1. RACHELLE BERRY COLLECTING INFORMATION TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO CUSTOMERS

2. SCENARIO You are employed to provide first level customer support, Part of your job is to provide information to customers.

3. WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER NEED? Ask any user what he or she wants from a PC and they will say ‘one that works every time I switch it on and does not crash’ Depending on the job role that a user has, their needs of IT will vary. Given that a user will be looking for a combination of ways to use ICT, it is important to look at two main points:  What equipment are they likely to be functioning with on a daily basis?  How are they using it? A technician’s role is to build up an accurate picture of these points quickly

4. WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER NEED? Class Discussion Write your answers in the word document on the shared drive entitled ‘What does the customer need?’ Save the document in the folder on your personal network drive entitled Rachelle Berry

5. HARDWARE  Laptop  PC  Fax  Printer  Mobile phone  Keyboard  Mouse  Monitor (Screen)

6. SOFTWARE  Word-processing  Spreadsheets  Database software  Communications software (Email)  Financial systems  Graphics packages  Management software  Project management software  Software specifically written for the organisation. All this software needs to be kept up to date, and the files produced need to be kept safe. This will mean that software updates will need to be done on a regular basis (with minimal disruption to the user) and that a backup procedure must be in place

7. CONSUMABLES  External hard drive  Cds  USBs  Cleaning products for screen and mouse  Paper  Printer cartridges There needs to be a ready supply of these for every user. The equipment then needs to be maintained, the software has to be kept up to date and each workstation supplied with consumables so that everything runs as smoothly as possible.

8. GOAL AND TARGET SETTING IN ORGANISATIONS To be effective in business, every organisation sets out with a plan and an objective ‘goal’. The obvious goal for any organisation is to make a profit and or gain the highest market share. They need to look at the competitive market they are in and adapt to the continuous changes and improvements that are expected from their customers

9. THE MAIN FACTORS AFFECTING THE SURVIVAL OF A COMPANY: Competition Increased customer expectation Marketing – communicating the range of products and services in the most effective way Selling methods for those products and services Profits (these must be used wisely – for example, investing in research and development, better premises, staff training, etc.)

10. ESTABLISHING KNOWLEDGE Establishing knowledge about the organisation you work for is important. You should quickly learn certain areas of information such as:  Products and services  The range of the customer base, internal/external, private individuals or companies etc.  What performance measures employees are expected to work to, e.g. service level agreements (SLA)  Whom to refer problems to  What equipment is needed and how it is maintained and used  Details of the organisation’s mission statement/customer service policy The information above is gathered over time and helps employees to become more effective for the organisation and to meet the demands of their customers. The quicker these are mastered, the more time that can be devoted to your main role; maintaining and improving the service delivery.

11. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS Service Level Agreements (SLA) and Operational Level Agreements (OLA) are the terms and conditions that the organisation agrees with a customer. These terms are the level of service that the customer agrees to pay for. In most cases, all support staff dealing on a day-today level with that customer will be aware of what standards they are working to.

12. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS An agreement will be a formal written document, legally binding contract by both parties, and will specify: The services the IT support function will provide The level of services, e.g. Bronze, Silver, Gold levels, or 2, 3, 4 star depending on the customer’s needs How much it will cost

13. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS To achieve the level of support, the manager of the IT support team must ensure a team of technicians is available as appropriate. He or she will be responsible for setting targets for the team and scheduling the work. Here are some targets that the support manager may set: To answer all incoming calls promptly, i.e. before the fourth ring To provide information and advice to end users within 10 minutes To identify a course of action within 20 minutes To solve the problem or provide replacement facilities within one hour To resolve a problem within 24 hours To keep the end user informed of progress

14. SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS Some of these targets may be unachievable in every case, so some targets may be made more achievable by qualifying them: To identify a course of action for 90 per cent of faults within 20 minutes To solve the problem or provide replacement facilities for 75 per cent of faults within one hour To resolve 60 per cent of problems within 24 hours, the remainder within 48 hours