LO 1: Analyze client support issues

Client support issues

Checking problems logged by the client
Client support issues:
You need to be aware of important issues that might arise from individual help desk calls.

Priority of calls

Some calls will be allocated a high priority, as they involve critical IT functions which cannot be carried out
until the problem is resolved. Extra resources may have to be allocated to high priority calls, and the
progress of these call needs to be closely monitored.

Warrantees

Hardware equipment will often be covered by warranty. In this case the vendor responsible for the warranty
repairs can be contacted. In the case of failed hardware, it is important for you to find out the timeframe for
repairs. This is particularly important when hardware needs to be ordered from a vendor and delays may
occur. It may be necessary to consider temporary measures so that clients affected can perform their
required tasks. In the case of software that has to be ordered, the time frame involved also needs to be
ascertained.

Training

If training is needed, you will need to determine when can it be arranged. Some training is straightforward
and can be provided in the short term, if suitable people are available to deliver the training. If more
complex training is needed, delays may occur. Many organisations now make use of online learning. You will
need to familiarise yourself with any online learning products available in your organisation.

Documentation

It is important to document the issues you have found relating to the support issues raised by the client. You
may be part of a large team, any of who may have to deal with the problem at some stage. It is
unprofessional and a source of embarrassment when team members cannot easily inform the client of the
status of their calls. Even if you are solely responsible for client support, documentation is superior to relying
on your memory for details of client problems.

Checking problems logged by the client

Contacting the client
If you are the support person who has been contacted by the help desk, you need to contact the client soon
after receiving their request from the help desk. You’ll also need to investigate and document the issues
raised by the client.
The contact with the client may be just letting the client know that you’re on the way to see them at their
workstation. As mentioned previously, non-complex client problems can be resolved quickly. The solution
may be as simple as providing a short set of instructions, which the client can follow to fix their problem.
At other times, you may need to contact the client for other reasons, including the following situations:
 If the problem is more complex, and likely to take time to resolve, the client needs to be informed of
this.
  You want to clarify with the client exactly what their needs are. To do that effectively, you’ll need
good communication skills, including skills in active listening and reflective questioning.
 You cannot meet the initial target completion date because of other competing deadlines and you
want to re-negotiate the priority (or the completion date) with the client. Successful changes to
completion dates come about through successful negotiations. This is the result of building up good
client relations.
It is important for you to keep the client informed about the progress of their call. Frustration over delays in
solving IT problems can be a major cause of concern to people. This frustration can be made worse by poor
communication from IT support staff. As a result of your investigations, you should be able to inform the
client about the nature of the solution. You should also be able to tell the client how long it will take to
resolve the problem.
Clients can often make requests which they perceive as simple, but which are not easily carried out by IT
support staff, as they involve excessive cost, or will result in a breach of organisational guidelines. In these
circumstances, you will need to be able to explain to the client why it is not possible to carry out their
requests. You should be able to suggest alternative actions, which will allow the client to perform the same
tasks.

Information Sheet 2 Investigating and document support issue

Client support roles

Information technology is an integral part of the operation of modern organisations. Users of information
technology need timely, high-quality support. These readings cover some of the skills and knowledge that
you will need in order to provide that support. In addition to sound technical skills, IT support staff should
have a range of skills that improve their ability to successfully provide IT services to their clients.
The circumstances in which you are required to provide advice on IT problems will depend on the nature of
your organisation. Small organisations often do not have IT technical staff. They may rely on local IT
businesses to provide support, or take out a contract with a company which provides IT support services. A
growing area of IT is businesses specifically set up to provide IT support to organisations. These companies
provide employment opportunities for individuals with the right skills and knowledge.
Many medium and large organisations provide a centralised help desk support service. Clients with IT
problems report these to the help desk. Support is typically provided for areas such as hardware and
software faults, networking problems (including login problems), and email and Internet problems. Help
desks will often provide additional services to those listed here, depending on the needs of the organisation.
They often provide training for clients as well. This can be performed in-house, or external training providers
can be called in.

First level support

Clients typically contact the help desk by phone or email. Help desk operators log the calls and enter them
into a centralised database program. There are many commercially available programs which have been
designed specifically for IT help desk operations. In many organisations, help desk operators attempt to fix
straightforward problems. This is known as first level support. In some organisations, operators simply log
calls, which are then allocated to the appropriate technical staff. In the case of organisations with only a few
employees, IT problems may be handled by an employee who combines support duties with other functions.
The proportion of problems that can be handled at the first point of contact will depend on the skill and
training of the help desk staff. As a large proportion of calls to any help desk are trivial problems, first line
support can ensure that the time of the specialists in the various skill groups is not wasted and is only used
when there is a problem that requires their attention.
Reflection

Can you think of some problems that could be solved directly over the phone without escalating the call to
an IT specialist?

Feedback

You could come up with many answers here. Here are some suggestions:
 deleting a job from a network printer
 saving a file to disk
 locating a file
 changing the screen brightness/contrast/resolution
 changing the name of a file
 Resetting user logon (user has forgotten password).

Responding to help desk calls

In organisations which make use of specialised help desk software, technical staff usually access logged calls
through the centralised database. Alternatively call details can be sent to the email account of the technical
staff member who will be responsible for resolving the call. Timely response to help desk calls is important,
given the importance of IT to most organisations. Calls are often prioritised, according to the severity of the
problem, and the impact on the normal operation of the organisation.
As well as applying a suitable priority level, escalationprocedures must also be followed.
It is vital that there are adequate tracking mechanisms to make sure that the client’s problem has been
resolved. Documentation of all stages is therefore very important when working in this role.
Finally, when it has been determined that the problem has been resolved, the call/request can be closed off.
Apart from dealing with these day-to-day requests, a client support officer is generally involved in analysing
a range of support issues. For example, this may involve:
1 identifying potential problems that could affect users
2 working on eliminating problems before they affect users
3 identifying the root causes of recurring problems (from logged calls).
It is common for organisations to provide service level agreements to clients, which guarantee that calls will
be dealt with in a specified time frame. Modern help desk software can provide managers with the tools to
monitor the time taken to answer and resolve help desk calls.

Recording details of a client’s request

If you are on the help desk and a client rings in with a request, what details do you ask them to provide? In
larger organisations, particularly there is usually specialist software in which these calls are recorded.
Below is a sample of a typical data entry form for recording details of client requests. Examine the type of
information you need to record.

Sample of a typical data entry form

Data required Entry

Log number:
 Help Desk Operator’s name:

Date and time of client request:

Client’s name:

Client’s contact details:

Section and location:

Problem:

Date and time problem

occurred:

Computer/peripheral ID:

Impact of the problem on

operations:

First line support provided (if

any):

Escalate to support staff?

Yes/No

Support staff request details:

Date and time reported:

Name of support staff:

Practice using the form

You may have logged a call to a help desk yourself in the past. Try to recall your experience and think about
what information you would include in the above form. If you don’t have a real example, think of a typical
problem a client may have. If you wish, print the form and fill in the details.

Checking the help desk database

When a problem has been reported, it is useful to check help desk logs to see if similar problems have been
reported previously. There are a number of reasons for this:
1 Many organisations have large numbers of identical computer systems. Repeated instances of hardware
failure in these systems can indicate a fault which will progressively occur in many more systems. The
hardware vendor can be contacted to avoid large-scale disruption to operation.
2 Repeated calls for similar problems that relate to usage, rather than hardware failure, can indicate the
need for specific training. An example of this could be how to change a client password.
3 Many organisations build up a knowledge base, where solutions to previous problems are detailed. Help
desk staff can check the knowledge base prior to escalating the problem. This has the potential to
greatly improve the time taken to resolve common problems, and can be particularly useful for new
help desk staff. As well, this ensures that knowledge built up over time is not lost as individual help desk
stafe move on.
4 Even if you are employed by an organisation which does not have many employees, you should develop
a system for recording calls for support from clients. This will avoid issues where calls are not followed
up, and will also provide an audit trail showing the nature and complexity of your workload.
Escalating a call
A call remains open until the client is completely satisfied that the problem has been solved.
If a help desk operator cannot immediately solve a problem, it will be passed to a member of the technical
support staff. For example, you may receive requests from clients that:
 are too complex or outside your expertise
 require a software upgrade to be done by a support officer
 require a system modification that would need to be done by an analyst/programmer
 Require a change to the database requiring the skills of the database administrator
In such cases, the help desk staff will:
 apply a priority rating to the call
 escalate the call to an appropriate support person
 provide the client with a reference number for the job, and an idea of when the problem will be
solved, based on the initial priority
 record the referral details.
All open calls must be monitored and reviewed until they are closed. Often the initial priority rating has to be
revised.

Call escalation procedures

Call escalation procedures are defined by each company depending on such things as size and organisational
guidelines, but for call escalation to be effective, you will need well-trained and adequate support staff who:
 respond quickly to calls
 know when to escalate a call to an IT specialist
 know which IT specialist to escalate the call to
 Coordinate follow-up with the user.

Obtaining approval
Obtaining approval might occur in a number of ways. It might be a verbal approval to go ahead with work
based on the confirmation document. As mentioned earlier, you should never rely on a verbal approval.
Memories of events can differ very much and lead to confusion and conflict later.
One way of obtaining approval is to have the client provide a written purchase order for the work.
Alternatively, the client might write a letter outlining their agreement to your requirements document,
asking you to go ahead with the work.
Any approval document that is produced should include agreement on:
1 the standard of the goods or services to be provided
2 the price of the goods or services to be provided
3 the timelines for the project (either broken down into timelines for specific tasks or for the entire
project)
4 any ongoing or follow up services required or foreseen.
Remember, a person’s signature is generally required for an agreement to be legally binding. You should
ensure that all documents are signed by an authorised person from your client’s organisation before you
commence any work.
 Information Sheet 3 Notifying investigation and advice provision

Notifying investigation and Documenting client feedback

The Help Desk Operator has given you a client’s request to attend to. The Help Desk Operator had filled in a
few general details about the client request. It wasn’t possible to resolve the problem by telephone, so you
need to investigate the problem further and record more details. You’ll need to contact the client to find out
more.
You’ve seen an example of the initial details recorded at the help desk. The following is a sample of a form
that a support person might use to record further information.

Resolving client’s problems

Where possible, client’s problems should be resolved with minimum disruption to their work.
The time taken to resolve the problem may mean that IT functions which are important to the organisation
will not be able to be carried out if equipment is not operational. In this case, some alternatives need to be
considered, to allow the affected client to carry out their tasks.
Many organisations provide support remotely. Software can be installed by support staff using the
organisation’s network. You may need to organise a suitable time for this to happen, to minimise disruption
to the client.
If warranty repairs are to be performed a staff member may have to be present to provide access to the IT
equipment to be repaired. You will have to make sure that someone will be available at this time. This will
avoid delays and extra charges from vendors.
If training is to be provided, you will need to organise a suitable time. This is particularly important when
clients need to attend group training sessions, which involve taking them away from their normal duties for
extended periods of time.

LO 2: Providing advice on software, hardware or network

Confirm requirements with client

Information Sheet 1
Software, Hardware or Network
Do you need to educate busy managers or your business partners about key concepts
in software requirements engineering and help them understand why solid
requirements are fundamental to project success? “Software Requirements: An
Executive Overview” provides the fundamentals of software requirements in an
affordable, efficient course. You or your managers will be able to quickly understand
the key elements of requirements without losing valuable time or money.

This course consists of the following four modules:

 Introduction to Requirements Engineering

 Business Impact or Better Requirements on Projects
 Good Practice Summaries
 Closing Thoughts

This course prepares you to successfully understand and determine how software
requirements should be used for your business. Upon completion of this course, you will
be able to:

 List types of software requirements

 Name 10 characteristics of high-quality requirements
 Describe the business benefits of high-quality requirements
 Assess the potential return on investment from better requirements practices
 Name five sub domains of requirements engineering
Name several "good practices" for requirements elicitation, analysis, specification,
validation, and management

Effective peer reviews for all types of work products are essential if software
development organizations are to reduce their cost of producing software. Formal
inspections of requirements specifications, designs, source code, project plans,
and other work products are a proven means for finding errors and improving the
quality of software products. By knowing what makes a successful inspection and
peer review process, you reduce time and cost of rework.

In this course, you will acquire the skills to effectively apply both inspections and
several types of less formal reviews to software products. Tied with the technical
aspects of inspection and peer review are the interpersonal and social aspects -
the soft side - of peer reviews. By understanding and using both the technical and
social elements of inspections and reviews, you will increase the success and
ability of your software products.

Organizational guidelines
Organisational guidelines are the policies or procedures that are used to correctly perform a specific activity
or operation within an organisation. Many small organisations do not have a formal set of guidelines, but
larger companies and government organisations do.
Organisations often have a set of standards which are required to be adhered to when it comes to purchasing
equipment. Standards allow organisations to:
 Ensure that all equipment used within the organisation meets satisfactory levels of operation.
 Ensure that the equipment used is compatible with other equipment in use.
 Ensure that support staff are trained to service and maintain the equipment in use.
 Budget for and plan the timely upgrade of equipment.
Purchasing items
Organisational guidelines for purchasing will vary from one organisation to another. You should always check
with your immediate supervisor whether such a policy exists within the organisation. This policy may specify
the following:
 verification of funds available for purchasing an item
 verification of the necessity to purchase an item
 upper limit of amount of money permitted to be spent on a single purchase
 inclusion of at least two quotations for a particular item
 list of recommended or approved brands or suppliers of equipment
 contracts — your organisation may have a contract with a supplier and such contracts often include
discounts and service agreements.

Identifying client requirements — an overview

Whether you provide a service to internal or external clients, it is worth remembering and following the
fundamental principle of client service:
If your service responds to clients needs and makes your client feel valued, you and your organisation will
build and maintain a strong reputation.
The process of identifying and documenting client requirements can take many forms. It can be an informal
process where you are asked to provide help for a friend selecting a new printer. In a business environment it
is usually a more formal process, where your supervisor assigns you the task of working with a client group to
select or develop new computer resources.
The general steps to follow in identifying clients’ needs are summarised below. Note: not all these steps are
performed every time.
1 Preparation
2 Understand the business goals. This would include knowing if any budget is applicable or if there are
there plans for future expansion.
3 Understand the organisational guidelines. Ask questions to determine what organisational guidelines are
to be adhered to.
4 Define the client’s requirements clearly. This will be done in conjunction with the next two steps and can
involve interviewing, preparation of questionnaires or direct observation. Your questioning skills are very
important at this stage and are discussed in detail in the next section.
5 Identify the roles of stakeholders — those people who have an interest in identifying the requirements.
This can include end-users or customers, managers and other technical staff.
6 Identify sources of information
7 Investigation
8 Develop an understanding of the existing system
9 Investigate alternatives to the existing system
10 Document the client requirements.
There is also additional information that you’ll need from the outset of the job or project. You may need to
provide some of this information to the client if it is part of your organisation’s policies. For example, your
organisation may have a policy for charging predetermined extra fees and other charges for certain services
outside of the service requested by the client. This information will be discussed in more detail when we look
later at ‘information you and your client need to agree to’. For now, it includes information such as:
 extra costs
 scope of the job
 specifications
  agreement or contract
 changing of the brief
 options
 possibilities
 recommendations
 process
 consultation with the client
 contact person
 timelines
 job guarantee.

Skills required for determining and analyzing client

requirements
Below are some key skills you need when determining and analysing client requirements.
 active listening strategies
 sort and sift information received from the client
 effective questioning skills
 direct observation
 research a range of possibilities
 communicate regularly with the client.
You should already have had practice at listening and questioning techniques. We’ll quickly review these
techniques here.

LO 3 - Obtaining client feedback

Information Sheet 1 Obtaining client feedback and make
changes
There are a number of reasons why it is important for you to obtain client feedback. Is the solution you are
proposing workable? Clients may be aware of issues which you have not considered, which may mean that
your suggested solution will not be practical. These can be many and varied, but could include budgetary
constraints, specific needs of clients such as clients with a disability, disruption of client access to IT systems,
or loss of client data.

What sort of questions will you ask your client?

Reflection

Let’s say you are contacting a client for the first time as a support person. You have exchanged some initial
polite conversation. What are some of the general types of questions that you would ask the client when
trying to work out the source of a problem?

Feedback

There are almost endless possibilities. However, some common questions might be:
  What are the main tasks that you use your computer for?
 What operating system is installed on the computer?
 What main software do you use?
 Do you know how much memory your computer has?
 Is the computer connected to a network?
 What would you like to do on your computer that you cannot do now?

Listening to the client

When you’re dealing with clients and colleagues, it’s vital that you listen carefully and respond
appropriately. To do this, people often use the active listeningtechnique.
Active listening occurs when you focus on the message you’re receiving from the other person, without
thinking about what you want to say next. Your response to the sender is one that paraphrases what you’ve
heard. That is, you summarise what you’ve heard, and say it back to the sender in your words. This ensures
that you have understood the idea the sender wants to give you.
You can often tell if someone is really listening to you, if they are:
 smiling
 nodding
 staying silent
 making eye contact
 using a friendly and interested tone of voice
 encouraging you to continue
 asking open questions
 reflecting how you (the speaker) are feeling.
 leaning towards you (the speaker).

Asking reflective questions

As well as using active listening, you should be using reflective questioning. Here is an example:
Ali: I came back from holidays two days ago and just haven’t been able to send or receive messages. I know I
typed in my correct password.
Amy: So you have not been able to use your email for two days now?
A reflective question allows the other person to correct and clarify any misunderstandings you may have
about what is being said. If you echo back what a client has told you, the client then has a chance to either
agree with you, or point out things you have missed or misunderstood.