What Is a Support Tier? Overview of the Main Technical Support Levels

The success of any business depends on various issues, but customer support is one of the most important factors to consider. Moreover, before hiring an outsourcing contact center, a customer wants to learn everything about the range of services it offers and the basic support levels. In this post, we’ll learn what a support tier is and analyze the main levels of help desk support for you to make sure you choose the right tools for your business.

What Is the Main Goal of Technical Support?

Technology is continually evolving. New mobile apps and new businesses hit the market every day. However, along with creating an excellent product, business owners should also care about their customers. Tech experts support users of various software products and services. The service is also known as service desk, help desk, or IT support. The main goal of technical support is to help users with specific issues.

Depending on the size of a project, customer support may consist of only one employee or a whole team. The support is usually delivered through the following means:

• Phone;
• Email;
• Live chat;
• Video chatbots;
• Online tutorials;
• Message boards, etc.

The following third-party tools are needed for providing high-quality customer support services:

• Salesforce;
• Zendesk;
• Freshdesk;
• BMC Helix ITS, etc.

Technical support is usually subdivided into several support tiers. Now, let’s move on to discussing the main tech support levels.

What Is Tier1 Support?

What does l1 support mean? The first, basic support level is usually called tier1 support. It is responsible for basic customer issues and is also known as first-line support. This level usually deals with basic tech issues, like collecting customer information, figuring out the problem, and solving simple usage issues. When analyzing the main symptoms of the problem, an agent from this technical support level should identify what the customer is trying to accomplish. After the issue is determined, the agent needs to solve it.

At the l1 support level, a support rep has a basic understanding of the problem. Simply put, they can’t solve serious issues. However, the primary purpose of tier 1 support is to handle almost 80% of user issues. If necessary, they can forward this issue to higher levels.

• Providing basic troubleshooting;
• Resetting lost passwords;
• Filtering calls;
• Processing payments;
• Assisting with navigation;
• Creating tickets and sending them to relevant experts;
• Monitoring emails;
• Collecting user information.

Support reps at this level usually have a knowledge base and precise guidelines to follow.

What Does T2, or Level 2 Support, Do?

This tech support level includes more experienced and professional experts. The price of l2 support is higher, but it deals with advanced tech troubleshooting and can quickly solve issues the first level is not qualified to solve.

What’s the main goal of tier 2 technical support? This level deals with more serious issues. Support reps from this level usually help tier 1 agents solve some basic tech issues. They study issues forwarded to them, confirm the validity of the problem, and search for solutions. Experts also need to check the work order to learn what has already been done by the support rep from the first level. When an expert from tier 2 support studies the problem inside out, they can take measures to solve it. Only in this case can they meet the goals of both customers and business owners.

If the tech issue is new to the tier 2 support reps or they don’t know how to properly solve it, they raise this issue to the next level - tier 3 technical support service.

Tier 1 vs tier 2 support: an overview of the main differences

The services offered by these support levels are slightly different. Here’s an overview of the main differences:

• Function. Tier 1 delivers essential helpdesk solutions. Tier 2 provides in-depth technical support services.
• Support methodology. The first level usually solves basic customer issues. If agents can’t find the solution, they escalate these incidents to a higher tier. Experienced technicians from the next level assess all these issues and provide solutions. If they can’t tackle the problem, they send it to the third level.
• Staffing needs. Personnel of the tier 1 level is trained to solve known problems by following professionally written scripts. The tier 2 support personnel knows the product and service inside out. However, they aren’t professional engineers who were working on the development of this product.

What Are the Main Responsibilities of Level 3 Customer Support?

What is tier 3 support? What does this department do? In a three-tiered technical support model, this one is the highest level, responsible for handling the most complicated tasks. Only experts in this area work here. They assist agents from the first two levels and also deal with previously unknown issues. They need to review the work order, check the details of the issue, and finally solve the problem. Experts from this level are also responsible for designing new courses of action, testing them, and delivering them to agents from the first two levels.

What Does Level 4 Do?

This level is responsible for solving issues that aren’t covered by the company. Level 4 is crucially important when IT experts of the company can’t tackle some problems and need external help. A typical company may have an IT support department, but outsourcing customer service is more popular today. Statistically, the global outsourcing market amounted to more than 90 billion US dollars in 2019. This means that shifting tasks that aren’t directly related to your business to professionals is more popular today. Outsourcing brings lots of benefits to any company that needs professional technical support.

Following this link, you’ll learn more about the way outsourced technical support works. It goes without saying that the success of any business depends on customer satisfaction. But more often than not it is more profitable to entrust customer care to a professional call center that delivers high-quality follow-up services. Remember that hiring an outsourced call center to control your tech support is the best cost-effective practice to enhance your efficiency. By recruiting experts in this niche, you’ll take your business to the next level!