As I've spoken about in my previous blog post, the customer is generally the key to resolving any technical issue. Not all will have the understanding of the technology they are using, but you go over what they were trying to do and what tools were using when they were trying to do it. Let's take for example a classic one - a customer cannot access any websites from their web browser.
If a customer was able to access a website yesterday, but not today, the first thing I take into account whether the customer can reach other websites; testing with popular websites like Google and MSN are always a good idea. If the customer can't reach the website they wish to access, nor sites like Google and MSN, then the issue could be with the internet itself. If they can reach Google and MSN but not the website they normally access, something as simple as clearing the web cache of the browser they are using can resolve the issue.
Remember one thing - every issue has multiple solutions and your talent as a part of the help desk is being able to gauge which solution works best for the present situation and for the customer. Let's take a more complex situation involving a corporation's internet - one half of a floor can't access the internet, but another half can.
In instances involving network outages the network team are usually engaged as they have the access to the networking equipment within the network room. With an issue such as this, customer engagement is key. Customers will always have projects to complete before a critical deadline and meetings they need to attend. One alternative to consider when a situation like this happens is whether they have WIFI available and whether they can use a VPN to access company data.
Another alternative, one which requires the network team and the consent to work with the customer's tech, is to see if you can setup manual network settings within the computers effected to see if that gives them access as a temporary solution. Once the issue is resolved, you can restore the network settings as they were before. In each instance, having the solution and the customer in-tune with what you are doing go hand in hand.
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