If you're like most people, you've grown accustomed to having fast, reliable Internet service readily available. Email, online banking, checking news and sports scores - these are probably just some of the things you do every day with your XMission Internet connection. But then, without warning, it all stops. Unfortunately, technical glitches do happen sometimes, even to the most savvy computer users. Fortunately, you have your own staff of trained experts just a phone call away! The technical support staff at XMission is available around the clock, seven days a week to assist you. There are some things you can do prior to calling us that will help us in assisting you, and might even resolve the problems you're experiencing.
The first thing to try whenever you encounter trouble is to simply try whatever you're doing again. If your email didn't go out, for example, try sending it again. Is the problem repeatable? If not, then it might have been just a random software glitch and is likely nothing to worry about.
If you're not that lucky, however, it's time to try restarting some of your hardware. It's always a good idea to restart your computer when things are not behaving as you think they should. While you're waiting for your computer to reboot, it's a good time to consider restarting your DSL router if you have one. To restart your router, simply disconnect the power connector from the back of the router, wait for ten seconds and then plug the power back in. In many cases, restarting your computer and your DSL router will correct glitches you encounter.
If the problem persists it's time to give us a call at XMission technical support. Before you call you can have a few pieces of information ready that will help speed up the trouble-shooting process:
• XMission Username - Your username is the first part of your email address at XMission. When in doubt, simply give the technician you speak to your @xmission.com email address. This will help us to look up your account details and determine where to start troubleshooting the problem you've encountered.
• Error Numbers or Messages - When you call technical support with a problem that needs troubleshooting (e.g., an inability to connect to the Internet, pull up web pages, or access email), the first bit of information that the technician is going to need is a specific description of what is going wrong. In order to have this available, it is a good idea to write down any error messages that you see on your computer so you can read them to the technician exactly as they appear.
• Operating System Version - Your operating system (e.g., Windows XP or Macintosh OS X) is the program that essentially runs your computer. There are a handful of different operating systems available and each one is different so the technician that you are talking to will need to know which one you are using in order to effectively assist you.
• Program Version Information - Our technicians will need to know what program, and sometimes the specific version of the program, you are using. You can determine the version number of most Windows programs by opening the program and clicking “Help” and then “About [Program Name].” If you are using a Macintosh operating system, you may have to access the version information by opening the program and then clicking on the program name in the toolbar and then “About [Program Name].”
By having this information handy you will reduce the time it takes our technicians to determine what the problem is and find the quickest way to resolve it. Remember, if you have the ability to send and receive email you can also contact our support staff via email at support@xmission.com. Finally, while it can be very frustrating when things don't work the way they should, don't panic. We're here to help you and in most cases fix the problems quickly.