o Welcome
o Support Aid '98
  - Do I Need to Contact Support?
  - How Should I Contact Support?
o Round Shiny Objects
o Birthday Bash - Update
o iiNet's Modem Numbers
o Web Page of Interest - Antivirus Center
o Credits

Just to prove that the first of this new series of newsletters wasn't a fluke, we bring you another one. In this issue, we'll be lifting the lid on some of the tricks and tips of our very own support staff, in order to give our clients some more options if things go wrong. We'll also be giving you an update on our 5th birthday movie competition, and various other bits and pieces that have cropped up since the last newsletter.

Again, please note that we welcome suggestions from anyone reading these newsletters. Your input will help us to improve these newsletters, supplying you with the information you want and need to know. Don't hesitate to email us, at:

newsletter@iinet.net.au

We hope you find this newsletter - and the ones to come - informative and helpful. You can find previous editions of the iiNet newsletters at this web address:

Support Aid '98

No, it's not a rock concert to keep our beleaguered support staff in Cola and Prozac. Instead, this is a quick guide of ways you can help our support staff help you, and perhaps even to help yourself instead. There are two sections to this article.

- Do I Need to Contact Support?

There are many things that users can now do themselves in relation to their accounts. If you're able to use the world wide web, please check out this web page:

http://www.iinet.net.au/help/

This page has an enormous amount of helpful (of course!) information on it, from handbooks on making your own web pages with iiNet to tutorials on using the main Internet software packages. It also has a number of user utilities at the bottom of the page, including:

• Account Usage - examine how much time you've used, and how many calls you've made to iiNet
• Change Your Password - remember, if you change your account password here, you'll also have to change it in any programs that use it (your dialler and email programs, mainly).
• Homepage Creation - this page does all the work of creating the necessary directories and permissions for iiNet users to create their own web pages.

There are many other user utilities available, most of which are fairly self-explainitory. Please don't hesitate to have a look at them at your leisure or necessity.

This web page also has a link to the iiNet Knowledge Base, which is at this address:

This contains almost all of the support information that iiNet's own support staff refer to in order to diagnose and solve any problems you may encounter. By looking through these pages carefully, you can often work out the cause and solution to problems that you may be experiencing.

- How Should I Contact Support?

iiNet have recently restructured their support and accounts department, to cater to the increasing number of enquiries being received.

To be able to assist you as quickly as possible, we request you have some specific information handy when calling, or include them in any emails you send.

The first thing you'll need is your username. Whether you have a quick question about modems, or a query about an invoice, you'll need to know your username. Your username is the eight character or less name you chose when you first joined iiNet. Usually, your email address is of the form: username@iinet.net.au - so if your email address is jcitizen@iinet.net.au then your username is jcitizen.

There is other information you might need to have handy, depending on the nature of your query.

Accounts Enquiries

For most accounts enquiries, your username is sufficient, but an invoice number can be useful. If you wish to close an account, or purchase additional services or products, you may need your account password for authorisation, or to send in an application form.

The email address for accounts is accounts@iinet.net.au Alternatively, a Technical Support Officer can probably help if you call them on 9322-7773. Faxes can be attentioned accounts, and faxed to 9322-6660.

If responding to an email invoice sent to you, please make sure to check any dates included in the email - invoices are issued two weeks before they are due, and what you are being invoiced for is specified in the invoice itself. Also note that users paying by credit card will also get these emails - they are to alert the user to the amount that is to be debited from the credit card, and gives the user a chance to correct any errors that may have occurred. After all, it's much easier to correct a debit before it's actually been made than afterwards!

Technical Support Enquiries

For technical support enquiries, it is most helpful if you can try to follow these guidelines:

• Ensure you are in front of your computer when you call. This can be by calling on a mobile, having an extension cord from your phone, or plugging a phone into the socket the modem normally uses. Obviously if you're emailing support, this doesn't apply.
• Email support if your email works. Often most queries can be handled quicker via email, and you'll have a record of suggestions made, which you can keep in case the problem reoccurs. Please do not email attachments, or email in HTML. If you think you're having trouble with email, or can send but not receive, then you should probably phone support.
• Try to be aware of both what does and doesn't work. For example, perhaps you can receive email but not send it, and the web works fine. This is extremely useful when it comes to diagnosing where the problem may lie.
• Write down the EXACT error message you are getting. For example, "Dial-Up Networking is unable to establish a dial-up connection, check your password and try again" is much more helpful than "I can't connect".
• Let support know if you or anyone else could have changed anything. For example, "It was working fine yesterday, but my son's friend was playing with it this morning."
• Specify the program you're using which is causing the problem. For example, "I try and check mail using Eudora and it gives the error..."
• Provide any other information which could be useful. For example, "It was working fine last night, but ever since that lightning storm, it won't dial in anymore."

By having or providing this information if requested, it should mean you spend less time with support, and more time surfing the internet!

Technical Support can be contacted by emailing support@iinet.net.au or by telephoning 9322-7773, or by faxing 9322-6660.

Reporting Abuse

If you're informing us of abuse by an iiNet user, please email full details to abuse@iinet.net.au (please note that abuse refers to network abuse - if it's personal abuse, you may wish to contact the police or a lawyer, and press charges). If the abuse is by another ISP's user, then you will need to contact that ISP.

Full details depend on the nature of the complaint:

• For abuse sent via email, eg spam, forward the entire email, complete with all headers. If unsure how to do this, ask iiNet's technical support, making sure to specify which email program you're using.
• For abuse or spam on newsgroups by an iiNet user, forward the entire article.
• For abuse on irc by an iiNet user, send full logs, including the day and time it occured (and the timezone you're in, if not +0800), plus a full copy of the /whois information on the offender. Please note that if reporting nuking or flooding, we will require logs from a firewall or port monitoring program to substantiate the report.

Round Shiny Things Recently, strange objects have been sighted by some iiNet users. Round and shiny, reflecting colours like a rainbow, they have puzzled many who have come across them. Now we can reveal their secret. Yes, iiNet now has a software package available on compact disk. Including recent versions of many major software packages (including Netscape Communicator, Internet Explorer and Eudora), these CDs not only allow you to install any software desired, but also configure your system to dial into iiNet and sets up all the software accordingly.

These CDs are for Windows 95/98, Windows NT, Windows 3.11 and Macintosh (with Open Transport), and are available for $5 each (including postage). To order, email support@iinet.net.au or telephone on 9214-2222

Birthday Bash - Update

As reported in the last newsletter, as well as on our web pages, iiNet will be celebrating five years of providing Internet access to Western Australia by holding a private (if you'll pardon the pun!) screening of the new Steven Spielberg film "Saving Private Ryan". We had literally thousands of entries to win tickets to this screening, but unfortunately only two hundred double passes were available. The lucky winners have been notified, and we look forward to seeing them at the screening. As for those thousands of people not lucky enough to win tickets, our commiserations, but keep an eye on both upcoming newsletters and our web pages for further iiNet competitions.

iiNet's Modem Numbers

This is probably a good time to print a new list of iiNet's main modem numbers, and which number is the best one for you to dial. As promised in the last newsletter, our Rockingham point-of-presence recently had its modem bank increased from 60 to 90 modems, to better service that region. Our main numbers are as follows:

Number             Physical Location    Current Lines
------             -----------------    -------------

08 9213-1000       Perth                720
08 9278-0999       Perth                900
08 9528-0200       Rockingham           90
08 9721-0700       Bunbury              120

Note that this list does not include our analogue rotaries of around 450 modems, as these lines will gradually be phased out. You can check if these numbers are a local call for you by calling Telstra on 1411-1222. If unsure of which number to dial, feel free to contact iiNet support, either by phone on 9322-7773 or by email at:

support@iinet.net.au

Web Page of Interest - Antivirus Center

For people who want more information on computer viruses, or wish to download antivirus software (including anti-Spacefiller products):

http://www.avp.com/

Credits

This newsletter produced by Martin Livings, with contributions by Kim Davies, Paul Raj Khangure, Michael Malone and Debbie Wilson. Copyright 1998 iiNet Technologies P/L. All Rights Reserved.