Filing An Effective Support Ticket

Introduction

Filing a support ticket is the most effective way to get support for your product. However some computer issues can seem overwhelming, unique and vague in cause, meaning getting to the root cause of the issue can take time. The primary bottleneck in the support process is acquiring enough detail for a diagnosis. This guide will walk you through how to provide actionable information to your support agent by narrowing down areas of concern and eliminating external factors, expediting a solution.

Root Cause Analysis

Before filing a support ticket, it is worth doing root cause analysis to determine key details about the issue and potentially resolve them prior to a ticket being filed. If the issue cannot be resolved by yourself, key details can be used to better inform support about the issue. Some key questions to ask are:

Were any actions taken prior to the issue arising? For example;

• Installed new package
• Changed configuration
• Ran a command
• Change in external equipment (cable, router, monitor, dock, etc)

If the change can be reverted, does the issue go away when the change is reverted?

Eliminate external factors

• Network issues: test another network or network cable
• Display issues: test another monitor or monitor cable
• Power issues: test another power cable or power adapter

Is information already available for your issue? For example;

• "I am trying to run [application] and it is not working"
  • Does the application support Linux? Check the vendor's website.
• "I am trying to charge over Type C and it is not working"
  • Does your computer support Type C charging? Check the product description.
• "I am looking for a spare power adaptor/ battery for my computer"
  • Searching for "spares" on entroware.com will show our spares page.

Submitting A Support Ticket

Provide Accurate Information

Upon completing an order, you will have received an email with the subject "Entroware - Order [number]" where [number] is your order ID (this is also at the top of the physical invoice shipped with your machine in the documents pouch).

Providing an accurate order ID will allow us to look up your computer model and revision, as well as the upgrade options so that we can get a better picture of the hardware you are working with. For example, whether your machine: is a laptop, has a discrete GPU, Type-C functionality, the network card model, processor, sound card, etc.

Be Descriptive

Being descriptive in the initial ticket will reduce the number of messages required to determine the nature of the issue and therefore the overall time to a resolution. Some example questions to narrow down the nature of the issue are:

• Computer wont boot? What can you see?
  • Does the power LED come on? Does this change when it is plugged in?
  • What is on screen? (boot splash (logo), white text, flashing underscore, blank)
• Networking issues? What is the nature of the issue?
  • Is connectivity completely lost, intermittent or slow?
  • Is the issue present on the wired or wireless connection, or both?
  • Does the issue affect all services and traffic? (Web browsing, gaming, SSH)

Conclusion

This guide should provide you with the best ways to save time when seeking support, by determining the details of the issue you are experiencing to provide a better diagnostic picture earlier in the support process, so we can you get back up and running as quickly as possible.