G'Day Nerida,

I'm glad you got a laugh!   My blood-pressure was rising with each exchange, but the faceless automaton was only doing his job, and following specified procedures.   I left out the bit where I tried to telephone said person, only to find myself on terminal hold!

I agree IT issues are sometimes insurmountable, but at least you know your helper and know they are actually trying.   In this case the "help desk" is located in Cooma, which as you know is 100 kilometres away.  I know they get $40 dollars for each logged call or e-mail.  The cynic in me says this was their way to drive up revenue, but I actually think the helper was genuine.

As you know the TARDIS project includes a help desk, so I know a bit about the trials and tribulations of running one.  The success story with this help desk is it is on the same floor as the knowledge workers; the knowledge workers engage with the helpers on a daily basis, both for work purposes and a social chat; and there is no formal way to engage the helpers - whatever works for the knowledge worker is correct, be that telephone, e-mail, a web request, or walk around and personally ask.  We get almost universal acclaim for the help we provide, which only serves to heighten my frustration when dealing with an unhelpful "help desk"!

Regards Graham