Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 829 Chapter 24 Customer Support, Communication, and Professionalism confl icting with another software application. Th e problem is so new that there is no or very limited information. Th e level-two support technician works closely with the customer to solve the problem. Th e technician may need to recreate the problem before being able to fi nd a procedure for correcting the problem. Level-three support is typically provided outside the immediate technical support location. For example, a third-party company, such as Microsoft or IBM, provides level-three support when a problem cannot be solved locally by level-one or level-two support. Th is is often a combined eff ort to solve a customer problem and is coordinated by the original support team member who is a level-two member at the home company. Level-three support may involve software programmers and engineers. Consumers are generally never involved with level-three support personnel. Most level-one technical support is free, at least for a limited time. Th e highest level of support is typically not free and is set up on a cost-per-incident basis or through a service contract. It may also be based on a specifi c number of incidents or minutes of live support. Live support allows a customer or client to talk directly to support personnel for technical assistance, rather than use an FAQ list or web page. Outsourcing Customer support is often outsourced to a company that specializes in technical support. Th e outsourcing company may reside in the United States or be located overseas. Th e main reason for outsourcing is the cost of the support service, of which the primary cost is employee wages. It is often less expensive for a company to use a Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 24-3 HelpSTAR ServicePRO provides a complete system for reporting and tracking service requests. Support Level Description One Help desk, website, or call center. Two Supervisor over the level-one response team. Three Supervisor (level two) working with third-party support from a larger company. Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 24-4 There are three general levels of support through which a problem can fl ow.