7 key benefits of Dell technical support
Hi, Habr! Today we want to talk a little about technical support, the role of which, it seems to us, in a difficult economic situation is significantly increasing. Perhaps one of you has already faced a reduction in the budget for updating or maintaining IT systems. If not, then it is very cool, but it’s better to keep your finger on the pulse just in case. And remember that when a company has no money for capital expenditures, you can “buy peace of mind” by forming a budget for really good technical support and “extend the life” of the old hardware.
Of course, Dell has several programs for different tasks and at different prices. A list of their features can always be found here . But simply to broadcast information from the official site here would be wrong. Therefore, we decided to highlight the key benefits of technical support for Dell, some of which are not only extremely useful, but also unique in their niche.
1. Proactive Technical Support / Proactive Support
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It is no secret that server hardware fails quite rarely. And if suddenly the problem happened with a separate component, then often there is a special person in the staff who is quite capable of dealing with the problem. Plus, no one cancels the standard warranty, for which the part will be replaced in any case. However, servers are not only hardware, but also software. The load on full-time technical specialists is almost always large enough, and they do not always have time to thoroughly understand all the software nuances. When an error occurs in the software, it will probably take much longer to fix it than to simply replace the memory module or disk.
At the same time, Dell technical support specialists always keep abreast of the software. Every day they help users to solve some difficulties and over the years have accumulated vast experience. Of course, we immediately announce all important updates, but practice shows that often our corporate customers simply forget to install them. Proactive technical support solves this problem: Dell specialists know about the configuration of the devices used by the client, how they are connected and how they interact with each other. Having discovered a possible problem that may arise with the equipment, they immediately get in touch with the customer and tell in detail what needs to be done to ensure that these problems never arise.
Our practice shows that not all customers think about the importance of preventing the problems of computer systems. But when a problem suddenly happens, it can hit the business so that all processes just stop. One of our clients works with servers and storage systems and periodically buys Dell equipment, including technical support on-site for troubleshooting within 4 hours.
One day, a customer called in a panic to our hotline and reported that his entire publishing house had lost access to the data on the storage system — the work had stopped. On-site, it turned out that from a hardware point of view, all systems are fully functional, and the problem was discovered in the system software. Half a year before this story, a possible bug was identified, for which an appropriate fix was promptly made. It was necessary only to install it, but the system administrators of the client for some reason did not. As a result, data fragmentation occurred - the controller could not collect disparate data from multiple disks. Fortunately, we managed to do it manually, but since then our client has always bought proactive technical support, because he has learned from his own experience how important it can be.
2. Easy to interact with Dell technical support
One of our priorities is to make it easy and convenient for customers to communicate with Dell technical support. To this end, we completely excluded administrative staff from the technical communication process. When a customer calls the hotline, he does not have to explain to the call center operator what exactly is required. Instead, you only need to press the phone’s buttons a couple of times, passing a short filter by answering machine: at this stage, the language and type of product you are asking for is selected. After that, a Dell technical support specialist will immediately contact the customer.
More recently, a new communication channel has appeared - a customer can contact a technical support specialist through a form on the Dell website and chat with him. To help solve the problem will be exactly the same people who answer the phone calls.
The advantages of this method were immediately appreciated by our customers: “... I rate the use of chat as a way of contacting technical support from Dell as an extremely positive experience. High speed of access to the service, minimal response time of a technical support employee (compared to a phone call), the ability to accurately transmit information about errors and diagnostics results, automatic sending of the call history to e-mail, etc. ”.
Of course, all our specialists are regularly trained, and we are building the process so that people are ready to help on the widest possible range of issues. We teach employees to associate clients with the right professionals and find out the missing information within the company in order to give the most accurate and detailed answer instead of fighting back the duty officer “we are not doing this”. Not so long ago, for example, our employees helped a 70-year-old woman back up her system.
Our next task for the next quarters is to tell buyers and customers that they can always order a renewal of the warranty on equipment and get an offer without leaving their homes. At the moment, even a 10 percent discount when ordering through the site . And from users comes a positive feedback - very many people like to do everything on the web.
3. Dell TechDirect Parts Ordering System
When a corporate customer fails any component of the server, then when contacting technical support, he expects that he will immediately be told “OK, now we’ll replace everything”. But in practice, everything is not so simple: the specialist will first ask you to run a scanning utility that collects data about the system and logs, then packs it all into the archive. After that, the archive must be sent to the engineer, it analyzes the data and makes its verdict on the cause of the breakdown. Only confirming the failure in this way, the technical support officer proceeds to the order of the components.
However, there are customers who are familiar with Dell hardware and can quickly diagnose on their own. Especially for their convenience, we have created a Dell TechDirect spare parts ordering system. It is very convenient for customers with a large fleet of equipment and in need of prompt repair in case of malfunctions. Everything works very simply: the customer’s technician sees the problem in a node (for example, a motherboard or a memory module) and immediately orders the necessary spare part. In some cases, when the problem is difficult to diagnose, you can order several components at once. When components arrive, the customer’s engineer consistently tests suspicious components, changing them to new ones. After the fault is “groped”, it remains to return unused components to Dell along with the defective ones.
Of course, for the engineers of the customers who really need the spare parts ordering system, we conduct web-based training courses on how to work with it and on the diagnosis and repair of Dell equipment that they operate.
One of our regular customers is a system integrator who has a serious customer — a very large Russian bank using equipment from various companies, including and Dell equipment. The integrator serves the bank under a contract with rather harsh conditions, among which, for example, there is a requirement to fully restore the system’s performance within 24 hours after a failure. With access to the Dell TechDirect portal, our customer’s engineers can always order spare parts very quickly in order to carry out operational repairs and fulfill the terms of the contract. Components are delivered to the right place within 4 hours after ordering.
4. Departure of the Dell specialist to the place of operation for carrying out diagnostics and repair
Different customers have different technical support requirements. Even two or three special programs may not be suitable for everyone, so we singled out a separate option with a Dell engineer visiting the site where the equipment was used to collect diagnostic data. Without this option, all diagnostics are performed remotely - a technical support specialist by phone or in a chat asks an employee of the client, for example, to rearrange the memory modules on the board, if it seems that the problem is in them, etc. However, not everyone on the staff, there is a person who is willing to engage in diagnostics and generally has the competence in this matter.
One of Dell’s global customers in Russia, a large chain of stores, always buys this option along with servers. The budget assumes that there is only one IT specialist per store. And this person is always in the customer service area, his priority is the uninterrupted operation of scanners and cash registers. When there is a problem at one of the cash registers, it will simply not go to the server room. And while the IT engineer is working on the front-end, a Dell specialist just arrives at the backend and solves all the problems on the spot.
In addition, enterprises often do not have their own data center, but rent them. Access to the premises where there is a mass of equipment of various tenants is strictly regulated. Moreover, the servers can simply be located at a distance of hundreds or thousands of kilometers from the office of the leasing company. To send an IT specialist there to solve a problem is long and expensive. But these specialists often do not provide their specialists for such tasks. The option with the departure of a Dell engineer is just relevant for such cases: in consultation with the client, our employee gets access to the data center and promptly leaves the site in case of problems. By the way, we try not to limit ourselves with simple diagnostics. If you need to update the system software on the server, then our person will also do it.
6. Term possibility to maintain the system - 7 years
Any modern technology has a so-called “lifetime”, during which the manufacturer undertakes to maintain it. With a contract for technical support, of course. For most server manufacturers, this period is 5 years, for Dell it is 7 years, which allows you to plan your infrastructure more flexibly and invest less in it. Moreover, now outdated hardware can be used longer thanks to virtualization technologies.
Note that the term end of service is not as simple as it seems at first glance. This is not just a whim of management, but a very complex system of arrangements of many vendors with each other. The server manufacturer must be sure that, if necessary, its partners for motherboards, hard drives, memory, etc. will provide the necessary components for 5-7 years.
7. High-level support program for the most important systems / Pro Support Plus
A common feature of standard technical support programs is that they are reactive, i.e. “Turn on” when something fails or just a problem arises. But if the system is critically important, then any breakdown and delay in the work is fraught with large cataclysms for business. Of course, such systems are almost always duplicated, but, in any case, their condition should be monitored to prevent unpleasant situations. This is what the Dell Pro Support Plus program is for.
Its essence lies in the fact that Dell specialists regularly receive information about critical systems (hardware configuration, logs, system software level, subsystem performance), analyze all indicators, compare them with the recommended parameters for these systems, and make up a categorized report. inside of which there is a detailed breakdown with all the identified problems according to their degree of importance. Dell also helps install updates. A special technical manager orchestrates such support: together with the customer, he determines the range of necessary tasks, proposes algorithms for their solution and helps in preventive matters. Simply put, this is a personal contact within Dell that tries to solve any problems as quickly as possible and finds the best specialists on specific issues within the company.
One of Dell's customers is a large concern consisting of many enterprises. In fact, our client is the manager of a large number of factories and representative offices in various parts of Russia. It is very important for the customer that the equipment works without interruption and is promptly repaired. In addition, it is quite difficult to plan the development of such a complex and extensive IT infrastructure on your own, and Dell experts help with this. We make a support plan, agree in advance on all preventive measures, and give recommendations on system software for storage systems. In addition, the client has certain wishes regarding the qualifications of technical specialists, and Dell technical support always sends engineers that are suitable for these criteria.
Thanks to everyone who read the material to the end! If you have any questions regarding Dell technical support, we will answer them in the comments.
Of course, Dell has several programs for different tasks and at different prices. A list of their features can always be found here . But simply to broadcast information from the official site here would be wrong. Therefore, we decided to highlight the key benefits of technical support for Dell, some of which are not only extremely useful, but also unique in their niche.
1. Proactive Technical Support / Proactive Support
')
It is no secret that server hardware fails quite rarely. And if suddenly the problem happened with a separate component, then often there is a special person in the staff who is quite capable of dealing with the problem. Plus, no one cancels the standard warranty, for which the part will be replaced in any case. However, servers are not only hardware, but also software. The load on full-time technical specialists is almost always large enough, and they do not always have time to thoroughly understand all the software nuances. When an error occurs in the software, it will probably take much longer to fix it than to simply replace the memory module or disk.
At the same time, Dell technical support specialists always keep abreast of the software. Every day they help users to solve some difficulties and over the years have accumulated vast experience. Of course, we immediately announce all important updates, but practice shows that often our corporate customers simply forget to install them. Proactive technical support solves this problem: Dell specialists know about the configuration of the devices used by the client, how they are connected and how they interact with each other. Having discovered a possible problem that may arise with the equipment, they immediately get in touch with the customer and tell in detail what needs to be done to ensure that these problems never arise.
Our practice shows that not all customers think about the importance of preventing the problems of computer systems. But when a problem suddenly happens, it can hit the business so that all processes just stop. One of our clients works with servers and storage systems and periodically buys Dell equipment, including technical support on-site for troubleshooting within 4 hours.
One day, a customer called in a panic to our hotline and reported that his entire publishing house had lost access to the data on the storage system — the work had stopped. On-site, it turned out that from a hardware point of view, all systems are fully functional, and the problem was discovered in the system software. Half a year before this story, a possible bug was identified, for which an appropriate fix was promptly made. It was necessary only to install it, but the system administrators of the client for some reason did not. As a result, data fragmentation occurred - the controller could not collect disparate data from multiple disks. Fortunately, we managed to do it manually, but since then our client has always bought proactive technical support, because he has learned from his own experience how important it can be.
2. Easy to interact with Dell technical support
One of our priorities is to make it easy and convenient for customers to communicate with Dell technical support. To this end, we completely excluded administrative staff from the technical communication process. When a customer calls the hotline, he does not have to explain to the call center operator what exactly is required. Instead, you only need to press the phone’s buttons a couple of times, passing a short filter by answering machine: at this stage, the language and type of product you are asking for is selected. After that, a Dell technical support specialist will immediately contact the customer.
More recently, a new communication channel has appeared - a customer can contact a technical support specialist through a form on the Dell website and chat with him. To help solve the problem will be exactly the same people who answer the phone calls.
The advantages of this method were immediately appreciated by our customers: “... I rate the use of chat as a way of contacting technical support from Dell as an extremely positive experience. High speed of access to the service, minimal response time of a technical support employee (compared to a phone call), the ability to accurately transmit information about errors and diagnostics results, automatic sending of the call history to e-mail, etc. ”.
Of course, all our specialists are regularly trained, and we are building the process so that people are ready to help on the widest possible range of issues. We teach employees to associate clients with the right professionals and find out the missing information within the company in order to give the most accurate and detailed answer instead of fighting back the duty officer “we are not doing this”. Not so long ago, for example, our employees helped a 70-year-old woman back up her system.
Our next task for the next quarters is to tell buyers and customers that they can always order a renewal of the warranty on equipment and get an offer without leaving their homes. At the moment, even a 10 percent discount when ordering through the site . And from users comes a positive feedback - very many people like to do everything on the web.
3. Dell TechDirect Parts Ordering System
When a corporate customer fails any component of the server, then when contacting technical support, he expects that he will immediately be told “OK, now we’ll replace everything”. But in practice, everything is not so simple: the specialist will first ask you to run a scanning utility that collects data about the system and logs, then packs it all into the archive. After that, the archive must be sent to the engineer, it analyzes the data and makes its verdict on the cause of the breakdown. Only confirming the failure in this way, the technical support officer proceeds to the order of the components.
However, there are customers who are familiar with Dell hardware and can quickly diagnose on their own. Especially for their convenience, we have created a Dell TechDirect spare parts ordering system. It is very convenient for customers with a large fleet of equipment and in need of prompt repair in case of malfunctions. Everything works very simply: the customer’s technician sees the problem in a node (for example, a motherboard or a memory module) and immediately orders the necessary spare part. In some cases, when the problem is difficult to diagnose, you can order several components at once. When components arrive, the customer’s engineer consistently tests suspicious components, changing them to new ones. After the fault is “groped”, it remains to return unused components to Dell along with the defective ones.
Of course, for the engineers of the customers who really need the spare parts ordering system, we conduct web-based training courses on how to work with it and on the diagnosis and repair of Dell equipment that they operate.
One of our regular customers is a system integrator who has a serious customer — a very large Russian bank using equipment from various companies, including and Dell equipment. The integrator serves the bank under a contract with rather harsh conditions, among which, for example, there is a requirement to fully restore the system’s performance within 24 hours after a failure. With access to the Dell TechDirect portal, our customer’s engineers can always order spare parts very quickly in order to carry out operational repairs and fulfill the terms of the contract. Components are delivered to the right place within 4 hours after ordering.
4. Departure of the Dell specialist to the place of operation for carrying out diagnostics and repair
Different customers have different technical support requirements. Even two or three special programs may not be suitable for everyone, so we singled out a separate option with a Dell engineer visiting the site where the equipment was used to collect diagnostic data. Without this option, all diagnostics are performed remotely - a technical support specialist by phone or in a chat asks an employee of the client, for example, to rearrange the memory modules on the board, if it seems that the problem is in them, etc. However, not everyone on the staff, there is a person who is willing to engage in diagnostics and generally has the competence in this matter.
One of Dell’s global customers in Russia, a large chain of stores, always buys this option along with servers. The budget assumes that there is only one IT specialist per store. And this person is always in the customer service area, his priority is the uninterrupted operation of scanners and cash registers. When there is a problem at one of the cash registers, it will simply not go to the server room. And while the IT engineer is working on the front-end, a Dell specialist just arrives at the backend and solves all the problems on the spot.
In addition, enterprises often do not have their own data center, but rent them. Access to the premises where there is a mass of equipment of various tenants is strictly regulated. Moreover, the servers can simply be located at a distance of hundreds or thousands of kilometers from the office of the leasing company. To send an IT specialist there to solve a problem is long and expensive. But these specialists often do not provide their specialists for such tasks. The option with the departure of a Dell engineer is just relevant for such cases: in consultation with the client, our employee gets access to the data center and promptly leaves the site in case of problems. By the way, we try not to limit ourselves with simple diagnostics. If you need to update the system software on the server, then our person will also do it.
6. Term possibility to maintain the system - 7 years
Any modern technology has a so-called “lifetime”, during which the manufacturer undertakes to maintain it. With a contract for technical support, of course. For most server manufacturers, this period is 5 years, for Dell it is 7 years, which allows you to plan your infrastructure more flexibly and invest less in it. Moreover, now outdated hardware can be used longer thanks to virtualization technologies.
Note that the term end of service is not as simple as it seems at first glance. This is not just a whim of management, but a very complex system of arrangements of many vendors with each other. The server manufacturer must be sure that, if necessary, its partners for motherboards, hard drives, memory, etc. will provide the necessary components for 5-7 years.
7. High-level support program for the most important systems / Pro Support Plus
A common feature of standard technical support programs is that they are reactive, i.e. “Turn on” when something fails or just a problem arises. But if the system is critically important, then any breakdown and delay in the work is fraught with large cataclysms for business. Of course, such systems are almost always duplicated, but, in any case, their condition should be monitored to prevent unpleasant situations. This is what the Dell Pro Support Plus program is for.
Its essence lies in the fact that Dell specialists regularly receive information about critical systems (hardware configuration, logs, system software level, subsystem performance), analyze all indicators, compare them with the recommended parameters for these systems, and make up a categorized report. inside of which there is a detailed breakdown with all the identified problems according to their degree of importance. Dell also helps install updates. A special technical manager orchestrates such support: together with the customer, he determines the range of necessary tasks, proposes algorithms for their solution and helps in preventive matters. Simply put, this is a personal contact within Dell that tries to solve any problems as quickly as possible and finds the best specialists on specific issues within the company.
One of Dell's customers is a large concern consisting of many enterprises. In fact, our client is the manager of a large number of factories and representative offices in various parts of Russia. It is very important for the customer that the equipment works without interruption and is promptly repaired. In addition, it is quite difficult to plan the development of such a complex and extensive IT infrastructure on your own, and Dell experts help with this. We make a support plan, agree in advance on all preventive measures, and give recommendations on system software for storage systems. In addition, the client has certain wishes regarding the qualifications of technical specialists, and Dell technical support always sends engineers that are suitable for these criteria.
Thanks to everyone who read the material to the end! If you have any questions regarding Dell technical support, we will answer them in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/270747/
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