IT/Technology Service Help Desk and Incident Management Level 2 Role Overview This sub-discipline is about the competencies required to manage the contacts made by customers of IT/technology systems, services and assets, typically through a service desk/help desk function as the first point of contact supporting an organisation. A service desk/help desk may be the initial point of contact for incidents and service requests. Those that cannot be resolved are assigned to other internal /external individuals and/or groups who can own and resolve them, but the progress tracking of these incidents and service requests is conducted from inception to fulfilment and/or closure by the service desk/help desk function. ESKITP7022 1
Performance criteria You must be able to: Carry out designated IT Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities under supervision P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 Apply designated procedures, tools and techniques to respond to incident management and service request activities under the direction of others Comply with any relevant legislation, regulations and external standards relating to service desk/help desk activities and their deliverables in own area of accountability Communicate with customers of the service desk/help desk effectively, empathetically, courteously and in a timely manner in relation to incidents and service requests relevant to them Accurately validate, categorise, prioritise and assign incoming incidents and service requests, in line with procedures Fulfil service requests and close incidents where possible within the service desk/help desk, in line with procedures Refer or escalate unfulfilled service requests and unclosed incidents in line with procedures You must be able to: Gather data to monitor and report on the effectiveness and customer satisfaction of Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities that you provide. P7 P8 Gather and document all necessary information required for the diagnosis of and assignment of incoming incidents and service requests Take responsibility for the level of customer service and satisfaction that you provide Help Identify and implement improvements and work-arounds to Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities. You must be able to: P9 Accurately interpret information gathered from individual customer calls/contacts to the service desk/help desk in order to ascertain the correct course of action/response, under supervision P10 Assist others with the development of work-arounds and resolutions for incidents and service requests, where appropriate ESKITP7022 2
Knowledge and understanding Carry out designated IT Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities under supervision You need to know and understand: K1 Identify and select what classification and priority to allocate to incidents and service requests received by the service desk/help desk K2 Identify and select how to validate and assign incidents and service requests received by the service desk/help desk K3 Use and apply procedures, tools and techniques that apply to incident management and service request activities K4 Use and apply information about: K4.1 who are the customers of the service desk/help desk K4.2 the classifications to be applied to incidents and service requests K4.3 the priorities to be applied to incidents and service requests K4.4 the type of incidents and service requests that can be resolved directly by the service desk K4.5 individuals and groups to whom incidents or service requests can be assigned or escalated K4.6 what services are in the service catalogue/portfolio K4.7 the service levels and operational hours that apply to the service desk/help desk K5 Use and apply information from customers contacting the service desk/help desk in relation to incidents and service requests so that they may be diagnosed and processed K6 Use information relating to the nature and context of incidents and service requests from a variety of internal and external sources K7 Operate with reference to: K7.1 relevant and applicable legislation and regulations K7.2 professional and ethical standards K7.3 maintaining integrity and confidentiality K7.4 interacting with customers with courtesy and empathy K8 Report issues arising from individual customer contacts that require escalation K9 Receive contacts from customers in a range of media types K10 Record incidents and service requests accurately and completely K11 Diagnose incidents and service requests and provide immediate resolution where possible K12 Keep customers updated on the progress of incidents and service requests K13 Keep customers satisfied with the level of service/contact they receive K14 Fulfil as many service requests and close as many incidents as possible within the service desk/help desk ESKITP7022 3
K15 Communicate with internal and external individuals and groups to whom incidents and/or service requests have been assigned K16 The role and importance of the service desk/help desk in supporting business operations K17 The role of incident management and the service desk/help desk in service delivery/operation K18 A service desk/help desk and its role in handing contacts and managing incidents and service requests K19 What is meant by a service catalogue/portfolio K20 What is the relationship of the service desk/help desk to the service lifecycle and the service catalogue/portfolio K21 What is meant by incident closure and service request fulfilment K22 The range of services that the service desk/help desk provides and the service levels that apply to the service catalogue/portfolio K23 The goals, objectives and targets of the service desk/help desk K24 The procedures, tools and techniques that can be used for incident and service request management K25 What are the inputs from service desk/help desk activities K26 The priorities that can be assigned to incidents and service requests K27 The fact that customers of the service desk may be internal or external to the organisation K28 The fact that many customers who contact a service desk/help desk may demonstrate frustration and anger with the situation they find themselves in K29 The possible reasons for initial customer contact: K29.1 IT/Technology operational problems K29.2 valid requests for assistance; or K29.3 other factors, such as a lack of appropriate knowledge, skills and training on the part of users of IT/Technology and its associated processes K30 The fact that the service desk may need to engage with both internal and external providers of support for IT/technology services in order to resolve incidents and service requests K31 Why incidents and service requests need to be classified and prioritised accurately and tracked from inception to closure K32 Who: K32.1 are the customers of the service desk/help desk K32.2 are the internal and external providers K32.3 needs to be informed in the event of any issues arising from interactions with customers K32.4 needs to be informed in the event of issues arising from the tracking of incidents and service requests K32.5 needs to authorise actions taken during incident management and ESKITP7022 4
service access request activities K33 The importance of: K33.1 fielding all contacts made to the service desk/help desk quickly, courteously, accurately, empathetically and in line with procedures K33.2 soliciting relevant information from customers in order to make an appropriate diagnosis of how their needs can be addressed/managed K33.3 referencing the service catalogue and/or portfolio and service level information during incident and service access request activities, where appropriate K33.4 incidents and service requests being assigned to, then owned and actioned by nominated individuals and/or groups through their lifespan K33.5 ensuring that all contacts to the service desk/help desk are assigned to those individuals and/or functions that can deal with them most effectively K33.6 keeping customers updated on the progress of their incident and/or service request K33.7 escalating incidents and/or service requests to superiors and other individuals accurately, where appropriate K34 How to comply with standards and service levels that apply to incident management and service access request activities You need to know and understand: Gather data to monitor and report on the effectiveness and customer satisfaction of Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities that you provide. K35 Gather and apply information: K35.1 about incidents and service requests K35.2 relating to services in the service catalogue and/or portfolio and their targets K35.3 relating to the nature and context of incidents and service requests from a variety of internal and external sources K35.4 from monitoring the quality and effectiveness of services in operation, including appropriate work-arounds K35.5 relating to the customers of any service, their needs and their levels of satisfaction with the service provided K36 Document and store: K36.1 incidents and service requests from inception to resolution/closure K36.2 any diagnosis made in the service desk/help desk relating to incidents and service requests K36.3 work-arounds applied to keep business activities on track whilst incidents and service requests are handled K37 Report work-arounds applied to keep business activities on track whilst ESKITP7022 5
incidents and service requests are handled, to individuals and groups responsible for the development of longer term solutions K38 Advise others on how a customer s incident and/or service request will be handled and provide progress information to relevant individuals K39 Take responsibility for the quality and effectiveness of their customer interaction and service associated with a call/contact to the service desk/help desk K40 What is meant by the service lifecycle and the type of service offered by the service desk/help desk to the organisation K41 The fact that customer incidents and service requests: K41.1 have to be classified and prioritised by the service desk/help desk K41.2 need to be either fulfilled by the service desk/help desk or assigned to others, either internally or externally, who are able to respond to them K42 The importance of: K42.1 why the activities of the service desk/help desk need to be monitored K42.2 documenting/recording all incidents and service requests together with their outcomes K42.3 tracking the progress of incidents and service requests from inception through to fulfilment and/or closure K43 The need for monitoring of: K43.1 individual calls/contacts made between customers and the service desk/help desk K43.2 the operational activities of the service desk/help desk including call/contact volumes and response times You need to know and understand: Help Identify and implement improvements and work-arounds to Service Help Desk and Incident Management activities. K44 K45 K46 K47 K48 Use and apply work-arounds to keep business activities on track whilst incidents and service requests are handled, as directed by others Use and apply information relating to the resolution of previous incidents and service requests What is meant by a work-around What are the potential implications of incidents on an organisation and of service desk/help desk requests not being serviced in a timely and efficient manner The importance of resolving as many valid incidents and service requests as possible at the service desk/help desk ESKITP7022 6
Developed by e-skills UK Version number 1 Date approved September 2009 Indicative review date Validity Status Originating organisation March 2014 Current Original e-skills UK Original URN 7022 Relevant occupations Suite Key words Application Support; Information and Communication Technology; Systems Support IT and Telecoms Software; Hardware; Network; Application; Helpdesk; Service level ESKITP7022 7