CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2.

“Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor

1. List and DESCRIBE the three levels of customer support:

• Level 1 – In this level immediate support handled by junior-level help desk

technicians. This is the initial support level responsible for basic customer
issues. It is synonymous with first-line support, level 1 support, front-end
support, support line 1, and various other headings denoting basic level
technical support functions.

• Level 2 - Handles calls that are escalated to more experienced telephone

support. This is a more in-depth technical support level than Tier I containing
experienced and more knowledgeable personnel on a particular product or
service. It is synonymous with level 2 support, support line 2, administrative
level support, and various other headings denoting advanced technical
troubleshooting and analysis methods.

• Level 3 - Is for calls that cannot be resolved by phone support and require a
visit by an on-site technician. This is the highest level of support in a three-
tiered technical support model responsible for handling the most difficult or
advanced problems. It is synonymous with level 3 support, back-end
support, support line 3, high-end support, and various other headings
denoting expert level troubleshooting and analysis methods.

2. List the support responsibilities of the Level 1 Support Technician:

• Diagnose basic network connectivity issues.

• Diagnose and document the symptoms of hardware, software and system

problems.

• Resolve and customer complete online order forms to attain various

systems, services, hardware, software, reports and entitlements.

• Escalate unresolved issues to the next level.

3. List the support responsibilities of the Level 2 Support Technician:

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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor

• Diagnose and solve more and difficult network problems.

• Use diagnostic tools and remote desktop sharing tools to identify and fix
problems.

• Identify when an onsite technician must be dispatched to perform repairs.

4. List the duties and responsibilities of the (Level 3) on-site installation and support
technician:

• Diagnose and resolve problems that have been escalated by the Level 1 and
2 technicians.

• Survey network conditions for analysis by a senior network technician.

• Install and configure new equipment, including customer premise and

equipment upgrades when necessary

5. Describe the purpose and use of a SLA:

An SLA (Service Level Agreement) resembles an insurance policy, because

it provides coverage or service if there is a computer or network problem.

6. List the skills that are consistently used in successful help desk communication:

• Listen to the Customer.

• Preparation

• Courteous greeting

• Open a trouble ticket

• Adapt to customer temperament

• Diagnose a simple problem correctly

• Log the call

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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor

7. Beginning with the bottom layer (Layer 1) of the OSI Model, Give the name of each of the
seven layers and describe the functions of that layer:

• Physical layer – Convert data to bites for transmission

Generate signals and timing

• Data link layer – Transmit data to the next directly connected device in the
path

Add the hardware address

Encapsulate data in a frame

• Network layer – Route packets between networks.

Assign IP address.

Encapsulate data in packets for transmission.

• Transport layer – Package data for transport across the network.

Add TCP and UDP port numbers.

Specify reliable delivery of data using TCP.

Enable uninterrupted streaming of data using UDP.

• Session layer - Establishes and monitors email session with the destination.

• Presentation layer – Format and encode the data for transmission.

Encrypt and compress the data.

• Application layer - The application, such as an email application, initiates the

communication process.

8. Which layers of the OSI Model are considered to be the “upper” layers? List each upper
layer and then list the Common Protocols and Technologies associated with that layer:
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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor

Layer Name Common Protocols and Technologies

DNS, NFS, DHCP, SNMP, FTP, TETP, SMTP, POP3,

Application
IMAP, HTTP, Telnet

Presentation SSL, Shell and Redirection MIME

NetBIOS, Application program, Interfaces, Remote

Session
procedures calls

9. Now list the “lower” layers of the OSI Model and the Common Protocols and Technologies
associated with that layer:

Layer Name Common Protocols and Technologies

Transport TCP, UDP

Network IPv4. IPv6, IP NAT

Data Link Ethernet family, WLAN, Wi-Fi, ATM, PPP

Electrical signaling, Light wave Patterns, Radio wave

Physical
Patterns

10. Define “encoding”

Process of putting a sequence of characters, such as letter, numbers, punctuation

and certain symbols, into a specialized format for efficient transmission or storage.

11. Match each problem description with the appropriate layer of the OSI Model:

a. Router configuration errors. _(c)__Upper Layers

b. Incorrect NIC drivers, interface
cards themselves, or hardware _(e)__Transport Layer
problems with switches.

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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor
c. Errors in the configuration of the
(a) _Network Layer
user software programs.
d. Loose or incorrect cables,
malfunctioning interface cards, or _(b)__Data Link Layer
electrical interference.
e. Improperly configured firewall
(d)--Physical Layer
filter lists.

12. List some of the common Layer 1 Problems a technician might encounter:

• Loose or incorrect cables problems

• Malfunctioning interface cards, or electrical interference.

13. List some issues that might cause a Layer 2 Problem:

• Incorrect NIC drivers problems

• Interface cards, and hardware problems with switches

14. List and DESCRIBE three common command line tools a technician might use to
troubleshoot a Layer 3 problem:

• ipconfig - Shows IP settings on the computer

• ping - Tests basic network connectivity

• traceroute - Determines if the routing path between the source and

destination is available

15. If you suspect a Layer 4 problem, such as a problem with a firewall, what would it be
important to check?

It’s blocking traffic to that port and Application TCP or UDP port is open and no filter
lists.

16. Describe the “top-down” approach to network troubleshooting:

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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor
Top-Down - The top-down approach starts with the user application and works its
way down the layers of the OSI model. This approach starts with the
assumption that the problem is with the application and not the
network infrastructure.

17. Describe the “divide-and-conquer” approach:

Divide-and-Conquer - The divide-and-conquer approach is generally used by more

experienced network technicians. The technician makes an
educated guess targeting the problem layer and then based
on the observed results, moves up or down the OSI layers.

18. What is a common cause of many email problems?

A common cause of many email problems is using the wrong POP, IMAP, or
SMTP server names.

19. Describe a scenario where you might suspect a problem with DNS. How would you
troubleshoot the DNS problem?

Check for network connectivity

Verifying the DNS server IP addresses are correct and in order
Ping the IP address of the host, trying to get to (if it is known)
Find out what DNS server is being used with nslookup
Check the DNS suffix
Make sure that the DNS settings are configured to pull the DNS IP from the DHCP server
Release and renew the DHCP Server IP address (and DNS information)
Check the DNS Server and restart services or reboot if necessary
Reboot the DNS router
Contact your ISP

20. List some reasons why a customer might have no network connectivity:

• Delinquent payments for services

• Hardware failures

• Physical layer failures

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CCNA Discovery 2, Chapter 2. “Help Desk”
Cape Girardeau Career CenterCISCO Networking AcademyBill Link, Instructor
• Incorrect application settings

• Missing application plug-ins

• Missing applications

21. Why is it important to create and use Help Desk Records?

The information is transferred to a trouble ticket, or incident report. This document

can be a piece of paper in a paper filing system or an electronic tracking system designed
to follow the troubleshooting process from beginning to end. Each person who works on
the problem is expected to record what was done on the trouble ticket. When an on-site
call is required, the trouble ticket information can be converted to a work order that the on-
site technician can take to the customer site.

22. List the four steps an on-site technician should perform before beginning any
troubleshooting or repair at the customer site:

• Step 1. Provide proper identification to the customer.

• Step 2. Review the trouble ticket or work order with the customer to verify
that the information is correct.

• Step 3. Communicate the current status of any identified problems and the
actions the technician expects to take at the customer site that day.

• Step 4. Obtain permission from the customer to begin the work.