Alerting, diagnosing, and transmitting computer issues to a technical resource in response to a dedicated physical button or trigger

A system comprising:

• a computing device;
• a dedicated physical button connected to the computing device;
• and
• a remote server connected to the computing device over a network, the computing device configured to
• monitor and collect real-time computer usage data and system diagnostic data from the computing device during use by an end user prior to occurrence of an issue, the real-time computer usage data including events comprising of user input detected by an operating system of the computing device,
• examine each event of the real-time computer usage data to determine whether the event is significant,
• upon determining that an event is significant, take a screenshot of at least one display monitor of the computing device and storing the screenshot in a memory of the computing device along with event data associated with the significant event,
• detect a press of the dedicated physical button by the end user indicating the issue has occurred on the computing device,
• upon detecting the press of the dedicated physical button, collect additional information regarding the issue from the end user by displaying a graphical user interface on a display of the computing device requesting entry of the additional information by the end user,
• collect additional system diagnostic data about the computing device at a time of occurrence of the issue by executing concurrently on the computing device a plurality of additional data collection tasks from a group of data collection tasks comprising taking current screenshots of all displays connected to the computing device, collecting information regarding all processes running on the computing device, collecting information regarding a hardware state of the computing device, collecting information regarding a network connection of the computing device, checking a system uptime of the computing device, and collecting a list of recorded events on the computing device,
• automatically generate an annotated slideshow of significant event screenshots from the screenshots and event data associated with the significant events stored in the memory, and
• upon completion of the execution of a last of the plurality of data collection tasks, transmit the collected real-time computer usage data, additional information, and additional system diagnostic data along with the generated annotated slideshow of significant event screenshots to the remote server to be used in creation of a ticket in a ticketing system.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

• monitor and collect real-time computer usage data and system diagnostic data from the computing device during use by an end user prior to occurrence of an issue, the real-time computer usage data including events comprising of user input detected by an operating system of the computing device,
• examine each event of the real-time computer usage data to determine whether the event is significant,
• upon determining that an event is significant, taking a screenshot of all display monitors of the computing device and storing the screenshot in a memory of the computing device along with event data associated with the significant event,
• detect a press of a dedicated physical button connected to the computing device by a user of the computing device indicating an issue has occurred on the computing device;
• upon detecting the press of the dedicated physical button, collect information regarding the issue from the user through a graphical user interface (“GUI”) displayed on a display of the computing device;
• collect additional system diagnostic data about the computing device at a time of occurrence of the issue by executing concurrently on the computing device a plurality of additional data collection tasks from a group of data collection tasks comprising taking current screenshots of all displays connected to the computing device, collecting information regarding all processes running on the computing device, collecting information regarding a hardware state of the computing device, collecting information regarding a network connection of the computing device, checking a system uptime of the computing device, and collecting a list of recorded events on the computing device;
• upon completion of the execution of a last of the plurality of data collection tasks, curate the collected real-time computer usage data and system diagnostic data, information regarding the issue, and additional system diagnostic data in regard to the issue, curating the real-time computer usage data including automatically generating an annotated slideshow of significant event screenshots from the screenshots and event data associated with the significant events stored in the memory;
• and
• forward the curated information and system diagnostic data to a technical resource for resolution of the issue.