Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fourth Edition
Chapter 1
Introduction to Service Desk
Concepts
Chapter 1
Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
The evolution of technical support
The evolution of the service desk within a
technical support department
The components of a successful service desk
Why customer service is the bottom line for
service desks
Chapter 1
Introduction
Technology dependence results in an enormous
challenge: supporting technology users
The service desk provides that support
Service desk a single point of contact within a
company for managing customer incidents and
service requests
Support demand + a shortage of information
technology (IT) professionals = tremendous
career opportunity in the field of customer
service and technical support
Chapter 1
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Figure 1-2
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Figure 1-2
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Figure 1-3
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Mobile computing
Cloud computing
Bring your own device (BYOD)
Desktop virtualization
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The telephone
Voice mail
E-mail
Web-based options such as self-help and chat
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Components of a Successful
Service Desk
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People
Processes
Technology
Information
Figure 1-4
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People
The first and most important component
The staff and structure put in place within a company or
department to support customers by performing processes
Part of a multi-level support structure
Service desk level one or tier one the initial point of
contact for customers when they have an incident or service
request
Level one attempts to handle as many contacts or questions,
incidents, and service requests as possible to ensure
Economical use of a companys resources
Customer satisfaction as solutions are delivered more quickly
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People
Service desk team must promote and enforce privacy,
security, and computer usage policies
Ethics the rules and standards that govern the
conduct of a person or group of people
Such rules and standards dictate, or provide guidance,
about what is considered right and wrong behavior
Ethical behavior conduct that conforms to generally
accepted or stated principles of right and wrong
A department or companys policies dictate what is right
and wrong behavior
Governance ensures that the policies and processes
that drive right and wrong behavior are put in place and
are correctly followed
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People
Service desks must continually align themselves with
Business goals
Policies aimed at gaining and keeping customer loyalty
Business skills
Technical skills
Soft skills
Self-management skills
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Processes
The next important component of a successful
service desk
Processes determine the procedures people follow
relative to their specific area of the business
Process a collection of interrelated work activities
that take a set of specific inputs and produce a set
of specific outputs that are of value to a customer
Procedure a step-by-step, detailed set of
instructions that describes how to perform the tasks
in a process
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Processes
Common service desk processes (discussed in Chapter 4)
include
Incident management
Request fulfillment
Access management
Service level management
Chapter 1
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Technology
The third integrated component
The tools and systems people use to do their work
Includes the data collection systems, monitoring
systems, and reporting mechanisms that employees
and managers use to perform processes
Successful service desks use technology to capture,
store, and deliver the information needed to satisfy
the needs of both its customers and the company
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Technology
Common service desk tools (discussed in Chapter 5) include:
Chapter 1
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Information
The fourth integrated component is information data that is
organized in a meaningful way
People need information to do their work
Management needs information to control, measure, and
continually improve processes
Tools and technology are useless if they do not provide and
produce meaningful information
The data people collect becomes information that is used to
Track outstanding incidents and service requests
Measure individuals performance, the overall performance of
the service desk, and customer satisfaction
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Customer Service
The Bottom Line
High-quality customer service is the goal of every
customer-oriented company or department
Customer service ensuring customers receive
maximum value for the products or services they
purchase
Value the perceived worth, usefulness, or
importance of a product or service to the customer
Customers definitions of value are influenced by
every service encounter they experience
Every contact a customer has with a service desk is
an opportunity for the company to enhance its
customer service image
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Customer Service
The Bottom Line
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Customer Service
The Bottom Line
Companies that provide world class customer service
work diligently to determine what services are important
to their customers and how customers expect services to
be delivered
These companies are gaining market share and
increasing the size of their client base by delivering
superior customer service and support before and after
the customer purchases or uses a product
Customers increasingly use customer service to
differentiate companies and products, leading to an everincreasing demand for quality service
Establishing a responsive, competent service desk is no
longer an option; it is a critical factor for success
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Summary
A vastly increased dependence on computing
technology has created a tremendous demand for
technical support
A well thought-out and properly implemented service
desk provides a primary mechanism for measuring
and managing the delivery of technical and
customer support services to customers
People, processes, technology, and information are
the tightly integrated components that contribute to
the success of a service desk
High-quality customer service is the goal of every
customer-oriented company or department
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
Different types of
customer service and
support organizations
Components of a service
desk mission
Role and operation of
internal service desks
Role and operation of
external service desks
How size influences a
service desks operation
Call centers
Contact centers
Help desks
Service desks
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Cons
Can be gratifying to
people who are
Tend to be peopledependent
Highly motivated
Organized
Capable of managing stress
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Cons
May lack the discipline
that a larger work
force needs
Or, may be extremely
performance oriented
Can be stressful
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Centrally Decentralized
Service Desks
Often used by large companies
Combines a single, central service desk with multiple,
specialized service desks
Customers contact the central service desk first
If necessary, tools and processes are used to
seamlessly transfer the customer to the appropriate
specialized service desk
Customers do not have to determine what service desk
to call
Individual service desks can focus on their specific scope
of responsibility
Triage is used to determine a customers need and route
him or her to the appropriate support group
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Profit center the service desk must cover its expenses and,
perhaps, make a profit by charging a fee
Fee is often based on the companys actual cost to provide the
services, plus a reasonable profit margin
Internal service desks often establish the service desk as an
overhead expense
Each department is assessed a fee based on its need for services
Fee might cover standard services
Departments can opt to pay for additional premium services
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Summary
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Summary
Two principal service desk types are internal and
external
Within these two categories
Some organizations are small, others large
Some centralized, others decentralized
Some are run as cost centers, others as profit centers
Summary
Service desk outsourcing is a common practice
Outsourcing is a complex partnership aimed at
enabling companies to focus on their mission,
expand their services, and contain costs
The success and profitability of a supplier is
based on the quality of its services
Suppliers carefully screen applicants and provide
extensive training
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Summary
Companies worldwide are
Consolidating support services
Evolving help desks into service desks
Chapter 3
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
The principal service desk job categories
The skills required to be a successful front-line
service provider
The management opportunities within the
service desk
The supporting roles within the service desk
The characteristics of a successful team
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Introduction
People in service desks play a variety of roles
Principal roles directly support customers and ensure their
satisfaction
Front-line service providers
Service desk management personnel
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Introduction
To have a successful career you must
Chapter 3
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Figure 3-1
Chapter 3
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Required Skills
Companies look for people who:
Genuinely enjoy helping other people
Work well with others
Business skills
Technical skills
Soft skills
Self-management skills
Chapter 3
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Business Skills
Business skills the ability to understand and
speak the language of business and the ability to
analyze and solve business problems
Industry knowledge skills that are unique to the
industry or profession the service desk supports
Service industry knowledge skills that are specific
to the customer service and support industry
Understanding the importance of meeting customers
needs
Knowing how to manage customer expectations
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Business Skills
Business skills are useful in any profession
Skills will grow as you
Acquire education and experience
Observe the activities that occur where you work
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Business Skills
Most employers do not expect employees new to the
workforce to have fully developed business skills
They do expect
Employees to understand the role they play in achieving
business goals
Senior technical professionals to hone and use business
skills to quantify proposed projects. Techniques include
Cost benefit analysis compares the costs and
benefits of two or more potential solutions to determine
an optimum solution
Return on investment (ROI) - measures the total
financial benefit derived from an investment and then
compares it with the total cost of the project
Chapter 3
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Sample Costs
and Benefits
Figure 3-3
ROI Calculation
Figure 3-4
Chapter 3
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Technical Skills
Technical skills the skills people need to use and
support the specific products and technologies the
service desk supports
Vary based on customers technical needs
Computer literacy skills are expected
Even for entry-level positions
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Technical Skills
Ways used to assess candidates technical skills
include
Education
Certification
Asking questions
Testing
Problem solving
Chapter 3
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Soft Skills
Soft skills the qualities that people need to
deliver great service
Active listening
Verbal skills
Customer service skills
Problem-solving skills
Temperament
Teamwork skills
Writing skills
Chapter 3
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Soft Skills
Recognized as the most basic and important skills
required
Knowing how to get along with people and
displaying a positive attitude are crucial for success
Enable companies to be competitive and enable
people to
Be productive
Avoid frustration
Enjoy working in the customer service and support
industry
Chapter 3
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Soft Skills
Difficult to assess in interviews
Ways to assess candidates soft skills include
Role playing
Writing samples
Past experience
Testing
Certification
Chapter 3
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Self-Management Skills
Self-management skills the skills people need to
complete their work effectively, feel job satisfaction,
and avoid frustration or burnout
Stress-management skills
Time-management skills
Organizational skills
Learning and knowledge acquisition skills
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Chapter 3
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Chapter 3
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Required Skills
Employers look for skills related to the
particular management position
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Supporting Roles
Front-line and management staff rely on others for
Tools
Processes
Information
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Figure 3-7
Chapter 3
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95
Network Monitoring
Network monitoring (see page 99) activities
that use tools to observe network performance
in an effort to minimize the impact of incidents
Network monitoring tools include remote
monitoring and network management systems
Level one analysts and specialists may use
these tools
Some companies establish a separate function
Chapter 3
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Technical Support
Technical support (in the context of the service
desk, see page 101) - maintaining the hardware
and software systems used by the service desk
Larger service desks may have one or more
people provide technical support
Smaller service desks may have management
and staff perform on an as-needed basis
Some organizations have level two staff perform
some of these tasks or work with the service
desks technical support team
Chapter 3
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Training
Some service desks rely on companys training
department
Some have a dedicated person or team
Represents formal training
In addition to daily cross-training and mentoring
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Characteristics of a Successful
Service Desk Team
Characteristics of a successful team, and of
successful team players, include
Ability to collaborate
Effective communication
Enhanced capability
Consensus sought and reached
Sense of commitment
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Summary
Service desks are rewarding and exciting
places to work and offer a variety of roles
Front-line service providers
Service desk management
Supporting roles
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Summary
Peoples job responsibilities correspond to the
service desks responsibilities
Professional responsibilities involve being
professional and ethical at all times
Required skills include
Business skills
Technical skills
Soft skills
Self-management skills
Chapter 3
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Summary
The size of a service desk determines
How many layers of management it requires
The supporting roles it has in place
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Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
The anatomy and evaluation of processes
How to use process frameworks and standards
The leading quality management frameworks and
standards
The leading IT service management frameworks and
standards
The most common processes used in service desks
Processes that support the service desk and enable
quality improvement
Why processes are important
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Figure 4-1
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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On Page Connector
Task
Predefined process
Decision
No result
Yes result
Start/Stop
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Evolution of Processes
Concept originated in 1776 Adam Smith principle of
the division of labor
The same number of workers is more efficient and
productive when each performs one simple, specialized
task rather than all the tasks in a process
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Evolution of Processes
Understanding the overall process enables workers to
See where their jobs fit into the process
See how their contributions works with those of others to
produce the desired result
Help eliminate bottlenecks and unnecessary tasks
Respond quickly to changing customer needs.
See how changing one procedure may affect the next
procedure
Standards
Define an agreed-upon
repeatable way of doing
something.
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Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
Information Technology Infrastructure Library
(ITIL) a set of best practices for IT service
management
Provides guidance organizations can use to
Adopt a service-oriented approach to managing
IT services
Meet customer needs by managing IT services
as efficiently and effectively as possible
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Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
Consists of five books that reflect the lifecycle of an IT
service
Service Strategy
Service Design
Service Transition
Service Operation
Continual Service Improvement
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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ISO/IEC 20000
ISO/IEC 20000 an international standard for IT
service management
Promotes an integrated process approach
companies can use to deliver IT services that meet
business and customer requirements
Processes are performed by all of the various
groups within IT
Some, such as incident and problem management,
are performed by the service desk
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ISO/IEC 20000
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Processes must be
DefinedPurpose, objectives, and goals must be clearly stated
DocumentedAssociated procedures and vocabulary must be
published
Managed via performance metricsProcesses must be
monitored and measured to ensure conformance to requirements
Continually improvedProcesses must be continually refined to
meet new and changing requirements
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Incident management
activities
Incident identification
Incident logging
Initial diagnosis
Incident escalation
Investigation and
diagnosis
Resolution and recovery
Incident closure
Management review
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Customer entitlement
Incident categorization and prioritization
Incident escalation
Incident ownership
Incident notification
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Customer Entitlement
Customer entitlement the determination of
whether the customer is authorized to receive
support and, if so, the level of support the customer
should receive
Internal service desks rarely determine entitlement
Companies that charge for all or some services verify
The customers contract is current
The customer is entitled to the requested level of
support
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Incident Categorization
Categorization recording the type of
incident being reported
Often a multi-level approach
May be referred to as a subject tree
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Incident Categorization
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Incident Prioritization
Prioritizing the incident is equally important
Priority defines the relative importance of an incident,
problem, or change and is based on impact and urgency
Impact the effect an incident, problem, or change is
having on the business
Many organizations define a set of procedures for handling
major incidents that are causing significant business
impact
The service desk ensures all activities are recorded and
users are kept informed
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Incident Prioritization
Criteria for determining impact, urgency, priority,
and target resolution time are typically defined in
SLAs or an organizations policies and
procedures
Target resolution time the time frame within
which the support organization is expected to
resolve the incident
Target response time the time frame within
which the service desk or level two
acknowledges the incident, diagnoses the
incident, and estimates the target resolution time
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Incident Prioritization
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Incident Escalation
Occurs when the service desk
Is unable to resolve an incident
Lacks the authority needed to resolve the incident
Is unable to find a workaround during initial diagnosis
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Incident Escalation
Escalation may be based on a target escalation time
a time constraint placed on each level that ensures
resolution activities are proceeding at an appropriate
pace
Each level has specific responsibilities and activities (see
pages 140-142)
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Incident Ownership
Incident owner an employee of the support
organization who
Acts as a customer advocate
Proactively ensures the incident is resolved to
the customers satisfaction
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Incident Ownership
The incident owner
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Incident Notification
Informs all stakeholders in the incident
management process about the status of
outstanding incidents
Management, the customer, the service desk
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Management Notification
Appropriate when
Chapter 4 - Part 1
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Customer Notification
Appropriate when
Goals include
Customer knows the current status
Customer comments or concerns are recorded and
addressed
Customer satisfaction is verified before an incident is closed
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Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Objectives are to
Minimize the impact of incidents
Eliminate recurring incidents
Prevent problems and their resulting incidents
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Problem Management
Process
Problem
management
activities
Problem detection
Problem logging
Problem investigation
and diagnosis
Problem resolution
Problem closure
Management review
Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Pareto analysis
Known as the 80/20 rule
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Problem
Investigation
and Diagnosis
Sample Root
Cause Codes
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Request
Fulfillment
Process
Request
fulfillment
activities
Request entry
Approval
Fulfillment
Request closure
Management review
Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Chapter 4 - Part 2
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The ITIL release and deployment management process integrates with change
management and is responsible for planning and managing the rollout of
significant changessuch as a new operating systemacross an organization.
Change
Management
Process
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SLAs
Help ensure a common level of expectation
Provide performance objectives
Identify needed reports
Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Trend Analysis
Trend analysis a methodical way of determining and,
when possible, forecasting service trends
Trends can be positive
Reduction in the number of how to questions after an
improved training program
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Trend Analysis
Trend reports often validate the hunches of
frontline staff
Trend and root cause analysis
Require the data captured by service desks
Enable a service desk to
Minimize the impact of incidents
Prevent incidents
Enhance its productivity, its customers
productivity, and its customers satisfaction
By combining the data captured by the service desk with data
captured by other parts of the IT organization, a service
provider can improve the overall quality of its services.
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Summary
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Summary
Successful service desks must manage several
tightly integrated processes to achieve customer
satisfaction
Two vital processes are incident management and
request fulfillment
Incident management determines the priority
of an incident based on its impact and urgency
and then determines when and how to solve it
Request fulfillment provides a channel for
users to submit service requests as well as verify
that appropriate approvals are obtained and
satisfy the requests
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Summary
Other important processes include
Problem management - helps to minimize the impact
of and eliminate incidents by determining their root
cause and by identifying both temporary and
permanent resolutions
Knowledge management helps organizations to be
more efficient and to improve the quality of decision
making by providing access to reliable and secure data,
information, and knowledge
Change management allows changes to occur as
quickly as possible with the optimal amount of risk and
impact
Service asset and configuration management
facilitates the capture and maintenance of information
about the assets underpinning IT services
Chapter 4 - Part 2
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Summary
Relationship management and quality improvement
processes use the information produced by all of
these processes and include
Service level management
Business relationship management
Trend analysis
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Summary
Processes and procedures are not static
Customer requirements are constantly changing and
to be effective processes and procedures must be
Continually improved
Occasionally redesigned
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
How technology benefits the service desk
Common technologies found in service desks
The tools used by service desk managers
The relationship between processes and
technology
The steps involved in selecting service desk
technology
Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
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Ongoing Costs
Maintenance fees
Upgrades and
enhancements
Consulting fees, such as
for ongoing improvements
Ongoing education,
awareness, and training
Ongoing system
administration and
support
System integration
activities
Chapter 5
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Size
Company goals
Nature of business
Customer expectations
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Telephone Technologies
Voice over
Internet Protocol
Voice mail
Fax
Announcement
systems
Chapter 5
Automatic call
distributor
Voice response
unit
Computer
telephony
integration
Recording systems
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Telephone Technologies
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems
translate voice communications into data and then
transmit that data across an Internet connection or
network
Voice mail an automated form of taking
messages from callers
Fax an image of a document that is electronically
transmitted to a telephone number connected to a
printer or other output device
Faxes can be sent and received via fax machines,
multi-function printers, computers, or via email
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Telephone Technologies
Announcement system greets callers when
analysts are busy and provides information
when customers are on hold
Automatic call distributor (ACD) answers a
call and routes, or distributes, it to the next
available analyst
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Telephone Technologies
ACDs determine what calls analysts receive and how
quickly they receive those calls
An ACD console enables analysts to
Log on at the start of a scheduled shift
Available state means the analyst is ready to take calls
Log off
When leaving desk for an extended period of time
At the end of a scheduled shift
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Telephone Technologies
Automated attendant an ACD feature that routes calls
based on input provided through a touch-tone telephone
Skills-based routing (SBR) an ACD feature that
matches the requirements of an incoming call to the skill
sets of available analysts or analyst groups
Voice response unit (VRU) integrates with another
technology, such as a database or a network
management system, to obtain information or to perform
a function
Also known as an interactive voice response unit (IVRU)
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Telephone Technologies
Computer telephony integration (CTI) links
computing technology with telephone technology
to exchange information and increase
productivity
Screen pop a CTI function that enables
information about the caller to appear, or pop
up, on the analysts monitor
Based on caller information captured by the
telephone system and passed to a computer
system
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Telephone Technologies
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Telephone Technologies
Recording systems record and play back
telephone calls
Enable companies to
Monitor calls
Evaluate analyst performance
Record calls for security purposes
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Telephone Services
Automatic number identification (ANI) service
provided by a long-distance service provider that
delivers the telephone number of the person calling
Caller identification (caller ID) service provided
by a local telephone company that delivers the
telephone number of the caller
Dialed number identification service (DNIS)
provides the number called when a toll-free number
or a 1-900 service is used
Information indicator digits (IID) - identifies the
origin of a call from the type or location of the
telephone used, such as a public phone, cell phone,
or hotel phone
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With customers
Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
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The Web
Provides many benefits to service desks and their customers
Invaluable source of information
Excellent vehicle for communication and collaboration
Enables access to data, information, and knowledge at any time
via a wide variety of devices
Alternative and less expensive way to deliver support
Enables self-help
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The Web
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The Web
Web-based services will not completely
eliminate telephone- and email-based
communication channels; at least not for the
foreseeable future
Web-based services do offer cost-effective
alternate ways to provide support services
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Internal support
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 5
Case-based
reasoning
Decision trees
Fuzzy logic
Keyword
searching
Query by example
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Search
Retrieval
Technique
s
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Storage Methods
Compliment search-retrieval techniques
Hypermedia stores information in a graphical
form
Hypertext text that links to other information
Hyperlinks text or graphics in a hypertext or
hypermedia document that allow readers to
jump to a related idea
May open a pop-up window with a definition,
instructions, a diagram, a still picture, an animated
picture
May present audio or video streams
Can jump to other Web pages
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Can display
White boards
Dashboards
Instant messaging
systems
Social media
System status
information
Queue activity
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Tools include
Staffing and scheduling systems - work with ACD
systems to collect, report, and forecast call volumes
ACD supervisor consoles enable supervisors to
monitor call volumes and performance
Customer surveying systems used to create
questionnaires and collect and tabulate results
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Chapter 5
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Introduction
Summary of requirements
Evaluation methodology
Next steps
Appendices
Chapter 5
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Summary
A wide array of tools and technologies are available to service
desks
Availability depends on
Number and complexity of processes being supported
Funding on hand
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Summary
Incident management systems are used to log and track
customer incidents and service requests
Logging ensures incidents and service requests are not
lost or forgotten
237
Summary
Communication tools promote awareness and
enhance information exchange
Systems that enable supervisors and managers
to optimize staffing levels, prepare schedules,
and monitor staff performance include
Staffing and scheduling systems
ACD supervisor consoles
Customer surveying systems
Chapter 5
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Summary
The purpose of technology is to support and enhance
processes
Processes and procedures must be well defined, and then
tools and technology selected that people can use to execute
the processes and procedures more quickly and effectively
Selecting, acquiring, and implementing technology can be
challenging
Goals and requirements must be clearly defined
A methodical approach that involves all stakeholders must be
used
New product implementations go more smoothly when users
are confident care was taken to select the best possible
solution
The end result of proper selection and implementation of support tools and
technology is management, employee, and customer satisfaction.
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
How information is a resource
The most common data categories captured by
the service desk
The most common team performance metrics
The most common individual performance
metrics
How individuals contribute to team goals
Chapter 6
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Introduction
Todays business goals include
Meet customer expectations
Optimize costs and staffing levels
Increase overall productivity
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Information as a Resource
Technology extends the service desks ability to
gather, organize, and use information
Data and information are resources, as are welltrained employees, well-defined processes, and
well-implemented technology
Service desks that recognize information as a
resource are more proactive than reactive
Reactive service desks (see pages 246-247)
simply responds to events that occur each day
Proactive service desks (see pages 247-248) use
information to anticipate and prevent incidents and
prepare for the future
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Information as a Resource
Service desks are not all reactive or all proactive
Each may at times demonstrate the opposite
tendency
Collecting useful data is difficult and can be
costly
Analyzing the data and producing meaningful
and useful informationand ultimately
knowledge, takes effort and skill
Chapter 6
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Information as a Resource
Service desks must follow a plan to move to a
proactive state
245
Customer data
Incident data
Status data
Resolution data
Chapter 6
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Customer Data
Data is stored in
fields
All fields that
describe a single
customer are
stored in a
Customer
records are
linked to
customer
record
incident records, which are stored
in the incident management
system, by a unique key field such
as customer number, employee
number, or user ID.
Customer name
Telephone number
Email address
Department or
company name
Physical address or
location
Customer number,
employee number
or user ID
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Incident Data
Details of an incident
or service request
Fields that describe a
single incident are
stored in an incident
record in the
incident
management system
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Incident type
Channel used to submit
Category
Affected service, system
or device
Symptom
Date and time incident
occurred
Date and time incident
was logged
Analyst who logged
Incident owner
Description
Priority
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Incident Data
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Status Data
Details about an
incident that are used
to track incidents
throughout their
lifecycle
Continuously updated
Used to
Incident status
Person or group
assigned
Date and time
assigned
Priority
Report on outstanding
incidents
Monitor SLA attainment
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Status Data
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Resolution Data
Describes how an
incident was
resolved
Includes fields
required to
Track service level
compliance
Perform root trend
analysis
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Service Level
Agreements
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Response time
First contact resolution
rate percent
Level one resolution
rate percent
Incidents resolved
within target time
percent
Reopened percent
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Customer
Satisfactio
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Satisfactio
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Benchmarking
Process of comparing
Service desks performance metrics
Practices to those of another service desk
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Availability
Average call duration
Time idle
Wrap-up time
Reopened percent
Resolution percent
Application of training
investments
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Employee
Performance
Plan
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Monitoring
Occurs when a supervisor or team leader
monitors an analysts interactions with
customers to measure the quality of an analysts
performance
Used properly, monitoring is
An excellent quality metric analysts are
encouraged to walk in the customers shoes
An excellent training technique analysts receive
specific feedback
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Monitoring
Must be implemented carefully can become
demoralizing and invasive
Service desk staff often help design programs
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Monitoring
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Summary
Todays savvy customers and business managers have high
expectations
Every department is expected to contribute to business goals
Every employee is expected to contribute to department goals
The most important goal is customer satisfaction
Companies focus on customer satisfaction by understanding
their customers needs and expectations
They do this by analyzing data and creating information
Data and information are resources in the same way that
processes, technology, and information are resources
Service desks that recognize information as a resource are
more proactive than reactive
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Summary
Service desks divide captured data into categories
such as customer, incident, status, and resolution data
Data is used to
Create detailed tracking and summary reports
Perform trend analysis
Calculate team and individual performance measures
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Summary
In business, everyones performance is
measured
Employees cannot just work hard and hope
management recognizes their efforts
To succeed you must
Understand the goals of your department
Become skilled at using data and information to
demonstrate your contribution
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Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
Factors that influence the service desks location
and layout
How analysts can improve the ergonomics of
their personal workspace
Work habits to get and stay organized and
achieve personal success
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Introduction
To provide top-quality customer service and
support, analysts need
A good work environment
Good work habits
A great attitude
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Accessibility
Accessibility determines how easily the service
desk can be reached by service desk staff, other
company employees, customers
Historically, service desks were located behind
closed doors
Today, service desks are more centrally located
Enable analysts to interact more freely with other
support groups and customers
Some service desks offer tours
Tours let visitors see the service desk in action
and help them understand the service desks role
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Security
Factors that influence measures taken to secure
the service desk include
Data and equipment protection
The personal safety of employees
The permissions or authority the service desk has
to make system changes
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Wellness
Wellness - the condition of good physical and mental
health, especially when maintained by proper diet,
exercise, and habits
Things that influence workers physical and emotional
well-being include
Natural light
Clean air
The ability to exercise
A well-designed workplace
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Size
Number of analysts influences service desks
physical layout
Smaller service desks place analysts close
together to enhance team work
Larger service desks provide a team setting but
must also accommodate needs of
Service desk management
Other supporting roles and groups
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Interaction
The level of interaction and the nature of problem solving that
analysts perform influence the service desk design
Where analysts interact constantly, service desks use lowwalled, open cubicles arranged to face a common area
Where analysts work independently, service desks use higher
cubicle walls or private offices
Growing service desks may reflect ad hoc designs that hinder
productivity
Companies designing or redesigning service desks are able
to consider size, tools and technology, and interaction in their
plans
Many organizations conduct research on work environments
and provide recommendations
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300
Chair
Chair, monitor,
keyboard, and
mouse are related,
All must be aligned
with each other and
with the analyst
Office chair can
typically be
adjusted to promote
good posture and
back support
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Monitor
Chair height can affect
and be affected by
monitor placement
Best position is
Directly in front of
analyst
At or just below eye
level
At least 20inches away
from eyes
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Lighting
The brightness of a workspace can greatly affect
an analysts well-being
Too much overhead lighting or ambient light
from a window can
Produce glare on the monitor
Cause eyestrain, headaches, fatigue
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Lighting
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Lighting
Regular or periodic exposure to natural light is
needed in addition to overhead and task lighting
Experience a positive psychological lift by
looking out a window periodically or by going
outside, even if only for a brief period of time
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314
Manage Priorities
Assign a priority to each task on To Do
list
Use a simple priority scale
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Manage Priorities
When faced with more A priority tasks than can
be completed in one day, consider the following
Who asked me to complete this task?
Am I the proper person to complete this task?
What is the risk if I dont complete this task?
What is the value if I do complete this task?
When am I expected to have this task done?
What is my deadline?
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Manage Priorities
Some people are unable to maintain To Do
lists
Simpler, electronic organizers can be used
Regardless of system, collect all of your To
Dos, ideas, and project-related data in one
place or system
Develop the habit of regularly maintaining that
system
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Take Breaks
Working nonstop leads to fatigue and burnout
Take time throughout the day to rejuvenate
Stretch
Spend time looking out the window
Close eyes and take deep breaths
Take a short walk
Get a drink of water
Perform a low-stress task
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Summary
To provide top-quality customer service and
support, analysts need
A good working environment
Good work habits
A great attitude
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Summary
Factors that influence the service desks physical
layout include
Size
Tools and technology
Interaction
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Summary
Customer support is a tough job
Good work habits help reduce stress and the
possibility of getting injured on the job
Analysts working in a service desk setting must
strive to respond, not react, to daily events
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