1st/2nd/3rd line support

Just wondering what you would define each level as?

I want to forge a career in IT with no qualifications as such, i've become attached to the IT team in my current job and gradually got more and more involved. When i'm looking for other jobs i'm put off by the ones with any mention of 2nd line support untill recently I realised I don't really know what that means.

I've had no formal training i've just picked stuff up so I don't really know what I am capable of applying for.

Reply 1

Clip

Box/module/component in electronics. No idea about IT though.

Probably -

1st Line - "Switch it off and on again"
2nd Line - "Have you updated your drivers?"
3rd Line - "This is obviously a software / network / religious issue - i.e. nothing to do with me"

Reply 2

Topps

Was literally just looking at IT and support, saw this on another website

As a general breakdown, the roles are defined as:-

1st Line Support – Generally Helpdesk – Job titles such as Helpdesk Operator, First Line Support, IT Call Desk
- This role is generally phone or sometimes internet support based. Onsite requests are usually passed to the 2nd Line Support personnel.

2nd Line Support – The first line of actual onsite contact – Job titles such as Desktop Support, IT Technician, PC Engineer, Desktop Support Analyst
Actual onsite support from the 2nd line is not always the case. Sometimes it is still a remote team with more specific knowledge then the Support Desk (1st line). This as I say is the first set of onsite personnel (normally), usually dealing with (not always) minor issues such as workstation problems, printer, scanner and peripheral issues that were not able to be resolved by the 1st Line Support.

3rd Line Support – Most of the time a more specialised individual or team for onsite contact – Job titles such as Network Specialist, Server Specialist/Engineer and many more specialised job roles.
When these personnel appear you know you’ve got a problem These are usually more qualified individuals, such as Microsoft Certified in the case of MS Windows Server issues.

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/64557-difference-between-1st-2nd-and-3rd-line-support

Reply 3

Joinedup

when I was doing it, it was broken down into

first line - users don't know how to work the application / UI... once the first line have eliminated user error it gets escalated to
second line - there's definately something wrong with the system

we didn't have a third line as such but the guys on second line could kick it over to the developers if they'd coded something wrong

Reply 4

ttoby

In a nutshell, when you report a problem it would go to first level support initially to deal with, then if they can't solve it then it goes to 2nd level. If they still can't solve it then it goes to 3rd level.

As you get further back, the skill level increases but the teams also become more specialised. Part of the skill of working in support is if you can't solve the problem then you can at least narrow down what system is causing the problem so that it can be transferred to the correct team.

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