- 12
- Sep 2022
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Troubleshooting Descriptions
Is there anybody left on earth who doesn’t have a cellphone with a camera? If you are one of those people, stop reading this now and go buy a smartphone. You will join the rest of the world in holding one of the world’s greatest troubleshooting tools in the palm of your hand.
Getting the troubleshooting process is this easy: Simply take a picture of the error message on your screen or make a video of the problem in action and send it to us. No matter how tech-savvy you may be, it’s difficult to explain some of the more complex things that might be happening with a device or a network during a phone call or in an email message. And, of course, that problem may not be happening when you talk to us or send us an email. It’s no different than when you take your car to your mechanic and that funny noise that you can’t accurately imitate doesn’t show up as you ride around together.
But when we see a photo or video of the error message or whatever’s happening, we can reverse diagnose the problem or research a fix.
One client’s recent experience illustrates how we use videos to solve problems. The client was having a problem with email, and as soon as we saw it, we knew how to fix it. Microsoft made a change in how its email security worked, and it created what has become a common issue. We told the client to delete their account (on their computer) and then reload it. (Remember, we have our clients back up all their data in the cloud – so the data stays intact.)
The video was key, but another key factor in the successful fix is that the client had all their username and password information. Anytime you delete an app, you need those credentials to reinstall and reconfigure it. Not having your login credentials does – in fact – create a mountain out of a molehill.
Another client issue we resolved with a screenshot was a popup message about their iPad being left behind and no longer being detected. Because it was a popup, it appeared randomly (at least as far as the client was concerned) and raised concerns. It’s an Apple-generated message, which I get, too, for various reasons. It’s not a bad thing, but it is annoying. Using the “volume up” button and the “power” button on their phone, they generated a screenshot to send to us. We quickly saw the issue and told them how to turn off the notification.
Smartphones also have video apps, such as Facetime, WhatsApp, and Skype, to name a few that enable us to see what’s going on and walk you through a solution. Sometimes, that’s our best alternative if we can’t remotely access your device. And as we’re doing the work while we’re connected, we’re always happy to explain what we’re doing and show you how to either prevent a problem or solve it yourself in the future.
While technology helps, we all know every technology has its own quirks and shortcomings. During one of our trips this summer, we left Princess, our dog, with my parents. She was never lost, but the Air Tag on her collar got lost. You find an Air Tag by using an app on your phone, and it essentially generates a sound to let you know you’re getting “hotter” or “colder.” We kept on getting notices it was in a grassy area but couldn’t pin down the location while searching on and off for three weeks. Eventually, we found it. The problem was that it had rained a lot, and the grass had been cut several times. The device got buried to an extent, but the good news is that it kept on sending out notifications.
Most people have their phones with them all the time, so it should be pretty easy to take a photo or some video footage to show us what the problem looks like. You can send us the image by email or text and cut your problem time dramatically.
If you have any questions about how best to provide us with images to help us solve your problems faster, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to talk about it.
Categories
Comments
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- D. J. Hawkins on Health Wearables in Style at CES
- Allan Berger on Tech Preps for Trips
- Stan Schnitzer on We’re Not Neutral on Net Neutrality
- Allan Berger on Equifax and Protecting Your Identity
- Michael L. on Brave New Wireless World
Archives
- October 2024
- September 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012