e-skills UK Guide

Getting emergency IT help

Emergency IT Help

If you are not particularly interested in IT and computing then the thoughts of something going wrong and you having to resolve the problem can be quite scary. Unfortunately IT is complicated and you will get problems – hopefully minor – but occasionally major.

By dealing with your emergency in as cool a way as possible you can hopefully get it resolved and get back to work promptly. By planning for such an emergency you should save both time and money.

To resolve an IT crisis in an emergency you may need to call in outside expertise or deal with support desks on the phone.

The cost of ad hoc onsite support can be quite expensive - £50 per hour is normal.

For information about getting on-going support and maintenance rather than emergency help, take a look at this guide.

What can go wrong

Ultimately just about anything can go wrong with your IT systems. Typical small business IT problems include:

● Hardware and hard disk failure.
● Fire/flood/theft.
● Viruses and malware.
● Software bugs.
● Network failures.
● User error, such as accidental deletions.

Computing has developed significantly over the past 10 years so the reliability of hardware and software is greater than it has ever been, but things do go wrong. Google, the famous web site, runs thousands of PC servers to control its search engine. In their research 1 in 17 of their new PCs suffered a hard disk failure in the first year, with failure rates going up significantly after two years of use.

We all make mistakes, and sometimes we can accidentally delete important data or make other errors which can affect the business. By acting promptly in these situations you may be able to recover your data.

Prevention is always better than cure

The single most important IT task a small business can undertake is to create a backup of their systems and store it securely. All IT failures are a real pain, but at least with a backup you can restore your data. If you should loose your IT systems and have no backup then there is little anyone can do to recover your systems – you will need to start over again.

Ultimately this could mean that you go out of business.

First - don't panic

OK, so your IT systems have developed a problem. Now, we can’t give you specific advice for each problem but here is a list of generic actions:

• First, don’t panic. These events are testing your qualities as a small business leader and others may look at you to take charge calmly and effectively.
• Triage the problems. This is a process of sorting the issues you face into a logical sequence for action. For example if your PC server has failed with all of your sales data on it this would take priority over a dusty laptop that hardly ever gets used.
• Assess what the problem maybe. If hardware has been stolen the problem should be pretty obvious. If a PC is acting strangely then the problem may be more complex and require deeper investigation.
• Get initial help. If you work with other people think who may have more experience in dealing with such situations. Just because you are the boss it does not mean you know everything about everything. Go and ask the local “power user” or computer enthusiast to take a look and give you a hand, assuming you trust their skills of course. If you work in a shared building you may be able to get some “first aid” assistance from another person down the hall working for another small business.
• Decide on a plan of action. Getting the business back up and running is the number one objective. If it does not appear to be a simple fix then you need to start considering the restore of your backups (which of course you have?). It’s maybe an idea to task someone with the restore of the backups in parallel to you working on the fix, so you are ready to go as soon as possible.

Calling in the professionals

For software related problems you may well be able to resolve the problem over the telephone by talking to a manufacturer’s support desk. On phoning they will ask you a set of questions so try and be close to the hardware or software that is causing the problem. They may talk you through a fix on the phone, so having the PC next to the telephone makes a lot of sense.

Nowadays it is possible for a PC support desk to take control or investigate your PC remotely, if appropriate. Simply follow the instructions you are given and you should be fine. Finally, remember these support people are doing the best they can so be patient and try not to get angry on the phone even though it may be a very stressful situation.

As a point of interest if you do not have “legal” software then the manufacturer will probably deny you any type of support. This is another good reason to only buy legal software and avoid the pirates.

All manufacturers will differ in the type of support they offer. Some may not offer any support, others may offer email based support only and others will charge you on a premium rate line. Make sure you understand how much you will be paying up front.

For hardware related problems you may need to have an engineer attend your premises to fix the equipment. Again this very much depends on the support agreement you have in place and how much you are prepared to pay if you don’t have such insurance.

Other problems may be resolved by going online and using a support forum. Here you can explain your problem to other users and hopefully get some assistance to resolve your problem. Note that these are unofficial forums (in many instances) and the quality of the support you receive may vary.

Who to call

The following links may help you get some help for your emergency IT problem:

Microsoft

PCHomeHelp

PC Call Out

Pitman Computer Support

PC World 

Commercial suppliers

We do not recommend specific products or suppliers; instead we provide you with a representative sample which covers the range of suppliers/products available. You may choose to look at these suppliers or products but this is entirely at your discretion.