LH Title/IMs Whatvers: BROKEN?

Hi

My Partner Ariel Monde is a Live Helper. It was my understanding that if she did NOT wear the group title she would not be recieving LH IMs - for help or otherwise.

I also believe its a prime indicator that although a person may be IN the LH group, they aren't available at all times to be badgered and bothered with LH IMs/Issues/Business etc.

Especially if they are not sporting the title. That means off duty does it not? People can read here for the meetings and the business and info for the group.

Lately Ariel has been worn to a frazzle with all of this LH stuff coming at her, and she hasn't even been on duty. Not to mention with our RL schedules we rarely get a quiet moment together.

And for those of you giggling - I'm not even talking about the smoochie stuff. Ariel, Grey Mars and I collaborate on projects, keep each other caught up on our lives, and basically just enjoy those rare moments when we can hang out together in SL.

So I'm wondering is the LH IM thing broken? Or are people just making free with contacting Ariel whenever they please for whatever?

1. If its broken - please fix it. My One works hard and she loves helping out in LH, but she's THIS close to chopping out the group forever - she's stressed out!

2. If its not broken - have a care about when and how you contact those who are NOT on duty.

Perhaps write them a notecard with whatever it is you need to tell them, and send a short IM letting them know you've sent it & they can reply when its a better time for them.

All of this includes Kenny, Teeple and any other Lindies. Respect a person's schedule, and respect their Second Lives.

ty for listening

Brace - I was in LH IM chat the other day when Ariel got interrupted. I think I know what happened. While I do truly believe this is a bug of sorts - I think Ariel might have misunderstood what happened.

First off - note that there's a difference between Live Help resident calls, and Live Help group chat.

Live Help resident calls only come through if you have your Live Help tag on. Group chat, however, comes through regardless of whether you have your tag on - just like any other Second Life group.

Now, here's the "bug"...

If you have your BUSY tag on, it does something really funky to the Live Help GROUP chat. Only Linden messages will come through, and - even more confusing - the title of the group chat will change to the Linden's name, rather than "Live Help".

From Ariel's perspective, she was receiving a personal IM directly from a Linden. From the rest of the folks' perspective in the Group chat at the time, it said "Live Help" at the top, and it was just your standard run-of-the-mill conversation.


To take it a step further, just for clairity, here's what I'm trying to explain:

From my vantage point, the Live Help group chat went something like this: (note that this isn't an actual chat log )

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Instant Message from LIVE HELP
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Travis Lambert: Heya guys - any Liasons available to take a peek at Isabel? Time dilation seems to be low.
Kenny Linden: I'll come take a look.
Travis Lambert: Thanks, Kenny!
Kenny Linden: Sure!
John Smith: Boy, it sure is a busy night tonight.
Kenny Linden: You can say that again.
Ariel Monde: ???


Now, from what I'm trying to explain above, Lets look at that same exact chat - but from Ariel's vantage point in BUSY mode:

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Instant Message from Kenny Linden
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Kenny Linden: I'll come take a look.
Kenny Linden: Sure!
Kenny Linden: You can say that again.
Ariel Monde: ???


--------------------------------

Kinda see what I mean? If you don't know about this behavior while you're in BUSY mode, the IMs you receive can be quite confusing. I've never bug reported this because, well.... look what it took above to try & explain what I mean


Hope this helps

Also - just had to add in one more thing...

Unlike the other volunteer group channels, the Live Help group channel is pretty spammy... in a Jolly/happy way

LH Members depend on the group chat to collaborate with other Live Helpers. Additionally, the stress level gets so high at times answering questions, many of us use the group chat to give others a little morale boost. Liasons also use the channel to give Live Helpers a heads up if they're about to be swamped with calls because of this or that problem.

So - Ariel may notice more activity coming from the LH group than some of the other groups she's in. If you add the whole BUSY tag issue on top of it - I can completely understand how she may feel frazzled & frustrated.

TY darlin *smoooochezz*

The worst thing in the world is to see your loved one stressed out and falling apart, and not knowing what to do.

I'll pass along this info - typical Ariel, she didn't want me to go charging around like a bull in a china shop on her behalf, and doesn't know I posted this.

But enough was enough.

The truck with a lifetime supply of SLcoobie Snax will be delivered to ya at the Shelter forthwith

BIGHUGGGS!!!

Yeah it's the group chat, which is sort of a necessary evil when you're live helping, so that you can alert Lindens about a problem all at once (the liaison's read them) or to get a quick answer from another live helper.

Maybe she could get an alt to Live Help. That way she wouldn't have to deal with the group IM's.

I sincerely apologise for any interruptions

I believe Travis' explanation is dead on.

Usually, when I come on shift, I chime in to the Live Help group to let everyone know I'm there and how long I'll be available to assist the LHers if they need it.

I usually try and do this in a (hopefully) humorous way to bring some levity to the necessity of the alert. This has led to some back and forth in the channel sometimes that I have worried might be disturbing people.

I can most definitely stop with the beginning of the night joking if it is causing a disturbance.

I believe the new group tools should help out a lot with this kind of thing.

I like it kenny, then I know which linden is on to bother for LH issues that need linden attention

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

When will the new group tools arrive, and what will they be?

I like to chime in here i honestly enjoy the live help group im's for what ever reason they are for. most of the time they make me laugh and help break the routine a bit.
i will admit there are times that the group im comes at a time when i am busy chatitng with some one and my total attention is needed with that chat. In those instances i just simply close the group Im right away or i open chat history window so i can follow the chat that needs my total attention.

over all i do like to get the group im's they are a refreshing break from the same old routine

It is almost ALWAYS a fun break to read what pops up in main LH IM's....Most really crack me up!!! I know I've been very-nicely reminded not to close windows when someone is asking a question, & that's understandable, but I think if the main group IM bothers us, it's ok to just close it & move on. (And that goes for any group)
Peace yawl!