ITIL4F ITIL Management Practices Practice Question
A service desk agent resolves a password reset request after verifying the user's identity. According to ITIL 4, which metrics would be most appropriate to measure the performance of this interaction?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
First Contact Resolution (FCR) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
First Contact Resolution (FCR) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) are key service desk metrics.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Change success rate and backout success
Why it's wrong here
These metrics are specifically used within the ITIL change enablement practice to assess the effectiveness and risk management of planned modifications to services or infrastructure. A password reset, while a service request fulfillment, is typically a standard, low-risk operational activity handled by the service desk, not a formal change requiring change success rate or backout success tracking. These metrics are too high-level and process-specific for evaluating a routine service desk task.
- ✗
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and uptime
Why it's wrong here
Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) is a critical metric for incident management, measuring the average time taken to restore a service after an unplanned interruption, focusing on service restoration. Uptime, conversely, measures the period a service or system is operational and available to users. A password reset is a standard service request fulfillment, not an incident requiring repair or a measure of system availability, making these metrics inappropriate for evaluating the service desk's handling of such a request.
- ✗
Number of problems and known errors
Why it's wrong here
The number of problems and known errors are key performance indicators within the ITIL problem management practice, which focuses on identifying the root causes of incidents and preventing their recurrence. A service desk agent resolving a routine password reset request is performing a service request fulfillment activity, not engaging in problem identification, root cause analysis, or error documentation. These metrics are therefore irrelevant to the immediate performance evaluation of a single service request resolution.
- ✓
First Contact Resolution (FCR) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Why this is correct
First Contact Resolution (FCR) is a crucial service desk metric that measures the percentage of requests or incidents resolved entirely during the initial interaction, directly reflecting efficiency and user convenience. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) gauges how pleased users are with the service received, often collected immediately after resolution. For a password reset, successfully resolving it on the first contact and ensuring the user is satisfied are primary indicators of effective service desk performance and value delivery.
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Variation 1. A service desk agent resolves a password reset request within 5 minutes. The customer is satisfied. Which two metrics are most relevant to measure this?
hard- A.Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Mean Time to Respond
- B.Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
- C.Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) and First Call Resolution (FCR)
- ✓ D.First Call Resolution (FCR) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Why D: The password reset was resolved in 5 minutes, and the customer is satisfied. First Call Resolution (FCR) measures whether the issue was resolved on the first contact without escalation or callback, which applies here. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) directly captures the customer's satisfaction with the service. Together, these two metrics best assess both the efficiency and quality of the resolution.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ITIL4F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ITIL4F exam.