856 Computer Service and Repair
person, by telephone, or through e-mail. They may be dispatched to a customer
location to install or troubleshoot computer equipment or provide training.
Depot technician
The main job of a depot technician is to perform repair work usually covered
by warranty. The depot technician receives the hardware item after the client has
contacted customer support through a call center or help desk or if the problem is
not immediately resolved by the first contact. Once the equipment arrives at the
depot, it is assigned to a technician for inspection and for repair or replacement. A
depot technician 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. The help desk technician generates a repair or incident ticket, Figure 20-2.
If the help desk technician fails to assist the fellow employee to make the
necessary adjustments 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. This organizational model is found where there are
sufficient numbers of computers and related equipment to justify the cost of a
full-time staff dedicated to this function.
Support Software
There are many different software packages designed to keep track of service
requests and the final results. This is typically how service is organized and
tracked. For example, when a customer or client first contacts the help desk with
a service request, the call is logged, Figure 20-3. This includes adding the date
and time and a description of the problem. The software will typically generate a
repair ticket.
The help desk technician may resolve the problem immediately or may
dispatch a technician to the client’s location. The copy of the repair ticket is
distributed to the technician who will report to the physical location of the
problem.
On resolving the problem, 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
There are typically three levels of support within an organization, Figure 20-4.
Level-one support is the initial technical support contact. This is typically made
with technical support from a help desk, Web site, 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 first person contacted. While level-one support
handles most problems, the person at level one typically answers technical
support questions from queue cards or a software program that has answers
depot technician
a technician that
performs repair
work, usually
covered by warranty,
and has very limited
customer contact or
no customer contact
at all.