Question 1

A blended call center is a call center that receives incoming calls and makes outgoing calls.

Accepted Answer

A blended call center is designed to handle both inbound and outbound calls, allowing agents to perform both functions as needed.

Question 2

The term technical center is being used increasingly to refer to a call center that uses technologies such as e-mail and the Web in addition to the telephone to communicate with its customers.

Accepted Answer

A technical center typically refers to a facility or organization focused on research, development, and support in technical or technological fields, rather than specifically to a call center that uses various communication technologies.

Question 3

A poorly run service desk can make even the most effective IT organization look bad.

Accepted Answer

The service desk is often the first point of contact for users experiencing issues. If it is poorly managed, it can lead to unresolved problems, long wait times, and overall dissatisfaction, reflecting negatively on the entire IT organization.

Question 4

Even a highly effective service desk cannot compensate for deficiencies, such as customer perception, elsewhere in the organization.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Even a highly effective service desk cannot...

Question 5

In a multi-level support model, service desks require three levels of support to be efficient and effective.

Accepted Answer

A multi-level support model can be efficient and effective with more or fewer than three levels of support, depending on the organization's needs and the complexity of the issues handled.

Question 6

Technology such as knowledge management systems, network monitoring systems, and diagnostic systems enables the service desk to absorb many activities performed by other support groups. These other groups may then focus on tasks such as projects, operations activities, and maintenance activities.

Accepted Answer

Technology like knowledge management systems and diagnostic systems helps centralize and streamline support activities, allowing the service desk to handle a wider range of issues. This efficiency enables specialized support groups to dedicate more time to their specific tasks, such as projects, operations, and maintenance, improving overall organizational productivity.

Question 7

Service desks typically hand off more incidents to other groups than traditional help desks do.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Service desks typically hand off more incidents...

Question 8

A best practice is for a company to only have one internal service desk to provide a single point of contact for customers.

Accepted Answer

Best practices suggest having a single point of contact for internal users or employees, but for external customers, companies often have multiple channels (e.g., phone, email, chat) to improve accessibility and customer satisfaction.

Question 9

IT departments must now function as internal service providers and must supply competitively priced services that help the company's employees use technology to improve productivity and increase corporate profitability.

Accepted Answer

IT departments have evolved to act as internal service providers, offering competitively priced and efficient technology services to support employees in enhancing productivity and contributing to the overall profitability of the company.

Question 10

Taking ownership of an incident means tracking the incident to ensure that the customer is kept informed about the status of the incident, that the incident is resolved within the expected time frame, and that the customer is satisfied with the final resolution.

Accepted Answer

Taking ownership of an incident involves responsibility for its entire lifecycle, including keeping the customer informed, ensuring timely resolution, and achieving customer satisfaction with the outcome.

Question 11

Since formal training for users and service desk staff is a significant expense, it is wise to try to do as much training as you can in an informal manner.

Accepted Answer

Formal training for users and service desk staff is crucial for ensuring that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to use and support IT systems effectively. While informal training can supplement formal training, relying solely on informal methods can lead to gaps in understanding, inconsistent practices, and decreased productivity. Formal training provides structured learning, consistency, and a solid foundation of knowledge that informal training alone cannot guarantee.

Question 12

Instead of rejecting out-of-scope requests, underfunded IT service desks often direct the customer to another source that can help.

Accepted Answer

Underfunded IT service desks, lacking the resources to handle all types of requests, often guide customers to alternative sources or departments that can provide the necessary assistance, rather than outright rejecting the requests. This approach helps maintain customer satisfaction while managing the limitations of the service desk.

Question 13

External service desks may perform pre- and post-sales support; typically internal service desks don't provide this type of service.

Accepted Answer

External service desks are often designed to handle a broader range of customer interactions, including pre-sales inquiries and post-sales support, to enhance customer service and satisfaction. Internal service desks, on the other hand, primarily focus on supporting the organization's employees with IT and technical issues, not on sales-related activities.

Question 14

The services that an external service desk provides are typically determined by a warranty or legally binding contract.

Accepted Answer

The scope and services provided by an external service desk are usually defined and agreed upon in a warranty or a legally binding contract to ensure clear expectations and accountability.

Question 15

External service desks typically face the same budget and staffing constraints that internal service desks do.

Accepted Answer

External service desks often have different budget and staffing constraints compared to internal service desks because they operate as separate entities or businesses, focusing on serving multiple clients and optimizing their resources across those clients.

Question 16

Typically, small companies have small service desks, while large companies have large service desks.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Typically, small companies have small service desks,...

Question 17

Some smaller companies act as one-stop-shops, which means that the service desk is fully responsible for resolving all incidents and service requests, even if they need to do extensive research or even programming changes.

Accepted Answer

In smaller companies, the service desk often acts as a one-stop-shop due to limited resources, meaning they handle a wide range of tasks including incident resolution, service requests, and sometimes even tasks like research or programming changes to resolve issues.

Question 18

Medium service desks typically take on the characteristics of large service desks.

Accepted Answer

Medium service desks are distinct in their operations and characteristics, often focusing on a balanced approach between personalized service and efficiency, unlike large service desks which may prioritize scalability and standardized processes.

Question 19

Large service desks typically operate as one large team, as it is easier to manage incoming calls this way.

Accepted Answer

Large service desks often operate in specialized teams or groups to handle specific types of issues or services more efficiently, rather than as one large, undifferentiated team.

Question 20

Some companies have multiple decentralized service desks that support specific products or internal or external customer communities.

Accepted Answer

Decentralized service desks allow companies to specialize support for different products or customer groups, improving efficiency and service quality.

Quiz 2: Service Desk Operations