Documenting PC Issues while your on the job

Armymanis

Do you guy's document pc issues while your on the job? Example would be Help Desk? My third week into this new position and I am finally going to start taking notes on calls that I am listening in on for different PC problems that are occuring and there resolution whether its escalated as a ticket or we solve them here. Do you guy's do the same?

erpadmin

Armymanis wrote: »

Do you guy's document pc issues while your on the job? Example would be Help Desk? My third week into this new position and I am finally going to start taking notes on calls that I am listening in on for different PC problems that are occuring and there resolution whether its escalated as a ticket or we solve them here. Do you guy's do the same?

The correct term for it is a "knowledge base." The purpose in having one is so that you don't spend two-three hours researching the same thing. It's also important for a helpdesk in case you fix something that one of your help desk brethren might get a call about at a later time. He/she can look it up on the "knowledge base" first before looking it up on google and fix that end-user's issue.

Most knowledge bases are either independent of whatever ticketing software you use, or are part of that software.

Anonymouse

Where I work I saw other guys putting solutions into the trouble ticket system. This came in handy for me so I started doing the same so others can find solutions easier. I also keep my own little personal knowledge base that I update every time I find something new. The one I do in the trouble ticket system I will do once if I don't think anyone else used the solution before and then my own personal one is saved on my work computer and backed up to a network drive for my own personal use so I don't have to search through tickets again. My personal one tends to be written in a sloppy shorthand that I doubt anyone else can decipher so I tend to not share it with anyone or else they'll think I'm wacko.

KrisA

Anonymouse wrote: »

Where I work I saw other guys putting solutions into the trouble ticket system. This came in handy for me so I started doing the same so others can find solutions easier. I also keep my own little personal knowledge base that I update every time I find something new. The one I do in the trouble ticket system I will do once if I don't think anyone else used the solution before and then my own personal one is saved on my work computer and backed up to a network drive for my own personal use so I don't have to search through tickets again. My personal one tends to be written in a sloppy shorthand that I doubt anyone else can decipher so I tend to not share it with anyone or else they'll think I'm wacko.

Excel is your friend. I created a log every day when I was on the phones. I had my own categories (Usually close to the hierarchy in the ticketing system) that I could search for my own reference. I would include the ticket number, Issue and resolution. If there was an associated KB article in house or elsewhere put that in as well.

However at one job I was the Knowlix admin and created the Techdocs for floor agents to use. Amazing tool if you have someone who knows what they are doing when creating the document and OCD with the tagging. If you don't have a global knowledge base, find someone within who you can trade information with for the greater good. You may come across some people at that level that are selfish and keep great fixes/resolutions to themselves, but those are the one who will still be there in the years to come.

Another time saver is templates. Notepad with your basic information. I am a fan of the RCA method. Root Cause Analyst

Psoasman

We have a Wiki set up at work. Every time I run into something different, I add an entry. It saves tons of time resolving those issues you may only see a few times per year.

joehalford01

Since I'm the only in-house IT person, I've only documented server issues and fixes, I like some of the suggestions like the wiki though. I maintain separate folders on our internal file sharing server for each server with documented fixes in word-pad.

BrizoH

I also keep a note of any weird/interesting problems and solutions which has came in handy several times (often a few job changes down the line)

Akaricloud

Since I'm the only IT staff at my company I document and automate things that will help me. Systems that are a mess or that I set up get documented very well so when I leave someone else can know what's going on.

MauriceMoss

Armymanis wrote: »

Do you guy's document pc issues while your on the job? Example would be Help Desk? My third week into this new position and I am finally going to start taking notes on calls that I am listening in on for different PC problems that are occuring and there resolution whether its escalated as a ticket or we solve them here. Do you guy's do the same?

Yes we have to document everything. It's a job requirement. At my job it serves 3 functions 1)tracking issues 2)knowledge base 3) justification for being there. We have to submit our ticket counts and closures weekly. I am sure this number is factored into the review.

In my job there is a push for detailed tickets (regardless if the issue warrants it). Details I think were once left out because it minimized fingerpointing if something went wrong. Tickets also help with fingerpointing when something goes wrong. It helps document your contacts to show that you are doing what your suppose to be doing.

Tackle

We have a KB where we keep links to MS fixes, as well as text docs with procedures that are long to type out. A common one I search for and paste into e-mails for users is how to clear the form cache or add another mailbox.

I keep a document for myself with little notes that could come in handy. Since I started it's grown to 44 pages. I just search for keywords when I need something.

onesaint

We (I) document almost everything in one of three ways. When working on a project or larger issue, I do daily reporting on the issue, resolution attempts, sources of information, and final resolution. When it's something I need to recall quickly it goes into my personal wiki (e.g., Screen commands, erasing tapes in NetBackup, etc.). Otherwise, I'll write up an end user article for the companies KB.

the_Grinch

We document through our ticketing system and then it is kind of word of mouth from there. Usually someone will place the customer on hold and ask if anyone has seen this before and then go from there. We've gotten pretty good at training the customers to say if it's a reoccurring issue. I've been fighting to get a content management system going as currently we are using Excel and folders (for 100 customers) and we've outgrown it. I've gotten the go ahead to start, but I don't feel management is 100% behind it so might not put too much into it.