested Information screen could pop up only in the Start a New Thread link, with the option to "X" out of it if desired.

I would be interested in Aneurysm's opinion. =^..^=

[slimslob]

The checklist suggestion has gone around before. I think it's a good thing, just hard to get anybody to use.

The same with those who post their technical questions in the newby forum, or never even introduce themselves it the newby forum.

Maybe we could have a link in the New Thread screen that would walk the poster through what would be useful information. I personally would find it helpful to have prompts as to suitable information, but there will be a group of members that feel oppressed by the man. If it were available as an option, voluntarily, it might get used. Maybe the Suggested Information screen could pop up only in the Start a New Thread link, with the option to "X" out of it if desired.

I would be interested in Aneurysm's opinion. =^..^=

As it is most likely a function of the software and not of administration, I don't know if Aneurysm could do anything.

[Iowatech]

Techs on this site have ranted about this before, so far be it for me to not beat a dead horse. I would love to offer assistance to more people who post, but I find the lack of information frustrating. In some cases the person just post a code and ask what to do. I am sure this causes a lot of tech to ignore rather than beg for important info needed to analyze the problem. I see post where someone suggest something and the poster responds that he has already tried that. Well, why was it not mentioned? I think sometimes I come off as an ass when I point out to the poster. A real tech should know better. It also amazes me how many techs will respond to a lot of these questions without knowing basic info such as, how many copies are on the drum you have a print quality issue with?, 10,000 or 300,000. If I were doing a work order, that would make a big difference in how I am going to look at the issue. Factory trained techs have access to manuals they should have referenced and tried the basic stuff on. I understand that some people posting are from remote areas of the world and do not have access to a lot of our resources, and I am happy to help them, but it would be nice to know this in advance.

For true techs, posting here should be because you have already done everything by the book and it still don't work. You need another tech who suffered through the same issue to tell you something tech support doesn't know, or you don't have spare parts and need a second opinion before you order a board. I am by no means a genius, but I know how all copiers are supposed to work, and I can use that to troubleshoot most issues. I have posted questions here before, but I go through what I think people would suggest and try that, google the issue to see how common it is, ask all the other techs at the shop, place a call with tech support and when they run out of ideas, then I post.

In the interest of trying to be helpful, how many of you would think that when posting tech questions, we had a form or checklist to fill out. It would help the people posting get better answers, and the people responding give better answers.


model...

meter...

items changed...

new or used parts...

environment...

this type of stuff as an example

You're doing way too much work.
Or more accurately, make the poster prove what level of technical competence they have to you so that you know what type of help to give them.
I do that more often than not.

[NeoMatrix]

I believe it could be done without to much programming.
In the newbie or new post screen you could have an auto help,
advanced search hyper link display a simple message prompt.
Maybe something like.
Advanced Search available for:
o Scan to email/folder/ftp
o PCU modification
o Fuser modification

or in the case of a check list the following preformatted new post page layout.

MACHINE REQUEST/FAULT/ERROR:
<add details here>

STEPS TO RESOLVE ISSUE :
< add details>

CURRENT CONDITION/STATE :
<add details>

ADVANCE SEARCH:

blah blah blah....

[blackcat4866]

I wonder it wouldn't use up too many resources to have a column at the right, along side the Post a New Thread box that would use text from the text editor box to search existing threads, then list them in order of most hits. Hey, look here! It's already discussed!

That might save a lot of repetition of the same topics again, and again. =^..^=

[MHeon71]

I try to give as much info as possible, but I am sure I forget some of the details. But on some forgotten information, it only shows some techs may look at the problem from a different angle. But I do find it annoying when they miss some of the most routine info, such as model, jam code or error code, etc.

On a different subject. I am not as quick as other techs, when it comes to answering posts. So I ask, how do you handle a reply that someone gives, which is the same advice that you would have given? I normally hit LIKE. I do not like to add the same info to a post, but like to show support behind an answer.

[blackcat4866]

On a different subject. I am not as quick as other techs, when it comes to answering posts. So I ask, how do you handle a reply that someone gives, which is the same advice that you would have given? I normally hit LIKE. I do not like to add the same info to a post, but like to show support behind an answer.

If I can add anything unique or emphasize a particular point, yes I'll post a similar response. If I can't improve on the previous postings a LIKE is enough for me. Or sometimes I've thought of something completely offensive, so I must post it. =^..^=

[slimslob]

On a different subject. I am not as quick as other techs, when it comes to answering posts. So I ask, how do you handle a reply that someone gives, which is the same advice that you would have given? I normally hit LIKE. I do not like to add the same info to a post, but like to show support behind an answer.

If I can add anything unique or emphasize a particular point, yes I'll post a similar response. If I can't improve on the previous postings a LIKE is enough for me. Or sometimes I've thought of something completely offensive, so I must post it. =^..^=

Same here. Occasionally I forget to look at all the other posts in a thread or don't refresh the page before replying and end up posting the same as someone else. I have also had instances where me and someone else reply with the same information at the same time, allow for typing time, I type slow and take the time to research my answers.

Some times I get the feeling that some these young techs think us old farts can come up with reply off the top of our heads. We may know what the problem is but it can take a lot of time checking manuals and bulletins in order to be as exact as we can.