Tech Support From the Inside
Photograph: Rick RiznerHaving previously worked in tech support for AT&T Broadband, I have some insight into the problems Michael Desmond describes in "Misadventures in Tech Support" [July], particularly those regarding ISPs. I was often hindered by arbitrary rules--such as time limits--that were in place not to enhance customer service but to create bogus numbers, aka "metrics," to show corporate bean counters that a department is doing its job. Add to that problem poorly trained, inflexible supervisors, and subscribers' needs were often secondary.
John C. Lind, Jacksonville, Florida
I currently work as a customer service rep. Before, I worked for outsourced vendors doing tech support (and was paid significantly less).
Telephone tech support is obviously more difficult than office/home service because the tech on the phone can't see what you are doing and can't point out if you are hitting the wrong button or plugging in a cable upside down.
But if the IT community treated tech support reps with more respect (meaning higher wages and better training), customers would not have to suffer as much.
Sergio Carmona, Perris, California
The suggestion that most tech support is geared toward the newcomer is absolutely true. While I was doing tech support, 95 percent of the inquiries came from people who should not own a computer, or a car, or ever have children.
Remember, a tech support department receives an overwhelming volume of phone and e-mail traffic, and entry-level people, some with no computer background, fill most tech support positions.
If you need help, use the Web. Start with the company's site. Use Google and Usenet newsgroups. Call a savvy friend. If you have a legitimate issue, ask for the problem to be escalated (taken to the next level up)--even if you're just seeking help on lost orders or missing parts. Remain calm, document the details, and be prepared to tell your story over and over.
David Greditzer, via the Internet
E-Mail Monitoring
In your July Consumer Watch ["When ISPs Think They Know Best"], you report how AOL blocked someone's e-mail to her friends about a funny Web video because the service had received many complaints about the linked file.
Where does it end? We all know we are losing more and more of our rights each day on the Web, but that doesn't mean we can't make it stop. What if I want to send a raunchy joke to my big brother in Tennessee, or a funny picture to my little sister in the next town over? If such filtering and monitoring is not halted early, these messages too could be blocked because they might offend someone, even though I know it would not offend my recipients!
If this trend continues, we will eventually do what we always do: Find some other means of communication.
Logan VanLandingham, Washington Court House, Ohio
The Evil of Spyware
Your article on Utah's anti-spyware law left me fuming ["Striking Back at Spyware," News and Trends, July]. Would anyone for a moment feel it acceptable for someone to listen in on your phone conversations, feed every word into a database, and then sell the data so marketers could target you? I believe the Utah law does not go far enough. I believe jail time should be included, the same as for someone who entered your home and planted electronic bugs, and then sold that feed to interested parties. Someday, spyware will be classified with viruses, Trojan horses, and other such criminal programs.
Dewayne Clinton, via the Internet
Spreadsheet Pioneer
Though VisiCalc is a famous program, I believe you overlooked the true innovator of spreadsheets on a computer ["Godfathers of the Spreadsheet,"]. In 1985, I came across Joseph Hilsenrath, of the National Bureau of Standards [now the National Institute of Standards and Technology], who was conducting classes in his program Omnitab. This was a spreadsheet application for information specialists, devised by him for the NBS and the Naval Ordinance Lab in the 1960s. It migrated eventually to the personal computer.
Before his NBS stint, Hilsenrath had been my high school math teacher. For more on Omnitab, see "1966: An Early Spreadsheet."
Paul L. Chessin, Lake Worth, Florida
'Water Is Water...'
As a biochemist, I was amused by the July Letter of the Month ["Water, Water Everywhere..."] claiming that the water in computer chip production "is so pure that if you drank it, it would corrode the iron in your blood and kill you." The physical and chemical properties of water are determined solely by molecular structure, and water does not magically become toxic when insoluble impurities are filtered out. Water is water is water.
Ron Payne, Ph.D., Newfoundland, Canada
Editor's response: The Letters editor pleads guilty. At least readers are reading.
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