Chapter 7 User Support Management

Organizations that treat user support as a profit center may have more difficulty justifying the cost of support services. True or False.

False.

Which of these categories of workers is expected to increase at about the same rate as employment in the U.S. economy over the next decade?
a. Computer support specialists
b. Computer Systems Administrators
c. Network Administrators
d. None of these

…

A computer adaptive test may be able to determine a test taker’s proficiency level by asking as few as ___ questions.
a. 5
b. 15
c. 64
d. 100

b. 15

Which of these testing methods is often used in industry certification exams?
a. Computer adaptive tests
b. Paper-and-pencil test
c. Traditional fixed-length test
d. SAT exam format

a. computer adaptive tests.

CBT and WBT for those preparing for certification exams are ____ courses.
a. crash
b. boot camp
c. online tutorial
d. adaptive

c. online tutorial.

Which of the following is not a primary benefit of computer industry certification?
a. ability to document minimum-level job skills and expertise
b. ability to document a worker’s efforts to keep up to date in the computer field.
c. ability to identify a worker whose performance has fallen below industry standards.
d. ability to justify a request for higher pay.

c. ability to identify a worker whose performance has fallen below industry standards.

The Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) A+ exam is an example of a ____.
a. vendor-neutral exam.
b. vendor-specific exam.
c. help desk agent exam.
d. vendor-sponsored exam.

a. vendor-neutral exam.

Which of these can be examined for industry certification?
a. help desk and support agents
b. user support groups
c. IT professionals
d. Any of these

d. any of these.

One of the first vendor-specific certification programs was offered by ____.
a. Microsoft
b. Novell
c. Cisco
d. Sun Microsystems

b. Novell

A vendor-specific certification is ____.
a. vendor neutral
b. required for employment
c. an industry-wide exam
d. none of these

d. none of these.

Which of the following is not a common type of certification used in the information technology field?
a. formal education that results in a degree
b. Vendor-specific product knowledge
c. Industry-standard skills in a specific field
d. verification of prior employment during a job interview

d. verification of prior employment during a job interview.

Which of these levels of user support is likely to be the most responsive to a user’s needs?
a. free support
b. standard support
c. premium support
d. warranty coverage

c. premium support.

Organizations that treat user support as a profit center may have more difficulty justifying the cost of support services.
True or False.

False.

Which of the following levels of support services likely costs the most to provide to users?
a. Free level services
b. standard fee for service level
c. premium level services
d. minimum level services

c. premium level services.

Which of these ways of organizing a support center has both an expense budget and an income budget?
a. profit center
b. cost center
c. income center
d. expense center

a. profit center

Which of these is not a common method used to conduct a user satisfaction survey?
a. face-to-face interview
b. follow-up telephone call
c. mailed questionnaire
d. email or web survey

a. face-to-face interview

The primary purpose of a help desk performance statistics is to ____.
a. respond to computer auditors’ information requirements
b. justify the value and expense of support services
c. report to company stockholders
d. respond to complaints from angry users

b. justify the value and expense of support services.

The average time it takes a help desk to respond to incidents is ____.
a. call time
b. wait time
c. abandonment rate
d. response rate

b. wait time

Objective measures of the user support or help desk operation are called ___.
a. performance statistics
b. abandonment rate
c. erlang measures
d. adaptive tests

a. performance statistics.

Which of these is an important topic in a help desk staff training program?
a. new staff orientation
b. performance appraisal criteria
c. ongoing training
d. all of these

d. all of these.

Which of the following kinds of questions gives an applicant for a help desk position a specific problem to solve that is representative of situations that help desk agents actually encounter?
a. directed question
b. behavioral question
c. non-directed question
d. scenario question

d. scenario question.

One of the first vendor-specific certification programs was offered by ____.
a. Microsoft
b. Novell
c. Cisco
d. Sun Microsystems

b. Novell

Which of the following kinds of questions is designed to determine whether a help desk job applicant has specific educational and work experience required for a position.
a. directed question
b. behavioral question
c. non-directed question
d. scenario question.

a. directed question.

A paper-and-pencil or verbal exercise that measures a job applicant’s technical understanding and problem-solving ability is a(n) ____.
a. scenario test
b. personality test
c. IQ test
d. knowledge and skills test

d. knowledge and skills test.

Which of these knowledge, skills, and abilities would a help desk manager probably not seek in an applicant for a help desk position?
a. technical skills
b. communication skills
c. programming skills
d. troubleshooting skills

c. programming skills

A help desk manager would probably emphasize which of these skills in a job search for an advanced technical support staff member?
a. Technical knowledge and skills
b. telephone skills
c. ability to work on a project team
d. communication and listening skills

a. technical knowledge and skills

Which of these proficiencies (KSAs) would a user support manager usually not specify in a position description for a user support position?
a. hardware, operating systems, and application software experience
b. internet and web skills
c. marketing ability
d. communications and interpersonal skills

c. marketing ability

___.
a. the contact rate
b. the abandonment rate
c. the response rate
d. an erlang unit

d. erlang unit

Which of these aspects of help desk operation would not normally be covered in a user support mission statement?
a. operational efficiency of users
b. help desk fees for services
c. customer satisfaction
d. effectiveness of help desk services

b. help desk fees for services.

Which of these support management concerns directly affects the support staff’s job?
a. the support mission statement
b. support performance measures
c. staffing the support group
d. all of these

d. all of these.

A professional association is a labor union that represents the interest of a group of agents who work for a organization. True or false.

False.

Certification of knowledge, skills, and abilities in technology is now a job requirement for virtually any help desk position. True or False.

False

Employment in the category of Computer Support Specialists is expected to increase at about an average rate compared with other occupational categories in the US during the next decade. True or False

True.

Automated call distributor (ACD) systems often collect data to measure help desk and agent performance. True or False.

True.

Performance measures for a help desk operation may be reported as statistics, but are often reported as visual graphic, such as a histogram. True or False.

True.

The percentage of incidents were a user hangs up or gave up before a support agent responded is called the abandonment rate. True or false.

True.

Wait time is the average time a help desk agent is idle before an incident arrives that needs attention. True or false.

False.

A knowledge and skills test is a tool support managers use when selecting new employees, it measure an applicant’s understanding and problem-solving ability. True or false.

True.

Most open help desk and user support positions are advertised in the newspaper.

False.