By Asking Them To Push Buttons You’re Really Pushing Buttons
I work internal IT for a retail company. We have several stores, and a few of the stores do have restaurants and coffee bars included, as well. We’re phone support only, and while we do have a third-party company we use for onsite support, some stuff can be done by the users to help prevent the need for an onsite visit… if they’re willing to listen, which doesn’t always happen.
I get a call one day from a user at one of the restaurants saying their registers are having trouble. I reach out to the team that manages the back end of the registers and they ask for someone to reboot a server. The servers are labeled and everything, but there are only specific people who have access to the server room for security reasons.
I am talking to the user and one of the users who is authorized to get into the room.
Me: “Okay, the server is going to be labeled [Server]. There are three of them, but they’re all labeled.”
Authorized User: “Is someone from [Third-Party Support] going to come onsite?”
Me: “If needed, but if you can do this now, then you don’t have to wait.”
Authorized User: “I’m not going in there to push buttons and risk bringing everything down.”
Me: “All the servers are labeled. You just need to turn on [Server].”
Authorized User: “I understand, but in this store, I don’t push buttons without [Third-Party Support] say-so.”
Me: “We can try and get them out there, but this can be resolved without their involvement. You just need to turn on the server.”
Authorized User: “I will not be going into that room without [Third-Party Support].”
He apparently walks away at that point.
Other User: “So, he’s not going to go in. Can we get [Third-Party Support] to come out?”
Me: “Well, we can try and send a request, but it will be at least an hour before they can get there.”
Other User: “Oh. We open in less than an hour, though, so I don’t want to wait.”
Me: “If you can find [Authorized User #2], they should be able to get in. I’m not 100% on the exact layout because each room is slightly different, but it is labeled.”
Other User: “Yeah, thank you. Sorry he wasn’t willing to cooperate. I’m trying to locate [Authorized User #2], but it’ll take me a few minutes.”
Me: “No worries!”
It takes a few minutes and the user ends up in the sound closet by mistake, but we find [Authorized User #2] and they are able to get into the server room.
Authorized User #2: “Okay, I found the server!”
Me: “Awesome! Can you double-check if it feels hot to the touch before you turn it back on?”
Authorized User #2: “It’s a little warm, but not burning, and I just turned it back on.”
Me: “Thank you! One sec.”
I reach out to the team who asked for it to be rebooted and confirm they are seeing it come back up.
Me: “Okay, you guys should be good! They’re seeing the server come back up on the back end.”
Authorized User #2: “Great! Thank you for being patient with us!”
Other User: “Yes, thank you so much for waiting through that! Can I go check my registers really fast just to make sure they’re back up?”
Me: “Sure.”
The user gets back to his restaurant and verifies things are up.
Other User: “Thank you so much for sticking with me and getting these back up! So glad I didn’t have to wait for [Third-Party Support].”
Me: “No problem! Glad we were able to get this resolved for you!”
Other User: “Thank you so much! Have a great day!”
We ended the call and I wrote up and resolved my ticket for the issue. I found out later that someone at that specific store had pushed down a rule that the only people allowed in the server room were building services or [Third-Party Support].
Apparently, some people want to stick to that rule even if it means waiting an hour for a resolution. I do wish the first authorized user I talked to had actually said that was the reason, though, instead of just flat out refusing.