Standard questions on Help Desk/ 1st line support

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by UCHEEKYMONKEY, Nov 19, 2007.

  1. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    I can't believe how crap our help desk is at work. When I worked on the help desk I would always ask the standard question Name, Number, PC number, Dept and then ask what the problem was. But theses guys don't even get this information. You be amazed at the amount of times I have gone to a job to find the monitor not plugged into the wall or find the name or phone number is not given on the job.

    I was searching on Google for Standard IT help desk questions or training for it in ITIL. But came up with zip!!

    Can anyone post some linkies or give some experiences/suggestions on standard IT help desk.

    I am a 2nd/3rd line but on most of the jobs I feel like I am going back to 1st line because i have to find out the basic info which should be ask asked on the help desk.:(
     
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  2. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    There are no 'standard Help desk questions', as you put it. The questions required in a call are determined solely by the employer. If the employer doesnt enforce a minimum standard of information, take it up with them.

    I'm sorry, but stop whining about the servicedesk like they are useless. Nine times out of ten, the SD becomes the scapegoat for everyone in the company (local techs included) because 'they are sooo useless'. Firstly, most SD's arent there to fix problems, only to record the problems and pass them on. Its shite, but its the truth. In those situations, they are usually on a tight timeline during a call. Secondly, like I said, if they arent recording the appropriate information, its because management arent enforcing an appropriate standard of information. Take it up with them.

    In my old job, we had to record name, confirm location, and telephone number, get the pc asset number, and then get the job description. If we could try to fix it we would, but since we were only supposed to be on a call for 4.5 minutes, things were a bit tight. Some of the most technically competent people in the IT department were on that desk. More so than the local techs in a lot cases (whos job was pretty much just swapping pcs). Did we have problems with members of the SD not providing appropriate information? sure! But what did we do about it? Well we got off our arses, went through to the manager and pointed the job out to them. Or if we were being lazy, we emailed.

    The point is, why waste energy whining about it, when you could, you know, be actually trying to do something to make it better? Some of the people who do SD roles, particularly in the cases where its just a call recording desk, arent techies. They dont know what you need unless you tell them.
     
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  3. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    I have mate, I and several others have bought it up at the team meeting. But nothing has been done about it. I can see your point, but lets say 60% of the jobs you went to could of been done on the help desk because the s/w has to be deployed or their ad account password cleared. I'm not knocking all SD people just the one where I work!

    The problem is they have no training and no standard questions, everything is written down on a A4 pad then transferred onto the computer later on the day.

    If i could find some websites or techblogs out there that have help desk questions or even exaamples of s/w used then maybe they can change how the help desk is run????
     
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  4. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    Ok. Forget standard questions. What do YOU need to do your job? Standard questions will give you nothing if it doesnt give you the information required in your company to do the job at hand. ask them to get their SD'ers to ask for it.

    What I used to do with specific calls, was to go to (or email) the person in question, and explain to them that for that type of call, you need x information. Tell them why you need it, and ask that they try to get it for future calls of that type. People are always more willing to do something if they can see a reason for doing it.

    You need to keep following up at your team meetings, and if your manager isnt helping, go higher.
     
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  5. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    I belief it is all part of working in IT as well as in a team:) being it the helpdesk task or vice versa.
     
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  6. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    I do contact them via email or phone and state job reference number and ask what s/w is required. Normally I get an email back stating they don't know what s/w they need or use except Office. So then I have to do a bit of detective work with their line manager or dept to find out what they use. But i can't find out what shared drives they use because i don't have access to that side of things.

    Fergal1982 - if your on 2nd line/3rd line how many jobs are you assigned per day and expect to do per day?
     
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  7. r.h.lee

    r.h.lee Gigabyte Poster

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    UCHEEKYMONKEY,

    I agree with Fergal1982. Think of help desk as a subsystem like the e-mail subsystem of the overall enterprise system/network. The questions you ask depends on:
    1. Which e-mail server application is being used? Microsoft Exchange? Other?
    2. Is there some sort of spam filter involved? If so, which one?
    3. Which e-mail client application is installed on the user's computer? Microsoft Outlook? Other?

    Even if you could find some sort of online list of standardized questions, that's applicable for THAT company's system and network. You need to figure out applicable questions for your own environment.

    You mention "...even exaamples of s/w used ..." To management, that reads "Oh no, not another cost factor with unknown additional costs such as number of licenses to be purchased for the s/w for each help desk techie, training for the staff to use the s/w properly, and requests for raises because staff is now more knowledgeable." If you can speak "management lingo" of specifying the costs associated with a "different s/w" solution such as "we can run that s/w on the existing server (so no additional computer costs)", "we can self-study how to use the software at home on our own time (so no additional training time/costs)", and "we need this s/w so we can do our existing jobs better (so no future increase in employee costs)" then you might get management support instead of the "But nothing has been done about it." type of support you've been getting so far.
     
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  8. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    what role do you play in IT Onoski and have you/or are you working in 1st line support?8)
     
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  9. Makaveli

    Makaveli Byte Poster

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    Sounds like the Service Desk need some call logging software that will prompt them to provide the minimum information required (Name, Contact number, Asset number, Description of the problem) to pass on to the next line of support, management may see this as a cost but in my opinion the benefits can out weigh the costs. Ultimately it will lead to a more efficient use of time as well as provide the benefits of tracking calls that have Priority and also help monitor SLAs.
     
  10. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    Thankyou! :thumbleft

    That's what i'm trying to get across so much time is wasted by the wrong information or double jobs booked. It's no wonder there's 20-38 jobs outstanding on each technician job list. :( I do about 4-6 jobs per day and that's from installing PC's., printers,setting up network points and helping users with s/w or hardware problem. Only to find another 6 have been added with a 4 hour response and then getting flak off the user because the SD told I am on my way!

    Time management and getting the right information is the key to working more efficiently!
     
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  11. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    I work in IT infrastructure 2nd and 3rd line support, but still get a lot user interactions and understand your point.
     
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  12. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Fergal's right on target. IT Policy and Help Desk procedure are just that: policy and procedure issues that are dictated by the specific requirements of the company. Every company is different, and every company has different requirements.

    If something is important, and will increase productivity, make it happen, or convince management to make it happen by presenting a logical argument. Use terms they understand: increases in productivity, quicker problem resolution, cost savings. If management is unwilling to do what is required to make it happen... then unfortunately, you've got bad management, and nothing you do will overcome that.
     
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  13. asje1

    asje1 Byte Poster

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    Your being paid level 2/3 support for doing a line 1 support job, whats your issue :D

    Joke, carnt you just report this to your manager?
     
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  14. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    already have and his replie was he's too busy, he then went on to say he is fed up with IT and if he could afford it he would be doing something else like land scaping gardening. He's just holding until he retires:rolleyes:

    Actually mate that's the point they are getting paid for 1st line support and not doing 1st line support job!!:blink
     
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  15. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Cheeks, what software do you guys use to log calls?
     
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  16. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    Well besides the A4 writing pads:p Sunrise. There's been talk for the past year of scrapping it. There is another call logging s/w in the pipe line but it hasn't been fully tested and that was bought up at the meeting over 7 1/2 months ago:blink

    I've got a meeting with the big boss in two weeks time hoping to bring this matter up with him and to try and get the dept to use Blackcherry's ...Oooh hope Trip isn't online he might fry me for going with his competitors:aaah

    Most of the tech's use a pen and notepad and although this is recomended in the MM A+ book. It seems a waste of paper and a security risk considering some of the write the passwords down on it and the loose the notepad.:rolleyes:
     
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  17. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    You need to design scripts and flowcharts for standard everyday calls. That means when the call gets to you it will have already had some basic troubleshooting and you will have enough info to work on the call without having to add admin info etc. 8)
     
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  18. UCHEEKYMONKEY
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    UCHEEKYMONKEY R.I.P - gone but never forgotten. Gold Member

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    Not sure what you mean sparky? Can you give an example??:blink
     
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  19. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Ok just an example, the 1st line support team should do some troubleshooting before escalating to you.

    “User can’t get on tinternet”

    Troubleshooting:
    Exact error message
    Can other users access the tinternet?
    Try Another website.
    Ping a website (by IP as well)
    Ping the default gateway
    Can the user access any other network resources?
    Check cabling\link lights

    Issues still not resolved? Escalate......
     
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  20. Fergal1982

    Fergal1982 Petabyte Poster

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    UCM, I'm no longer above frontline as Im now in software development. However, When I was in my role (in Account Administration), I was dealing with 20-30 new starts every day, around the same number of Directory Access requests, and probably around 10 leavers every day (although those tended to all come in at the start of the month together for the whole month).
     
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