28 Apr When to call on Trusol for ICT help
Technical support is a key service that keeps your school ICT ticking over, and it’s important that your provider answers your queries quickly and accurately. Over the course of a typical month, the technical services team at Trusol receives hundreds of incidents and requests from schools that are extremely reliant on the technology they use.
We spoke to Mohammed Mahay, technical services manager, to find out what a typical day involves for Trusol’s tech support team.
When Should You Call For Support?
Think of the support team as a hub for all ICT enquiries. You can call Trusol with any problem that crops up, any time during the working day. Many of the enquiries the team receives can be fixed almost instantly, over the phone.
Typical calls include access and permissions problems, password problems, internet connection issues, or problems with printers or email. In the event that a problem can’t be resolved over the phone, a technician can log onto the affected machine remotely.
Mohammed explains that most systems are robust, and serious issues are rare. “A backup system might run out of space, or something may be turned off by mistake. If the systems are properly installed, there’s little else that can go wrong.”
In some cases, we need to come back to an incident multiple times. We may even need to visit your premises. Mohammed’s team has a process for dealing with complicated problems, like server outages or power supply failures. “We diagnose these remotely, as far as possible, and then head off to site to make the final fix is we need to.”
What About Major Disasters?
“The most pernicious problems are still malware. You know the sort of thing: the email arrives titled ‘Invoice’, so you open it; it looks reasonable, so you open the document, and then there’s a sinking feeling as you realise what’s happening to your computer.” Your antivirus systems will act as a first line of defence, but sophisticated malware can trick you into circumventing its protection. That’s where the Trusol help desk comes in.
Fortunately, these kinds of emergencies are rare. Mohammed’s team has only had to deal with a handful in the last two years, and is skilled at containing the impact.
If disaster strikes, the Trusol team will immediately spring into action to contain the risk. “The infected PC needs to be rebuilt, the network servers cleaned, and any other connected PCs checked and sorted out. Then, all the data has to be restored from backups.”
Trusol has an excellent response rate for disaster situations. In all cases, systems have been up and running within 24 hours, with no data loss. While you can’t control every eventuality, the key to rapid recovery is this exceptional standard of support Trusol provides.
What About User Error?
We’ve heard some funny stories about ICT support. Occasionally, someone will phone the helpdesk because their mouse is pointing the wrong way. But don’t be embarrassed to ask: that’s what we’re here for.
Even the experts have their moments, as Mohammed explains with a smile. “We spent some time trying to diagnose a printer problem, only to find that the error disappeared by itself. A couple of weeks later, we found out what happened: someone had simply put more paper into the printer.”
Reliable ICT Support For Your School
Managing a school, and preparing lessons, takes a huge amount of effort and planning. ICT problems are the last thing you need, on top of your normal workload. That’s why Trusol is here to help when you most need us.
Our school ICT services cover local authorities across the London area. To find out how we can help you to be more productive, phone 08456 121 222 for a friendly chat today.