Tick Tock Tech Support
“Hello, thank you for calling the technical support line of (Insert company name here). If you have reached this recording, it means you are calling outside of our regular business hours or all of our support staff are helping other customers. At the tone, please leave your name, company name, phone number including area code, your account number; service tag number; make and model of your product, a brief description of your problem, and a member of our support staff will return your call as soon as possible…”
If I had a dollar for every time I have heard something like this recording, I might be able to buy a private island and retire. Not much is more frustrating than having a major problem with a piece of equipment and reaching a recording.
At Kegel however, we do our best to get you to a person by providing emergency tech support 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. With a response time of 30 minutes or less, you can be certain you will have help with your lane maintenance needs.
No matter how old a customer's machine is or what their problem might be, Kegel Tech Support is free for our customers, and we don’t plan on making changes to this policy any time soon. But to ensure we can support you in the most accurate and timely manner, there are some things we may need to ask you.
The information we will ask at the beginning of a tech call are:
- Confirmation of the center’s physical address along with updated points of contact, phone numbers, and e-mails.
- Lane machine information: type of lane machine, serial number (can be found on the bottom plate), and the version of the PLC thoughtware. This information can let us know what pattern or upgrade possibilities are available for any specific lane machine.
- Lane information: wood or synthetics, and if synthetics, what type, plus the age of your lane surface.
- Lane chemicals and supplies currently being used: lane conditioner, cleaner, and cleaning cloth.
If you can have this information available before you call tech support, it will help expedite your call, fix your problem quicker, and we greatly appreciate it.
Apart from lane machine tech calls, we get a lot of calls for oil pattern assistance, but telling us that your lanes are “squirrely” or “spotty” doesn’t tell us much – we need specifics in order to help you the best way possible.
For instance:
- Do the backends seem to play tight or is there too much backend?
- Is there not enough hold area or not enough swing area?
- Is the pattern not holding up long enough, and if so, where are the lanes breaking down the quickest? For example; specifically from boards 8-12 from 25-35 feet.
Once you know that information and you call us, make sure you have the following:
- What are the pattern numbers in the lane machine? Do you have a KOSI program sheet of your pattern you can quickly e-mail?
- What kind of lane surface do you have? If synthetic, what brand, how old, and are the on top of old wood lanes or not? If wood, when was the last cut and re-coat?
- What kind of oil transfer system is in your lane machine – transfer roller, wiper bar, dual transfer brush, or the newest Duo System? Each oil transfer system has its own unique characteristic and oil patterns must be built to complement the system.
- If not shown on the program sheet, what is the oil pump set at – 40, 45, or 50 mics?
- How many games per lane are you trying to get out of the pattern? Fifteen games per lane (one shift of league play) or more than that?
- What kind of oil and cleaner, and what is the dilution ratio of the cleaner?
From this point, the Kegel tech can begin to tweak your oil pattern, or figure out what else might be causing your problems.
what if you have to call another company for support?
While many of the following tips for tech support do not apply to Kegel, they do give advice for tech support calls to companies who might not have a fully staffed tech department on hand.
When we call for support, we want to talk to a real person with an answer to our question, and we want the solution now! Most of the time when we call tech support it’s a crisis breakdown and it must be taken care of post-haste.
So we make our panic-stricken call, and we fall into a mindset that we are the only customer on the planet. We want to get our problem fixed and we want the solution as quickly as possible - we do not want to "leave a message” for the next available tech.
Unknown to us, there may be numerous messages ahead of our own. In our mind we feel that after a couple of minutes, we should be hearing from the support desk. In the real world however, it could take several minutes to receive a call back.
The people working the phones often are helping more than one customer at any one time. They may be trying to walk people through procedures who have no expertise with the equipment - this can be very time consuming.
The number of staffers working the phones can also vary, which can contribute to long wait times for support and call backs. No one can predict the number of calls a tech support desk will get during the course of a day and they are sometimes caught shorthanded.
Another cause for a delay in returning your call might be the fact that you did not give enough information while recording your message - so have all your information ready when you call. Make, model number, part number, and serial numbers are going to be needed. If the tech has to spend time researching what equipment you have, it will add to the time it takes to get your equipment repaired.
Giving a detailed description of the problem and what you have already attempted will help the tech. They can then start the troubleshooting procedure prior to calling you back. This can help you get operational faster.
Patience is needed when waiting for a call back from the support desk. While waiting, try to troubleshoot the problem yourself. Sometimes a solution to the problem becomes apparent after a few minutes away from the afflicted equipment.
When you finally receive that call back from the support desk, take notes! Do not rely on your memory to be able to recall a long sequence of troubleshooting procedures. Note whom you are speaking with and all reference numbers that are given to you.
With this information, you can make return calls to the same person who worked with you earlier. The reference number will allow them to access a case file on your problem, thereby speeding up any potential solutions.
Support techs may sometimes hand you off to a more experienced employee in order to provide you with an answer quickly. These veterans often have years of education in the real world, but are in high demand. It may take extra time to get a response from one of these top level support staffers.
The people manning the support desk are often trying to assist customers who have no experience doing repairs. Do not feel offended if they walk you through some very basic steps while on the phone. They have no way of knowing your level of expertise.
When a problem has been solved, be certain to write down what was done and why. This way if the problem arises again, you have the troubleshooting procedure and any calls to the support desk will be shortened considerably.
After a solution has been implemented, a call to the tech desk is a nice gesture. It will let the company know that you are up and running. If a tech was especially helpful, let a supervisor know. Techs rarely receive a pat on the back.
The next time you call a company’s support desk, try the above-mentioned suggestions. Have patience, speak clearly, speak slowly, and if you are forwarded to a recorded message, don’t run from the phone screaming something about “If I had a dollar for every time I have heard…”
