I bought her flowers

Editor's note: Dr. Doniger's column, Dental Diaries, appears regularly on the DrBicuspid.com advice and opinion page, Second Opinion.

I am privileged to know three of the brightest minds in dental technology: Dr. Paul Feuerstein, Dr. Marty Jablow, and Dr. John Flucke. I consider all of them friends. You all know them too -- the digital and computer gurus we turn to in times of need due to their acumen and expertise.

That being said, I recently decided to venture into the great uncertainty of hardware and software without calling in the support of my trio of experts. Our main server (aka, the front desk computer) began to make some "noise." There were a few other "experts" in the office that day -- patients who all said we needed to replace the unit.

I do not recall the actual install date of our hardware and software, but it definitely predated my business manager. But the idea of the front desk computer stopping at a moment's notice is definitely cause for a bit of hyperventilation.

"How difficult could this be?" I thought. "I don't need to call in a technical favor to my three geniuses every time something goes wrong, do I?"

As was recommended to us years ago, we back up our files every day on two flash drives, without fail. So making the change over to a new system should be easy, right? Just like the home computer, moving old files from one system to another, minus Dropbox.

So we had an hour intermezzo between patients and decided to switch out the computers. We backed up our files and bravely disconnected the original computer. The newer Dell, of course, is heavier. My accountant purchased it for us. Attaching the cords is quite simple now, since everything is color-coded. The new wide-screen monitor needed some work to adjust the size, but nothing insurmountable.

At this point, however, I had to return to my patients. This left my business manager alone with the installation, along with our patient management software folks on the phone. (After all, we do pay for support.) With their help, she installed the software program without problem.

Then Mr. Murphy -- as in Murphy's Law -- decided he hadn't visited our office in a while.

The one thing happened that no one would ever want to happen: Our data was missing. Where could it have gone? We had been dutifully backing up our files every day, per instructions from the person who gave my previous business manager instructions about how to use the program. We thought we were doing the correct procedure -- but apparently, we were not.

As it turned out, we had been backing up everything on our computer, whereas we thought we were only backing up our data files. In reality, the "everything" did not include everything! After speaking with several technicians, it took about three hours before our new system was finally a "go." Aside from graphic differences and changing fonts, it appeared that our business manager was back in business. This is a good thing!

None of my team is an exceptional computer expert, including myself. We all learn by trial and error. Computer support folks know their stuff, but they also expect the people calling in to know just as much detail as they do, so they skip steps. Just like anything else in life, it depends on who you get on the phone. Often you are not connected to the same person twice. Some are patient. Some realize we all don't understand a "path" from a "map." I agree: It is a difficult job. They don't know the level of understanding of the person they are speaking to on the phone. I give them a lot of credit. One woman gave my business manager step-by-step instructions, while the next person gave her cryptic clues. The third, somewhere in the middle.

Someone asked me if I tried to look things up online during this process. The problem was our Internet connection was inoperable during this entire period, due to some loose cords from changing out a keyboard. So while my business manager was on the phone with our practice management company, I was speaking with AT&T. They wanted to send a technician out, but my son-in-law (the real computer expert in the family) happened to stop by and noticed a glitch with the firewall and the modem.

Morale of that part of the story: Check your connections!

We still have some minor issues that will be rectified with yet another phone call to technical support. But overall we feel all is well. At best, technology is as frustrating as it is beneficial.

As for my business manager, I bought her flowers. She deserved that and more. It was a highly stressful day. But now we all know the correct way to save our data files: a portable hard drive, which is being delivered next week.

Sheri Doniger, DDS, practices clinical dentistry in Lincolnwood, IL. She has served as an educator in several dental and dental hygiene programs, has been a consultant for a major dental benefit company, and has written for several dental publications. Most recently, she was the editor of Woman Dentist Journal and Woman Dentist eJournal. You can reach her at [email protected].

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