One of the most important parts of troubleshooting technical issues is getting a good description of what the problem actually is, and when it occurs.

What would you do if a user was having an issue where they would hear, “You’ve Got Mail” but they couldn’t explain when it happened or even where the sound was coming from?

That is what happened to the tech guy in this story, so after a lot of frustration, he tracked down what apps in the company might play that noise, and got it disabled.

Wherein HR asks me to fix that which they cannot describe…

Call from HR a few days ago:

Well, hopefully this will be an easy fix.

HR: Can you turn off the message, “You’ve got mail”?

Me: Um, do you hear this when you get an email?

Ok, when she gets a message then.

HR: When I get a message…

Me: On your phone?

So, her office computer?

HR: In my office.

Me: Ok, but where is the sound coming from?

Why didn’t she just say so?

HR: When the phone rings…

Me: I’ll be right there.

Her office is down the hall so I walk over.

Me: What’s going on?

Just give the guy the information he needs!

HR: Every time I get a voice message, the man says, “you’ve got mail” and it is sooo annoying.

Me: Ok, but WHERE is the sound coming from, your cell phone, desk phone or computer?

Yes, that should help.

HR: I don’t know, I guess we can have reception call and leave a voicemail.

Me: So you hear the sound when you get a voicemail?

What!?

HR: on the email…

Me: (Resisting the urge to scream, “Are you not hearing the words I am saying?”) The light bulb comes on for me at that point despite her inability to answer a single question…

Hopefully that will fix it.

The only thing I know of that we have that uses the old AOL “You’ve got mail” is the Toshiba messaging system. Somehow the option has been turned on. So I turn it off and shuffle on out of there.

Why, why can people not answer a simple question?

It really isn’t that hard!

How can you not know where the very clear and annoying sound of a man saying, “You’ve got mail” is coming from in a 12′ by 12′ office?

It is hard enough for me to comprehend that my HR can not use the correct, specific terms like voicemail, email and messaging.

Just make it simple!

Then on top of that they vacillate back and forth describing a specific instance with a different term each time which makes it next to impossible to figure out exactly how the heck I can fix the issue.

At least in the end I am “amazing” because I can proficiently utilize the software they are tasked to use and have no idea how it works.

This seems like a very frustrating situation, but at least he got through it and fixed the problem.

Check out what the people in the comments had to say about this story.

This is all too true.

They certainly can be.

I don’t think he has anything to worry about.

That’s where I would have started.

Yeah, this is just too complicated.

If you’re going to report a problem, report it with some helpful details please.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.