Hello,
I am IT Admin for a startup that is fully remote. For any of you support remote workers, what do you do when a laptop needs to be repaired? Do you send out a temporary laptop for the staff member or do they just wait for the repair to return?
Just trying to see if we should have a buffer or a couple of laptops to send out next day shipping in case a laptop needs to be repaired.
Thanks!
Of course... if you need them to work. If not... what are they doing all day long... Keep a few in stock waiting for a disaster..
Depends on distance of the remote staff. Most of our are fairly local. Had one today. Sounds like system went bad. I have a 95% prepped machine in closet here to swap when they come into the office. Then I will either repair or order something to replace the stock used for today's event.
If it is still in warranty then we call out HP or Dell, if not we try and get someone a bit tech -savvy to be hands and eyes for us and try to diagnose/ advise over the phone or with sametime for video.
If all else fails we get the laptop sent up to us but usually there will be a spare PC to setup at the remote depot in the interim. As we regularly send trucks between the depots we get the driver to hand carry if the timing is right, otherwise we courier.
We have 65 sites. Phone and remote support first. If it is a hardware issue we would mail to their home or use our internal courier to drop a device at one of our sites for pick up and the device with issues would be sent to us for diagnosis, repair or warranty send off. We always have a stock of working devices that get recycled back to users. We try to keep devices for 3 years or until the warranty is over then new devices replace old devices.
What does repaired mean? I assume you mean physical problems but would like to clarify.
For anything short of a physical issue as long as it has internet and is online we can do everything 100% remote including wiping and re-imaging the machine (MS Autopilot & Intune)
If it is still in warranty then we call out HP or Dell, if not we try and get someone a bit tech -savvy to be hands and eyes for us and try to diagnose/ advise over the phone or with sametime for video.
If all else fails we get the laptop sent up to us but usually there will be a spare PC to setup at the remote depot in the interim. As we regularly send trucks between the depots we get the driver to hand carry if the timing is right, otherwise we courier.
For our important people we purchase on-site repair like this... it's a good idea... Dell or HP certified repair company will come out and do the repair onsite.
I guess that the users can't afford to have too much downtime and if you can afford it then manufactures onsite quick response is one way to proceed but you will still need a small stock of laptops ready to be sent out for when that goes wrong. You will go through a cycle of laptop upgrades in time and you can keep some of the returned laptops in reserve for emergencies and it maybe worth getting some refurbished laptops as that reserve for your startup.
phone support first, if the problem is not solvable remotely then we have a stock of spares (we've managed to have only 3 different types of machine - small, large, removable keyboard) which we will ship out as permanent replacements, the old machine comes back in, is fixed & then goes back into stock as the spare for next time.
Looks to me like you're specifically talking about hardware failure. We have a stash on hand that we can send overnight.
It depends on the problem. If the machine boots and they can log in then it a remote session to see if the problem can be fixed. If it fails to boot / load windows then I have a pool of laptops that are used for replacements. One from the pool is reconfigured for the user and sent out and the old one is returned, fixed and added back into the pool.
All my remote users are office365 users and everything is saved to the cloud so there is no risk of losing any data when we swap out the laptop
Those talking about having a pool of spare laptops made me chuckle.
Nowadays we have difficulty even just getting suitable new laptops from suppliers when we need them, never mind having spares!
Those talking about having a pool of spare laptops made me chuckle.
Nowadays we have difficulty even just getting suitable new laptops from suppliers when we need them, never mind having spares!
Our spares are primarily the used machines that employees had sent back for repair.
We use Dell laptops, and buy from Dell directly, so every laptop we buy comes with at least 1 year (usually we extend it to 3) next-day onsite repair. We have remote users in east, central, and west USA, so what's great is dell contracts with local companies across the USA, so there's always a tech available to go to the users' house to troubleshoot issues.
Granted, this is generally used for hardware failures and issues. I am the first line of defense, and if I can't resolve it remotely, then I call in Dell.
If I were in your shoes and supporting tech that isn't warrantied, then I would start purchasing Dell computers as replacements for them every time something dies. I believe MSI, Lenovo, HP, and others offer similar support options. It's definitely not un-manageable.
Those talking about having a pool of spare laptops made me chuckle.
Nowadays we have difficulty even just getting suitable new laptops from suppliers when we need them, never mind having spares!
Our spares are primarily the used machines that employees had sent back for repair.
We basically run them into the ground for about 6 years then they are scrap. If a higher end user gets a refresh their old one will end up on the shop floor for Brake testing or Wheel alignment for the last couple of years of its life. Those guys work in a harsh environment so rarely get a brand new one.
I used to always have a few devices on standby, then if a user killed something they would get a replacement, the dead one would be repaired, stripped for parts etc and then returned to the pool and the user would just carry on with the new device.
However, it quickly became apparent that when other users were getting new kit a certain individual would have an accident and require new kit as well, so it got to the point where I was just repairing her stuff and giving her a loaner, she pretty quickly got the picture, accidents happen, but when there's a pattern, you're taking the piss ;)
Nice when the company has mules :)
If it is still in warranty then we call out HP or Dell, if not we try and get someone a bit tech -savvy to be hands and eyes for us and try to diagnose/ advise over the phone or with sametime for video.
If all else fails we get the laptop sent up to us but usually there will be a spare PC to setup at the remote depot in the interim. As we regularly send trucks between the depots we get the driver to hand carry if the timing is right, otherwise we courier.
We have mostly Macbooks and buy Apple Care with each. That covers us for 3 years and there is an Apple store relatively close to most people. For any Windows Laptops we get warranty with the manufacturer as well, usually Dell.
We have a handful of spare older devices as well just in case Apple needs to send off the computer or if the user's computer is out of warranty and needs to come back to us.
Most employees shouldn't be able to afford going days without a device so you need to have a third party support contract, warranty, or spare devices that can be overnighted.
We send out loaners and they send us the busted laptop. When it's fixed we send the original laptop back and they send us the loaner. My advice would be to have meh loaners so they don't want to keep them. Of course you could have similar model laptops and just do a straight swap and hold onto to the laptop after it's fixed for the next person.
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