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The official Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) IT Support course is part of the official course curriculum of the Cisco Networking Academy program and provides an entry point for the development of essential skills in the field of IT technical support. This course addresses the fundamentals of computer support, including operating system management, hardware maintenance and configuration, network connectivity, and basic computer security. In addition, key aspects such as problem solving, incident diagnosis and user service are covered, with a practical approach that allows participants to apply their knowledge in real environments.
The contents of this training are aligned with the objectives of the Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) IT Support – (100-180 CCST IT Support) Exam, which is awarded by the official Cisco certification, internationally recognized. This entry-level certification is geared toward roles such as IT Support Technician, Help Desk Technician, or IT Support Specialist.
This course is developed within the framework of the Cisco Networking Academy program, a global initiative of Cisco Systems designed to bring training and official certification in the technological field, specializing in networks, technical support and cybersecurity.
To start the journey towards the CCST IT Support certification, you start with the course “IT Customer Support Basics”, This introductory course provides a basic understanding of the principles and practices of customer support in the field of information technology, preparing students to move towards more specialized levels of training and certification.
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IT Customer Support Basics
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Duration
70h (Online)
Objectives
Upon completion of the Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) IT Support course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the fundamental tasks and responsibilities of an IT support technician.
- Identify and resolve hardware issues, including component and peripheral failures.
- Diagnose and troubleshoot connectivity and resource access issues on networks and devices.
- Manage and repair incidents in operating systems and applications, ensuring their correct operation.
- Recognize the most common security threats and implement basic prevention measures.
- Use specialized tools for diagnosis, maintenance, and troubleshooting in IT environments.
Program
Module 1. IT support job tasks and responsibilities
- Queue management.
- Time management.
- Ticketing systems.
- Service Level Agreement (SLA).
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Create a clear, concise, objective and complete description of the problem, the steps to solve it and the results obtained.
- Document in such a way that the documentation is useful for future interactions.
- Define the problem.
- Gather detailed information.
- Identify a probable cause of the failure.
- Design a plan to solve the problem.
- Make the necessary changes to implement the plan.
- Observe the results of the changes.
- If the problem is not resolved, repeat the process.
- Document the changes made to resolve the issue.
Module 2: Hardware problems
- Electric shock, ESD, fire, personal safety.
- Information: hostname, hardware (processor, memory, disk space), operating system version, IPv4 address, IPv6 address, MAC address.
- Windows Tools: Task Manager, System Information, Event Viewer, ipconfig.
- MacOS Tools: Activity Monitor, About This Mac, System Configuration, Console, ifconfig.
- Video ports: HDMI, USB-C, DVI, DisplayPort, VGA.
- USB-A, USB-B, USB-C, Micro USB.
- Serial ports.
- RJ-45, UTP, STP.
- Common types of power cords (desktop, laptop, mobile).
- 3/4 lightning (USB-C).
- Converters.
- Identification of the processor and motherboard.
- Identify, install, and update RAM, peripherals (graphics cards, wireless cards, Bluetooth cards), and internal storage devices (SATA, SSD, NVMe, M2).
- Support for interfaces and expansion cards.
- Using Device Manager to manage drivers.
- E-waste best practices for component disposal.
- Basic troubleshooting: plug in, plug in, turn on.
- Application compatibility requirements: processor architecture, RAM requirements, GPU requirements, disk space.
- Use Device Manager to identify hardware issues.
- Device status indicators.
- Knowledge of firmware updates (benefits and dangers).
Module 3: Connectivity and access to resources problems
- Basic knowledge of common directory services: Active Directory, cloud-based access management (Entra ID and AWS IAM).
- Multi-factor authentication (authenticator apps and other methods).
- Mapping a shared drive, including SMB and cloud drive (S3, OneDrive, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, Box, etc.).
- Using Gpupdate/adgpupdate to force a Group Policy update.
- Reset passwords.
- Verify membership in security and distribution groups.
- Verification of permits.
- Printers: connectivity, assistance in the use of a multifunction device, paper loading, jam resolution, cleaning the print queue, toner change.
- Fax, headsets, microphones, external drives, scanners, webcams, keyboard, mouse, pointing devices (wired and wireless), touch/interactive input devices, teleconferencing devices (Webex Desk Pro displays).
- LAN (wired) access vs. WLAN.
- Purpose of the DNS.
- Purpose of DHCP (Self-Assigned IP Address Recognition – APIPA).
- Purpose of DHCPv6 (to recognize a local binding address instead of a global address).
- IP address ranges (correct, public, and private subnet).
- Default gateway.
- Wireless network SSID.
- Use of commands such as ipconfig/ifconfig, traceroute/tracert, ping, nslookup, netstat, etc.
- Purpose of a firewall and how it might affect connectivity.
Module 4: Problems with the operating system and applications
- Display settings, multiple displays, brightness.
- BitLocker codes.
- Windows and app updates.
- Clear the browser cache.
- Terminate processes with Task Manager.
- Backup and restore data with cloud-based tools (OneDrive).
- Boot sequence, start in safe mode.
- Energy management.
- Accessibility features.
- Display settings, multiple displays, brightness.
- Allow apps the necessary permissions.
- Mounting external drives.
- Clear the browser cache.
- AirDrop.
- Terminate processes with Activity Monitor.
- Backup and restore personal data with cloud-based tools (iCloud and Time Machine).
- Energy management.
- Accessibility features.
- Restarting the phone, charging issues, connectivity, email settings, mobile apps, collaboration software, basic MDM knowledge.
- Device operating system: iOS, Android.
- Cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
- Virtual machines and hypervisors.
- Recognize cloud models to route the incident to the right team.
- Installation in the Marketplace or approved apps.
- Unreliable/unknown sources.
- Productivity, collaboration, and email apps.
Module 5: Common threats and preventions.
- Threats: phishing, malware, spam, unauthorized access attempts, identity theft.
- Help the user run a malware scan.
- Strong passwords and password best practices.
- Awareness that a help desk technician is a prime target for social engineering attacks.
- Phishing, identity theft, etc.
- Identify sensitive, proprietary, and personally identifiable information (PII).
Module 6: Work Tools
- Remote Desktop, Remote Support, Cisco WebEx, Remote Management, Computer Viewer, Virtual Network Computing (VNC), PC Anywhere.
- AI: Consult AI to investigate an issue, limitations of AI, ethical considerations for AI, privacy and security risks, difference between predictive and generative AI.
- Use search engine results.
- Technical forums.
- Knowledge base articles (internal and industry).
