Documentation: It Should Be A Priority

[ZenTree]

There's nothing worse than having an urgent call come in and then you have to spend the first 30 minutes trying to track down a password that wasn't written down and you can't reach the colleague who set it up in the first place.. It's a pet peeve of mine and something that thankfully we have started to address now. It's a major mountain to climb initially but once you get it in your head that writing stuff down in an organised manner once will pay for itself the very first time you need the same information again it becomes habit.

I actually enjoy documenting new customers' networks now for that exact reason. It saves me time in the long run.

 

[seedubya]

Does anyone have any examples of documents used to track this information?

 

[BO Terry]

I document every business customer whether they pay to have it documented or not. The upside pays for itself when I am on vacation whoever is covering for me doesn't have to call and bother me to ask for the login to a client's router, etc. Although this doesn't help if the tech covering for you doesn't know how to read said documentation lol (honest to God that happened).

I use notebooks though haven't gotten organized to the point of color coding. I have been looking into something web-based so that it can be accessed remotely and is searchable (assuming the network is not down). I have considered just having something like an Excel file stored in something like OneDrive or an actual web-based app. I see YeOldeStonecat mentioned PC Repair Tracker which I plan to check out. I've also considered a RMM tool with notes. Somethings I've wondered about with a web-based/subscription tool are: security, allowing/controlling access for additional users, and what happens if you change services. Can you export your notes so that you can use them in another tool?

 

[acscva]

I have used evernote for the past 10 years but just starting using siportal.com and works very well.

 

[PBComputer]

Just starting moving over to siportal. Going to take a year or so. But worth it

 

[fencepost]

See also this thread: https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/storing-customer-documentation.72332/

 

[BO Terry]

See also this thread: https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/storing-customer-documentation.72332/

Thanks for the link. Looks like I need to wait a few more days before I can view it but I'll check it out when I'm able.