Why is TAC not aware SMB do exist?

[HristoGrigorov]

Ok, this happens to me almost every time I open SR. I always explicitly state in the SR it is SMB appliance, exact model  "1470 wired", firmware revision and so on. And every time it will go like this:

1. TAC will send me reply that R77.20 is no longer supported and I shall upgrade to at least R77.30

2. TAC will ask me for bunch of log files that do not even exists on SMB

3. TAC will ask me for /var/log/messages and we all know on SMB this files is almost useless in debugging.

4. TAC will upload software for Gaia on my SMB and try to run it again and again (that was actually fun to watch)

5. TAC will disappear for a day or so and then kindly apologize that they do not really support SMB and my SR will be forwarded to another division.

6. After some time I will get another reply that this needs to be investigated by Devs. At the end problem is always happily solved. 

So, is it like that for you guys? Am I just doing something wrong? Like not putting some valuable info? Or just pure luck?

[PhoneBoy]

Can you point me at an SR or two where this happened?

Also, how exactly did you open the SR?

[HristoGrigorov]

Sure, I want to PM you list of all SRs that I opened but I cannot find a way to do that on CheckMates. 

Mind you that some of these talks happened on the phone and they are not written in the SR. But if you quickly go through some of SRs (especially the one about the SFWD crash) you will see what I am talking about.

I always open SR through User Center -> Create a Service Request (if that is what you ask about).

Btw, I have to note that TAC has been always very polite and trying to help. It's only that I get the impression people there that are first engaged are not very much aware of the SMB "specifics" and ways to troubleshoot them. 

[PhoneBoy]

Now that I'm following you, you should be able to PM me the SRs.

[Tom_Hinoue]

When I open a chat or SR from the web, what I just do is kindly ask to forward me to the SMB Team (If I really know it should be a SMB issue!)

I have similar problems like you when I open one for other products like Capsule though...

[G_W_Albrecht]

This is an old story - CP TAC and the SMB (old safe@office team) are very different. Problems arise with centrally managed SMB devices - locally managed SMB users use the CP chat for SMB and directly get in touch with the SMB team. Using a centrally managed e.g. 1490, when a SR# is opened it will go to the relevant TAC team for the issue, e.g. VPN, and the engineers only very seldom are aware of specific SMB limitations, e.g. when debugs are needed. But the same is true of VSX in RAS ...

[Pedro_Espindola]

I had this problem in 2016/2017, but latelly I open my SRs and immediately receive the message that it is being forwarded to the specialized team.

Do you open SRs from the web and define it as "1400 series" and "SMB - other"?

[HristoGrigorov]

I select:

Product Line: Small and Medium Business

Product Name: SMB - Other

Product Version: R77.20

Additionally as soon as I enter Device Number it will immediately add device description that exactly match what I have.

But anyway, I got it. Next time I explicitly state I want SR to be handled by the SMB team

[PhoneBoy]

I gave your list of TAC cases to one of the Group Managers in TAC who asked me about this. 

Hopefully you get some direct feedback on this.

[HristoGrigorov]

All right, thanx. I'll keep you posted.

[HristoGrigorov]

I was contacted by SMB support manager and gave him my feedback. I hope we won't run into such issues in the future. Thanx again for your help.

[HristoGrigorov]

FYI

I got another e-mail today from that manager that TAC "already started a process of improvement following your feedback, filling the knowledge gap in product groups which usually do not handle GAIA Embedded products".

So, we shall see improved SMB support in the future. Based on all your feedback on CheckMates