Unit 12 - IT Technical Support (P1,P2,P3,M1,M2)

Unit 12 - IT Technical Support

Task A - Technical Support Report (P1,P2,P3,M1,M2)

P1: Tools and Techniques Used for Technical Support

Although over at DigiCom there is an IT department, they may  not always be able to resolve any faults they may stumble upon with only the use of their brain; there is only so much one person can know on a topic, and may not even be able to find the solution with the help of the other members of the department. However with the use of diagnostic tools and techniques the IT department could find the solution to a fault more quickly, and more effectively, saving up unnecessary time and effort in order to find the solution to the fault they are looking into. Not only should the IT department consider the likes of diagnostic tools such as device manager and resource monitor along with malware and virus diagnostic tools such as Malwarebytes, but they also need to think about the questions they could ask the user in order to find more information about the fault; they can ask closed questions, but should stick to open questions in hope that any information given to them can help them more effectively to find the solution to the fault. All questions asked must try and be direct questions to receive the best possible feedback and outcome. 

When trying to find the solution to a fault the IT department at DigiCom should consider what sort of questions they are going to ask the user in order to gain a little information about the fault itself. A structured approach when asking relevant questions should be taken, as this would allow the IT department to get answers and a conclusion more quickly. When asking the customer the questions, a logical approach should also be taken, and any additional symptoms other than the main fault itself should be noted as well. When asking questions the IT department should consider what direct questions they are going to ask, such as "Do..?", "Is..?", "Can..?", etc. One of the first questions the IT department could ask would be for the user to point out what the fault is and where it is located, if they know the answer. This in itself is quite an closed question, as it allows for the customer to pinpoint the location and what they know about the fault, and by passing it on to the IT department aids them in trying to resolve the fault. Not only would the would the Technician need to ask questions about the fault, they could also monitor the user's system remotely with the likes of RDP, which would be another useful technique in order to strive in resolving the issue. 

Another technique that the IT Technician for DigiCom might use would be the use of keeping a fault log. This in a sense is the Technician's own personal diary of any information related to the fault the user has. By making a fault log means that they will not forget any information given to them, and they have it all there in front of them to refer to at all times; this fault log can be either down on physical paper or a digital copy such as on a notepad on the computer. Similar to the fault log, the Technician should try and get access to the solution database for the faulty system, if it has one. This would allow the Technician to see if the system has had any faults prior similar to the current one, and see what actions were taken to resolve this issue last time. 

Although said techniques should offer the Technicians a lot of information to help in resolving the fault they are faced with, techniques alone will not get them where they need to be. This is where certain tools jump into play, in order for these techniques to make the biggest effect possible. The first tool that a Technician could try would be the troubleshooter found on the system. Troubleshooting essentially tries to find the fault with a program or service and automatically fix it for you, however if it cannot find the issue or resolve it then it will give suggestions on how you can do it yourself. Another tool that would come in handy for the Technician to use would be the likes of an anti-virus or malware removal software, such as Malwarebytes. Malwarebytes – or any other anti-virus software – can run scans on the fault system and try and locate any malicious files that may be harming the system and causing faults to occur. Alternatively you can have them set to do real-time checks on the system, monitoring things you download etc. Other examples of anti-virus software could include the likes of Norton and AVG. 

Other tools that could help in resolving faults in computer systems could be the likes of the control panel, but more importantly the install/uninstall options on it. If the fault is known to be linked to a specific program then the Technicians would be able to uninstall the program from here to help resolve the issue. To be able to locate the program that is causing the fault however the Technician might need to use the likes of task manager to be able to get a visual of performance data, and any running applications and service; task manager might be able to pinpoint any that look very suspicious, using up lots of memory over others and those that's don't look familiar etc. One final tool that the IT Technicians at DigiCom may be able to use effectively would be the event viewer on the system. By browsing the event viewer allows them to see if and when any errors or faults may have occurred on the computer itself, and from here they may be able to find a solution more quickly. 

P2: Impact of Organisational Policies and Procedures on the Provision of Technical Support

The job of the IT Technicians at DigiCom require them to download and use many softwares and programs which will help them to try and resolve the faults that they are faced with. However, despite this they have to ensure that they stick to the policy procedures put into place over at DigiCom. Below you will find some of the ways in which DigiCom's policies affect the provision for technical support: 

• Internet Use – Company computers are meant to be used for the purpose of work within the company, and nothing more. Companies must ensure that all of their employees stick to this guideline, and in return will monitor the internet usage of the company computers, usually by blocking certain websites. Sites that will usually get blocked within a workplace are the likes of illegal sites, pornography sites, gambling sites etc. In most cases, blocking of sites and restricting internet usage in general will lead to a better outcome for the company, in terms of the technician whose job it is to give technical support at DigiCom will not get distracted from their work by playing games out of boredom for example, and will focus more on their work for the business. However, sometimes websites may be falsely blocked, and a technician may need to access it to research into specific information, but with the restrictions in place they cannot do so, and will have to spend time finding it elsewhere. 

• Security – The majority of companies will have some form of anti-virus installed onto their computers in order to prevent any risk of getting malware and other malicious files on the computer itself. To help prevent any viruses being downloaded onto the company computers the business will usually have a rule in place which prohibits unauthorised software and programs to be downloaded. Like with the previous policy, by putting a restriction on downloaded software and programs will help prevent distracting the workers from potentially needing to find solutions to remove any viruses or malicious file they may accidentally download through unauthorised software and programs. 

• Technician Experience – Within DigiCom they allow their technicians two training days per year to allow for professional development. By offering their technicians these training days allows for them to go over the necessary skills they need to undergo day to day tasks for the business; the technicians will work more efficiently and effectively without the need to ask a colleague for help, which would take up time in the work day to go over how to do a task, using up time which could be spent on the work itself. Using up this work time to see how a task or job is done wastes time essentially, especially if you were to add up the amount of time spent trying to find the solution, but by adding in the two days each year will help prevent this loss of time if the technician is unsure on how to do something on a daily task.

P3: Types of Faults That Can Occur

When we take a look at the extract from the fault log it is clear that there are many types of faults, however they all seem to fit in either one of a number of categories. These categories are as follows:

Loss of Service  

This usually applies to a large scale service, such as a network, however it can be triggered by a number of issues that the computer system may have, from accidental data corruption or system crashes. The likes of servers may undergo loss of service if for example more information flowing through became over the limit as what it can handle, as information is constantly flowing through them; if programs and software are pushed over the limit of what they are capable of then the loss of service can take place. An example of this from the given fault log could be the one submitted by Edith, with regards to not being able to make something print off, assuming that she is using the printer wirelessly.  

Hardware Faults  

This issue occurs when the physical components of the computer system or other peripherals may have a fault, resulting in them not working properly. These issues are usually relatively easy to fix, as it may just consist of replacing the faulty component, however sometimes one faulty component can have an effect on all of the other components within causing the system to become faulty as a whole and not work; one faulty component can make other components faulty, meaning that more than one of the interior components may have to be fixed or replaced, rather than the original faulty one. An example of this issue from the fault log could be the one given by Sunil with regards to the screen going 'pop' with a following bad smell. This indicates that one of the interior components of the monitor he was using has a fault, causing it to essentially explode which is where the 'pop' noise and strange smell had come from; he could probably smell the burning from the faulty component perhaps. 

Software Faults  

These issues usually occur when the specific software or program do not respond as they should do, causing it to not work properly. They are common when a programming error becomes evident, and is executed by the computer's processor. An example given from the fault log would be Ben's fault, with regards to Microsoft Word which keeps freezing for him, resulting in him to lose the work on his Word documents. By the sounds of it, Microsoft Word encounters a software fault, and therefore the CPU will attempt to close down the program.  

Poor Performance  

This essentially refers to when the computer system is not performing to its full potential standards, or when it under performs to what it will usually perform like; poor performance is usually noticeable if the computer is running slower than usual, and is generally caused by hardware or software faults, or exceeding the limits of the installed RAM or hard drive. An example from the fault log of poor performance would be John who states his laptop used to run like new and now runs slow. This could be from the capacity of the hard drive filling up or exceeding the limits of RAM, or it may be more serious and could be the outcome of a hardware or software fault.  

Viruses  

Viruses are probably one of the most threatening things to a computer system, due to the sheer amount of harm it can cause to the computer itself. These threats can vary from malware, malicious files, spyware, keyloggers etc. and many other harming things, which can also include unauthorised remote access to the system. From the fault log we can see that it looks like Jules may have a virus on his computer, as he states that the mouse keeps jumping across the screen, and pops up with a message box saying 'Gotchya'. This could be as harmless as a prank from a friend, or as harmful as a virus causing the pop up message.  
Error Messages  

These are usually displayed stating that a command cannot be performed for a specific reason, and might sometimes prompt the user with some troubleshooting tips to try and resolve the issue. The example shown in the fault log of an error message occurring would be Freya's submission, which states that her file cannot be saved when using a template on the word processor she is using.  

Complaints  

Complaints are usually when someone submits a fault complaining about an issue they have, rather than explaining or stating what is wrong with their system. A complaint can be from the likes of the user complaining about a fault with their system, or even complaining about the service they may have received from the technical support team regarding an issue they had. An example of a complaint from the fault log can be seen from Martin, who states that it is around the sixth time he has had to call the support team regarding the same issue, and therefore he is unhappy with both the continuing issue he has and is also unhappy on the support team's assistance. 

Network Access
  
As mentioned a little in the loss of service, network access can sometimes play quite a big part of some faults that a user may have. For example, if there is no network access then it may cause the likes of not being able to connect to wireless peripherals, not being able to connect to the internet and not being able to logon to the system if the user accounts are connected to a main server. I believe network access may be the cause of some of the issues in the fault log, such as Freya who cannot seem to login to the system, which as mentioned might be because she cannot connect to the main server where all of the accounts login and connect to. 

User Requests 


A user request is usually an issue a user has where they are simply asking for a little help with something small – or big – where they may have a little idea on something but not fully understand it. An example of this can be found in Ben's issue asking the technical support for help in regards to adding a signature to outgoing emails in Outlook.  

(On some occasions, the issues listed in the fault log may look to fit under multiple categories of faults, and may not be limited to just one category to be listed under).

From the above chart we can see that the most common type of issue that arises on the fault log provided is an issue regarding network access. I believe the reason for this could be down to the fact that network plays a huge role in every day life within a workplace; many of the issues with regards to failed login attempts I believe are due to network access if the company is running user accounts from a server, and if the network is down or playing up they would not be able to log on to their account.  

M1: Importance of Keeping Fault Logs

With fault logs it is Important for a company to keep a backup of old and present logs which could be referred back to in the future, and could become very useful rather than having no purpose – it will keep a backup of faults, including what happened, where it was located and possibly what was done to resolve it. By having said fault log means that in the future if the fault – or a similar one – happens again then you can refer back to the log to see what actions were taken in order to resolve the fault, or if the resolution is not there then you can refer back to see if it is the same and in the same location, and how many times it has already occurred; if it has occurred multiple times then it indicates that perhaps the system the fault is occurring on my need a deeper look into it, and possibly might need replacing. An already existing fault log will help reduce the time it takes to resolve other faults of a similar nature, which helps to resolve the new fault more efficiently and effectively – without the log you might end up wasting time trying to remember what was done last time off the top of your head, or spending a lot of time trying to find an answer to an already answered a solved question, but without a copy of any fault log. 


If a company was to keep a fault log however they must ensure that it is accurate. By having an accurate fault log will give the technicians accurate data to look back on. If the report log is not accurate then someone might try and resolve an issue in a way that they are not meant to, and could end up damaging the system with the fault even more than it already may be; if the data on the fault log is not accurate then it may show a supposed fix for the issue which is not true, and if someone looks back at it trying to resolve the same issue or similar, then they may damage the system even more or might even injure themselves, and therefore will become a safety risk!

An example of a fault log can be seen below: 

Technician's Name: Jeff 
Date & Time: 23/03/17 - 2:10 pm 
Description of Fault: Cannot log on to user account which is managed through the company's server 
Actions Taken to Resolve: Checked the network settings to make sure it has a connection to the server 
Problem Solved?: Yes 
Cause of the Issue: Ethernet cable was not plugged into the computer properly and therefore a connection to the server was not established 
Time Taken to Fix: 5 minutes 


The example is above can be seen as an accurate fault log example is it details all of the relevant information needed in order for the fault to be resolved. If the log did not have the likes of the actions taken to resolve or whether the issue was resolved or not then it may not be seen as an accurate log entry as important and vital details and information would be missing. 

M2: Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Technical Support

With DigiCom considering to disband the in-house support team and begin outsourcing the provision of technical support – outsourcing is where a business will pay another company to help with any work or tasks that are needed to be completed for a deadline, which can have many benefits but also can have some disadvantages to it also.  

Outsourcing has many advantages which include the likes of being able to complete specific types of work without the need in buying expensive essential material, by getting the outsource company who has it already to do the work needed. This can lead to financial benefits for the initial company as they would not need to invest in the expensive material and equipment they may need for specific tasks, as well as some companies outsourcing to companies in a different company where work may be cheaper than in the original company's country, with the minimum wage in the UK being £7.20 for an over 25 year old person whereas in the likes of India the minimum wage is lower – this could mean the business would not have to spend as much money on their work, and can use the money elsewhere within the company. This idea of outsourcing will also help free up the amount of resources the first company would need to spend money on, and if getting a foreign company to do the work then the first company is essentially paying the other workers less for the same work. 


However, with the advantages comes disadvantages also. For example, if the initial business were to outsource in general then there is the chance that the control over the work being done will be considerably less than if they were to do the work themselves. Also, if the outsourced company was located in a foreign language then there may not only be language barriers between the two companies, but also to the customers also, if the outsourced company has to also get in contact with the customers they are working for – the foreign language they may speak might not contain specific names and vocabulary that the initial business may use within the workplace. This could lead to the customers not being very happy with the initial company if there is a language barrier to stop clear communication between the customers and the business, as they may feel they are not getting the top standard professionalism than they would expect to receive. Another aspect of outsourcing that would need to be put into consideration would be the time zone if the outsource company was in another country, as it would be difficult – time wise – to work with someone on the other side of the world to yourself, as they may be asleep when you are awake and working, and vice versa.