Tech support people, what the heck do you do?

[coolred]

I know tech support is probablly not the most glamorous job, but I may be able to get in with a company that I can grow with, and that may make it worth it. But I got to thinking, what exactly do tech support people do while they are not on the phone helping people. I mean they can't really leave thier computer, since they may receive a call, so what busy work do they generally get. Or are they all the AT posters that post at work?

 

[Ryuson99]

well i don't just do phone support within my office but if it seems that i can't help them over the phone they must fill out a trouble ticket(a paper with questions about their problem) and as soon as I have time depending on urgency I will go and help them.

if i leave my desk my co-workers can always leave voice-mail or email us and then i will get back to them asap.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I pretty much just surf the internet or talk to my co-workers... but I work at a college computing helpdesk, so it may be different in the corporate world.

 

[PatboyX]

i do tech support in a school system. so...im not really ever on the phone.
generally, if im not fixing an immediate "emergency" we have a database that the teachers enter problems into that we fix in the order recieved and then we have larger projects that are outlined and worked on by specific deadlines (for example, this summer we are switching two of the five elementary schools to OS X)

edit:
and about free time...although it is limited, becuase it is a school system, budget is strained and there are always computers/printers/etc sitting around that have been taken out of service that are labelled "broken." when i have time, i try and get those things back up and running to be used if needed.
those are mostly for my own satisfaction, though.
it pleases my boss, of course, but those machines are generally written off pretty quickly.
occasional posting, but not very much. only if im looking for answers.

 

[TheAntiChrist]

My dad works for a huge networking company called Enterasys, and he's a networking engineer. He told me he basically sits around waiting for someone to call him that needs help, and thats the time where he actually does a lot of work helping people fix routing errors and such. He also told me that on a typical night the calls he gets only take up about half of his shift (sometimes he gets huge problems from companies like VISA, Harley Davidson, etc that take a loooooong ass time and he has to work overtime though), so in the meantime he just surfs the net looking at eBay and whatever's in the news. Its kind of funny too because hes always showing me cool websites he found at work... too bad I work for the man at Rite Aid, sheit I wish my job was 1/1000 as good :-/