On Call Welcome to On Call, a weekly segment where readers share their tech support tales. This week, “Hugh” recounts a story from the dawn of the dial-up age while working for a long-defunct bank.
One of Hugh’s internal clients was an executive who took pleasure in two things: his “Associate Director” title and being critical of IT. Late one Friday, the Associate Director requested email access for the weekend from his beach house. The IT team promptly configured his PC and provided training on how to use the modem.
However, the weekend ended with an angry phone call and a laptop plugged into a fax line. The Associate Director expressed his frustration, blaming IT for the email issues. As his tirade continued, Hugh calmly diagnosed the issue – the modem cable was plugged into the wrong port. After redirecting the cable, the Assistant Director sheepishly thanked Hugh, who left the scene with a sense of satisfaction.
What’s your own tech support story? Share it with On Call! (Just skip the CD-ROM-as-drink-holder story.)
