Press 1 for english

I’ve been there, a customer’s communication system crashes and nothing I do resuscitates it. In desperation I dial the vendor’s tech support line and I get “Bob”. “How may I he`elp y`ou,?” Bob says. I can tell right away Bob is not from Atlanta (or North America for that matter). Now I’m sure Bob is very intelligent; he knows two languages (though English is not his first). The problem is I’m already frustrated and moving closer and closer to panic; I have a customer who can’t be called giving me updates about how much money they’re losing. Bob and I don’t need to waste time trying to figure out what each other is saying. I need Bob to communicate with me clearly and concisely about how to get his company’s product which is my customer's equipment going. I believe it would benefit vendors and their customers if they reflected on these matters when setting up tech support centers. It is not sufficient for techsupport technicians to be proficient with the equipment they support, they must also be able to communicate that knowlede in a meaningful way to the people they are trying to help. I think a good test is for the tech support expert to talk a person who has minimal knowlege of the subject matter through a task (in the language the technician will most commonly support). Technology is evolving so rapidly today; it is impossible for field technicians to be experts on all the makes and models of communication equipment, and network equipment they encounter. Effective tech support is a must.