Chapter 13:

The IT Professional

IT Essentials v6.0

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 Chapter 13 - Sections & Objectives
 13.1 Communication Skills and the IT Professional
 Explain why good communication skills are a critical part of IT work.

 13.2 Ethical and Legal Issues in the IT Industry

 Explain appropriate behavior when faced with the legal and ethical issues that
arise in the IT industry.

 13.3 Call Center Technicians

 Explain the call center environment and technician responsibilities.

 13.4 Chapter Summary

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 13.1 Communication Skills
and the IT Professional

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Communication Skills and the IT Professional
Communication Skills, Troubleshooting and the IT
Professional
 Establish good communication skills
• Listen to your customer to learn the details of the problem
• Speak directly with the customer
• Gather information from the customer
• Present yourself professionally
• Keep your own emotions in check

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Communication Skills and the IT Professional
Working with a Customer
 Determine customer problem
• Listen actively to customer problem
• Do not interrupt
• Understand the problem, ask to clarify as necessary

 Display professional behavior

• Treat customer with respect and prompt attention
• Know the proper procedure to put a customer on hold or
transfer a call
• Explain how you can assist the customer

 Stay focus
• Keep the communications focus on the customer issue
• Understand how to deal with different customer types

 Proper netiquette
• Practice good netiquette when communicating online with the
customer

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Communication Skills and the IT Professional
Employee Best Practices
 Time and stress management
• Prioritize your activities by following the business policy
• Compose yourself between customer calls
• Adjust your work station to help you do your job

 Observe SLAs
• SLA defines an agreement between the interested parties.
• When dealing with customers, you need to observe the content of
the SLA.
• Management determines the exceptions to the SLA.

 Follow business policies

• Handling customer calls
• Call center activities
• Ensuring customer satisfaction

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13.2 Ethical and Legal Issues
in the IT Industry

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Ethical and Legal Issues in the IT Industry
Ethical and Legal Considerations
 Respect your customers, their equipment and intellectual property.
 Legal consideration
Some examples:
• Do not make any changes to the software and hardware configuration without
permission
• Do not access customers’ user accounts without permission
• Do not violate the copyright laws
• Do not use customers’ IT resources without permission

 Licensing
• Personal license: The program usually runs on only one machine
• Enterprise license: The company pays for the employees to use the software
• Open source license: This license allows developers to modify and share the codes
• Commercial license: The commercial license allows the licensee to make money from
the software
• Digital rights management: The software is designed to prevent illegal access to digital
content and devices
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Ethical and Legal Issues in the IT Industry
Legal Procedures Overview
 Computer forensics
• The collection and analysis of data from computers and related devices
• Two types of data collected:
• Persistent data is usually stored on a drive and preserved when computer is
turned off.
• Volatile data is lost when the computer is turned off. Volatile data includes data in
transit and data that is temporarily stored in RAM, cache and registries.

 Cyber law and first response

• IT professionals must understand their responsibility and liability relating to
cybercrimes in their country, region, or state.
• Know your company’s policy regarding cybercrimes.
• Understand how to preserve evidence if illegal activity is discovered.

 Documentation and chain of custody

• Always document the work performed.
• Chain of custody documents how the evidence was collected, who has access to the
evidence, and where it is stored.

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13.3 Call Center Technicians

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Call Center Technicians
Call Centers, Level One Technicians, and Level
Two Technicians
 Call Centers
• Busy, fast-paced, possibly 24/7 work environment
• Could be internal or a service to outside customer
• Has business policies regarding call priority
• Uses support software to manage the job functions
• Technicians with different experience levels

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Call Center Technicians
Call Centers, Level One Technicians, and Level
Two Technicians (Cont.)
 Level 1 Technicians
• Gather pertinent information from the customer
• Resolve simple issues and escalate the work order when necessary
• What questions should a Level 1 technician ask the customer?

 Level 2 Technicians
• Probably have remote software capabilities to assist with resolving customer issue
• Calls the customer back to ask any additional questions.
• Usually more knowledgeable about technology.
• Deals with escalated work order

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13.4 Chapter Summary

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Chapter Summary
Summary
To become a successful technician, you will:
• Use good communications skills with customers and co-workers
• Conduct business in a professional manner
• Practice good netiquette
• Comply with customer’s SLA
• Follow business policies
• Practice good time and stress management skills
• Familiarize yourself with cyber laws in your country, region, or state
• Know your responsibility in the fight against cybercrimes

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