IT Support help

AHarvey

AHarvey

AHarvey

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
10,085
Location
Stoke area
Hi all,

As part of our company we have people working from home in our chat rooms. A common issue is that they have time away from their shift due to technical issues such as hardware overheating, internet issues, software problems and issues connecting to our VPN and chat software.

It's become so bad we're having to track these issues now as some people are quite obviously taking the pee.

I've been asked to look at ways we can monitor and pull information on the issues. So, I'm thinking for a flow chart to discover where the issue lies exactly with the employee, and maybe software to monitor the PC/internet access.

But, to save me reinventing the wheel, do any of you guys already have stuff like this that you use to troubleshoot other people's technical problems via phone or online chat?

Or suggestions on software that track PC data while they are working (current hardware, software running, temps, internet connectivity etc)?
 
For the sake of clarity, is the problem that a number of people WFH are not actually doing the W bit, blaming it on hardware and/or software problems and you want to track the issues that are legit and weed out those who are just not working?
 
[FnG]magnolia;26027547 said:
You've been asked to look at ways to fix a problem you don't know how to fix. Is that what this boils down to?
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No, I can sit here and write flow diagrams for others to follow when talking to these people to track exactly what the issues are to weed out the valid IT issues from the fake ones. Then depending on the result offer advice on fixes or whether it needs passing to our IT/NOC/VPN teams, but it's time consuming and if other people have these systems in place then it makes sense to check those and build/modify them as needed.

randomshenans said:
How do these people access the company network? Is it via VPN?

More details needed.
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Yes, they load a VPN and connect to our chat software, although it doesn't give them access to the actual internal network.

We can track issues with the VPN as we can check how many times they've tried to login, login times, logout times etc. The issue is with their connection to the VPN either via hardware issues or 'internet' issues which could cover everything from the phone network dying or the router needs resetting.

Theophany said:
For the sake of clarity, is the problem that a number of people WFH are not actually doing the W bit, blaming it on hardware and/or software problems and you want to track the issues that are legit and weed out those who are just not working?
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Pretty much yes, we're having to weed out the real issues from the fake issues where people just want to nip to the shop or answer a phone call etc. We put processes in place and trigger points in the hope that it stops the majority of the fake cases, and i've been lumbered with it :p
 
AHarvey said:
Pretty much yes, we're having to weed out the real issues from the fake issues where people just want to nip to the shop or answer a phone call etc. We put processes in place and trigger points in the hope that it stops the majority of the fake cases, and i've been lumbered with it :p
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It all sounds a bit of a dated management style to me, then. If you're allowing people to work from home, then it seems like a fair assumption that this isn't manual labour like a production line and that the idea that 'if you're not devoting 100% of your time to working then you're not working.'

Life happens whether you're in an office or WFH and every now and then people do need to nip out for half an hour or take a few personal calls. I've never known this to be an issue at my workplace, indeed management are sympathetic to these realities. In fact, when people do take a day to WFH it's an obvious trend that they work longer hours to compensate for the fact that they had to drop off the grid to collect their car from a service or pick up their kids from daycare or whatever.

This isn't a pop at you, btw. I just get the impression that your higher ups are in a managerial mindset incompatible with the employee benefits like WFH that they have given to their workforce. Just my tuppence, though not helpful in your original question, I'm afraid! :p
 
When I WFH, I'm not monitored, especially not to this level. If I have an issue, I connect up my 3g work mobile, or head to somewhere where there is Wifi, or into a local office;

As mentioned, I don't get monitored. I just have the expectation on my shoulders that if something needs doing then it gets done at the same level than if I was in a customer / company office.

WFH is a real benefit and it's a perk which I love - there's nothing quite like WFH with little to no distractions and no one around for interruptions - don't get me wrong though, it's hard, it's a big thing to get used too. To motivate yourself when you're WFH for weeks at a time (As was my case a couple of weeks back), can be a challenge.

If it turns out that people are taking the Michael, what I'd look at seeing is if there is any genuine impact, if work isn't getting done then investigations should go further.
 
Just tell them to call if they have issues. You can then check and log the problem whilst it's happening.

If they keep getting issues at home, that are specific to them, they can't work from home.

Computers rarely "overheat", software problems are a matter of competence, and internet connectivity is something outside of your control.

If they need babysitting, they need to be in the office so you can support them.

I'm guessing this is public sector?
 
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if each member of staff was issued with a "work" laptop that was locked down and logged then it would be easy to monitor wifi/broadband dropouts and hardware problems, the hardware is cheap these days and would ensure that hardware faults are minimised and logged and the software stabilsed and free from crapware that causes problems.
 
It's basically a customer support role. They get paid a very good wage to sit in various chat rooms interacting with members, advising on promotions, helping with issues and creating a friendly environment. I supervisor these people and deal with the management decisions from above.

Customer support is the office equivalent of a production line, and although our chat is supposed to be fun everything is monitored. For instance, if a host in our casino room disappears for 10 mins, a member might come in, ask a question, receive no response and decide they are going to leave the site. That member alone could be worth £100k to the company (yes, people do spend those kind of amounts on site) and we've just lost them.

It's all stat based and for good reason, although I do question the effectiveness of it all quite a lot. You know if someone is good at their job or not if you're a decent leader, you don't need the figures.

Saying that, a lot of the people that do work in this role are here because it's easy, good money and quite frankly a dossers job. A lot love it, they work hard, put in extra time prepping and learning but there are those that need baby sitting.

I would happily take a step down from my role to WFH,Ii'd actually be financially better off without the travel costs and love working in my own environment, proper home food and more time with my daughter. Some of this lot don't see the benefits though and really are taking the pee, and without making the entire WFH position redundant the only way we've got to manage them is via processes to weed out the lazy ones.

Hence why I've come for advice on software/flow charts that can be used to monitor issues and diagnose where the issue is :)

EDIT: They do make contact when it happens, but in the last 24 hours one employee has contacted us 5 times as her PC/monitors have overheated.

EDIT2: I've also suggested sending out IT equipment to them, and it would allow us to remote connect to them, but supposedly there's some issue if the equipment was to malfunction/burn their house down etc...not to sure on that excuse myself!
 
Something doesn't quite add up here. These employees are home workers, like the old fashioned envelope stuffers, rather than office workers working from home.

As alluded to above, office workers working from home don't tend to need to be micromanaged, nor do they use silly excuses like their computers "overheating" :D
 
If it's their own hardware there's really not much you can do. A computer "overheating" is as good as computer switched off.

If it were me, I'd create a virtual desktop environment (vm ware etc) that they can log into remotely. You can then monitor this environment to see if it's up, there's not software exceptions, and they're actively doing work.

If their computer overheats or their internet connection goes down, it's their problem, they don't get paid. Unless they can provide mitigating details from their ISP or similar.
 
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Stretch said:
If it were me, I'd create a virtual desktop environment (vm ware etc) that they can log into remotely. You can then monitor this environment to see if it's up, there's not software exceptions, and they're actively doing work
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Big cost in infrastructure, licensing and back office support to do that. All for the "homeworkers" to turn round and say the VMware Horizon View client won't connect (or their computer is "overheating")
 
If a single customer/client in a chat room being disgruntled can lead to 100K loss of business, you need to have DR plans in terms of Hosts not being available. In this case Host is the person hosting the chatroom rather than the typical IT version :)

Spread the risk - have multiple people covering rooms. Issue them with tried and tested managed equipment rather than Joeys 10yr old Dell which is all bunged up with catfluff and spyware.

Make sure there is logging on the issued equipment. Most motherboards have thermal sensors, and a simple ping to the VPN server test would show connectivity up / down etc as far as internet connectivity goes.
 
AHarvey said:
*snip*

EDIT2: I've also suggested sending out IT equipment to them, and it would allow us to remote connect to them, but supposedly there's some issue if the equipment was to malfunction/burn their house down etc...not to sure on that excuse myself!
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This is a poor excuse if the equipment has been PAT tested / certified. Your management just don't want to buy equipment for their staff and frankly I'm surprised that your chat room monitors are expected to use their own devices anyway.

How do you think 95% of the WFH workforce in the rest of the world operate, because it isn't like that!
 
I'm guessing the issue with not wanting to provide equipment is one of liability. Employees won't want to pay extra to cover business equipment in their own home.

That and employees walking off with it or not looking after it.

Both of these seem to be cost+contractual issues rather than operational ones.
 
ci_newman said:
This is a poor excuse if the equipment has been PAT tested / certified. Your management just don't want to buy equipment for their staff and frankly I'm surprised that your chat room monitors are expected to use their own devices anyway.

How do you think 95% of the WFH workforce in the rest of the world operate, because it isn't like that!
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Indeed. I use works issued equipment at home and as of yet it hasn't burned my house down. :p

Company just doesn't want to shell out for equipment.
 
If a punter is worth £100K then it's worth buying the troublesome users a laptop, just lock it down so nothing but your site link connects to your IP and nothing else runs.

Pstools gives you everything you need to remotely monitor.

Remotely anywhere gives you remote access.

Replace their router with a draytek and use that as a VPN endpoint, instead of a software VPN
 
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Find new staff to actually work from home! Problem sorted without having to reinvent the wheel!

If they constantly break their machines or don't know what they are doing then they clearly should not be working for a IT support company.
 
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