Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,212, Providing Tech Support.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 1212.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Yeah.
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This episode is a dialogue between Max and Grace about providing tech or technical support.
Let's get started.
Hello, hello.
Is this call-in tech support?
Yes, my name is Grace and this is the help desk.
How can I help you today?
I'm having a problem with my machine and I don't know what to do.
Have you tried reading our online troubleshooting guide or asking your question on the support forum?
The what?
Never mind.
Can you describe the problem you're having?
It doesn't work.
I understand that.
What exactly is the malfunction?
For me to diagnose whether it's a software or hardware problem, I'll need more information.
Unfortunately, I can't repair it remotely.
Okay, I understand.
Good.
We offer all kinds of support, from setup to customization to disaster recovery.
But I can't do anything if I don't understand the problem.
Okay.
Could you walk me through what happens when you turn on the machine?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Nothing at all?
Zip, zilch, zero.
Sir, is the machine plugged in?
Oh, it needs to be plugged in?
We are listening to a telephone conversation in today's dialogue.
Max calls the tech support or technical support department of a company.
Tech support refers to the people who help you with some problem usually related to your computer or a piece of software, a computer program or application on your computer.
Mac says, hello, hello.
Is this call-in tech support?
Call-in refers to someone who is calling by telephone to get help on something.
Max is calling the tech support department.
He's not emailing them or going in and visiting them in person.
Grace says, yes, my name is Grace, and this is the help desk.
The help desk is the department that provides tech support and other assistance at a company.
The help desk might also answer your questions about billing, that is, paying for your software or some service you are getting.
Grace says this is the help desk.
How can I help you today?
Max responds, I'm having a problem with my machine and I don't know what to do.
His machine here is his computer.
Grace says, have you tried reading our online troubleshooting guide?
Online means on the internet, on the web. troubleshooting, T-R-O-U-B-L-E-S-H-O-O-T-I-N-G, all one word, refers to the process of identifying the cause or reason for a problem and finding a solution for it.
Many websites have a troubleshooting guide that will help you find the answer to the question you have or a solution to the problem you have.
Grace also asks Max if he's asked a question on the support forum, F-O-R-U-M.
A support forum is a website or message board on which people put questions and other people put answers.
Some big companies have support forums where you can go and ask a question and another person often another person who uses the same application or the same computer will be able to answer that question.
Max is confused by Grace's question.
He says, the what?
He doesn't know what Grace is talking about when she refers to the troubleshooting guide and the support forum.
Grace says, never mind.
This is a very common expression in English.
Never mind.
It's a phrase that we use to show that we don't need an answer to the question we just asked, or simply to indicate that something is not important enough to repeat.
Grace is telling Max to forget about the question she just asked.
Instead, Grace asks another question.
She says, can you describe the problem you're having?
Max says, it doesn't work.
Well, this doesn't help very much.
Max says, it doesn't work.
Well, what doesn't work?
What do you mean it doesn't work?
Max is not giving a very good description of this problem.
But Grace is very patient.
She says, I understand that.
What exactly is the malfunction?
A malfunction, M-A-L-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N, is when something doesn't work correctly, when it doesn't function correctly.
Function is another word here for work. as in operate, as in do what it's supposed to do.
But we still don't know what exactly is the problem.
And Max doesn't help very much.
He says Well, once again, this is not a very good answer, since we don't know what Max is talking about.
Grace says For me to diagnose whether it's a software or hardware problem.
I'll need more information.
The verb to diagnose D-I-A-G-N-O-S-E means to identify the cause or the reason for a problem is often used in medicine by doctors.
Doctors diagnose the illness or the disease that patients have.
The doctor tries to figure out what is wrong with you.
That is the process of diagnosing the illness and Tech support.
People also diagnose problems.
They try to find out why your computer software or your computer isn't working correctly.
That's what Grace is trying to do.
She's trying to diagnose whether this problem is related to software or hardware.
Software S-O-F-T-W-A-R-E refers to computer applications, or what we now simply refer to as apps A-P-P-S.
Software is made by writing what is called code C-O-D-E, which is basically a set of instructions that tell your computer what to do.
Hardware, H-A-R-D-W-A-R-E, refers to the physical computer itself.
Grace says she needs more information from Max.
Unfortunately, she says, I can't repair it remotely.
To repair R-E-P-A-I-R means to fix something that is broken.
Remotely, R-E-M-O-T-E-L-Y means here from a distance.
Many people nowadays work remotely.
They don't go to their company, to the office where their company is located to work.
They work from their house or from a cafe.
That's working remotely.
Grace says she cannot fix Max's problem remotely, that is, from where she is now.
Max says, okay, I understand.
Grace says, good.
We offer all kinds of support, from setup to customization to disaster recovery, but I can't do anything if I don't understand the problem.
Grace mentions some things that her tech support department does, including setup, S-E-T-U-P.
Setup as a noun is the process of preparing a computer to use it for the first time.
Customization C-U-S-T-O-M-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N is when you change something so that it fits your particular needs or wishes.
It does exactly what you want it to do.
Often Software will come with certain features, certain things that it does, but you want it to only work in a certain way.
So you go in and you change the software somehow so that it works exactly the way you want it to work for what you want it to do.
That's customization.
Disaster recovery is usually the process of helping you get your computer working again after a major problem.
If you drop your computer into the water, for example, that would probably ruin your computer.
It would cause it to stop working.
You might need disaster recovery in order to get the information off of your computer, the data we would say off of your computer.
That's an example of disaster recovery, I think.
Grace says, could you walk me through what happens when you turn on the machine?
To walk someone through means to explain something to someone else step by step, using very specific details about what is happening.
If you ask someone to walk you through a problem, you're asking the person to tell you exactly what happens first and then second, and then third, and so forth.
Grace is asking Max to walk her through what happens when he turns on the machine.
Max says nothing.
Grace is confused.
Nothing?
Nothing at all, she says.
Max says, zip, zilch, zero.
Grace is asking Max what happens when he tries to turn the machine on, and Max says nothing happens.
Grace is surprised that nothing happens.
Max then says, zip, zilch, zero.
Zip, Z-I-P, zilch, Z-I-L-C-H, zero, Z-E-R-O, all mean the same thing, nothing.
It's an informal way to emphasize that nothing is happening.
In the US.
Sometimes people use the Spanish word nowadays nada N-A-D-A, which also means nothing.
Grace says, sir, is the machine plugged in?
Notice the use of the word sir, S-I-R, here.
It's a formal way of addressing a man, of saying something to a man.
You might hear it in a formal business situation, such as this.
Grace, after all, is working for a company, trying to help the company's customer.
Grace asks Max if the machine is plugged P-L-U-G-G-E-D in.
A computer and most machines nowadays require some sort of electrical power.
You get that power either from a battery or from the electrical system in your house or building.
You have to connect your computer to the electrical system by using a long piece of wire.
The verb we use to connect that wire to the electrical system is to plug in.
You plug in your computer.
You connect your computer to the electrical power in the building or house where you are.
Max says, oh, it needs to be plugged in?
Max doesn't realize that his computer needs electrical power, which of course means that Max isn't all that intelligent.
He's not very bright.
He's kind of stupid, in other words.
Grace doesn't say anything.
She just sighs.
She goes, Grace can't believe that Max didn't even plug the computer in.
That, of course, is Max's problem.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, hello.
Is this call-in tech support?
Yes, my name is Grace and this is the help desk.
How can I help you today?
I'm having a problem with my machine and I don't know what to do.
Have you tried reading our online troubleshooting guide or asking your question on the support forum?
The what?
Never mind.
Can you describe the problem you're having?
It doesn't work.
I understand that.
What exactly is the malfunction?
It's not working.
For me to diagnose whether it's a software or hardware problem I'll need more information.
Unfortunately, I can't repair it remotely.
Okay, I understand.
Good.
We offer all kinds of support, from setup to customization to disaster recovery, but I can't do anything if I don't understand the problem.
Okay.
Can you walk me through what happens when you turn on the machine?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Nothing at all?
Zip.
Zilch.
Zero.
Sir, is the machine plugged in?
Oh, it needs to be plugged in?
Your English will never malfunction if you listen to and learn from the wonderful scripts written by our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
