Swati Chopra said -
"So I view the forums as a source of breaking news about product issues".
What do you do at Cisco?
I’m a TAC backbone engineer for content switching products. We take tier-1 escalations and work with high-tier customers. Some of the solutions I focus on are Application Control Engine, Wide Area Application Services, Global Site Selector, Content Services Switches, and Digital Media Suite.
What got you involved in the Cisco Support Community?
I actually found out about the community from a customer I was helping. He mentioned a good tip he’d received on the forum, so I checked it out. As soon as I went on the forum I saw its potential.
Now I look for unanswered questions when I get the chance. Answering them cuts down on TAC case volume. I also visit to find answers to some of my own questions. The community is a great knowledge repository.
What’s something that you’ve learned from the forums?
Recently I noticed several posts from customers whose video devices didn’t work when using two power sources simultaneously. That was two months before the issue was reported to TAC. So I view the forums as a source of breaking news about product issues.
Tell us about your upcoming webcast on the Internet of Everything.
After I heard John Chambers’ Tech Talk about Internet of Everything, I became very interested in the technology. I eventually gave a presentation on IoE at a Birds of Feather session at Cisco’s Women of Impact conference. It was so well received that I decided to widen the audience with a webcast in the Cisco Support Community. We are working on dates.
You also hosted an Ask the Expert session on Global Site Selector configuration. How was that?
That session, too, was very well received. Customers asked questions for a couple of weeks. It was a good exercise for me because I find that sharing knowledge deepens it. Stop sharing; stop learning. I also got the chance to connect with customers to understand their concerns and the kind of documentation they need. Ask the Expert sessions give us customer input to improve solutions, processes, and support documentation.
What would you say to coworkers who are thinking about participating more?
Contributing to the community is a win-win for everyone: Cisco customers, TAC team, and the contributor. It factors in your performance review and also makes you more visible. Since I’ve started contributing to different forums, people have reached out to me for advice on content technologies. Participating in the community gives me a great feeling of teamwork and satisfaction.
