Effective communication is an integral component of the troubleshooting process. This entails communication with the end user, team, and management. Effective communication is essential in all steps of the troubleshooting process that was described in the previous section. The following sections describe how effective communication can be used to facilitate the troubleshooting process.
During the problem report phase of the troubleshooting process, it is important to communicate effectively with the end user, i.e. the person that is reporting the problem. Effective communication allows you to gather as much information about the problem as possible which ultimately facilities the troubleshooting process and can reduce the time to repair. Some examples of information to collect include how long the problem has been going on for, whether any changes were made to the end user system, and so forth. Should the end user be irate, it is important to empathize with them so as to gain their trust and confidence.
Within the problem diagnosis phase, it is important to communicate effectively during all of the steps included in this phase. In addition to collecting information from the end user, it is also important to communicate effectively with other groups, internal or external, that you will also need to acquire information from. Within an organization, this may include the voice and security teams, for example. Outside of the organization, this may include the Service Provider help desk or network operations team. Effective communication ensures that the correct information needed to troubleshoot the problem is collected.
When examining the collected information, it is often necessary to verify the validity of this information by collaborating with team members or even other groups within the IT department. This is applicable to the steps of eliminating possible causes, as well as verifying the hypothesis. As a network engineer, you should be able to communicate effectively with team members and other groups within the organization.
Communication is also critical when testing and verifying the hypothesis. Depending on the nature of problem, this step may result in temporary network outages or interrupt other activities the user is performing. For this reason, it is important to ensure that not only the end user, but all other parties that may be potentially affected by this step be advised. The communication should clearly communicate what is to be expected and also how long the interruption will last. Once completed, all relevant parties should again be notified.
And finally, during in the problem resolution phase, it is important to communicate with the end user and verify that the problem has indeed been resolved and all symptoms are gone. Additionally, depending on the nature of the problem, the same should be communicated to any other groups or individuals. If a trouble ticket was opened, detailed notes should be included on the problem and the resolution for the problem. This information can be useful when troubleshooting similar problems.