Help! I've got a poltergeist in my printer

Tuesday, 2 June 2009

UK businesses clocked up a massive 22,000 calls to BT Business IT Support Manager between January and March 2009, and sales doubled over the period, as more small businesses look to down-the-line IT support rather than risk downtime during the recession.

Over the three months, the bulk of calls were requests for network and mail assistance, with email help triggering more than a quarter. Virus and security issues alone prompted nearly 10 per cent of BT Business IT Support Manager help desk contact.

While most operating system, server and back-up issues are easily resolved, BT Business took a little longer to solve some of the stranger customer requests. One customer was convinced that a poltergeist was changing the print server settings, one didn't plug in their router's power because it was wireless, and another asked for help to cut a CD to fit a PC floppy drive!

Andy Dell, general manager, IT services, BT Business said: "Most IT problems will flummox the best of us, but there is a serious message behind these funny stories. In the current economic climate firms can't be off line for any length of time so we'd advise customers to refer to a team of dedicated experts who are fully equipped to deal with the problem. We are experiencing new highs in the volume of requests for help, as more and more of our customers rely on PCs to run their business."

A dedicated business service, BT Business IT Support Manager is a business service for personal computers running either MacOS or Windows. BT advisors provide straightforward, jargon free, advice and support over the phone.

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