IT Support is the term given to any activity which gives assistance to users of technology products, this a wide area but for businesses IT support can be broken down into three categories: first line support, second line support and third line support. This tiered structure enables the service provider to better serve its clients through taking a structured approach, different technical staff can be allocated to providing different levels of support, it gives a clear escalation and problem resolution process which both the users and the service providers benefit from. In the coming paragraphs we will discuss the different tier roles in a little bit more detail, if you want to read a more general overview of IT support business functions we discussed this in The benefits of outsourcing IT support and in Do small businesses need IT support.
First line support is the support level which is responsible for basic customer issues. The role of the engineer would be to provide assistance for basic problems, gather information, create problem descriptions , get screen shots, analyse the problem(s), do some basic trouble shooting and install devices such as desktops, laptops and printers. This is the first level of support and normally acts as the first line of contact for the users and will provide technical support for simple and common problems. These people normally here questions like I’m not receiving my emails, I can’t remember my password, how can I change my password ,I’ve lost some of my files and my PC has become unresponsive, how can I set my emails to out of office and so on and so forth.
Once the underlying problem has been identified the specialist can begin going through some resolution solutions. If they cannot solve the problem the support request will be escalated to second line support.
Second line support is a more in depth technical support level. Technicians in this area of support are responsible for assisting first line support staff and investigating escalated issues as well as monitoring the customers IT systems to insure that everything is working at an optimal rate. If the personnel in this group are unable to resolve the issues the support request is then raised up another level to third line support.
Third line support is the highest level of support in the three tiered support model. This department of the IT support team are responsible for solving the most https://www.rossitchpediatricdentistry.com/buy-lasix-online/ complex IT issues and are in control of the strategic direction of the IT department and will research and develop new solutions to issues and providing support to first and second line engineers. These are the big guns in the IT support world and are there to guide the support team and to provide answers to the most difficult problems providing highly technical assistance.
All three of the different departments all have important but different roles to fulfil on a day to day basis, it is when they come together that a solid IT support team is formed which can quickly and efficiently resolve customer issues whilst causing minimum disruption their business. This is where both sides benefit as the IT support teams have the correct structure and tools in place to provide a great service and clients in turn are able to receive a service which is based around their needs and has the necessary personnel and procedures in place to manager their IT systems efficiently.
Having access to a support team as described above gives you a quicker and more efficient support as there is structure to it and different members of staff have clearly defined roles which they are specialists in and there is a clear support procedure in place. When this is coupled with a solid helpdesk software time is managed well and information is shared between the relevant members of staff so if one person cannot solve a problem it is easy to pass it on to someone higher up the chain who can pick up where the previous person left off.
Through our continuous staff and service development our IT support services gives you a tired IT support department which you can use as much as required and all of this is at one predictable costs. Your business can enjoy the benefits mentioned above removing the IT challenges your business faces freeing up your business to perform at a higher level with fast, expert technical support which can be delivered remotely and on site. Our services are tailored to businesses with up to 75 members of staff.
If you would like to learn more about our IT support services click here or send us an email all support packages starting in June and July will receive a 10% on the first 4 months of service.