Help Desk FAQ - Global Resources
The definitive global resource for helpdesks, customer relationship management
and technical support. Help Desk List on the Internet Including Etiquette
and the Archives
The Help Desk list is a vibrant global email list, with an engaging
cast of characters. It is composed of computer support professionals
from many nations and organizations. The main emphasis of the list is
help desk management, including planning, policies, procedures,
personnel, help desk software, and other related topics.
This list was started in the early 1990s, by
Roman, who quietly puts in hundreds of hours each month on the FAQ
with little to no thanks. Drop Roman
a note and say 'thank you'!
Dennis Lapcewich has put a listing of pictures of people on his excellent web site.
Check it out! http://www.ksasystems.com/prolink/professional/gadflies.shtml
There are two options for participating in the list:
a) Mailing list
b) Newsgroup
Mailing list: Joining, leaving, searching archives or making
changes to your subscription options:
Use the web-based graphical interface found at http://listserv.wvnet.edu/archives/hdesk-l.html
Important note:
Use hdesk-l@listserv.wvnet.edu to send a message to
the Help Desk List, after signing up. The server will reject messages
from unregistered addresses. If you change email addresses, you will
need to change subscriptions.
Newsgroup:
uwo.comp.helpdesk.
or use the 'groups' section of www.google.com
Guidelines for participating in the Help Desk List community:
(Modified to conform with
Tom Heisey's Help Desk mini-faq)
- Courtesy & Professionalism:
This is a list composed of professionals. We may often have heated
discussions, but the members expect professional courtesy between
member. There is no room for flame wars, profanity, bigotry, or
harassment in the list.
- Posting :
While we encourage
open discussions, please do a bit of research before posting facts or
asking questions. The sites listed below are excellent places to
start. This is a professional list and members are expected to take
responsibility for their actions. Erroneous posts only serve to
confuse the issue.
- Out of office and vacation:
If you are going to
be away from your office and set an auto-reply saying you're away from
the office, be sure that auto-reply does not go to the list. If you
do, you will inevitably be subject to merciless ribbing from your
fellow list-mates! If you
can't select destinations for the autoreply, set your subscription
options to "NOMAIL". (see the section on list server
commands).
- Language:
The primary language of the list is
English, but discussions particular to a specific country can be
discussed in the native tongue. (You might get better inputs if you
used English, but the choice is yours.)
- Vendors:
You are welcome to
participate in the discussions, especially when they pertain to your
products. List members do not tolerate unwanted SPAM advertisements,
but we would like to hear from vendors when new versions or products
are released. Vendor comments about GENERIC solutions to "how
to" questions are also encouraged. For best results, save your
sales pitches for e-mails OFF THE LIST.
- Tangential topics
Other topics
are also allowed, but must be marked with subject identifiers in the
subject line:
TECH: Use this tag if you are seeking an answer to a
technical question about computers or software. Be sure to do your
basic research before asking the list!
OT: Off Topic. This is a
catch-all for odd topics that might interest the list members as a
whole.
HUMOR: Restricted to Fridays & limited to only a few
jokes total. Computer, support, or management jokes are preferred.
Please remember that this is a professional list and the jokes should
reflect this!
VENDOR: Use this tag to announce new products or
versions of existing products. Vendors are reminded that the list
members do not condone repeated advertisements that offer nothing new.
VIRUS: If there is a virus outbreak, it affects everyone. If there
is a "hot" outbreak, use this tag to discuss the impact,
repair, and prevention of the outbreak. These identifiers will allow
subscribers to set email filters to block any or all of these
unrelated topics.
-
Notes:
If you cannot unsubscribe (because you have subscribed under another email address),
send list-related requests to roman@wvnvm.wvnet.edu
In order to cut down on the number of 'unreadable' messages, the current size limit
of postings has been set to equal about 300 lines, which should be more than enough for
anyone to get their point across.
Important:
Be sure to add your e-mail address and contact information in the body of your
message, particularly if you would like a personal response to a query! Some mailers
cannot capture the 'from' address and private posts to your query will have to be
broadcast to thousands of readers of the list instead of to you directly. Almost every
mail package has a method to automatically append your standard closing (such as your
name, contact information etc.) to your outgoing mail messages. Please contact your local
mail admin. for assistance.
If you see a lot of 'undeliverable' mail 'bouncing' back to the list, please be
patient! Roman has set up the list so that 'bounced' mail gets sent back to the owner of
the list, not to the entire list. Some mail packages ignore this and occasional messages
bounce back to the entire list. This will be taken care of as a priority!
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