INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

SUPPORT SERVICE
Level I

Learning guide #38

Unit of Competence : Record Client Request
Requirements
Module Title : Recording Client Request
Requirements
LG Code : ICT ITS1 M11 L01-LG-38
TTLM Code : ICT ITS1 M11 TTLM 1019v1

LO 1: Log request for support

Page 1 of 11
This learning guide is developed to provide you the necessary information regarding the following content coverage and topics –

 Identify client support organizational standards

 Recording Client support requests and requirements

 Reviewing Client support history and details

 Checking and requesting information for accuracy and urgency

Information Sheet 1 Identify client support organizational standards

1.1. Organizational standrds

Organizational standrds are bench marks with which your organization can reflect on clent
engagement with your product or service. It helps companies to managae clients interactions to
increse client satisfaction. This in turn leads to higher satisfaction rating and ultimately higer profits
for your organization.
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.

Information Sheet 2 Record client support requirements

2.1. Introduction
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.
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.

Page 2 of 11
2.2. Definition of terms

2.2.1. Client - can be an individual, an organization, business or an institution that may come in person
or communicate using any communication means like telephone, e-mail, fax or online help desk
to get technical support, consultation on technologies etc

2.2.2. Log – means recording client support requirements based on organizational rule, regulation and
policies.

2.2.3. Escalate - transferring a helpdesk that cannot be resolved to personnel at a lower level such as an
IT specialist or IT manager.

2.2.4. First level Support - usually refers to the initial support offered to a customer by a help desk
operator; in this initial point of contact, the officer determines the nature of the call and will try to
solve the problem if it is straightforward; support organizations usually have quite clear outlines
of what constitutes first level support.

2.2.5. Priority - the value given to an incident, problem or change to indicate its relative importance in
order to appropriately allocate resources and specify an appropriate time-frame for resolution.

2.2.6. Service Level Agreement - an agreement between a service provider and a customer detailing the
level of service that is provided, usually including what is covered, what is not covered, the
response time for resolution.

 SLA (Service Level Agreement)

This is a contract that defines expectations between an organization and the service seller to
provide an agreed-upon level of support. As an employee of the service company, your job is
to honor the SLA that you have with the customer.
 Service monitoring
 Contingency
 Maintenance windows
 Response time guarantee
An SLA typically is a legal agreement that describes the responsibilities and liabilities of all
parties involved. Some of the contents of an SLA usually include the following:
 Response-time guarantees (often based on the type of call and the SLA)
 Equipment and/or software that will be supported
 Where service will be provided
 Preventive maintenance

2.3. Overview of Client support requirements

Providing good IT supports for clients is vital to the effective operation of any organisations, so you
may find there are established procedures for determining and addressing client support issues. In this
Learning guide you will learn about these procedures, as well as the general skills and knowledge needed to
record clients’ support need with IT problems.

2.4. Client Support Roles

Information technology is an integral part of the operation of modern organisations or
businesses. Users of information technology need timely, high-quality support. In addition to sound

Page 3 of 11
 technical skills, IT support staff should have a range of skills that improve their ability to successfully
provide IT services to their clients.

The most important skills needed by the IT professional who is working as a help desk person
to record the clients’ support requirement are:
 Technical skill
 Active listening skill
 Professional act
 Following organizational rules and regulations
2.5. First level support

Clients may request support:

 By calling a telephone or by email
 They may come in person /coming to office/
 They may fax

The one in charge of recording client support request log the request and enter them into a centralised
database program that is designed to track client support requirements. There are many commercially
available programs which have been designed specifically for IT support requirement operations. In many
organisations, help desk operators attempt to fix straightforward problems. This is known as first level
support.

In some organizations, operators simply log calls, which are then allocated to the appropriate technical staff.
In the case of organizations with only a few employees, IT problems may be handled by an employee who
combines support duties with other functions.
2.6. 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

2.6.1. 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
2.7. Recording Client’s support Request

Page 4 of 11
If you are on the help desk and a client rings, fax, e-mail or come in person and request for support, 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 logged:
Date and time problem occurred:
Computer/peripheral affected:
Impact of the problem on operations/business:
First line support provided (if any):
Escalate to support staff? Yes/No

Information Sheet 3 Review client support history

3.1. Review
A review by the help desk relates to the effectiveness and appropriateness of the client’s Support
requirements history. A help desk may set a review date of the Support requirement at the time of the
assessment. A review may also be requested by a client or a service provider. It may be completed over-the-
phone with the client.
A review by an assessor will look at the following aspects:
 The reason a review has been requested and its impact on the client’s existing assessment
information and Support requirement..
 The appropriateness of the services in meeting the client’s goals.
Any new goals for the client, and associated referral(s) for service

Page 5 of 11
LO 2: Prioritize support requests with
appropriate personnel

Information Sheet 2 Prioritize client requests

2.1. Prioritize client requests based on criticality or impact on the business

Some client support requests 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 support needs, and the progress of these support needs to be closely monitored.

The most common ways of prioritization mechanisms are using the following general guidelines but
its best to respond to all requests as quickly as possible.

1. High Priority: - high priority is given where the business critical system has got a problem.
- A significant number of people are affected by an issue, a customer’s computer
crashed, the network server is down, a virus attack, or there is a security concern.

Example:

The user is unable to login; the computer crashed; a customer’s account is locked or the password
needs to be reset; a computer has been infected by a virus; an entire student lab is down; if the network
is inaccessible.

2. Medium Priority: A single customer is affected by a problem but is still able to work, or there are
problems with a service but it is still functional.

Example:

A customer is experiencing intermittent computer problems; is unable to open or work within a

software program; is having printer problems; has lost access to a file share; or requires data
recovery/backup.

3. Low Priority: Routine or maintenance tasks.

Example:

Page 6 of 11
 A customer asks “how to” questions or requests new software installations or computer set up. The
department requests account creations or updates, directory changes, or new file shares.

Refer Request to appropriate person

Information Sheet 3

3.1. Referring requests to appropriate person or department for assistance

 This stage is the step at which we refer client support requirements to respected technician or
department to give the support needed by the client.
 Appropriate person in the contest of IT is a supervisor, teacher, vendor business representative, help
desk person or subject matter expert Technician that is responsible for answering the technical
question of clients and the goal is to create value for clients that will help preserve company’s
reputation and business.
3.1.1. Responsibilities of It Help Desk
 Serve as the first point of contact for customers seeking technical
assistance over the phone or email.
 Perform remote trouble shooting through diagnostic techniques .
 Walk the customer through the problem solving process.
3.1.2. Requirement of IT Help Desk
 Proven experience as a help desk technician
 Good understanding of computer system
 Excellent communication skill

Involve Appropriate persons with client support to be

communicated
Information Sheet 4

4.1. 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.

Following situations:
 If the problem is more complex, and likely to take time to resolve, the client needs to be informed of
this.

Page 7 of 11
 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.

4.1.1. Obtaining client feedback

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.

4.1.2. 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 listening technique.
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.
You can often tell if someone is really listening to you, if they are:
 staying silent
 making eye contact
 using a friendly and interested tone of voice
 asking open questions

4.1.3. Asking reflective questions

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.

4.1.4. 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.

Document Client request

Data required: Entry

Name of support person:

Page 8 of 11
 Date and time client was contacted:

Alternate arrangements for client while

problem is being solved:

Problem details (incl. nature and degree):

Date and time investigation of problem

commenced:

Date and time overall system down:

Support required for resolution of

problem:

4.1.5. 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.

4.1.6. Confirming client requirements

Confirming the client’s requirements involves developing documentation to ensure you and the client have
the same understanding of requirements. This documentation may be based on pre-existing documents that
can be used as a template. The example below shows what such a document would look like.

Table 4.1.6. Client Requirements Confirmation

CLIENT REQUIREMENTS CONFIRMATION

Client name:
Project name:
I understand your requirements as follows:

Requirement Scope (if appropriate)

Good A To be delivered within one week of contract

Page 9 of 11
 being signed
Twelve lots of Good A required
Service A To be provided at the time of delivery of
Good A
Good B To be compatible with your existing network

4.1.7. 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:
 the standard of the goods or services to be provided
 the price of the goods or services to be provided

4.1.8. Recommending appropriate training and support

The technical support identified with the client might include areas such as:
 installation
 troubleshooting
 updating and maintenance of a system

4.1.9. Negotiating a training and support timetable

Many IT operations need to take place when people don’t need access to the system. Remember that the
prime focus of the client is to keep the business running! That business will provide the funds to pay you.
This means that you need to be very flexible when arranging times for support with the client. Think of
the types of training and support outlined above and what they involve. For example, consider what
could happen if you have to stop access to a client’s database system to update the software, or to backup
the system.

Lap Test Practical Demonstration

Name: _________________________ Date: ________________

Time started: ________________________ Time finished: ________________
Time allowed 1.30 hr

Please ask your teacher for the instruction for this Lap Test

Page 10 of 11
Assume you are an IT help desk professional in ABC Company and you recorded the
following problems to be solved reported by your clients. Your task is to prioritize
each of the problems. Provide a reason for your answer.
1. Request of network server failure
Priority: __________
Reason : ___________________________________________________
2. Request of upgrading of software
Priority: __________
Reason : ___________________________________________________
3. Request for printing problem of one user.
Priority: __________
Reason : ___________________________________________________
4. Request of consultation on the upgrading of Windows XP to Windows 7
Priority: __________
Reason : ___________________________________________________
5. Request for maintenance of computer
Priority: __________

Reason : ___________________________________________________

Page 11 of 11