How should you speak to your IT support team?
4th August 2025
The better you can convey a problem, the quicker your IT support team can fix it!
Often when clients contact us, there is an element of embarrassment or misunderstanding that results in them using the same few phrases. Take a look at our list, what the phrases end up really meaning and next time you contact your IT support, try to skip to the helpful stuff!
“The internet is broken” – No, it isn’t. I mean morally, perhaps, but if it was literally “broken,” we’d have all have a serious problem! It is more likely that one site is down, or a provider is experiencing issues, or there is a connection problem between your device and the internet: all of which we can help with.
“My computer just exploded” – No, it didn’t. If it did, you would probably be calling an ambulance, not us: what you mean is that it did something you didn’t understand that is causing you problems, like randomly restarting. We can help you get to the bottom of the mystery, but we’d prefer if you could just tell us what actually happened.
“I didn’t touch anything” – Yes, you did! There is no need to deflect – we understand that mistakes are made, we just need to know what the mistake was (what you definitely 100% absolutely did touch) so we can fix it.
“It’s doing that thing again” – While this may be true, what it means is you didn’t remember what we told you last time it happened, and you’re embarrassed to admit that: don’t be. It is what we’re there for, just be direct and hopefully we can help you retain the information better this time.
“I think it’s a virus” – This is one for our friends at Interfuture Security, they hear this a lot. What it means is that you think you’ve clicked on something you shouldn’t have. That is fine, just jumping to the conclusion that it is a virus doesn’t help, as it could be anything – explain what happened and what you clicked, and we can investigate from there.
If you’ve used any of these phrases don’t feel ashamed, we understand, we would just encourage you to be honest with your IT support in future. Admit to errors or lack of knowledge and explain clearly what occurred and we will be quicker in our response – it’s a win-win!
Speaking of talking to IT support, you can contact Interfuture Systems HERE if you’d like.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/iSRmBjdfHjM