IT Technical Support
Aim and purpose
The aim of this unit is to enable learners to use their understanding of technical support tools and techniques and organisational policies and procedures to source technical information and communicate advice and guidance to resolve technical problems.
Unit Introduction
Developments in technology have created a demand for technical support personnel who can support individuals and organisations in different ways. This can include on-site help, desk support or remote support (connecting to the client machine and attempting to resolve the problem), field support and call centre support. The continuous development of technology and changing work patterns requires IT professionals to keep up to date with how to deal with technical problems and how to access and provide support where and when needed. In addition, organisations now seek to use new mechanisms, systems and technologies and this changing organisational practice has had a direct impact on the individuals who provide technical support.
On completing this unit, learners will be able to use their technical knowledge to help clients resolve technical problems and improve the performance of IT systems. In order to do this, learners will explore how to select relevant and reliable information from different sources.
This unit focuses on help desk/desktop support but includes an awareness of other kinds of support. It is common for calls to help desks to be made by people under some pressure, perhaps because their workflow is interrupted by a system failure and potentially involving loss of data or communications breakdowns. This means that support technicians need to develop good interpersonal skills to interact positively with customers and provide technical support.
This unit is directly related to providing advice and guidance within a business context, although learners will respond to most individuals. The IT sector is changing rapidly and an important part of this unit is to look at new and emerging technologies that relate to the areas they support and but also how these new technologies might impact on their work.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit a learner should:
- Understand the tools and techniques used for technical support
- Understand how organisational policies and procedures influence technical support
- Be able to gather information to provide advice and guidance
- Be able to communicate advice and guidance.
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