Re: Not Wanted--Technical Writers

[Chuck Melikian <chuckm -at- MDHOST -dot- CSE -dot- TEK -dot- COM>]

From the article:

# EXAMPLE ONE
#
# How to log on at a product call center.
#
# BEFORE: Before a call arrives, a call center agent must be logged on and
# available to receive that call.  In addition, a supervisor responsible
# for that agent's performance is typically logged on.  When the supervisor
# and the agent sign on, their devices (telephones or PCs) establish a X.25
# virtual circuit to the Call Distribution System.  This connection will be
# in place for the duration of the time the agent/supervisor is logged on.
# When the agent logs on, a data connection to the corporate host database
# may also be established.
#
# AFTER: A call center's supervisor and agent log on to the Call Distribution
# System, establishing a connection that can last throughout the workday.
# ===================================

Well, it seems to me that both the original writer and the gen-x
poet both totally missed the point here. I don't see anything in
either BEFORE or AFTER that explains "HOW TO LOG ON at a product
call center". From my reading, both writers failed. I would send
it back to be rewritten. The problem is that the writer should
have written a procedure and neither of the writers did that.

Of course, it is possible that the journalist did a bad job of picking
an example. Or that the journalist's editor hacked up the copy. But, if
the above "example" is what really appeared in a manual, it is no
wonder technical writers have a bad reputation.


Chuck Melikian

chuck -dot- melikian -at- tek -dot- com

	http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/