1st,2nd and 3rd line IT support

hargi

hargi

hargi

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Joined
19 Jul 2006
Posts
1,847
1st line is obviously help desk,
but whats the difference between 2nd and 3rd tier support.
Would been top admin and owner of a server class as 3rd teir?
 
Varies wildly between companies. Impossible to classify across the board. In some companies 1st will literally be call loggers, in others 1st will be fairly in depth resulting in 2nd/3rd being pushed up and so forth.
 
At the last place I worked. 1st line was the generally "ZOMG MI PC NO WERK!" kind of calls. 2nd line was "ZOMG MI PC NO WERK AND THIS PROGRAM NO WERK". 3rd line was ""ZOMG MI PC NO WERK AND THIS PROGRAM NO WERK AND THE E-MAILS AND NETWORK IS 'DOWN'"

The 3rd lines would send the 1st lines into battle against the idiots in the company who didnt know how to check that the plug was actually in the socket before saying the monitor was broken.

Hope that sums it up lol
 
Where I am now, 1st line take the calls and perform any fixes where possible (remotely). 2nd line are a bit more 'technical' and make site visits if required. 3rd line are responsible for any network/server issues, etc.
 
worked on both types of 1st line support, 1st place we'd have to stay on the call until we'd either fixed it or it had to be assigned for a hardware fault. I call took 2 1/2 hours with a network fault, the managers of the store wouldn't take responsibility for the call and palmed if off to a 17 y/o girl working on saturdays.

the 2nd place was literally a call logging service desk, I took that job due to it been a larger organisation and more opportunities. Where I now look after the voice network, and am involved in a migration from plain old telephony to a VOIP solution for something like 6,000 users.
 
4th line - For when 1st line is swamped with 3000 calls, all saying "..my system just died and I can smell burning from the server room..."
 
wordy said:
the 2nd place was literally a call logging service desk, I took that job due to it been a larger organisation and more opportunities. Where I now look after the voice network, and am involved in a migration from plain old telephony to a VOIP solution for something like 6,000 users.
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Sounds like a fun job actually (not sarcasm)
 
my experience is that 1st line generally follow scripts

1) ask the customer if the modem is plugged in
2) if the modem is plugged in , ask them if it is switched on

etc etc

and have little technical knowledge

2nd and 3rd are more technical and actually know what they are talking about (most of the time)
 
1st are the maccy d/asda crew who just got into IT. usually young, acne everywhere etc.

2nd/3rd are the guys who actually know their stuff, done well to progress and generally have a few brain cells. probably by now already looking to get out of support.

4th + are total uter geeks, normally in their late 20s early 30s and never seen a vagina in their life, they were born geek.

or is that just my experience of the support field? :p :D
 
Where I work, 1st is a mixed bag of seat warmers, the just about competent and a few genuinely good people, held back by the lack of promotion going on.

2nd are generally knowledgeable and skilled at cleaning up the mess made by the dodgier elements of 1st.

3rd is either google or perhaps whichever deity you believe in.

All (non-divine) levels are criminally lacking in formal training. Not sure whether The Allmighty is Microsoft certified or not though. I'll not say which level I am at, though one clue is I am neither Google, nor am I God.
 
fonzee said:
1st are the maccy d/asda crew who just got into IT. usually young, acne everywhere etc.

2nd/3rd are the guys who actually know their stuff, done well to progress and generally have a few brain cells. probably by now already looking to get out of support.

4th + are total uter geeks, normally in their late 20s early 30s and never seen a vagina in their life, they were born geek.

or is that just my experience of the support field? :p :D
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It's just you, but then again you are from cornwall :p
 
Very loosely most organisations I've worked in and with have the following:

1st line - helpdesk and basic desktop (short fix)
2nd line - desktop team for installs and support
3rd line - server team (help desktop with tricky items)

Even if the teams aren't referred to by number that is often the chain of work and escalation.
 
1st - Logs calls and fixes easy things like password reset.
2nd - Fixes everything 1st line can't fix
3rd - Fixes all that 2nd line cant fix
4th = 3rd party
 
When I did first line / front line I dealt with customers problems up to them needing an engineer on site or server / connection problems. So fault identifying and resolution if it was local to their machine and could be solved on the phone. I deal the basic cable plugins, startup issues, printing issues, e-mail and Internet issues, general software help as well - the works the difference was hoe far I had to go in solving it. This was with a small company and no on screen help/questions to follow!

Sadly since I got made redundant I cannot find a new position doing even the
the maccy d/asda crew who just got into IT. usually young, acne everywhere etc.
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Either there is no work or they want someone totally new or on an apprenticeship to train up on the cheap rather than someone with some knowledge and skills already.

Moral of the story, don't work mainly with Macs, don't work for a small company who are apparently skint and won't put you on training courses, don't be flexible and do web development work as well to fill the time. I am trying and failing get admin work in the council/NHS etc as well because you can have an NVQ for this and the admin work I did on my own IT calls isn't the same as the admin/typing work admin people would have the skills to do?!?!.
(Sorry I'm bummed about no work at the moment, I miss dealing with IT problems and speaking to customers by phone but my career is gone on this)
 
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