854 Computer Service and Repair
In this chapter, you will be introduced to specific customer- and client-
support scenarios. You will learn about the forms of conduct that have been
accepted as an industry standard. You may be the most skilled technician in
the company, but if you do not deal with people in a professional and courteous
manner, you will most likely lose your job or be banned from dealing with
customers and clients. You will also never be raised to a position of leadership or
management, and all other career options may become limited. The importance
of learning the skills in this chapter cannot be emphasized enough. Reading,
understanding, and being able to put into practice the skills covered in this
chapter may determine your future in a computer-related career.
Customer Support
Simply put, customer support is the delivery of customer assistance,
customer training, and customer services. This section provides an overview of
customer support. In it, you are given the big picture of how the organization
models work together to resolve customer and client computer problems. You
will learn how different levels of support can be distributed across these models
and will be made aware of the level of customer interaction typical of each model.
Customer Support Organization Models
There are several customer support organization models that are recognized
as standard. Some of these models are help desk, call center, small business,
service counter, depot technician, and corporate enterprise support. The exact
model of your company and how you fit within that model depends on three
main factors:
✔ The number of people requiring support.
✔ The product being supported.
✔ The customer location (local or global).
Some organizations are a combination of several models working together as
a team. For example, a help desk service may be outsourced to a foreign country
such as India. This help desk may work closely with an organization in the USA
that performs the actual physical work. In the following sections, several of the
most common support organization models are presented.
Help desk
A help desk is a central point of contact that provides technical support to
clients. The clients may be company employees or customers. The usual method
of contact is by telephone or e-mail. Examples of organizations that typically
provide help desk support are Internet Service Providers (ISPs), hardware and
software manufacturers, corporate businesses, and educational and government
institutions.
The help desk is the first level of support used to resolve common computer
hardware and software problems. In most instances, a service request and repair
ticket is generated from the first moment of contact with a client.
The help desk can be a dedicated, single location or part of a larger
organization, such as a call center, Figure 20-1. For example, a large enterprise,
such as Dell, could outsource their first level of support to a call center. If the call
customer support
the delivery of
customer assistance,
customer training,
and customer
services.
help desk
a central point of
contact that provides
technical support to
clients. The clients
may be company
employees or
customers.