What is Technical 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 products like mobile phone, camera, television, microwave, employee management system, contract management system or any other mechanical, electronic or software products is termed as technical support. Technical support mainly deals with resolving user queries on using the product or any issues faced by them. Technical support generally does not include providing training to users on using the product or dealing with any customization or change requests.

Technical Support can be provided in various forms as listed below:

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

Email Support

Customers email their issues / queries to an email address provided in the product manual and wait for response. The support providers normally have SLA which specifies the timeframe in which the customer can expect a reply.

E.g. Retail, infrastructure, Contract Management System

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

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 Technical Support

In order to serve the customers efficiently and in a better way, technical support in 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 support team and this is more experience. 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 Technical Support

Products with better technical 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.

Technical support is very essential for all mechanical, electronic and software products as it not only helps in selling the product but also ensuring the client / customer gets good value for his/her purchase. The support providers must be trained and efficient in resolving any user queries and have a thorough knowledge of the product, else it may just be an additional burden for the client trying to reach out to the support team and not get any solutions.

About Author:

Dimpy Thurakhia 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 dimpy.t@spluspl.com