Lesson 1: Knowing What to Ask

The most important part of troubleshooting is asking pertinent questions and listening to and making notes of the answers. The end user has many of the answers you need, but you have to get the end user to share this information with you. You must listen, communicate, and ask the appropriate questions, all while making the end user feel helpful (and not the one to blame for the problem).

After this lesson, you will be able to

• Describe the questions that you should ask to help determine the problem.

• Explain what the answers to those questions can tell you.

Estimated lesson time: 10 minutes

Asking Who, When, What, Why, and How

A reporter or policeman asks questions to obtain the required information to perform his or her job, and you will ask the same questions in your role as a DST. The information that you acquire helps you determine why the problem occurred, and with that knowledge you can often resolve the problem on your own. The following sections offer some common questions you should ask and what insight they yield.

Who?

• Who was using the computer when the problem first occurred?

• Who else has been using the computer, and have they experienced similar problems?

• Who has worked on this problem previously (if it has happened before)?

• Who has the same problem on another computer (that you know of)?

  Note

  The answers to the “Who” questions tell you who has firsthand knowledge of the problem and if other users who access the same computer (under a different account) also encounter the problem. If multiple users have access but only one user encounters the problem, you have already narrowed down the issue. You will also learn from these questions who has worked on the problem before (you might find out the user has), and whether other users on the network are having the same problem on their computers. If the latter is true, the problem could be a network-wide problem, such as a security policy issue, virus, or other glitch in the entire system.

When?

• When did this problem occur the first time, and has it occurred since?

• When was the last time you downloaded or installed an application?

• When was the last time you installed new hardware?

• When did you last clean up the computer with Disk Cleanup or Disk Defragmenter, delete temporary files or cookies, or perform similar deletions of data?

• When was the last time you uninstalled any applications?

  Note

  The answers to the “When” questions tell you how long the user has had this problem, if the problem occurred after the user installed a new piece of hardware or a new application, and if the user routinely maintains the computer. If the problem occurred after installing or uninstalling hardware or software, you have a good lead. Asking pointed questions about maintenance can also be helpful in finding out whether the user has recently cleaned out program or system folders or deleted any necessary files.

What?

• What are your thoughts on what caused the problem?

• What have you tried to troubleshoot the problem yourself?

• What do you think can be done to solve the problem?

  Note

  The answers to the “What” questions tell you what the user believes happened and give you an opportunity to involve him or her in the solution. Asking the user what he or she thinks can be done to solve the problem could also bring up a very simple solution. If the user recently reconfigured settings for a program or uninstalled a necessary file or program, you know where to begin. If the user has tried to troubleshoot the problem already, you will need to know what changes he or she has made. Finally, if the user thinks reconfiguring the e-mail account will solve the problem, it’s likely because he or she was doing something to it earlier but does not want to admit it.

Why and How?

• Why do you think the problem occurred?

• How do you think the problem occurred?

  Note

  The answers to the “Why” and “How” questions can often summon up a solution quickly. If the user says, “The problem occurred because I spilled coffee on the keyboard” or “The problem occurred because I opened an attachment in an e-mail,” you know exactly where to start. Keep in mind, though, that these answers will not always be useful and might sometimes even be deceitful. (A user might have opened an attachment but might tell you he or she didn’t, for instance.) Remember, you’re the expert.

As you work through these questions with an end user, document the answers carefully, listen to everything he or she has to say, be polite and professional, and make notes of possible solutions as you think of them. If you need to, leave the situation for a few minutes to digest the information, and check company documentation, online help and support, or other resources for answers.

Real World: Your Changing Role

When you begin working at a telephone call center, company, home business, or Internet service provider (ISP) as a tier 1 DST, you should expect to ask your end users specific questions that are already written out for you in the form of a script. However, as you move up the ladder and work through the natural progression of gaining expertise and experience, you will move from following a script to building your own repertoire of queries. As you internalize your knowledge, you will start to learn and understand how to resolve problems on your own. Keeping in mind that you will probably start your first tier 1 position reading questions already written for you, in this chapter you will learn what types of questions to ask when you are required to work through the resolution process on your own.

Reproducing the Problem

If you or the end user can reproduce the problem, you will have quite a bit of additional information to work with. Problems that cannot be reproduced, such as applications that shut down for no apparent reason, are much more difficult to diagnose than those that can, such as being unable to send or receive e-mail. If the end user can reproduce the problem, make a note of which applications were open and which components were being used, and troubleshoot those applications and their configurations.

Caution

Don’t try to reproduce any problem that has previously caused loss of data or is a known network problem, such as a virus or worm. Doing so can cause additional problems and further damage.

Lesson Review

The following questions are intended to reinforce key information presented in this lesson. If you are unable to answer a question, review the lesson materials and try the question again. You can find answers to the questions in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter.

1. Questions asked of clients often trigger quick solutions to basic problems. Match the question on the right to the solution it triggered on the left.

   1. Who is affected by this problem?	a) The user states that he recently deleted all temporary files and cookies from his computer, explaining why he is no longer able to automatically sign in to websites he visits.
   2. When was the first time you noticed the problem? Was it after a new installation of software or hardware?	b) John cannot send or receive messages using Microsoft Outlook. It is determined that the problem is related only to his configuration of Outlook because other users who log on to the same computer under a different account can use Outlook to send and receive e-mail without any problem.
   3. Has the user recently deleted any files or performed any maintenance?	c) The keyboard keys are sticky because coffee was spilled on the keyboard.
   4. How did this problem occur?	d) The user states that the first time the computer acted strangely was after he installed a new screen saver.

2. You work for an ISP and receive a call from a client stating that he has not been able to retrieve his e-mail all morning. You check the network servers, and everything is working on your end. Which of the following questions could you ask the user that would most likely yield results in this situation? Pick three.

   1. When was the last time you installed new hardware?

   2. How long have you been a subscriber with us?

   3. Have you recently installed or switched over to a new e-mail client?

   4. Have you opened any suspicious attachments?

   5. When did you last clean up the computer with Disk Cleanup?

Lesson Summary

• To resolve a service call, you must gather information, determine a solution, find and attempt solutions or escalate the call, test any solutions that you implement, and inform the end user of your findings.

• To solve a problem, first get answers to the questions who, what, where, why, and how. The answers often point to a solution quickly.