What Is Tier 1 vs. Tier 2 Help Desk Support?
What is Tier 1 technical support? The answer to this question may depend on the organization; different companies may have different definitions for these terms. But there are generally accepted defaults for Tier 1 and Tier 2 Help Desk Support.
- Tier 1 Help Desk Support is considered to be the first line of defense when it comes to user support. This is the team that handles the initial contact with users and basic troubleshooting. Tier 1 Support Examples: requesting basic account information and resetting passwords.
- Tier 2 Help Desk Support is considered to be the second line of defense and is usually composed of more experienced support representatives. These team members are responsible for more complex troubleshooting and may require escalated support from other departments within the company. Tier 2 Support Examples: fixing configuration issues within the system.
Tier 3 support is typically the last line of defense and is only used for the most complex issues. These team members usually have a very high level of knowledge and experience, and may even require support from outside sources.
The Importance of Help Desk Support Tiers
Having a tiered support system in place is important for a few reasons. First, it ensures that customers always have someone to contact with their issues — even if their issues are relatively easy to solve. Second, it allows for more efficient use of resources by making sure that only the most complex issues are escalated to the highest level of support. And finally, it provides a better overall customer experience by ensuring that issues are resolved in a timely and efficient manner.
The Role of Tier 1 Support in an Organization
The role of Tier 1 support is to provide the initial point of contact for customers contacting the company. They are responsible for handling basic customer inquiries and troubleshooting simple issues. In many cases, they will be able to resolve the issue without escalating it to a higher level. In other cases, they may need to escalate the issue to Tier 2 or Tier 3 support.
In that respect, a Tier 1 support agent will perform triage. It is Tier 1 support that will generally determine how serious and complex an issue is and who will appropriately direct the client. While Tier 2 and Tier 3 support may handle more difficult problems, Tier 1 support staff will have far more interactions with the users.
The Role of Tier 2 Support in an Organization
The role of Tier 2 support is to provide more complex troubleshooting for issues that could not be resolved by Tier 1 support. In some cases, they will need to escalate these issues to Tier 3 support. However, they may also be able to resolve the issue without escalation, saving valuable resources. Ideally, Tier 2 support staff do everything they can to ensure that every issue is resolved. Most issues should be resolved by the time they get to Tier 2.
The Challenges of Running Help Desk Support
One of the biggest challenges of running a help desk is having the appropriate number of staff available to support all customers. If there are not enough staff, then wait times will increase and customer satisfaction will decrease. On the other hand, if there are too many staff, then the company will be wasting resources.
We live in an always-on world. In terms of customers, most customers expect to be helped immediately, regardless of what time it is and whether it’s business hours. In terms of employees, the world is going remote; more frequently, employees are working outside of traditional office hours and in different time zones.
Organizations have found themselves with the need for an ever more robust and accessible help desk system. It’s not feasible to build these systems within every organization, which is where outsourcing can help.
How an MSP Can Help an Organization Manage Its Help Desk Support
Many organizations completely outsource their help desk support to their MSP — or choose to outsource based on tier. An MSP can help an organization by managing its help desk externally while the organization manages its own IT projects internally. An organization can choose which tiers it would rather keep internal or can outsource the entirety of its help desk support and IT support to its MSP.
The Benefits of Having an MSP Manage Help Desk Support
Don’t want to create a comprehensive, tiered help desk system for your organization? You don’t have to. There are a number of benefits to having an MSP manage Help Desk Support:
- An MSP can provide around-the-clock support, which is essential for businesses that operate in multiple time zones or have customers in different time zones. Most organizations don’t have the staff or the resources to pay for 24/7 support, even if their users may need it.
- An MSP can help to improve the efficiency of the help desk by providing skilled staff and resources. MSPs can maintain staff members skilled in even niche products or solutions.
- An MSP can help to improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that issues are resolved in a timely and efficient manner. MSPs can ease the burden on the organization to respond to these issues quickly.
- An MSP can help to reduce the cost of support by economies of scale. It’s simply less costly for an MSP to take on help desk support than it is for an organization to create its own internal help desk.
- An MSP can provide better tools. MSPs have the tools and resources to provide better help desk support than most organizations. It’s not just about the staff; MSPs can afford tools that make it easier to manage your help desk solution.
- MSPs can improve scalability. MSPs can help an organization rapidly scale up or down its help desk support as needed. Otherwise, your organization would need to concern itself with hiring new employees and purchasing new equipment as you scale your help desk.
An MSP can help an organization by letting it outsource areas of its business that aren’t revenue-generating. Ultimately, this saves the organization time, money and resources.
Get Started Today with Red River
As an industry leader, Red River offers an extraordinary array of managed services, including outsourced help desk solutions. We can provide the resources and expertise to help build your external help desk solution today. To learn more about our managed help desk solutions, contact us today.
