What is your name?
Joff Dyer
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Joff, but most of the clients probably know me as Josh. I'm from Wales but moved to Sheffield with my wife and my Dog early 2019 and joined DentalIT shortly after.
What's your day-to-day like at Dental IT?
Like most of us on the Engineering team the typical day involves answering calls and helping out where we can. There can be a lot of driving involved for when we need to go to site, but its always nice to meet our clients and put some faces to the people we speak to over the phone.
What makes working in the dental industry rewarding?
My wife works in the Dental industry as a Dental Therapist, so for me it's the fact that I'm able to communicate with her about her work on a meaningful level.
What makes working in the dental industry challenging?
A lot of the software and equipment is very specialist and often times our clients will be more familiar with it than we are. It can be a bit like doing a puzzle you've never seen at times.
What has been the highlight during your time at Dental IT?
Probably the time they bought me an electric skateboard, I still don't fully believe it! (Thank you Liam!)
What’s the best thing about working at Dental IT?
The Team! We all get along well and help each other out where we can.
How has COVID-19 affected your work?
The biggest change has been the introduction of working from home. Thankfully when working in IT that's not too big of a hurdle, all you need is a decent computer and a steady internet connection.
Who is your favourite customer and why?
Gary, honestly the nicest person I've met and never fails to make you smile.
What has been the hardest thing to learn in your role?
When to escalate an issue and ask for help. Definitely enjoy a challenge but can at times mean I spend too long on an issue where someone else may be able to help out.
What do you like about working in Sheffield and Hathersage?
The best bit about working in the offices is seeing the rest of the team. Working from home is great, but its always nice to see people and catch up.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
My favourite thing to do is heading out with my wife and dog and exploring somewhere new, preferably with a good coffee.
What's the most exciting technology you work with?
I'm a big fan of the Synology NAS' we use for backups, I think they're a great bit of kit that is often overlooked.
What's the funniest query/problem you have had on the helpdesk?
I've had someone phone about a PC that wouldn't turn on, the issue is it wasn't plugged in. I've also had someone phone asking if I can setup their daughters laptop for uni.
What's the hardest problem you have had to work on?
One of our customers has a very bespoke bit of software they had custom made a long time ago. When it stopped working they were unable to contact the guy that had developed it originally. Anyway, after a couple of days and a few videos on the code that was used I managed to get it up and running again. I've not heard back since so I assume it still works.
What's the longest night you have ever worked and why?
It's got to be those where we need to do a full site upgrade/migration in one night, effectively 2 days work in half the time. I think the most recent one we did we didn't get back to the hotel until gone 4am.
And finally, tell us something about you that we might not know?
Growing up I was home-schooled in the heart of Wales on a small holding where my best friends where my Dog and a Goose. So its a miracle I have any social skills at all really!
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