Solving and Preventing Incidents and Problems - Chapter 6

True

A symptom is a sign or indication that an incident has occurred.

False

Companies typically don't distinguish between incidents, questions, and inquires because they all represent work that must be performed by service desk analysts.

True

One of the benefits of asking customers questions when trying to diagnose an incident is that you will gain insight about the customer's skill level.

False

One of the most important reasons that level two service providers must know how busy the service desk analysts are, is so that level two can correctly set the customers' expectations in terms of incident resolution.

True

Some incident resolutions, such as completely replacing a piece of equipment, may need a request for change to be generated. A company's change management process will dictate whether a request for change must be generated.

True

Studies indicate that a high percentage of technical incidents are recurring in nature.

True

The incident owner acts as a customer advocate and ensures an incident is resolved to the customer's satisfaction.

B

The objectives of _____________ are to minimize the impact of incidents, eliminate recurring incidents, and prevent problems and their resulting incidents form occurring. a. incident management b. problem management c. root cause analysis d. Both A and B.

A

The objectives of ____________________ is to restore service as quickly as possible. a. incident management b. problem management c. root cause analysis d. Both A and B.

True

Two reasons that it is necessary to periodically review the incident management system data are to ensure that the service desk analysts are documenting the incidents correctly and that level two service providers are documenting resolutions correctly.

A

What is the system, network, or product that is most likely causing an incident called? a. probable source b. root cause c. symptom d. Both A and B.

B

Which is a diagram that shows the sequence of tasks that occur in a process? a. grid b. flowchart c. procedure d. problem solving guide

D

Which is true? a. Typically, only highly skilled statisticians perform trend and root cause analysis. b. Ultimately, customers prefer that incidents be prevented. c. Without accurate data captured by service desk analysts, problem management is not possible. d. Both B and C.

D

Which symbol represents the end or stopping point of a process in a flowchart? a. a square b. a diamond c. a triangle d. an oval

A

Which would most likely be used to link customer records to incident records? a. employee number b. incident type c. incident description d. customer department

False

job trading involves working side-by-side with another person in an effort to understand and potentially learn that person's job.

B

Incident management is known as a(n) ___________ process, because the customer who reports an incident must accept the solution before the incident can be closed. a. customer focused b. closed loop c. open loop d. proactive

False

Incident ownership typically means that an analyst must develop and implement the solutions to all the incidents they own.

True

Incident priority typically remains the same throughout the life of an incident. This ensures it is resolved in the proper time frame and that it is not forgotten or neglected.

True

ITIL defines a known error as a problem that has a documented root cause and a workaround.

D

If a customer reports an incident that is not really an incident, such as requesting a change in how a product functions, what should a service desk analyst do? a. Resolve the incident b. Resolve the incident, log an RFC and close the incident only when the change is completed. c. Open an RFC and simply close the incident with a reference to the RFC d. Each company must decide how to handle this situation

B

In the incident management process, __________, such as "When will my equipment arrive?", are typically handled by the service desk. a. questions b. inquiries c. incidents d. known questions

D

In which step in the incident management process is an incident categorized and assigned a priority? a. identification b. investigation c. diagnosis d. logging

False

In world class service desks, root cause analysis is performed on all incidents.

A

During incident resolution, when is management notification appropriate? a. When the required resources are not available to determine or implement a solution. b. When the incident is reported. c. If the status of the incident changes d. All of the above

False

Examples of status data are incident status, person or group assigned, date and time assigned, and details describing how an incident was resolved.

False

A simulation system is a technology that enables an analyst to view and take control of a connected device in order to perform tasks such as troubleshooting incidents, transferring files, and providing training.

True

A target escalation time is a time constraint placed on each level that ensures incident resolutions activities are proceeding at an appropriate pace.

D

After diagnosing an incident and identifying the correct probable source, ________ might be included in developing a course of action. a. consulting online resources b. escalating the incident to a level two service provider c. delivering a solution d. All of the above

False

As soon as the service desk fixes the cause of the incident, the incident should be closed. Then a customer satisfaction survey is sent to the customer, and they confirm they are satisfied with the resolution.

True

Determining the probable source of an incident can be extremely difficult, particularly when dealing with complex technology, such as that found in a client/server computing environment.

D

During incident resolution, when is customer notification appropriate? a. If the target resolution time will not be met. b. If the customer was dissatisfied with earlier solutions c. If the incident has a high priority and justifies frequent status updates. d. All of the above.

True

One excellent diagnostic tool is a digital agent, a software routing that performs an action when a specified event occurs. It can interact with customers to provide solutions, take customers on a tour of a company's web site, or escalate customers from self-services to assisted service channels.

False

Solving incidents efficiently and effectively simply means searching a knowledge base for known solutions and applying the correct one.

True

Some companies establish standards that determine what technologies customer use, which influence what technologies the service desk supports along with what resources the service desk can use to simulate incidents.

C

The __________ is the most basic reason for an undesirable condition. a. problem b. incident c. root cause d. fault

False

The terminology used to describe the incident management process is standard from one organization to the next.

False

Trend forecasting is a methodical way of determining and, when possible, forecasting, service trends.

True

When multiple groups are involved in solving an incident or problem, processes and procedures provide the framework that enables each group to understand what to do and how to do it.

True

When trying to provide good customer service, it is important to remember that even bad news is better than no news at all.

D

Which is a benefit of establishing technology standards? a. Organizations will be able to sustain a more complex environment, which results in service providers and customers gaining an excellent range of expertise in numerous areas. This also puts the company in an excellent position as new technology becomes available, as analysts have an excellent base of knowledge. b. Effective training programs can be developed because there are fewer systems. The training is more efficient and effective, so customers have fewer questions and inquiries, and the service desk can quickly handle questions and inquiries that do occur. c. The company is positioned to take advantage of state-of-art technology. Allowing customers to use any system they want often makes it difficult for a company to implement new technology and may not fit the long-term needs of the company. The standards committee stays on top of industry trends and selects systems that will benefit the company now and into the foreseeable future. d. Both B and C.

A

Which is an activity in the problem management process but not in the incident management process? a. root cause analysis b. identification c. investigation and diagnosis d. resolution

D

Which is included in both a detailed and a short incident description? a. the results a customer expects b. the steps the customer took to get results c. the history or pattern of the incident d. the actual results a customer is experiencing

A

Which is the first step in the incident management process? a. identification b. investigation c. diagnosis d. logging

B

Which is true about using checklists to help diagnose incidents? a. Checklists should contain only complex questions that are easy for analysts to forget b. Level two or three analysts may assist with or actually develop checklists for service desk analysts. c. All checklist questions should be asked each and every time a customer reports an incident. d. Checklists should always be in paper format for easy accessiblity.

D

Which is true? a. Persistence is an excellent quality for service desk analysts as it allows them to find permanent solutions and eliminate incidents. b. By analyzing trends and eliminating root causes of problems, analysts can help reduce the number of incidents. c. Problem solving is an innate skill that can be improved with practice. d. All of the above.

A

Which is true? a. The root cause is not recorded in the incident record. When justified, a problem record is created and used to investigate and eliminate the root cause. b. When found, the root cause is recorded in the incident record and linked to associated problem records. c. The root cause is recorded in the problem record and also in all associated incident records. d. The root cause is recorded in the change record and linked to all associated incident and problem records.

D

Why are clearly defined and documented processes and procedures critical to handling incidents and problems? a. They ensure critical data are gathered. b. They ensure important problem-solving steps are not forgotten. c. They ensure incidents and problems are handled in a consistent manner. d. All of the above.

C

___________ is a technique which involves defining and describing the problem, establishing possible causes, testing the most probable cause, and verifying the true cause. a. Cause and effect analysis b. Pareto analysis c. Kepner-Tregoe problem analysis d. Brainstorming

B

_____________ is a technique for determining the most significant causes from a list of many possible causes of a problem and involves producing a bar chart that displays, in descending order, the possible causes of a problem. a. Cause and effect analysis b. Pareto analysis c. Kepner-Tregoe problem analysis d. Brainstorming