Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 827 Chapter 24 Customer Support, Communication, and Professionalism Th e customer may be at the counter to make a purchase, request assistance in a purchase, or solicit technical support for an item purchased at the vendor location. In the small business environment, a service technician will most likely fulfi ll multi- ple roles for the employer. He or she may be responsible for selling computer hard- ware, software, and related materials. Th e service technician may also be responsible for technical support and answering customer questions in person, by telephone, or through e-mail. He or she may be dispatched to a customer location to install or troubleshoot computer equipment or provide training. Depot Technician A depot technician is one who performs repair work usually covered by warranty. Th e depot technician receives the hardware item after the client has contacted customer support through a call center or help desk or if the fi rst contact does not immediately resolve the problem. Once the equipment arrives at the depot, it is assigned to a technician for inspection and for repair or replacement. A depot tech- nician has very limited customer contact or no customer contact at all. Corporate Enterprise Support In the large corporate environment, technical support services can be composed of many people working as a team. Typically, an employee contacts a help desk. Th e help desk technician generates a repair or incident ticket, Figure 24-2. If the help desk technician fails to assist the fellow employee in making the necessary adjust- ments to the item, the ticket is then assigned to a technician who will report to the employee’s location. At the location, the technician will either repair or replace the piece of equipment in question. Th is model is found where there are suffi cient numbers of computers and related equipment to justify the cost of a full-time staff dedicated to this function. Support Software Th ere are many software packages designed to keep track of service requests and the results. Th is is typically how service is organized and tracked. For example, when a customer or client fi rst contacts the help desk with a service request, the call is logged, Figure 24-3. Th is includes adding the date and time and a description of the problem. Th e software will typically generate a repair ticket. Th e help desk technician may resolve the problem immediately or may dispatch a technician to the client’s location. Th e copy of the repair ticket is distributed to the technician who will report to the physical location of the problem. Once the problem is resolved, the technician completes the ticket by adding the procedure used to resolve the problem. Any hardware or software that needs to be provided or has been provided to remedy the problem is also listed. A follow-up of the incident can be reviewed at the end of the day to ensure all problems have been resolved and that no incident has been left unresolved. Levels of Support Th ere are typically three levels of support within an organization, Figure 24-4. Level-one support is the initial technical support contact. Th is is typically made with technical support from a help desk, website, or call center. Most problems can be corrected at this level. Level-two support is when the problem is elevated to a person with more experience or expertise than the fi rst person contacted has. While level-one support