Tricks to Getting Good Assistance Online

When you are getting assistance by email or another remote method, it can sometimes be a challenge to describe the problem clearly. After two or three tries that result in misunderstanding and frustration, stress can increase sharply. If you could just show the person on the other end of the line what you are seeing on your screen, it would make things so much simpler!

With use of screen capturing, you can. Screen capturing capability is built into the operating system of Windows, Macs, and iPhones/iPods. Take-a-screenshot.org has some fairly clear directions on how to take a screenshot using each system. There are also software programs that make the screenshot process very simple. I regularly use Jing to create a picture of a screen while I am assisting ELI students.

When you are working with someone to troubleshoot a computer issue, in addition to screenshots, it can be very helpful to include the following information:

What type of computer and operating system are you using? Which version?

1. What internet browser are you using? Which version?
2. Have you gotten any error messages? If so, what did the error messages say?

This kind of information will often help the person providing you with customer service narrow down the issue more quickly and with less confusion.