IT Professionalism

 What is considered ethical behavior by a technician when communicating with a customer?

• • A technician can send forged emails to customers.

• • A technician can send mass emails to customers.

• • A technician must only send solicited emails.

• • It is normal to send chain emails to customers.

Answer explanation

Unsolicited, chain and forged emails are unethical, and maybe illegal, and must not be sent by a technician to a customer.

What is the correct way to conduct a telephone call to troubleshoot a computer problem?

• • Always gather information from the customer and escalate the problem.

• • Maintain professional behavior at all times.

• • Ask personal questions to get better acquainted with the customer.

• • Explain each step to help the customer understand the troubleshooting process.

Answer explanation

It is important for a technician, when talking by phone with a customer, to be professional. Also, having good communication skills enhances credibility with the customer.

What are two examples of displaying professional communication skills while talking to a customer? (Choose two.)

• • the use of active listening, with occasional interjections such as “I see” or “I understand”

• • clarifying what customers say after they have finished their explanations

• • asking customers to paraphrase their explanations

• • focusing on what you cannot do to give customers an idea of the magnitude of the problem

• • interrupting customers with a question to gather more information

Answer explanation

It is very important to make customers feel that they are being listened to. Interacting with them and using some interjections to let them know that you are listening, or paraphrasing the problem back to them, will show that you are listening. Interrupting them or making customers repeat what they just said and focusing on what you cannot do will only make customers angry.

Which situation would require that a support desk call be given the highest priority?

• • The company cannot operate because of a system failure.

• • A couple of computers have operating system errors.

  • Some computers cannot log in to the network.

• • Two users are requesting an application enhancement.

• • A user is requesting a RAM memory upgrade.

Answer explanation

Call prioritization is a very important task for a call center. Call prioritization saves time by solving the most important issues first. A failure that stops company operations should be considered a top priority.

A customer is upset and wants to speak to a specific technician to resolve a problem immediately. The requested technician is away from the office for the next hour. What is the best way to handle this call?

• • Refer the angry customer to a supervisor.

• • Advise the customer that the requested technician is out of the office and insist on trying to resolve the problem.

• • Make an offer to help the customer immediately, and advise the customer that otherwise the requested technician will call the customer back within two hours.

• • Ignore the request for the specific technician by walking through a step-by-step process with the customer in an attempt to refocus the customer and solve the problem.

Answer explanation

If a customer wants to talk to a specific technician, try to contact that technician and see if the technician can take the call. If the technician is not available, try to make an effort to help the customer and tell the customer that the favorite technician will contact the customer later if the customer prefers to wait.

What approach should a technician take when receiving a call from a stressed customer?

• • Ask the customer to telephone back when the customer is feeling less stressed.

• • Ask the customer to hold, and then wait five minutes for the customer to calm down.

• • Try to establish a rapport with the customer.

• • Transfer the customer to a level-two technician who will ask the customer to explain the problem again.

Answer explanation

Customers who have computer problems probably feel stressed. A technician should establish a good rapport with a customer, which might allow the customer to relax a little bit. A relaxed customer might provide more information that will help in troubleshooting the problem.

A supervisor received a complaint that one of the technicians was rude and disrespectful. Which action by the technician most likely caused the customer to complain?

• • The technician interrupted a number of times to ask questions.

• • The technician occasionally confirmed an understanding of the problem.

• • The customer was escalated to a level-two technician.

• • The technician ended the call without saying ‘Have a nice day’.

Answer explanation

When talking with a customer, a technician should allow the customer to tell the whole story. The technician should not interrupt the customer, behavior that can be perceived as rude and disrespectful and may create tension between the customer and the technician.

Once a technician understands a customer complaint, it is common to ask closed-ended questions. Which question is a close-ended one?

• • What happened before the error occurred?

• • Is this the first time the error occurred?

• • What happened after the error occurred?

• • What error messages were displayed when the error occurred?

Answer explanation

During the troubleshooting, when the technician listens and understands the computer problems from the customer, some more questions may need to be asked to gather further information. These follow up questions should be targeted and closed-ended questions based on the information that have been provided by the customer. The closed-ended questions should be focused on specific aspects and the customer should be able to answer such questions with a simple “yes” or “no” or with a factual response.

In which situation would it be appropriate for a technician to back up personal and confidential data from a computer belonging to a customer?

• • if the technician feels it necessary to back it up

• • if illegal content is discovered on the customer computer

• • if the customer forgets to sign the work order

• • if the customer permits it

Answer explanation

It is important to obtain written consent from the customer prior to backing up any data from the customer PC.

A technician working on a computer discovers what is suspected to be illegal activity. Which three pieces of information should be immediately documented? (Choose three.)

• • evidence of the suspected illegal activity

• • why the computer was accessed by the technician

• • duration of the suspected illegal activity

• • technical specifications of the computer

• • location of the computer

Answer explanation

The initial reason for accessing the computer, the suspected illegal matter or operations, and the location of the computer are immediately apparent to the technician and should be among the first details documented. Details of past computer users and the duration of the illegal activity are matters that the appropriate investigators will determine. The technical specifications of the computer may have little relevance to its illegal use.