部分搜索引擎(Part search engine)、部分垃圾邮件机器人(part spam bot)和部分用于联系客户支持(customer support)代理的门户，“(part portal)获取帮助”(Get Help)应用程序提供了多种方法，其中大多数成功，可以让您回答您的技术支持问题。本文旨在向您展示如何在Windows 10中启动和使用“(Windows 10)获取帮助”(Get Help)应用，以及联系人工支持代理(support agent)的最快方法是什么。有很多事情要做，所以让我们开始吧：
如何在Windows 10中打开“(Windows 10)获取帮助”(Get Help)应用
获取帮助(Get Help)应用程序预装在Windows 10(Windows 10)上。要打开它，您可以在任务栏的搜索字段中输入(search field)“帮助”("help")，然后单击或点击“获取帮助”(Get Help)。
打开应用程序的另一种方法是从“开始”菜单(Start Menu)，单击或点击“开始(Start)”按钮，然后从应用程序列表中按“获取帮助”。(Get Help)
每个“设置”页面(Settings page)底部的“有问题？("Have a question?)”下还有一个获取帮助(Get help)的链接。
有关使用“获取帮助”(Get Help)应用程序的基础知识
当我们打开Get Help应用程序时，我们首先注意到的是它的简约设计。再加上自称为“微软虚拟代理("Microsoft Virtual Agent)”的雌雄同体的化身，让我们立刻想到了ELIZA，这是一个旨在模拟对话的计算机程序。(computer program)
尽管有外表，但虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)缺乏任何人类特征。虽然，根据微软(according to Microsoft)的说法，“微软的虚拟代理是一个支持聊天机器人，旨在帮助解决与 Windows 和其他产品相关的问题。这带来了一种对话式的方法来理解问题并提供最合适的解决方案("Microsoft's Virtual Agent is a support chat bot designed to help with issues related to Windows and other products. This brings a conversational approach to understanding problems and providing the most appropriate solution)，”它通常充当一种幻想，不太准确且超级礼貌的搜索引擎(search engine)，有时会推广Microsoft Store中的应用程序。它的大多数响应仅限于根据您插入的关键字进行松散的猜测。
在下面的屏幕截图中，我们尝试使用基本指令获取有关设置警报的说明。我们输入了“设置警报(Set an alarm)”。虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)提供了链接，我们选择了一个似乎可以解决我们问题的链接。
然后，我们获得了有关闹钟(Alarms & Clock)应用程序的简短教程，获得了一些有用的信息（例如如何访问该应用程序以及如何更改设备的睡眠设置以确保您不会错过闹钟），以及一些看似有点太多（如何调整我们的时区(time zone)）。总而言之，我们最终得到了正确的答案。
在提供它认为正确的答案后，虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)会询问您的问题是否已解决以及是否可以进一步帮助您。按是(Yes)，您可以插入一个新问题。
再次问同样的问题会产生不同的结果。这一次，我们被引导到微软商店(Microsoft Store)的一篇文章：一个叫闹钟(Alarm Clock)的应用程序，所以我们选择了否(No)。
结果是另一个链接到Microsoft Store中的另一个应用程序，称为Windows 闹钟和时钟(Windows Alarms & Clock)。然后我们被问到它是否解决了我们的问题。
Get Help应用程序会在您编写时提出建议，尽管它似乎会被不符合Microsoft推荐模式的句子混淆：“重置我的 Microsoft 帐户密码("Reset my Microsoft account password)。”下面我们尝试解释我们想要的内容，但建议已关闭。
基本标点符号似乎也极大地改变了机器人的想法。
成功使用此应用程序自动化部分的关键似乎是告诉虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)该做什么。但是，不要太基本，也不要问它问题，否则它的回答可能会令人费解，如下所示。
当我们试图让虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)讲笑话时，结果并不有趣，所以我们决定按下应用右上角的“重新开始”按钮。(Start over)
我们确认我们希望重新开始(Start over)并重新开始“聊天("chat)”。
但是，该机器人具有一些可取之处。如果您使用正确的关键字(right keyword)，虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)可以帮助您进行 Windows 10 更新。我们在键盘上输入了“更新”，("update,")然后是空格键(Spacebar)，然后选择了唯一可用的建议：“获取 Windows 的最新更新("Get the latest updates for Windows)。”
该机器人在大约 30-40 秒内检查了我们的Lenovo Yoga Book上的(Lenovo Yoga Book)Windows是否是最新的，它甚至向我们保证它仍在检查，以防我们失去耐心。
然后它让我们知道Windows不是最新的，并提供了有关如何手动检查更新的准确说明。但是，我们收到的其余答案已经过时，因为它反复建议我们启用自动更新，这现在是Windows 10的(Windows 10)默认功能(default feature)。
在第一次回答后，该应用程序不断在顶部显示“评价我们”(Rate Us)消息，感觉有点像是在拼命要求高五，但并不真正值得。
如何使用Windows 10的Get Help应用快速获得人工帮助
虽然其前身Contact Support用于缩小您需要帮助的问题范围，但Get Help应用程序会尝试在使用相同的方法并将您转介给人工代理之前为您的问题提供答案。“与人联系”("connect to a person")的一种方法是在询问您的问题是否已解决时继续选择“否(No)” ，直到您偶然发现“与人交谈”("Talk to a person")选项，然后单击或点击它。
如果您试图更快地联系到人，这会产生额外的步骤和点击或点击，并且一些用户可能根本不希望与虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)交互的麻烦。如果您（也）在客户支持(customer support)方面更喜欢人性化，最快的方法是在“获取帮助(Get Help)”聊天中输入“人”("human")，虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)会跳到询问您与您接下来与实际谈话相关的信息支持代理(support agent)。要开始提供该数据，请单击或点击箭头以“选择您的产品("Select your product)”。
从看似完整的Microsoft产品列表中选择产品。我们的计划是询问我们从虚拟代理(Virtual Agent)收到的有关启用自动更新的过时信息。我们选择了Windows，然后按下Next。
您现在需要选择您的问题(Select your issue)。单击或点击箭头。
这揭示了另一个列表。我们选择了设置(Setting up)选项来解决我们的问题，然后按下下一步(Next)按钮。
您现在终于到达一个页面，您可以在其中获得多个选项，所有这些都使您能够访问可能解决您问题的实际人员。
有四个选项：
- 向 Windows 顾问发送消息(Message a Windows Advisor)- 就我们所注意到的而言，提供最快的答案，这就是为什么我们在本文的下一部分详细介绍我们的体验。
- 安排通话(Schedule a call)- 打开更多字段以填写您的Country/region、电话号码(Phone Number)、可用日期(Date)和时间(Times available)，使您能够选择方便的时间(convenient time)与人交谈。我们的第一个可用时间是 7 小时后。
- 向社区提问(Ask the community)- 打开Microsoft Edge到Microsoft 论坛(Microsoft forums)，您可以在其中继续搜索答案或提出问题(Ask a question)。
- 回电(Call me back)- 打开更多字段以填写您的Country/region和电话号码(Phone Number)。我们第一次访问此页面时，“回电”(Call me back")支持已关闭，因此该选项显示为灰色（如上一个屏幕截图所示），但我们确实找到了何时重试。当我们返回时，等待时间(wait time)为 140 分钟（如下图所示）。
经过仔细考虑，我们决定第一个选项是最快的，我们选择了“Message a Windows Advisor ”。
我们使用我们的Microsoft 帐户(Microsoft account)登录。
输入密码或 PIN 后，您似乎在排队等候“Microsoft Windows 顾问("Microsoft Windows Advisor)”。现在我们不确定他们是否可以选择回答哪些问题，或者是否有人随机分配了我们的哦- 对问题的如此雄辩的描述：“人类("human)。”当您意识到您的有点令人遗憾的捷径可能是顶级顾问(top Advisor)看到的关于您的问题的第一件事（也可能是唯一一个）时，它会变得有点尴尬，但它根据我们的测试，仍然是达到此阶段的最快方法。🙂
“ Microsoft 虚拟代理”("Microsoft Virtual Agent")缺乏个性，“Microsoft Windows 顾问”("Microsoft Windows Advisors")无疑弥补了这一点，或者至少Darral Y.做到了，再次证明，在客户支持(customer support)方面，没有什么比得上人性化的了。
我们尽可能清楚地描述了我们在获取帮助(Get Help)说明后遇到的困难，他证实了我们的怀疑：默认情况下，Windows 10 更新是自动的。
谈话持续了五分钟，这完全是我的错，因为我在Lenovo Yoga Book上打字时很笨拙。在感谢Darral Y.出色的支持(excellent support)技能和允许发布我们的聊天内容后，我们转向“评价 Darral Y”。("Rate Darral Y.")页面底部的选项。我们最多给了五颗星，现在提供了写推荐(Write a testimonial)信和接受答案(Accept answer)的选项。
您编写的任何推荐都会发送到相应的顾问(Advisor)。在结束对话之前，选择接受答案会提示另一个确认。(accept answer)这也归功于顾问(Advisor)对您的帮助。
您现在可以选择提出新问题(ask a new question)。如果您有未解决的问题，请单击(Click)或点击它。
幸运的是，这会打开一个窗口，您可以使用该窗口直接联系“Microsoft Windows 顾问”("Microsoft Windows Advisor")。
我们后来还注意到，我们已经（实时）收到了一封来自我们诙谐的“Microsoft Windows 专家("Microsoft Windows expert)” Darral Y.的回复的电子邮件，其中包含允许我们重新访问整个对话的直接链接。
您如何看待“获取帮助”(Get Help)应用程序？
本指南绝不是完整的；我们试图展示一些我们在搜索普遍感兴趣的事物时遇到的例子。如果您遇到“获取帮助”(Get Help)应用程序可以做的其他很酷的事情，请不要犹豫，在下面的评论中分享它们。我们也非常感谢您对“Microsoft 虚拟代理”的意见。("Microsoft Virtual Agent.")我们是唯一觉得可以改进的人吗？让我们知道您的感受。
How to use the Get Help app in Windows 10 to contact Microsoft's support service
Part search engine, part spam bot, and part pоrtal for reaching customer ѕupport agentѕ, the Get Help app provides several ways, most of them successful, to get you answers to your tech-support questions. This article aims to show you how to launch and use the Get Help app in Windows 10, and what is the fastest way to reach a human support agent. There is a lot to go over, so let's get started:
How to open the Get Help app in Windows 10
The Get Help app comes preinstalled on Windows 10. To open it, you can enter "help" in your taskbar's search field, and then click or tap on Get Help.
Another way to open the app is from the Start Menu, by clicking or tapping on the Start button and then pressing on Get Help from the app list.
There is also a link to Get help at the bottom of every Settings page, under "Have a question?."
The basics about using the Get Help app
The first thing we noticed when we opened the Get Help app was its minimalistic design. That, together with the androgynous avatar introducing itself as the "Microsoft Virtual Agent," made us instantly think of ELIZA, a computer program designed to simulate conversation.
In spite of appearances, the Virtual Agent lacks any human traits. Although, according to Microsoft, "Microsoft's Virtual Agent is a support chat bot designed to help with issues related to Windows and other products. This brings a conversational approach to understanding problems and providing the most appropriate solution," it generally acts as a fancy, less accurate, and super-polite search engine, that sometimes promotes apps from the Microsoft Store. Most of its responses are limited to guesses based loosely on the keywords you inserted.
In the screenshot below we tried to get instructions on setting an alarm by using a basic instruction. We typed in "Set an alarm." The Virtual Agent provided links, and we chose the one that seemed to be addressing our issue.
We were then provided a brief tutorial about the Alarms & Clock app, getting both some useful information (like how to access the app and how to change the device's sleep settings to ensure you don't miss your alarm), and some instructions that seemed a bit too much (how to adjust our time zone). All in all, we got the correct answer in the end.
After providing what it believes to be the correct answer, the Virtual Agent asks if your problem was solved and whether it can further assist you. Press Yes and you can insert a new question.
Asking the same question again can yield different results. This time, we were guided towards an article from the Microsoft Store: an app called Alarm Clock, so we chose No.
The result was one more link to another app in the Microsoft Store, called Windows Alarms & Clock. We were then asked if it solved our problem.
The Get Help app makes suggestions as you write, although it seems to be confused by sentences not following the pattern recommended by Microsoft: "Reset my Microsoft account password." Below we tried explaining what we want, and the suggestions were off.
Basic punctuation also seems to change the bot's mind drastically.
The key to successfully use the automated part of this app appears to be telling the Virtual Agent what to do. Don't get too basic, however, and do not ask it questions, or its responses can get baffling, as seen below.
When we tried to get the Virtual Agent to tell a joke, the results weren't fun, so we decided to press the Start over button in the upper-right corner of the app.
We confirmed our wish to Start over and restart the "chat."
However, the bot has some redeeming qualities. If you use the right keyword(s), the Virtual Agent can help you with your Windows 10 updates. We typed in "update," followed by Spacebar on our keyboard, then selected the only available suggestion: "Get the latest updates for Windows."
The bot checked if Windows is up to date on our Lenovo Yoga Book for about 30-40 seconds, and it even assured us that it is still checking, in case we were losing our patience.
It then let us know that Windows was not up to date, and it provided accurate instructions on how to check for updates manually. However, the rest of the answer we received was out of date, as it repeatedly suggested we enable automatic updates, which are now a default feature of Windows 10.
After its first answer, the app constantly displays the Rate Us message at the top, and it feels a bit like it's desperately asking for a high-five, while not really being worthy of one.
How to get human help fast with Windows 10's Get Help app
While its predecessor, Contact Support, was used to narrow down the issue you needed help with, the Get Help app tries to provide answers to your questions, before using the same approach and referring you to a human agent. One way to "connect to a person" is to keep selecting No when asked if your issue was solved until you stumble upon the "Talk to a person" option, and then click or tap on it.
If you are trying to reach a human faster, this creates additional steps and clicks or taps, and some users may not want the trouble of interacting with the Virtual Agent at all. If you (also) prefer a human touch when it comes to your customer support, the fastest way is to type in "human" in the Get Help chat, and the Virtual Agent skips to asking you information relevant to your following talk with an actual support agent. To start providing that data, click or tap the arrow to "Select your product."
Select the product from what seems to be a complete list of Microsoft products. Our plan was to ask about the outdated information we received from the Virtual Agent about enabling automatic updates. We selected Windows and then pressed Next.
You are now required to Select your issue. Click or tap the arrow.
This reveals another list. We selected the Setting up option as a good fit for our issue, and we pressed the Next button.
You now finally reach a page where you get several options, all enabling you access to actual people who may solve your issue.
There are four options:
- Message a Windows Advisor - provides an answer the fastest, as far as we noticed, which is why we detail our experience with it in the next part of this article.
- Schedule a call - opens further fields to fill in with your Country/region, Phone Number, the Date and the Times available, enabling you to choose a convenient time to speak to a person. The first available time for us was 7 hours away.
- Ask the community - opens Microsoft Edge to the Microsoft forums, where you can continue to search for an answer or Ask a question.
- Call me back - opens further fields to fill in with your Country/region and Phone Number. The first time we reached this page, the "Call me back" support was closed, so that option was greyed out (as seen in the previous screenshot) but we did find out when to try again. When we returned, the wait time was 140 minutes (as seen in the next screenshot).
After careful consideration, we decided that the first option was the fastest, and we chose to "Message a Windows Advisor."
We signed in with our Microsoft account.
After inserting your password or your PIN, you appear to be in some sort of queue, waiting for a "Microsoft Windows Advisor." Now we are not sure if they get to choose which issues to answer, or if someone got randomly assigned our oh-so-eloquent description of the problem: "human." Turns out it can get a little awkward when you realize that your somewhat-regrettable shortcut might be the first (and possibly only) thing a top Advisor sees about your issue, but it is still the fastest way to reach this stage according to our testing. 🙂
What the "Microsoft Virtual Agent" lacks in personality, "Microsoft Windows Advisors" make up for in spades, or at least Darral Y. did, proving once more that, when it comes to customer support, there is nothing like the human touch.
We described, as clearly as possible, the difficulties we encountered following the Get Help instructions, and he confirmed our suspicions: Windows 10 updates are by default automatic.
The conversation lasted over five minutes and that was entirely my fault, because I am pretty clumsy when typing on my Lenovo Yoga Book. After thanking Darral Y. for both his excellent support skills and his permission to post our chat, we turned to the "Rate Darral Y." option at the bottom of the page. We rated a maximum of five stars and were now offered the options to Write a testimonial and Accept answer.
Any testimonial you write gets sent to the corresponding Advisor. Choosing to accept answer prompts another confirmation, before closing your conversation. This also credits the Advisor for helping you.
You now get the option to ask a new question. Click or tap on it if you have unsolved issues.
Luckily, this opens a window that you can use to contact a "Microsoft Windows Advisor" directly.
We also noticed later on that we had received (in real time) an email for every reply received from Darral Y., our witty "Microsoft Windows expert," with a direct link allowing us to revisit the entire conversation.
How do you feel about the Get Help app?
This guide is in no way complete; we tried to show some examples we came across while searching for things of general interest. If you come across other cool things the Get Help app can do, please do not hesitate to share them in the comments below. We would also appreciate your opinion about the "Microsoft Virtual Agent." Are we the only ones who feel it could be improved? Let us know how you feel.
