Calling technical support usually means conversing at length with technicians who are 'middle men.' They act as a bridge between you and the company they represent. Knowing what it's like to be a technical support agent, as well as how things work on their side of the phone line, will very likely help you get your issue resolved quickly, with minimal speed bumps along the way.

1. Most technical support is outsourced.

Outsourcing is a business strategy in which a company that provides a product or service, like AT&T or HP, makes a deal with an outsourcing company. For a price, the outsourcing company trains its employees to work, on the telephone, as representatives of the original client company, managing customers' subscription services and technical issues.

Technology companies don't simply outsource overseas, outside North America to India or Pakistan. They outsource all over the world, even right next door to their headquarters, sometimes. This means that when you call a company's support line, even if the person on the other end doesn't sound foreign, she is still very likely not a direct employee of the company she represents: she is outsourced.

All this outsourcing of work means that the person you speak to on the phone, despite working as a representative, does not have any means of contacting anyone directly employed by AT&T, or HP, or the maker of your broken cell phone. As an outsourced agent, she has probably represented several different client companies since taking up employment with the outsourcing company, and feels no personal allegiance to any of them.

Airing complaints on the line, then, about the product or service you have paid for, will not be effective -- while it may be therapeutic for you to rant if you are dissatisfied, remember that the agent on the line very likely has no means of passing on your general complaint to the people who could actually do something about it. She has no control over pricing, manufacture, design, or programming, and is unable to contact those who do.

2. The agent you're speaking to has not received a lot of training.

Usually, an outsourcing company is paid by its clients (like HP or AT&T) by the number of employees working per hour, or sometimes, the actual time spent taking calls. The goal of an outsourcing company, then, is to get as many employees as are required by the stipulations of its contracts onto the phone lines as quickly as possible.

This leaves little time for training. Yes, all outsourced employees are trained on the basics of the device or service they will be supporting -- for a week or two. This is the case even for those who have been employed off the street and can't tell the difference between a Macintosh computer and a PC.

When training is complete, often without final testing to prove retention of training information, employees are shuffled to their cubicles, with access to a computer, a phone, a headset, and a search engine. Because training is so basic, and because so many different things can go wrong with a piece of technology, it's very likely that any given issue you present to your technical support agent is brand new to that agent. Some issues are common, but many are not. Thus, your support agent will very likely need to look up the solution to your issue and read about it before he can help you.

Further, because outsourced technical support agents really do want to help customers resolve their issues simply to lower their own stress levels, they will often turn to workplace rumour and search engines -- especially Google -- to help solve your issue. That's right: many of the resources used by technical support agents are available to you directly. All you need to do is perform a simple Internet search.

3. You can't get your technician in trouble.

If you are dissatisfied with the service your technician is providing, you may be tempted to ask to speak to a supervisor. If you ask for a supervisor, the technician is obligated to get up and find you one, and this may help smooth the support process for you. However, keep in mind that your complaints to the supervisor about the previous agent will meet silent eye-rolls, and if lengthy will simply frustrate the supervisor.

A supervisor is not a boss. A supervisor is a floor-walker, and the one you're speaking to is guaranteed to like the agent you're complaining about more than he likes you, especially if you focus more on the issue you have with technical support services than on the issue you have with your product -- that is, the issue that the supervisor is actually able to help you resolve.

Once you have finished speaking with technical support, you may be emailed a customer satisfaction survey. Sometimes, your answers on this survey affect your support agent's training -- that is, if you give a negative review of the agent's performance, the agent may be given extra training, and if you give a positive review, your words may be put up on a bulletin board somewhere. Often, the review you give of the agent's performance means nothing, and is simply used as means for your agent to self-reflect.

No matter what, your response to the customer service satisfaction survey only reflects upon the technical support agent, or agents, to whom you have spoken. Complaining about the product or the company will at best be completely ineffective, and at worst will reflect unfairly upon a few technical support agents. If you had a good experience with technical support and merely dislike the company your agent represents or the products offered, do not return a negative customer satisfaction survey. Instead, look around the Internet for customer complaint contacts or ask your technician for the appropriate contact information before you end your call.

4. Most technicians are underpaid.

Outsourced technical support agents usually work for minimum wage. They are expected to deal with angry customers, difficult technical puzzles, and high stress levels for eight to twelve hours a day, five days a week, for about ten US dollars an hour -- if they're lucky. In some countries, the wage is far lower than that.

Your technician is very likely not doing this job just because he likes it -- he either hopes to move up in the company, or is in need of work that allows him to sit, or is in need of work, period. The strategy of outsourcing companies is this: they take up residence in areas with poor economies, and take advantage of high unemployment rates. Most technical support agents, if given an opportunity to work somewhere else, would take it.

This doesn't mean the agent doesn't care about his job, however -- he wants to your issue to be resolved just like you do, because he's being tracked and rewarded or reprimanded based on how long it takes him to resolve your issue whilst closely heeding meticulous documentation processes, reciting scripts and phone numbers, and making you think he knows exactly what he's doing -- even when he doesn't.

Technical support is a high-stress job, and successfully resolving an issue lowers stress. Your agent will very likely do whatever he can to help you, especially if you are friendly, attentive, patient, and willing to heed instructions. Any caller to demonstrate awareness of a technical support agent's stress will almost invariably receive the most thorough, generous support possible.

Get Free Phone Tech Support from the Device Manufacturer

I can't think of any services that offer free phone support for drivers in general, but you can most likely get some one-on-one assistance from the manufacturer of the device that you want to install or update drivers for. For example, if you are installing an HP printer, you can contact HP customer support for help. This website has a massive list of manufacturer's and their 1-800 or local numbers, I hope it helps.

Free Software Programs Online

There are also a lot of free software download programs that offer driver location and installation assistance. However, as with most free downloads, be very careful that you know what you are getting and that the site or program is genuine and reputable.

Using Windows Updates for Drivers

This said, I think that I can help you learn what you need to know to find device drivers on your own, or at least have a good idea about how to start. Windows includes driver updates in its Windows Updates program, which you can install and set to run automatically whenever you want. This is a good tool for keeping your system up to date.

Use Device Manager to Update Drivers

To find device drivers, there are two or three major options. First, use Windows Device Manager to search for missing drivers. Here's how:

1. Log on as an administrator
2. Click Start, then Control Panel, and then System and Maintenance
3. Choose Device Manager
4. If you are asked, provide the administrator password or press Enter to continue
5. Scroll to find your graphics or video card and click it twice to open
6. Choose the Driver tab, and click Update Driver
7. Follow the on-screen directions to load the driver update

Use the Manufacturer's Website to Find Drivers

Secondly, you can use the manufacturer's website to look for drivers. Most device makers offer a "drivers and downloads" page on their websites that you can look at to find drivers for your product. Sometimes you can enter your product model number into a search and it will locate the right drivers for you.

Buy a Driver Genius Software Program

Thirdly, there are numerous programs available for both free download and for purchase that will help you find and install drivers. At Filetonic we recommend a driver program by Paretologic called DriverCure. There is also a tech support service that we recommend that you can access here.

Load the Drivers from the CD

If you have a CD that came with your device, then most likely the drivers are on it. If you connect the device to the computer and reboot your system, the computer should recognize the device and launch the Add Hardware wizard, which will walk you through adding the drivers from the CD. If the wizard doesn't launch, open it manually by choosing the Add Hardware icon in the Control Panel.

I hope this helps, if not, write again with some more specifics about your device, driver situation and operating system and we can help you from there. Good luck!

Related Articles:

Free Online Technical Support Options

Filetonic Free Ask a Tech Help

Funny you should ask. Here at Filetonic, we do our best to answer computer questions - for free! While we are not a full service online tech support service, we try to get you answers to your questions or point you in the right direction. Feel free to "Ask a Tech Jock" as your first step toward solving your computer problems.

Free Online Tech Support Options

Depending on the computer problem you are experiencing, free online tech support may be available. For example, if you are having trouble with your Vonage Internet phone service, the folks over at Vonage are quite helpful. Likewise, your cable Internet service provider is a good first stop for Internet access problems. Many ISPs now offer automated support tools that automatically configure your system or troubleshoot common connection problems. Similarly, if you're having a problem with a software application or hardware device, the support options at various developers and manufacturers are often free.

Of course, support and service varies and it's often difficult to pinpoint where the problem originates. For example, if your Vonage Internet phone service isn't working, it could be a problem with your Linksys router - so who do you call? Linksys or Vonage? 

Forums are another good source of online tech support, though you need to be aware of who's giving advice. For example, anyone can go onto a forum and say "Download this fix" or "Delete such and such from the Windows registry." If the advice is coming from a Microsoft MVP, you're probably pretty safe following the instructions given. On the other hand, if the advice is coming from a random user named ILUV2HAK, then you might not want to download that file or follow his advice.

Microsoft's knowledge base is another good source of free help. Many of step-by-step solutions are offered. In fact, now Microsoft has a "Fix it for me" tool that automatically fixes the issue in question.

Paid Tech Support

We understand that sometimes free tech support comes up short. In these instances, a good paid tech support company can be worth its money many times over. We recommend an online tech support company when we feel a computer error will benefit from a real technician working on the computer remotely.

Another option is to hire a local high school or college kid to troubleshoot your computer problems. Computer students are a bargain and eager to show off their skills.

Please let us know if you have a specific computer problem and we'll be happy to do our best to tackle it for you.

Setting up Remote Access

Sounds like you have a big problem. This is going to be a bit tricky and I'm not sure if it will work based on her computer not being able to open any windows. Also, you'll have to double check the licenses of the various products. I do not believe the licenses are transferrable to more than one computer in general. If you have copies of the drivers that she needs, a remote connection would let you transfer the files from your PC to hers. However, her computer needs to be somewhat functional in order to create the remote access connection.

Windows Remote Assistance

If you both have modern Windows computers such as Windows Vista or XP, you can use the built-in Windows Remote Assistance utility to establish a connection and take over her computer. She will need to go into her computer, click on the Start button, click on Help and Support, and then click the Windows Remote Assistance link. Now, she needs to "Invite someone to help. From there, she will be prompted to set up her computer to allow Remote Assistance and she must follow the prompts to "invite" you to help which basically involves sending you an e-mail. You'll then accept the invitation and be able to connect provided that no firewalls block you out. You will both need to be connected to the Internet.

PCanywhere

Another option is to use software such as PCAnywhere to connect the two computers. Again, this involves a lot of user intervention on your sister's part. Both of you would need to buy and install the software before you can connect. In addition, she will need to set her computer to accept your connection. PCAnywhere allows you to use standard phone lines for connections.

GoToMyPC

GoToMyPC is a web-based remote control option that might work. Your sister would need to download the GoToMyPC software and provide you with the log on credentials. From there, you can control her PC from your computer by going to the GoToMyPC Web site and entering the appropriate information. Both computers will need to be connected to the Internet.

Once Connected

Provided that you can actually connect to your sister's PC, you can then begin troubleshooting her driver issues. If you decide that she needs the Driver Detective or RegCure software, you'll most likely need fresh licenses for each as I do not believe the standard licenses are transferrable. If you have multi-user licenses, then it shouldn't be a problem. Double-check your licenses beforehand.

Troubleshooting remote assistance

About Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance is a pretty cool utility that is part of the Windows operating systems and can also be used through Windows Messenger and some email clients. Remote Assistance lets users request help from other people and give them permission create a connection to their computer; to view the screen, to chat, and even to access the computer remotely. When using Remote Assistance the user who asks for advice is called the Novice, and the person or computer that is asked for help is the Expert.

How to Accept an Invitation

To accept an invitation to offer Remote Assistance through Messenger both computers have to be connected to the Internet at the same time so you have to make sure that the user who sent you the invitation is online when you are. After you accept the invitation the other user also has to confirm the invitation. Until they do the remote connection cannot be established. So, first of all, ensure that the person whose computer you are trying to access is sitting at their desk when you begin this process.

Enable Remote Assistance

I'm sure you have already done this, but to make sure that you have Remote Assistance enabled on your computer open the Start Menu and then choose the Control Panel. Open the Performance and Maintenance tab and then choose System. Next, hit the Remote tab and then ensure that the box is checked to Allow Remote Assistance Invitations can be sent. Next, click Advanced and set an amount of time for this permission to be in effect. Then click OK. You will want to ensure that the user who sent you the invitation has set an appropriate amount of time for the remote meeting.

Configure the Firewall

There is a good chance that either your firewall or the other user's is blocking you from accessing Remote Assistance. If you are using a Windows Firewall or any other program, check the settings and make sure that the firewall is not blocked port 3389 because it will prevent users from contacting each other. You might also be blocked by your router, or by the other user's router. To troubleshoot these issues you and the other user will need to configure your settings and contact the manufacturers or manuals if necessary.

Overview

SupportSpace is a unique online technical support service that features both expert technicians as well as a suite of services for troubleshooting, repairing, and optimizing your computer and its peripherals.

Features

• Certified Experts - A rigorous certification program along with testing, interviews, and background checks ensure that the techs available to service your computer are knowledgeable and trustworthy.
• Flexible Pricing Options - Each expert offers services at various rates. You can select an expert based on your price range, specific technology specialty, or other qualifications.
• Expert Profiles - You can see which experts are online and available as well as view their profile, see how many cases they've handled, their approval rating, and their price.
• Wide Selection of Standard Services - SupportSpace.com offers a huge menu of fixed price services such as Spyware Removal, iPhone setup, network setup, online backups, data recovery, computer repairs, internet security, e-mail setup, and more

Benefits

Using SupportSpace.com is an excellent choice for repairing or optimizing your computer. With various services offered and expert help readily available, you can repair your computer without the hassles of taking it into the shop. In addition to having an expert guide you through the steps, you can also grant the expert permission to remotely control your computer and perform the tasks on your behalf.

Instead of spending countless hours researching your computer errors and searching for advice, SupportSpace.com offers solutions! Check their services menu and see if a pre-packaged solution exists or connect with a certified expert and get customized advice.

How it works

Certified experts are available around the clock to assist you with Windows XP, Vista, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, e-mail, backups, viruses, printers, hardware, security, networking, digital cameras, spyware, and more. Routine technical issues are handled via "express sessions" which typically last about twenty minutes while more complex issues require "premium sessions." Price quotes are given in advance before the session begins. SupportSpace.com offers a money-back guarantee with no questions asked.

Recommendations

SupportSpace.com is ideal for any computer user who needs technical help. From helping you with routine computer issues such as installing an antivirus application to more complex services such as reviving Windows XP from a major crash, help is just a few clicks away.

At first, this question sounded like we had two separate questions here. But upon further research, the two questions are indeed related.

About Supportsoft

Support Soft is a company that provides technical support services to companies and individuals alike. For example, computer users can get help from this company for a variety of common technical support issues such as optimizing the computer or removing malware. This service is similar to the services profiled here: www.filetonic.com/support. If you need online tech support, both options are worthy of considering.

Remote help for ISPs

Support Soft also provides background support for Internet Service Providers. For example, if you're experiencing problems with your Internet service, the tools offered by your broadband provider could very well be products from Support Soft. Likewise, many of these installations may not have been initiated by you but by your ISP in an effort to "self heal" issues with their service. The installers for the programs are powered by Support Soft and may not be exactly perfect. For example, installation programs have been known to generate this "not logged on as administrator" error even though the user was in fact correctly logged on. The Sophos Resolve tool comes to mind. This particular tool generates a similar notice which can be disregarded.

1 Click Fix

If you suspect that an installer program is part of you ISP's service, check with your ISP for support. For example, if your broadband ISP offers "one click" fixes or other downloads that enhance your Internet connection, they could very well be powered by Supportsoft. These tools are designed to help solve problems but may have a minor bug themselves.

Sometimes preinstalled

Support Soft is preinstalled on some computers as part of their built-in support software. You can check your computer to see if this is the case by going to the Start button, choosing Run and typing in services. Scroll through the list in search of Supportsoft. If so, you can disable, stop, or set the service to manual mode.

Supportsoft administrator error

If you can identify the circumstances surrounding the "not logged on as administrator" error, you'll be better able to troubleshoot the problem. Does the error come up whenever you access your e-mail? If so, your ISP may have a Supportsoft tool that they use as part of their spam or virus prevention services. Does the message appear when trying to download a troubleshooter from your ISP or when using your computer's built-in support tools? With so many possibilities, we'll need to isolate the exact program that is trying to install or launch in order to find a workaround or solution.

Access Remote solution

While access has replication and synchronization features that you might consider adopting, I'm wondering if a remote solution might not be the easiest option. There are all kinds of remote technologies available that allow you to sit at your desktop anywhere in the world, log on to your colleague's computer, and take control of their desktop. Not only can you explore their Access database as if you were sitting at their workstation, you can also show your colleagues exactly what they did wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. Instead of fixing the problem on your end, you will be helping your colleagues learn the ins and outs of using your database the way it is meant to be used.

Try Windows remote first

Depending on the various operating systems involved, you may be able to use the remote capabilities of Windows to accomplish this. For example, if both users have Windows Vista or XP, you can use Remote Assistance. This involves a little cooperation on both ends. First, your colleague will need to enable Remote Assistance connections on their computer which is done by going to the Control Panel, clicking System, clicking the Remote tab, and enabling Remote Assistance.

Sending invite for Remote Assist

Next, they need to "invite" you to help them. This is done by opening Remote Assistance and issuing an invitation, usually in the form of an e-mail. Once you receive the invitation, you can act upon it and establish a connection. Both you and your colleague will be able to see the desktop while you control it. When connected, give your colleague a phone call so that you can talk as you work.

Remote Connect products

If Windows Remote Assistance isn't an option, other remote connection products are available. For example, I used to use Symantec's PC Anywhere to connect to computers located at branch offices. Both computers need a copy of the PC Anywhere software installed and, again, there's a bit of coordination involved to establish remote connections. Once connected, you see the remote desktop and can control it as if you were sitting at the workstation. Your colleague can see what you're doing. A text chat feature is handy, too, though you may prefer talking over the phone.

Other online tools allow for collaboration as well though they may not be suitable for a large, multi-user Access database.

Or Cousin Dave just got a brand new iPod and needs help getting music onto it from his massive CD collection. Or you're at work, and you left the link to the website you really needed for your early meeting on your desktop. Or maybe you're at home, and suddenly remember that you left the document you created on your desktop at work. Variations on this theme drive thousands of us to frustration, and thousands to use remote access solutions. 

There are quite a few remote access solutions, both built-in to most current operating systems, and as stand-alone applications, or as network-based products. Windows, for instance, includes "Remote Desktop Access" in current systems. You can enable it from the desktop, by right clicking on "My Computer" and selecting the "Remote" tab. Simply place a checkmark in the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" box. Note the computer name provided. You can then selectively enable the feature for users by clicking the "Select Remote Users..." button and adding the users you want to have remote access.

To access such a system from a Windows box, you can go to Start->All Programs->Accessories->Communications->Remote Desktop Connection. You'll get a dialog looking for your login information and the computer name. You can substitute the IP address for the computer name, as you can in most cases.

If you have a Macintosh, you can download the RDP software from Microsoft that will allow you to access the Windows computer remotely.

If you are using a Linux system, you can use rdesktop ( a command line utility ) or Gnome-RDP - a front-end for rdesktop and several other remote tools. The problem with this approach is that it's complex and insecure to make this solution available for people not on our local network.

If you have a Macintosh computer, you can enable remote access in System Preferences. Click on the "Sharing" icon, and put a checkmark next to "Screen Sharing". You can click on "Computer Settings", and put a checkmark in "VNC viewers may control screen with password:" and put in a password. Once you have this set up, there are several ways to access your remote desktop. You can use any VNC client on a Windows, Linux, or Mac system. If you have the most recent version of Mac OSX (Leopard), you can use the Screen Sharing program for remote access - select the computer name in your Finder Sidebar, then click on the button that says "Share Screen". It will prompt you for your login credentials for the other system, and then you'll get the remote desktop. On Linux, you can use tightvnc or RealVNC, or vncviewer.

On Windows, you can use TightVNC or any other VNC capable viewer. In addition to the solutions above, .Mac (Dot Mac) and Leopard, when combined, offer a "Back to My Mac" solution that allows you to engage screen sharing securely to any Mac you have authorized on your .Mac account for Back to My Mac.

If you have a Linux system you want to access remotely, you can use X11 on the local network. This is non-trivial to configure, but it offers some interesting possibilities. The software you would run on your remote system is called an "X Server", while the machine you're accessing remotely runs "X Clients". This can be confusing from a terminology perspective.

There are X Servers for Windows and for Mac OS X (it's built in to OSX, in fact). X11 was designed to make the display experience as location-agnostic as possible, which means you can actually have, say, just a browser window from the remote linux machine show up on your local machine. Again, this is complex to configure securely, and certainly nothing you'd ever want to make available from the Internet. The second solution is VNC. You can use vncserver to start a VNC session on your Linux box, and access it from your other machines with a generic VNC viewer.  VNC Viewers are available for nearly every platform in the world. For remote GUI access on Linux, VNC is a good solution provided you use SSH to encrypt the session by tunneling your VNC Client's connection through an SSH tunnel. That's enough to tie up an entire article; it's sufficient to say that if you don't know that those terms mean, you don't want to try it based on what information this article has room to provide.

All the solutions discussed so far are for local access. This means that you can connect to the other machine from the same physical network - like your house, or your job. What if you need to access your home system from work? Well, then we turn to other solutions. If you've got the hardware and expertise, and your IT department allows it, you can configure a VPN between your work computer and your home system, and then use the same methods listed above to access your computer. But presuming you don't have that kind of access, there is a solution - or three. In fact, a Google search for "Remote PC access websites" turned up a list of quite a few, ranging from extremely expensive to free. The first such service most people think of is GoToMyPC.com; you can get a 30 day trial if you want to experiment. 

Most only support Windows on the remote end. An exception to this general rule comes from LogMeIn.com, which supports both Windows and Mac clients. There may be a similar solution that supports all three (Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX), but not easily accessible. Logmein.com provides remote access via web browser, with many very nice features. One example is the way it handles desktop resolution. If you are connecting to a machine with much higher resolution than the system you're connecting from, the desktop will appear small and shrunken. With logmein.com, you can select the desktop resolution of the remote system from a drop-down menu, bringing the remote desktop to a viewable size. The really important thing about this change is that it's non-permanent. When you get back to work after setting your work resolution to 1024x768 so it would fit on your laptop's screen, you'll discover your setting unchanged. It supports clipboard synchronization and many other conveniences. Plus, you can walk Cousin Dave through installing it on his computer, then (with his approval) take over his desktop and show him how to rip a cd and put it on his ipod. Remote access allows 'family support techs' to help their relatives and friends with technical problems rapidly and with a lot less frustration than trying to "talk them through" troubleshooting on the phone. 

As we become more mobile, remote access becomes more useful to more people. When you have a desktop and add a laptop, remote access might just become critical to the way you work. The information provided here will help you sort out your remote access needs and how to approach your customized solution.

I have had mixed results with forums. I like being able to search and browse through past posts to see if others have had the same problem and if so how it was resolved. Over the years, I have solved many computer problems thanks to the help of tech support forums. But I've also been frustrated too. Sometimes the information is too technical for me or irrelevant. Plus, it takes a long time to wade through the posts.

I've also been hesitant to jump in and ask a question. The few times I did, involved signing up as a member and waiting for a response.

That's not to say that there aren't forums that work well. Forums are a terrific way to get computer help. In fact, one of the first things that I do when I have a computer error is Google the exact error message. More often than not, I'll find dozens of resources covering that exact error, including forum posts.

When searching for tech support forums, look for an active community. You can tell how active a community is by looking at the dates of the most recent posts and seeing the number of replies to messages. If you don't see any current posts or if you see tons of posts with zero replies, chances are good that you won't get much help.

Forums are also only as good as the users using them. Look for forums that have a balance of technical types and regular users and have categories covering your needs such as operating systems, programming help, or Internet issues.

A few you might try include TechSupportForum.com, SupportFreaks.com, and TechGuy.org. When you find a community that meets your needs, bookmark it and get involved. Not only will you have a valuable resource for troubleshooting your own problems, you may also help someone else with your experience.