Introduction

At systems@work we pride ourselves on providing a highly efficient and responsive Support Service for our Clients and Partners.

This article provides some guidelines and advice on how you can contact us and the information we typically require to enable us to diagnose a problem.
 

Please Note: This article is intended for our Channel Partners and Clients supported directly by systems@work. If you are supported by one of our Channel Partners then please contact their Support Desk directly as this will ensure that your support call is logged and escalated in the most efficient manner.


Logging Support Calls

Support Calls should be logged as follows:

• By email to support@systemsatwork.co.uk
  
  
• Through the systems@work Support Portal
  
  
• By phoning +44 870 760 5552. However please note that either of the above two options will enable us to solve your problem more promptly. This is because Emails and the Support Portal automatically log and allocate calls immediately and avoid delays during transcription from telephone to Support System.

Diagnosing the Cause of Problems

In our experience, calls tend to fall into 1 of 3 categories:

1. A problem experienced by a single user
2. A problem experienced by multiple users
3. General Questions ("how do I ...., "can I do this.... ")

The type of information we will ask you for when these call types are logged will always be the same so you can greatly speed up the time taken to resolve calls by providing this information when you log the call.


1. Single User Problems

Whenever we receive a call regarding a problem which is only being experienced by a single user we typically need to know:

• Does the user experience the problem on another machine?
• Does a different user experience the problem on the same machine?

The answer to these questions will enable us to narrow the possible causes of the problem (for example eliminating hardware or machine specific factors).


2. Multiple User Problems

New problems experienced by multiple users are rare and can typically occur because:

• There is a network or server problem.
  
  
• A server update.
  
  
• A configuration change.
  
  
• A software bug.

Because the nature and cause of these types of problems can be varied its important that when the call is logged we are made aware of any changes which have recently taken place. For example:

• Have any Windows Updates been applied to the Server.
  
  
• Have any changes been made to the configuration of the system.

3. General Questions

For General Questions we always recommend that you use the Search Tool to query the Knowledge base first. If this does not provide a suitable answer for you then we will endeavour to answer your question promptly.


Providing The Information We Need

In addition to the details mentioned above we would request that wherever possible you provide us with the following:

• A full explanation of what the problem is.
• The Version Number being used.
• A Screenshot of the problem/error where possible.

Additionally we may sometimes request a backup of the database or other large files. Where this is the case these can be sent to us via our secure upload portal at:

http://www.systemsatwork.co.uk/upload