BJ87 DESCRIBE THE KEY ELEMENTS OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT

  1. Description of the Evaluation
  2. Competency Elements
  3. Seminar

A. Description of the Evaluation

It is important to understand and master the basic elements that make up technical support, including: the roles and responsibilities of a Service Desk, technology and tools used, metrics, service level agreements (SLAs) and the escalation process. The components of technical support are keys to improving business practices and ensuring a satisfied customer.

This course will also examine ethical issues and trends in technical support. The key skill sets that a candidate needs to demonstrate within a professional technical support environment include: business skills, technical skills, soft skills and self-management skills. Business skills require industry knowledge (knowledge of your specific field, such as banking) and service industry awareness (ie, understanding the needs of a customer and how to manage their expectations. Technical skills require a strong knowledge of hardware and software aspects of the operation. Soft skills require that the candidate develop ‘people skills’ that include active listening and problem resolution practices. Self-management skills require that a candidate exhibit strong organizational and time-management practices to relate both to the customer and colleagues. Collectively, the candidate needs to demonstrate a refined knowledge and awareness of these important business practices to succeed within a professional technical support environment.

Please note that this competency contains nine elements to be evaluated. The candidate must pass each element with a grade of ≥60%.

The format of the evaluation will consist of knowledge questions and workplace scenarios that evaluate proper technical support skills. The candidate’s knowledge of this environment will also be evaluated by a written evaluation.

Download Preparation Guide for BJ87.

B. Competency Elements

1. Understand the various skill sets required of a technical support specialist

Evaluation Criteria

  • Communicate the components of a successful service desk environment.
  • Describe the main functions of a service desk environment in various industries.
2. Differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of the Service Desk and the client

Evaluation Criteria

  • Communicate responsibilities of an efficient service desk environment.
  • Define the notion of a ‘support center concept’ in a service desk Environment.
  • Accurately communicate the responsibilities of the end user.
 

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7. Able to work within Service Level Agreement (SLA) guidelines

Evaluation Criteria

  • Describe team Service Level Agreement examples and their importance for a Service desk:
    • Abandon rate percentage
    • Average speed of answer (ASA)
    • Average wait time
    • Average call duration
    • Idle state
    • Wrap-up mode
    • Response time
    • First call resolution rate percentage
    • Level one resolution rate percentage
    • Customer satisfaction surveys percentage
    • Incidents resolved within target time percentage
    • Reopened %
  • Communicate the importance of adhering to Service Level Agreements in current business practices.

Study Material

  • Effective Service Desk and Incident Management Metrics.
8. Follow Escalation Procedures

Evaluation Criteria

  • Describe the importance of the escalation process in a help desk environment.
  • Explain the notion of severity and priority in the escalation process.
  • Communicate concrete examples of the escalation process from the candidate’s own work environment.
9. Able to perform within specific guidelines (metrics) set by the service desk

Evaluation Criteria

  • Define the following metrics:
    • Average call duration
    • Wrap-up time
    • Availability state
    • Reopen percentage
    • Resolution percentage
  • Explain the importance of individual metrics in an IT environment.

C. Seminar

PowerPoint Presentation

Download the presentation of the seminar.