CHAPTER 4
IT PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS
4.2 Practice Proper Attitude While Working with Customer
4.1 Explain IT Professional
4.3 Explain Employee Best Practice
4.5 Call Center Technicians Task
4.4 Ethical and Legal Issues in the IT Industry
4.1.1 Communication Skill and the IT Professional
4.1.2 Communication Skills, Troubleshooting
and Professional Behavior
An IT professional must
be familiar with the egal and ethical issues
that are inherent in this industry.
Troubleshooting is as
much about communicating with
the customer as it is about knowing how to
fix a computer.
Learn to use good
communication skills as confidently as you
use a screwdriver.
Communication Skills and Troubleshooting
Communication Skills and Professionalism
A technician’s
professionalism and good communication skills will
enhance their creditability with the customer.
Successful technicians
control their own reactions and emotions from one
customer call to the next.
A technician should establish a good rapport with
the customer since a relaxed customer is better able to explain the details of the problem.
A good rule for all technicians to follow is that a
new customer call means a fresh start. Never carry your frustration from one call to the next.
The technician has access to several
communication and research tools.
Any of these resources can be used to help gather
information for the troubleshooting process:
Technician Resources
- Personal Experience
- Scripts
- Websites
-Online FAQ's
4.2.1 Determine Customer Problems
4.2.4 Proper Netiquette
4.2.2 Displaying Professional Behavior with
Customer
4.2.3 Keeping the Customer Focused on the
Problem
Three rules at the beginning of conversation
For email and text communications, there is a set of personal and business etiquette rules called Netiquette.
Basic Netiquette
- Be pleasant and polite
- Never send chain letters via email
- Do not sent or reply to flames
- Use Mixed Case
General rules that apply to all online interactions
with customers and co-workers:
Respect other people’s time
Share expert knowledge.
Respect other people’s privacy
Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes.
Know - Call your customer by name.
Relate - Use brief communication to create a oneto-one connection between you and your customer.
Understand - Determine the customer’s level of
knowledge about the computer to know how to effectively communicate with the customer.
The technician should
Practice active listening skills.
Do not interrupt the customer.
Use all of the information to complete the work
order.
Handle customers with respect and prompt
attention. On a phone call, know how to:
Place a customer on hold.
Transfer a customer without losing the call
Help the customer focus on and communicate the
problem.
How to put a customer on
hold:
Do
- Let the customer finish talking
- Once given consent,tell the customer you will be just a minute
Do Not
- Interrupt
- Abruptly put the customer on hold
- Put on hold without the explanation
The process for transferring a call:
Do
- Explain that you have to transfer the call
- Ask if it is all right to transfer the call now.
Do Not
- Abruptly transfer the call
- Transfer Without an explanation
The following is a list of behaviors to avoid when communicating with a customer :
Do not minimize a customer’s problems.
Do not use jargon, abbreviations, acronyms, and slang.
Do not use a negative attitude or tone of voice.
Do not use negative remarks about other technicians to the customer.
Recognizing these traits will help them to
manage the call accordingly.
Rude Customer
Angry Customer
Knowledgeable Customer
Inexperienced Customer
Talkative Customer
A talkative customer
discusses everything except the problem
and uses the call to socialize
Complains during the call, makes negative
comments, may be abusive and uncooperative, and may be easily aggravated.
Talks loudly, tries to
speak when the technician is talking, is
usually frustrated and upset that they have
to call somebody to fix the problem.
A knowledgeable
customer wants to speak with a technician
that is equally experienced in
computers and usually tries to control the call.
An inexperienced
customer has difficulty describing the
problem and may not able to follow
directions correctly
Do :
- Use a simple step by step process of instructions
- speak in plain terms
Do Not :
- Use industry jargon
- Be condescending to your customer or belittle them
Do :
- If you are the level one technician,you might try to set up a conference call with a level two technician.
- Give the customer the overall approach to what are you trying to verify.
Do Not :
- Follow a step by step process with this customer
- Ask to check the obvious,such as the power cord or the power switch
Do :
- Let the customer tell their problem without interrupting
- sympathize with the customer's problem
- Apologize for wait time or inconvenience
Do Not :
- Not to put this customer on hold or tranfer the call
- Spend call time talking about what caused the problem
Do :
- Listen very carefully,as you dont want to ask the customer repeated question
- Follow a step by step approach to determining and solving the problem.
Do Not :
- Ask the customer todo a obvious steps if there any way you can determine the problem without them.
- Be rude to the customer,even if they are rude to you
Do :
- Allow the customer to talk for one minute
- Gather as much information about the problem as soon as possible.
Do Not :
- Encourage non problem relted coversation by asking social question such as "How are you today?"
4.3.1 Time and Stress Management Technique
4.3.2 Service Level Agreements (SLA)
4.3.3 Business Policies
Workstation Ergonomics
Make sure that your desk layout works well.
Time Management
Stress Management
Adjust your chair to a comfortable height.
Minimize external distractions
such as noise.
Follow the business policy of company.
Keep a list of callback customers.
When reviewing the
call boards, do not take only the easy
customer calls.
Do not carry any
frustrations from one call to the next.
Do some physical
activity to relieve stress.
Stand up and take
a short walk.
An SLA is a contract that
defines expectations between an organization
and the service vendor to provide an agreed-on level of support.
A legal agreement that
contains the responsibilities and liabilities of all parties involved
Some of the contents of an SLA usually include
the following:
Response time guarantees
Equipment and software that is supported
Where service is provided
Time of service availability
Customer Call Rules
Call Center Employee Rules
Customer Satisfaction
Maximum time on call (example: 15 minutes)
Maximum call time in queue (example: 3 minutes)
Number of calls per day (example: minimum of 30)
Do not exceed the allowed number and length of breaks.
Do not take a break or go to lunch if there is a call on the board.
Do not show favoritism to certain customers.
Communicate service expectations to the customer as early as possible.
Offer different repair or replacement options to the
customer, if applicable.
Follow up with the customer at a later date to verify
satisfaction.
4.4.1 Ethical and Legal Considerations
4.4.2 Cyber Law
4.4.3 Legal Procedures Overview
Computer Forensics is the collection and analysis of data from computer systems, networks wireless communications, and storage devices as part of a criminal investigation.
Illegal computer or network usage
- Identity theft
- Using a computer to sell counterfeit goods
Type of Data Collection
Persistent data - Stored on local drive, when computer
turned off this data is preserved
Volatile data - Stored in Ram and cache, disappears
when computer is turned off.
Cyber law is a term to describe the
international, regional, country, and state laws
that affect computer security professionals.
Cyber laws explain the circumstances under
which data (evidence) can be collected from computers, data storage devices, networks, and
wireless communications.
Documentation
Chain of Custody
For evidence to be admitted, it must be
authenticated. A system administrator should be able to prove how this evidence
was collected, where it has been physically stored, and who has had access to it
between the time of collection and its entry into the court proceedings.
The documentation required by a system
administrator and a computer forensics expert is extremely detailed.
Document as much information about the
security incident as possible. These best practices provide an audit trail for the
information collection process.
The following, at a minimum, should be documented if illegal activity is discovered:
Intial reason for accessing the computer or network
Time and date
Physical area where the computer is located
4.5.1 A Call Center
4.5.2 Technicians Level
4.5.3 Procedures as Call Center Technicians
All the computers in a call center have
help desk software. The technicians use this software to manage many of
their job functions
A call center environment is usually
very professional and fast-paced.
Each call center has business policies regarding call priority. A sample chart of how calls can be named,
Level One Technicians Responsibility
Level Two Technicians Responsibility
Gather pertinent information from the customer.
The technician has to accurately enter all information into the ticket or work order.
Information Checklist :
- Contact In formation
- Priority of problem
- Description of problem
Usually more knowledgeable about
technology.
May have been working for the company for a longer period of time.
May use remote access software to
access the customer’s computer to diagnose the problem and possibly to resolve the issue.