I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Computer User Support

2. Course Prefix & Number:
COMP 2202

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

This course provides an overview of microcomputer user support responsibilities. This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the helpdesk environment and the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to work in the user support industry. Students will learn problem-solving, communication skills, working individually and in teams. Troubleshooting strategies and tools will be analyzed and used. Studies include historical changes in computer use, end-user application support, help systems, communication strategies, customer satisfaction techniques, evaluation techniques, industry and organizational standards, needs assessments and documentation. Career Preparation: The studies in this course will help students prepare for careers in technology support such as Computer Support Specialist, Help Desk Technician, and Information Technology Specialist. Students are expected to know how to use a current Windows operating system including navigation, saving files, file management/hierarchy structure, compression, extraction, installation of programs, setting up user accounts, computer hardware and repair, and administrative operating system tasks. Students without this experience should take COMP 1109 Introduction to Operating Systems and COMP 1204 Computer Repair I either before they take this course or concurrently while they are taking this course.

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

8. Prerequisite (Entry) Skills:
Students are expected to know how to use a current Windows operating system including navigation, saving files, file management/hierarchy structure, compression, extraction, installation of programs, setting up user accounts, computer hardware and repair, and administrative operating system tasks. Students without this experience should take COMP 1109 Introduction to Operating Systems and COMP1204 Computer Repair I – A+ Hardware either before they take this course or concurrently while they are taking this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

MN State Community and Technical College, CTEC 1106 Help Desk Operations, 3 credits
Ridgewater College, CST 2802 Help Desk Management, 2-4 credits

3. Prior Learning - the following prior learning methods are acceptable for this course:

• Oral
• Demonstration
• Portfolio

III. Course Purpose

1. Program-Applicable Courses – This course is required for the following program(s):

Computer Information Technology, AAS Degree
Computer Support Specialist, Diploma

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate oral communication skills	Communicate effectively with their customer in order to facilitate solution to common support problems.
Analyze and follow a sequence of operations	Analyze, diagnose and resolve end-user problems using troubleshooting strategies and processes.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the organization and operation of a multi-level helpdesk environment.
• Identify and use the tools a helpdesk employee uses to provide customer support
• Demonstrate good customer service/customer interaction skills
• Demonstrate an understanding of the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to gain employment in the user support field
• Explain the rationale for an increase of user support personnel in the workforce.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of a help desk management application.
• Demonstrate effective technical writing skills.
• Evaluate and critique current hardware and software for the purpose of standardization.
• Perform a needs analysis for an end-user and an organization.
• Perform and ROI and cost-benefit analysis.
• Demonstrate effective training and presentation techniques.

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Introduction to end-users
• History of computer use
• Classifying end-users
• Resources end-users need
• Applications end-users use
• Problems end-users encounter
2. Introduction to end-user support
• Increased need for support
• How organizations meet the need for support
• Informal support
• User support services
• Position descriptions for support positions
• Alternative career paths for user support technicians
3. Customer service skills
• Communication skills
• Listening effectively
• Building understanding
• Responding effectively
• Developing an incident management strategy
• Customer service and different personality types
• Strategies for difficult customers
• Customer-friendly websites
4. Troubleshooting computer problems for the end-user
• Troubleshooting skills
• Problem-solving skills
• Critical-thinking skills
• Decision-making skills
• Troubleshooting tools
• Information resources
• Diagnostic and repair tools
• Problem-solving strategies
5. Common support problems
• Hardware problems
• Software problems
• User problems
• Documentation problems
• Vendor problems
• Facilities problems
• Applying a problem-solving process to various problems
6. Help desk operation
• Function of a help desk
• Incident management process
• Help desk software
• Trends in help desk operations
7. User support management
• Managerial concerns
• The mission
• Performance reviews and justification
• Staffing a help desk
• Training support personnel
• Project management
8. Product evaluation and support standards
• Product standards
• Methods to evaluate and select computer products
• Benchmarks
• WPEMs
• RFPs
• Product support standards
9. User needs analysis and assessment
• Needs analysis steps and tasks
• Needs analysis and assessment tools
• Project charters
• Cost-benefit analysis
• Data collection instruments
10. Installing end-user computer systems
• Site preparation
• Site management documentation
• Hardware installation tools
• Common hardware installation steps
• Common OS and network installation steps
• Common steps to install applications
11. Training end-users
• The training process
• Plan the training
• Prepare for training
• Present the training
• Progress toward quality training
12. Writing for end-users
• Types of user documentation
• The technical writing process
• Documentation planning
• Problems in technical writing
• Technical writing tools
• Documentation evaluation criteria
13. Facilities management
• Facilities management problems
• Managing hardware problems
• Managing software problems
• Managing electrical problems
• Managing network problems and performance
• Managing security problems
• Managing a disaster recovery plan
• Managing user health and ergonomics
• Managing computer equipment recycling
• Facilities management tools