BEP 240 – 打電話: Tech Support English (3)

Call Center English Technical Support

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on handling a tech support call in English.

A colleague calls you with a problem. You listen, you ask questions, and you figure out a solution. But you can’t fix the problem yourselfyou need to explain to your colleague how they can fix it. It doesn’t matter how simple the solution is to you, you have to make it clear to the other person. And that can be challenging. 幸好, you can learn some ways of making your instructions clear and effective.

在今天的課程中, we’ll listen to a tech support agent explain a solution to a computer user. But don’t worry if you don’t work in tech support. The techniques this agent uses are useful in any situation where you need to provide support or solutions to someone else. We’ll cover language that you can use to explain a solution in clear steps and explain the reasons for those steps. We’ll also look at how you can recap the steps in a solution, confirm that solution actually worked, and emphasize to someone how to deal with similar problems in the future.

在對話框中, we’ll rejoin Nick and Stacey. Nick is a tech support agent, and Stacey’s a lawyer in New York who is having trouble uploading documents to the company server. Nick has discovered the cause of the problem and is now explaining to Stacey how to fix it.

聽力問題

1. What does Nick ask Stacey to do first?
2. Why does Nick ask Stacey to upload another PDF from her computer?
3. What should Stacey do next time she has a problem uploading a file?

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BEP 239 – 打電話: Tech Support English (2)

English Call Center Tech Support

Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on handling a tech support call.

Whether or not the words “solving problems” appear in your job description, there’s a good chance it’s something you do every day. And some days it seems like that’s all we do. So it’s important that we learn to do it well.

在今天的課程中, we’ll look at a tech support 情況, but the techniques that we’ll learn can be applied to any situation. We’ll cover language for retracing a problem to the beginning and confirming what has already been done. We’ll also look at eliminating possible causes and suggesting alternative ones. And finally we’ll learn how to confirm the settings on someone’s computer or other device.

在對話框中, we’ll rejoin Stacey and Nick. Stacey’s a lawyer in New York who’s been having trouble uploading documents to her company’s server in the U.K. where Nick works in tech support. Nick’s been trying to help Stacey solve her problem.

聽力問題

1. Why does Nick use the question “right?” repeatedly near the beginning of the call?
2. Why does Nick ask Stacey whether she’s made changes to her operating system?
3. Nick suggests another possible cause. What is it related to?

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BEP 238 – 打電話: Tech Support English (1)

Telephone Tech Support English

歡迎回到 商務英語播客 for today’s lesson on handling a tech support telephone call in English.

We’ve all been in this situation: The phone rings. Someone’s got a problem. They need our help to fix it. So we work through the issue with the person, trying to figure out exactly what’s happening, what the person wants to do, and how to help them do it.

But it’s not easy, 尤其是在電話裡, because we can’t see what the other person sees. And when someone has a problem, they’re usually frustrated about it, which can make our job even more difficult. So we need to stay calm and positive, keep a clear head, talk through the issue and find a solution that works. This situation is not unique to tech support. Everyone has to be able to help solve problems over the phone.

Today we’ll look at several techniques that can help you deal with these kinds of situation successfully. We’ll start by asking open-ended questions, confirming what the user is trying to do, and asking what they see as they try to do it. Then we’ll try requesting the user to do something as well as putting our instructions in simple terms. And finally we’ll practice asking someone to wait while we check something.

在對話框中, you’ll hear a conversation between Stacey and Nick. Stacey is a lawyer in the U.S. who’s having some trouble transferring files to her company’s server in the U.K. Nick is the British tech support agent trying to help Stacey solve her problem.

聽力問題

1. At the start of the conversation, what question does Nick use to get Stacey to describe the situation?
2. Why does Nick ask Stacey to try opening the file?
3. What does Nick ask Stacey to do to help him check whether the problem is fixed?

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本 23 – PC的盡頭?

BEN 23

學習 商務英語詞彙 and collocations for describing trends and technology in this 商務英語新聞 lesson on the recent decline in PC sales.

It wasn’t long ago that many of us could count on a new computer every three years or so. With both hardware and software upgrades coming in leaps and bounds, consumers and businesses sought to replace obsolete machines for shiny new boxes. 然而, as Forbes explains, things have changed dramatically: “PC shipments are down 14% year-over-year despite the launch of Windows 8. While Microsoft and its fans might not want to admit it yet, Windows 8 is a flop. The failure to generate new sales is bad; the acceleration of the declining trend in PC shipments is downright awful.

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BEP 218 – 討論網站重新設計

在本商務英語Pod課程中, we’ll look at vocabulary and collocations for discussing the redesign of a website.

In the Internet age, every company needs a web presence. The foundation of this presence is a good website. This is where customers and the public can go to find information, engage with each other and the business, 和, in many cases, purchase products and services.

It’s essential that your website is designed to convey the right image and send the right message. Not only does it have to look great, but it needs to be usable as well. This means that it must be laid out in a way that will help people find what they’re looking for with ease. Internet users have a very short attention span, so if they can’t get around your site easily, they’ll quickly move on to something else.

Before we listen, let’s talk a little about collocations. A collocation is a group of words that native speakers often use together. A correct collocation sounds natural, while an incorrect collocation sounds unnatural. 例如, in English we say “go online” to talk about using the Internet. But we can’t say “proceed online” or “travel online,” even though “proceed” and “travel” mean “go.” Those simply aren’t natural expressions.

You’ll hear many useful collocations in today’s dialog. 當你聽, try to pick out these natural combinations of words. Then we’ll explain what they mean and how to use them in the debrief.

We’re going to hear a conversation between a website designer named Andy and his client Penny. Penny’s company has contracted Andy to redesign their site. They are looking at the new website and discussing its features.

聽力問題

1. What does Penny think of the website’s layout?
2. Why does Andy show Penny the website on his tablet?
3. What does Penny need to learn to do with the website?

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