General Advice and Policies for Written Communication and Proper Terminology
General Tips to Improve Communication to Customers
These are items that are not necessarily "wrong," but should be done a particular way for consistency or clarity. As always, no disparagement of your abilities is intended. Team members come to the company with different writing skills.
- Be as specific as possible. You will find it useful to read over your emails and other communication, replacing words like “it” with the thing “it” refers to. Doing this makes sentences much clearer. Be very accurate when discussing anything with customers. Make sure your language is clear and not open to interpretation.
- Avoid over-use of exclamation points and hyperbole. E.g., "That would be perfect!" It's inappropriately casual.
- Avoid overly casual phrases for technical terms. For example:
o "jump on" a user's
computer for logging in remotely. We remote in, log in, or connect.
o "I was wondering” when asking a question. It sounds whimsical and unprofessional. Say instead, "I am inquiring..." or "I'd like to ask..." or something simila
- More generally, be very accurate when discussing anything with customers. Read over what you have written to ensure sure your language is clear and not open to interpretation.
Customer-facing Usage of Service and Product Names
- ScreenConnect: "ScreenConnect" (one word, S and C uppercase)
- Datto RMM: "Our RMM agent" or "our monitoring agent"
- Mission Control: "Our help desk team." You can refer to our internal team as "IT specialists" as opposed to our help desk's "IT technicians."
- Duo 2FA: "Duo 2FA"
- Todyl SASE: "Our cloud-based firewall" for simplicity. "SGN Connect," more technically.
- Carbon Systems: "Our vendor" or "our distributor."
- AutoElevate / AdminByRequest: It's fine to refer to these by name.
Consistency of Terminology
Consistency of terminology means using the same words or phrases throughout a document, conversation, or system to refer to the same concept, process, or item. This applies across industries, but it’s especially important in technical fields like IT, where precise language prevents confusion.
Consistency of terminology is important for:
- Accurate processing of automated workflow and email parsing rules
- Professionalism in client-facing documentation
Consistency in Customer-Facing Service and Product Names
- ScreenConnect (one word, S and C uppercase)
- AutoElevate (one word, A and E uppercase)
- AdminByRequest (one word, A, B and R uppercase)
Gerunds (or, Avoid "ing")
To keep your time entries concise, please avoid the use of gerunds (nouns ending in "ing") when possible. For example:
Instead of: "I completed the process of installing the software."
write: "I installed the software."
Here is another example:
Instead of: “He is recommending…”
write: “He recommends…”
Active Vs. Passive Voice
When entering time entries and other notes, use the active voice rather than the passive voice. This makes it clearer who did what. For example, do not say, "The computer was rebooted ." Say, "I rebooted the computer."
Related Articles
AutoTask Terminology
Queue: Autotask allows for multiple “ticket boards” called queues. We primarily use the queue called Remote Support. Tickets created for the future (such as future anti-virus renewals or recurring work) are to be added to the queue called Deferred. ...Client Communication Guidelines
General Principles for Good Client Communications Respond to client emails promptly Update clients regularly on the progress of their ticket via ticket notes Document if client doesn't call in for their appointment and set the ticket status to ...Behavioral Policies and Disciplinary Procedures
This article applies to all full-time employees. It does not apply to temporary hires such as interns and summer hires. Interns and temporary employees may be terminated at any time based either on their performance or the on the changing needs of ...Scheduling Policies
This article is not intended to apply to Mission Control help desk support. The hours outside our work hours are covered by Mission Control. They do their own scheduling. Business Hours Business hours are 8:30am – 5:30pm. Any work that is scheduled ...Daily Time and Travel Policies for Full-Time Employees
This document applies only to full-time employees, not to part-time employees. Lunch Breaks Full-time employees are expected to work the same seven hours per day Monday through Friday ("Normal Work Hours") plus a one-hour unpaid lunch break. Special ...