Of all the things that could go wrong during any given work day, the last thing anybody wants to have to deal with in any company is dealing with a technical issue that cropped up right before an important corporate meeting. The bane of every employee’s existence, these issues can really put a stop to all of your daily tasks, too, making you feel like a zombie at the office with nothing to do. It’s bad for business too, costing you potentially up to $336,000 per hour, according to Gartner. But before you throw in the towel, call the IT team in, or demand a refund from the store, you need to see whether or not the problems are caused by things that you can easily resolve on your own. In this post, we will give you a few questions that you can ask yourself in order to determine what the issues with your tools might be.

Question No. 1: Did You Plug All of the Equipment in Properly?

This may seem like the silliest thing to ask yourself, but sometimes, this could be the simplest reason as to why your equipment just is not working the way that you think it should. Check to see if you have plugged it all the way in, without any part of the plug dangling. Your equipment may not be getting enough power if it is only halfway plugged in.

Question No. 2: Are You Running the Right Drivers for Your Equipment?

If you are unfamiliar with drivers, then fear not, as they have nothing to do with race cars or even any other vehicles. In simpler terms, a driver is a type of software that you need to install in order to enable your tools to run properly. According to Webopedia, your gadgets probably already have those drivers installed in them when you first bought them. Often, companies come out with updates to these drivers in order to thwart any data threats as well as improve the performance of the products in question. Try going to the provider’s official website and downloading the latest drivers that they have listed for your product.

Question No. 3: Are You Running Programs That Are Actually Compatible with Your Equipment?

There are some programs that can only run on certain operating systems. For example, an app that works perfectly fine on your Windows machine may not be at all compatible with your Mac system. A program that works just fine on desktop computers may not work on mobile devices, too, as they tend to run on a different OS or algorithm all together. To rid yourself of the stress of having to find different programs for different kinds of tools, you may want to invest in video conference equipment that would work well with a system such as BlueJeans. It is compatible across various operating systems and various devices, so you can

Question No. 4: Have you Tried Restarting Your Computer or Your Equipment?

Sometimes, a quick reboot is all that your computer needs in order to start functioning normally again. Restarting your system allows it to clear several things off of its plate, such as temporary files it had to keep around in order to run certain pieces of software. The same can be said for your tools, too. They probably have a factory reset button installed somewhere. Try resetting both your computer and your gadgets before you try the next step.

Question No. 5: Have You Tried Reinstalling Your Programs?

It may not seem like it may do anything that huge, but sometimes, simply uninstalling and reinstalling your program might be able to resolve any issues that you may have been experiencing. If you are the type who likes to tinker with the inner workers of any software, chances are high that you might have accidentally deleted an important part of the code, or removed a file that was essential to keeping the app running. A fresh reinstall can allow you to get all of those back in one piece, as if you were running on a fresh factory machine.

Ask Yourself All of These Questions Before Bringing in Technical Support

By trying to troubleshoot these problems on your own first, you will be able to save your IT team a lot of time and effort from having to trudge all the way to your work station, only to find out that a simple reset could have fixed everything that you were complaining about. Only when none of these options do the trick will you have to start coordinating with the tech experts in your company. Plus, you might eventually become the tech expert in your own department, impressing everybody with your perseverance and know-how. It’s a win-win for you and the IT team.