Server rentals :: NFOservers.com

Hello, I have an unusual request to make, but please bear with me.

I currently have an assignment for a school project in which I need to conduct an informational interview with a business that is related to the field that I am getting in to. NFO servers is a perfect fit for that!

About me:
I am currently attending Heald College and pursuing a degree in Network Security. Many of the core classes for this degree fall in line network and systems administration as well. I absolutely love NFO servers and although (due to finances) haven’t been able to afford to rent one of my own, I do recommend it to everyone I come across who is interested in a place to host not only game servers, but webhosting as well!

Anyone on staff willing to give me some time would be really, really appreciated.

Thank you,
Shane Meikle

Unless you are looking for one on one interview it may be best to post the questions here and let the staff answer, or you can open a request and ask that it be assigned to John.

Depending on when this is due the first may be your best option.

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<@TimeX-NFo> Hey, we used to have to carry our packets to the servers.
<@TimeX-NFo> And it was upstream, both ways.

<@TimeX-NFo|away> You're asking the old dude for help?????
<@Kraze^NFo> Yes

Kraze,

Thank you for your response. I will go ahead and post my questions here as I am interested in hearing from each and every staff member who is interested in replying!


1) What level of experience and/or education is required of the employees of NFOservers?

2) What problems (if any) come with the job?

3) What is expected of an employee (ie. in regards to customer service, daily duties and so on)?

4) What is a typical day like as an employee of NFOservers?

5) What is one of your more enjoyable experiences as an employee?

6) What is one of your worst experiences as an employee?

7) What advancements (if any) within the field of IT do you believe will make your jobs easier?

8) When it comes to technical support, most businesses seem to have a very hard time in being able to communicate effectively with their clients/customers. NFOservers doesn’t seem to have this problem, what is it they are lacking in this regard that your company has?

9) If you could change anything about the company, what would it be, and why?

10) Many hiring managers seem to be asking this one (or a variation of it) a lot these days, so I thought I would toss it in here, changed up a bit to suit the field of course: If NFOservers was a video game, which video game would it be, and why?



Thank you again to all who take the time to provide responses.


Sincerely,

Shane Meikle

Currently their are no education requirements for working at NFO.



As with any job there are problems, especially one where you work from home. My biggest problem is just getting some piece and quiet so I can actually work. If you are referring to job related problems I would simple say that there is a lot of information you need to know. You must be a good and fast learner or it can be extremely hard.



Their is a lot expected from an employee but to just name a few I would say...Being on time, following directions, self learner and being proactive.




Their is no such thing as a "Typical" day when you work for NFO. However what we have come to expect is to expect the un-expected.

However on a serious note a typical day would involving logging in to work and letting the other staff know your shift has started, reading up in our IRC channel to catch any important information and browsing the forums to answer is un-answered post. Not to mention the basics such as monitoring our request system and handling any customers that come in.




Working for NFO is great and definitely has its moments. Some of the best times I have had were helping a grateful customer with his server or just making jokes are bears getting in to TimeX trash.




This is a tough question, as our main job is customer support. If you are not getting yelled at you're doing something wrong



In normal game server hosting I would say nothing, unless you are physically handling servers and setting up the network for your company. However as a basic customer support representative not much.

However NFO is nothing but normal....Since we deal in a wide variety of services having a degree or experience in anything technical is helpful. One day you may need to know how to set up a webserver then 10 minutes later you need to know how to stop a DDos attack. Their is so much our job covers that I do not believe a single degree would seriously help.



What they are lacking boggles my mind, as we do it here with ease for the most part. I do believe that bigger companies has an issue with this due to their size but smaller companies have this issue in my opinion for several different reasons. They are under staffed, lack the tools to communicate properly and effectively, then some are just plain out lazy

NFO has always been very up front and honest with our customers. We have nothing to hide so we have decided if their is no reason to hide this information why not just let them see it?



Honestly there is not much I would change about NFO. Ya their are the little things but as far as NFO as a whole their is really nothing.



I honestly do not think there is any game that has ever been released that I can compare NFO to.

_________________
<@TimeX-NFo> Hey, we used to have to carry our packets to the servers.
<@TimeX-NFo> And it was upstream, both ways.

<@TimeX-NFo|away> You're asking the old dude for help?????
<@Kraze^NFo> Yes

None. It is definitely a plus to know your game servers though.

Working from home is quite a challenge as people assume 'oh hes just on the computer, he can leave it any time'

As with any company geared towards the customer, which is any GOOD company, we are expected to provide the best customer service possible. The biggest thing I'm expected of past that is to be at work on time and ready to assist people.

A typical day starts for me when we open at 8a PST. There are usually some overnight requests that we handle (assuming one of us wasnt up burning the midnight oil). Past that most days are just me helping people and troubleshooting. Pretty normal stuff really.

Probably playing the games I support as part of learning more about them. I just bought CSS and GMOD so I could learn more about how they work. (where else do you play games as part of your job)

Not sure tbh.

Once again, not sure.

I think it comes with the training, or lack of. We don't have any official training. We are just gamers and server owners that have learned how things work from trying it ourselves. Its a lot easier to help someone when you've came across the same problem and overcame it.

Nothing really. I'm pretty happy with the way things work here.

I guess it would be like Minecraft. We give you the tools to create awesome things. You just have to take the time to build it. (except we don't randomly blow up your creations :creeper:)

Kraze and hiimcody1, thank you very much for the responses!

Kraze, I agree that this is a field where the ability to learn quickly is an asset. I am fond of the phrase "I may not know everything, but I do know where to find the answers".

Hiimcody1, the correlation between the company and Minecraft is great!


I have to agree fully with both of your comments regarding working from home. It seems that it is difficult for those around you to understand that it is no less demanding than if you were sitting in an actual office building.


What you guys do regarding customer service is something others in and out of the industry should take note of. My experiences as a customer of NFOservers in the past actually inspired me to take a closer look at my own skills as someone who deals with customers, and allowed me to make improvements.

Thank you both again for your responses, this is going to help me greatly!

If it isn't too much trouble, could either/both of you please email me confirmation that this took place? They require confirmation to ensure students don't interview themselves or something.


My email address is shane.meikle(at)roseville.heald.edu

OR

shanemeikle(at)gmail.com

No problem, email sent.

_________________
<@TimeX-NFo> Hey, we used to have to carry our packets to the servers.
<@TimeX-NFo> And it was upstream, both ways.

<@TimeX-NFo|away> You're asking the old dude for help?????
<@Kraze^NFo> Yes

Email sent.

These guys can't do anything wrong, now I gotta keep spending my bucks here. Darn it!

_________________
CounterStrikeGO.com

Of course they can do something wrong, but the difference with them and others is that they care enough to fix it, and do so without making the customer feel like crap.


A big thank you again to the two who participated in the interview. Outside of it being a school project, it was awesome to be able to interview a couple people from such an awesome company that is in the line of work I will be getting into.