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Monday morning, 8:00 A.M.: I've just begun another day answering calls
to a technical support hotline. The phone rings. "I've looked all
over the manual. It tells me about how to use this feature, but it doesn't
tell me why it's not working for my situation!" says the caller.
"I'm sorry, sir," I reply. "Tell me more about what
you need to do . . ."
On the one hand, these calls are more common than I'd like, and as
a tech writer, they make me cringe. On the other hand, I can sympathize
with the caller. There's nothing worse than searching for answers and
coming up empty-handed.
It's unreasonable to expect documentation to answer every question,
but when the documentation staff develops a partnership with the technical
support representatives (TS reps for short), it can reduce customer
confusion and the number of calls to the technical support line. Most
often, we think of the end-user as the audience for the documentation
we produce, but the TS reps depend on our work too, and are an important
second audience.
Before considering what TS reps like to see in documentation, it's
helpful to identify the information sources that TS reps may have, and
how they use them on the job. Then I will focus on what will improve
those resources. For this discussion, I am drawing on both my own experience
and the comments of other TS reps I know.
Information Sources for Technical Support
- Personal experience with the products
- Senior TS reps or team leaders
- Knowledge bases
- Searchable call logs
- Searchable help on the web or CD
- Online help within the product
What TS Reps Want to See in Documentation
- Task-oriented documentation that answers the questions people call
about.
Gaps in documentation occur even when every feature and function
is explained if that information doesn't help the user complete
their task.
- Consistency of terminology (especially consistency between what
TS reps use to describe something and what the writers use to describe
the same thing).
- Documentation that correctly sets the customer's expectations for
the product's capabilities.
If a feature only works when certain conditions are met, say so.
Documentation that fails to mention product limitations can lead
to repeated, frustrating calls and damage the company's reputation
with customers.
- Knowledge bases that are updated as gaps in the current documentation
are identified.
In the best case, the knowledge base is accessible to customers
so they can search for answers before they pick up the phone. If
the knowledge base is only accessible by the TS reps, it can help
reduce the length of each call, but won't reduce the overall call
volume.
- Visual cues, such as illustrations, to help guide the user to the
right place in the product.
- Access to information that is more in-depth than the average user
needs, but less technical than an engineering spec.
This helps the TS reps develop a deeper understanding of the product's
structure and logic, and improves their troubleshooting abilities.
- Obscure information that may only be needed by a few callers.
Documenting this information is essential because TS reps will
most often look up the answer instead of answering from memory.
- Known issues with the current release and the work-arounds for them.
- Explanations of error messages.
Every error message within the product should be listed and explained
in plain English. I regularly get calls from users who have seen
particular error messages before but can't remember what they mean.
Including TS Reps in Documentation Process
TS reps have direct customer contact and are a valuable resource for
technical writers because they know what callers ask in real-world situations.
They can refine or validate our assumptions about customers, provide
feedback about the organization of the content, and can help determine
which topics need to be included or expanded in the existing documentation.
They can also improve the indexing and searchability of documentation
by suggesting terminology that customers may use when searching.
We, the writers, help the TS reps resolve calls faster and reduce call
volume by using our expertise to ensure that the rep's information sources
are accurate, complete, and clearly written; and by producing the content
for their knowledge bases and other information sources so that the
TS reps don't have to do it themselves.
Shelley Fleming is a freelance technical writer who specializes in
writing for consumer-oriented software. She also answers calls to a hotline
for project schedulers at Boeing Satellite Systems. She can be reached
at shelleyfleming@earthlink.net.
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