The Need-to-Know Summary: 

Avoid the temptation to do troubleshooting when you call the Service Desk to report a problem to be fixed. Do not tell the Service Desk what you think is causing your problem. Report only the symptoms of the problem.

The Details:

Your DNR IT Customer Care Team has received several reports of DNR Associates calling the Service Desk to report a problem, and then telling the Service Desk what they think the problem is.

In short, please don't do that.

Avoid the temptation to do troubleshooting. Report only the symptoms of the problem (e.g., can't print; can't send e-mails; can't open or save Word documents; etc.).

Even though you may know what is causing your problem, it is also possible that you might not know for sure. In either case, it is up to the technician to figure it out.

I regret to put it that way, and people mean well, but the fact is that telling the Service Desk what you think the problem is can completely derail your problem ticket and results in delays of days or weeks.

It may be tempting to tell the Service Desk, "I need my printer driver re-installed," instead of saying, "I can no longer print."

Or saying, "My network connection is bad," instead of saying "I can no longer access my shared drive."

Or, "I need Microsoft Office 2010 reinstalled," instead of saying, "I can no longer save Word files."

But, for example, if a printer driver is not what is causing your printing problems, and the technician re-installs the printer driver and you still can't print, well ... the technician's work is done! He or she did what was specified on the ticket, and thus your ticket will be closed. You will have no other recourse but to call the Service Desk again and open another ticket.

Also, avoid all mention of technical-sounding terms such as "network," "drivers," "software," "reinstall," "printer sharing," and any other similar words that could jeopardize your ticket.

Just keep your problem description to a simple explanation of the symptom, and answer whatever questions the Service Desk may have.

Oddly enough, by providing less information, this will most probably increase your chances of getting your problem resolved quickly and correctly the first time.