Application Support

One of the main criteria for the success of any product is to ensure that efficient and timely technical support is available for it. Any assistance provided by enterprises to users using technological or software products like an employee management system, contract management system or requires technical and functional support

Application level Support can be provided in various forms as listed below:

1. Phone Support
   In this type of support, customers call up a phone number provided in the product manual and get their queries / issues resolved. Many support centres provide 24/7 support which proves very beneficial for the customers.
   E.g. Banks, Network providers
2. Email Support
   Customers email their issues / queries to an email address provided in the product manual and wait for response. The service providers normally have an SLA which specifies the timeframe in which the customer can expect a reply.
   E.g. Retail, Infrastructure
3. Live Support
   In live support, customer care executives provide assistance to customers via chat. This is effective if the customers have simple queries that can be resolved quickly.
   E.g. Ebay, Amazon
4. Online Forums
   Some companies provide online forums / discussion boards where customers can interact with each other and resolve queries. This technique helps companies to reduce their support cost considerably.
   E.g. Apple, Mozilla Firefox

Different levels of Application Support

In order to serve the customers efficiently and in a better way, application support is classified into multiple levels. Normally, a support structure revolves around three-tiered system as explained below:

• Level/Tier 1 (L1/T1):
  This is also commonly known as front-end support, first-line support, etc and denotes the basic support provided to customers like resolving user queries on the functionality of the product.
• Level/Tier 2 (L2/T2):
  Level 2 support is more in-depth as compared to Level 1 and involves more experienced technical support team. This includes product installation, troubleshooting, software repair, testing, etc.
• Level/Tier 3 (L3/T3):
  Level 3 is the highest level and handles complex and advanced problems. This is also known as high-end or back-end support. Level 3 support team are experts in their respective fields and also assist personnel from both level 1 and level 2.

Importance of Application Support

Products with better application support sell better as the customers are assured assistance in case they face any queries. Thus, we see that more and more companies are now investing in efficient support system so as to provide better service to customers.

Application support is very essential for all software products as it provides the potential customers assurance that any queries related to the application will be addressed and resolved. The support providers must be trained and efficient in resolving any user queries and have a thorough knowledge of the product.

About Author:

Kintu Racca is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at: kintu.r@spluspl.com