I spend most of my day doing things that aren’t my job. Let me explain:
My literal job description is, more or less, to make sure e-mail is getting to a user’s box, and that they can send outside of our system. Period. We support a variety of e-mail clients, smart phones and operating systems, but that doesn’t mean we make those programs or devices.
And yet, every day I get calls like: I can’t get my e-mail in Outlook. How do I change the sending address on my Blackberry? My Mac just gave me such-and-such an error. We’re usually the second or third person to be talking to the user and it’s a common story: I went to my telecomm provider, they said everything is working fine. I talked to my ISP, they said they can’t help me. I know it’s a problem on my cell, but there’s no way I can sit on the phone with X, Y or Z company for 2 hours.
It’s sad, but the truth is that most technology and communications companies simply don’t care about customer service. So while it’s not our job, the Customer Flow Technicians on the support floor spend a lot of time talking people through issues outside of Rackspace’s domain. It’s not so bad though – in fact a lot of times it’s very rewarding.
I’ve talked to customers pounding wine in frustration as they attempted their umpteenth phone activation. I’ve had customers literally crying on the phone at their cell phone store, so mad that the representative of the company can’t set up an e-mail account on their own product. It’s a strange world we live in, and it’s nice to work at a place where your practical job description is “don’t be a jerk.” If you can help someone, help them.
We have an awesome support site (rackspace.com/apps/support) that a lot of customers don’t know about – it’s a huge resource for troubleshooting. But when we have exhausted all troubleshooting steps, when we’ve taken an issue as far as we can, we have but one mantra: GTS.
Google That, uh … Stuff. It’s definitely “Stuff.”
In all seriousness, we learn on the fly. Sometimes solutions aren’t apparent, or the problem is so unique that we don’t have a prefabricated response ready to go. A part of our job is knowing our product, but just as big a part is the ability to think on our feet and adapt. Heck, technology advances so quickly that picking up new skills is a sink-or-swim response.
That having been said, there are times when the problem is verifiably outside the scope of what we can do at Rackspace. For me, these are the worst calls. I hate passing the buck, and I know my fellow technicians do, too. One of the less common things you’ll hear people say around here is “not my problem.”
After completing nearly two ‘useless’ degrees, Drew graduated from Chapman University in 2007 with a BFA in Film Production (Emphasis: Cinematography) and a minor in Philosophy. Drew spent the summer in Costa Rica and France shooting an independent film, then headed to L.A. where he spent the next year jogging in the smog before being cast in the role of Stereotypical Industry Whipping Boy #1.
Tired of fetching coffee and doing concept art for television, Drew returned to San Antonio where he worked for a Hospice as a Project Manager for a year. During that time he completely re-wrote the company’s IT policy – and moved everything to Rackspace. To be fair, his best friend worked there and it was an excuse to talk on the phone everyday. Still, he was impressed by the support and, after he quit the hospice and travelled around India on a bicycle for three months, he applied for a job. Read More…
