Tech/Horsepower

Browsing around my RSS feeds this morning, I came to The Daily WTF and hit on one story in particular:

The Busy Host (from Blake H.)
Years ago, I worked for a company that sold and supported a restaurant Point of Sale (POS) system named after a furry creature that eats and hides nuts. We had lots of large accounts across the world.

The system was sort of a client-server setup, with a Host Computer in the back office that drove dumb terminals on the restaurant floor. Whenever there was a problem or lost connection, the terminals would usually flash “Host busy, Manager check Host”. Most problems could be cured with a reboot of the host computer.

One day I got a call from a manager of an Applebee’s. He says that they can’t ring up any orders and that the screens all say “Host busy, manager check Host”.

I asked him if he’s checked the host. He says “Yep, I’ve already done that. She’s really busy, seating people as fast as she can!”

I put him on hold while I regained my composure.

I have a problem with this, and I fight it constantly in information technology. Computer speak and technical terms are used far too often. I’m not surprised the manager of a restaurant was confused by the term “host”. The manager clearly isn’t a computer person, as s/he doesn’t have to be. In the restaurant business the term “host” holds an entirely different meaning. The popular POS software company should better understand their clients and use a more intuitive error message. Here’s what I came up with in just a few seconds:

“Please check the main computer.”

I have addressed three issues with the original:

1) “Host busy.” They’re lying to their customers. The server isn’t busy, it’s probably broken. I’m sure the company decided this message would put a friendlier face on a problem, but why lie about it when it’s not necessary to mention at all?

2) “Manager check” The rest of the staff is probably insulted. You know, the other 99% who aren’t managers. It’s not necessary the software demand a manager check it.

3) “Host” A word with an entirely different meaning in the restaurant industry. Main computer, oh the one under the managers desk that runs the POS system!

We need to be better at describing information technology to our clients. With a more intuitive error message, the manager might not have needed to call. This saves Applebee’s time, frustration, and money. It also saves unnecessary help desk overhead as Blake could have better tasks to do.

The POS software was created to help restaurants be more efficient, saving them gobs of money. But just having the software itself isn’t enough – the POS company should focus on the whole software process and how simple bits such as this error message can help their clients be more efficient.

Since I became an IT professional, nearly all of my clients have been non-profit or social service. The people I work with are specifically not technical, which has always challenged me to put IT into layman’s terms. A primary reason people hate IT is because it’s just too darn hard to understand if you’re not technical. We IT professionals must always challenge ourselves to help our clients understand. If they understand, they’re going to be more efficient with technology. This saves both your client and you time and money.

A fun antithesis:

My wife is buying a gift for a baby shower. This morning she says “I need to get on Amazon and order a Pee Pee TeePee. I look at her like she’s insane because I think “PPTP” – a popular VPN protocol.

See, it works both ways.

Then I look at her like she’s insane because she’s buying a Pee Pee TeePee.