By Dan Houtz

Imagine working in a field where a day never goes by without learning or experiencing something new and exciting. An occupation in which the worker may be placed inside a small workstation but the help received has no boundaries. A job where one can meticulously build and spend countless hours on a project and have no idea if the completed machine will fire up or if the push of the power button will toast $1,500 of equipment.

The employees of Utah State University's Technology Resource Assistance Center, better known as the Help Desk, have such an occupation. The Help Desk provides service to Utah State University students, faculty, staff and emeriti for computer software and hardware issues. If the problem cannot be solved over the phone or via email, the student or faculty member has the option to bring in the computer for servicing.

"On an average day we receive 50 to 60 phone calls," said Zach Howes, a Help Desk consultant and a senior and computer science major at Utah State University. "Not limited to a gender or age group, we get calls from every walk. The most common questions are email related. They're either logging onto e-mail, e-mail viruses, or off-campus Internet connecting problems."

The Help Desk wants to assist Utah State University students and faculty with any of their computer problems. However, the Help Desk would like their customers to become more computer-literate and learn to solve many computer problems on their own.

"I'd say 80 percent of the problems we're asked are fairly simple and could be solved by the caller with a little effort on his or her part," said Howes. "Almost always the answers are in the owners' documentation or they don't know how to look for the answer."

The Help Desk deals with many people who do not even try to figure out their computer problems. Many think they do not have enough computer knowledge or experience, when the only thing they lack is the self-confidence to find the solution.

"Many people have the stigma, 'I'm not good with computers' so they don't even try," Howes said.

"Everyone at the Help Desk except for me works part-time and is a full-time student," said Stephen Funk, the Help Desk manager who directs and supervises the Help Desk and its employees.

Funk said there are usually at least two workers or tiers at the Help Desk at all times. The first tier is assigned to take all incoming phone calls. The second is to do whatever else needs to be done whether it is computer repairs, working on the Utah State University network, setting up databases, or office consulting.

"Most members of the part-time Help Desk staff are either computer science or business information systems majors," said Help Desk consultant Rob Burton. "It is not required to have one of these majors to work at the Help Desk, but these majors can provide knowledge and skills that can be beneficial for this job."

Howes said he enjoys his job and it is good experience for his future field of employment; the kind of experience that looks good on a resume to help him obtain an internship or a good job after graduation.

"I've always been computer savvy," Howes said. "I want to become a computer systems analyst. I love computer business consulting as a whole. Helping businesses find the system that works best for them."

"Anyone can work here," said Zack Ali, a Help Desk consultant. "You just need to have a good work ethic and a broad knowledge of many different things. A good base knowledge of computers helps and you need to know where you can find answers to questions that others may ask you."

Stephen Funk said the most important thing he looks for in his employees is communication skills. "If they're able to communicate and they have a desire to learn about computers and technology, then, I can teach them what they'll need to know on the job."

Howes said he loves his job and he especially enjoys the people with whom he works. He says his colleagues are very talented people. He insists they are honest people who love computers, but that doesn't make them hackers or computer nerds.

"We're normal people who have other hobbies and interests besides computers," Howes said. "We're not computer nerds who do nothing but think and dream about computers. Sure my friends tease me all the time, calling me a computer nerd. They're just razzing me, but they can't give me too much of a hard time because I'm always fixing their computers."

Zack Ali said the Help Desk is not out there to make money. Their services have always been at a minimal charge to Utah State University students, staff, faculty, and emeriti. The first 30 minutes of computer repair labor is free and then it's $15 per each additional hour of labor.

"Ninety times out of a hundred they're quick fixes," said Ali. "If it's something that's going to take a lot longer than a half hour, we'll notify the student and let them know what the problem is and let them know exactly what we're doing and probably how long it's going to take."

"The Help Desk isn't here to turn a profit but rather to cover our ends with Utah State's endlessly shrinking budget," Howes said. "Most problems are fairly simple and can be solved within a half an hour. If there are new parts that are needed it's up to the customer to find and buy the parts."

Funk said if the Help Desk is closed there is always help on the Internet. " Our site is very informative. It can answer many frequently asked questions. If not, there are a lot of good sources out there. There are newsgroups that really get in depth into problems and there are others that are for the real novice user." Funk said one of the best tools for him is to do a search on Google.com. There is also a tie directly on the Help Desk Web site that allows you to search Google.

Google is such a powerful search engine, if one searches "computer help, there will be more than 6,700,000 results. For this reason, Google Groups may be a good means of filtering out unwanted results. If one has a specific computer question comp.answers may be the answer for him/her. If someone owns an Apple Macintosh computer and would like answers to questions specifically regarding a Macintosh, comp.mac may be the right newsgroup. In fact, there is nearly limitless help on the Internet. Yahoo Groups currently has 3,428 computer technical support groups.

For some it may be difficult to find a newsgroup where one can determine the credibility of those giving the replies to posted questions. Computerproblems.com is a site that was created as an information site as well as an intern program in conjunction with community colleges, technical schools and universities nationwide. Information technology students who attend the schools help others with their computer problems and in turn gain troubleshooting experience. Therefore, any question that is posted on their site will be replied by highly experienced students.

The Help Desk is open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. One can contact them at (435) 797-4358 or a helpdesk@cc.usu.edu.

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