L1, L2, and L3 are the three levels of customer technical support within an organization. Each of these is the level of services that a company offers to provide to its customers and potential end-users. What’s more, these levels offer completely different sets of technical support. Therefore, let’s find out what makes L1 vs L2 vs L3 different and what are their main characteristics.
Level 1 Support
Within a company, L1 technical support is the first level of assistance to customers or end-users. It includes resolving minor issues and troubleshooting. The L1 Support Team is responsible for user request acknowledgment and handling. This kind of assistance team refers primarily to FAQs and pre-defined scripts for uncomplicated technical issues.
To review user requests or issues, the L1 Support Desk Operators use different channels. For example, a web form, email, call, or support chat. Every action is done through an internal ticketing system. If an organization has a physical space allocated for the L1 Support Team, employees, who are also users, can request technical help in person. In the majority of cases, the L1 Support Team is an internal company team available round-the-clock. Of course, the team has shifts and employees rotate in order to provide real-time response continuity.
Key Characteristics
Support on the first level of technical service involves the following actions:
processing initial customer inquiries and support requests
providing basic technical assistance and guidance to resolve common issues
troubleshooting to resolve simple software/hardware problems
forwarding complex issues to higher support levels
documenting and tracking support incidents
The L1 Support Team transfers the support request/incident to the second level of support if it cannot be solved via FAQs or the pre-written scripts.
Level 2 Support
L2 technical support is the next level service of technical assistance. It presupposes more in-depth knowledge and expertise. The L2 Support Team consists of one or several engineers responsible for fixing configuration issues and guiding users on advanced troubleshooting. Most of the issues that come to L2 Support can be resolved by standard procedures located in the administration guide. Moreover, problems the L2 Support Team fix require competency in a cloud configuration, database administration, network engineering, operating system administration, etc. If the organization has a DevOps culture, cloud technologies support is highly automated within the company.
A critical part of L2 Support is to maintain software and system infrastructure by promoting routine checks, and automatic, or proactive monitoring.
Key Characteristics
Support on the second level of technical service involves the following actions:
handling complex support tickets transformed by L1 Support Team
providing advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics of issues
resolving complex technical problems requiring deeper knowledge and expertise
helping configure, install, and update software and applications
applying security updates and critical patches of the operating system and its applications
ensuring antivirus and other core cybersecurity routines
proactively monitoring and ensuring core IT security requirements (e.g., 2-factor authentication enforcements)
maintaining operating system and hardware state: disk space, (v)CPU and RAM utilization
collaborating with other technical teams to resolve complex problems
documenting and maintaining knowledge base scripts and support documentation
When the ticket is too complex to resolve or requires a code change, the L2 Support Team transfers it to a higher level of support that deals with complicated issues and possesses both specific skills and knowledge.
Level 3 Support
The third level of technical support is the highest level an organization can have. It involves highly competent experts, who can handle extremely complex issues forwarded to them from the second support level. Mainly, it is the level that carries out changes in the software code.
The L3 Support Specialists should possess knowledge about a product or service and a great scope of skills. Therefore, the L3 Support Expert is responsible for database administration and development, server repairs, and network and infrastructure maintenance. Sometimes, the L3 Support Specialist is an internal developer that works in current product development and is available for on-call duty within the SLA requirements.
Key Characteristics
Support on the third level of technical service involves the following actions:
providing advanced troubleshooting and issue resolution for critical or highly complex tickets
investigating and resolving technical issues related to networks, servers, databases, and infrastructure
collaborating with other specialized teams, e.g., network engineers, system administrators, and developers
developing and implementing long-term solutions, system improvements, and patches
conducting root cause analysis and proactive problem prevention
providing expertise and guidance to L1 and L2 support teams
These are the primary levels of support an organization can provide. Therefore, it depends on the company which line of support to offer to the end-users - from the in-house team (usually, L1) and which to outsource.
Our Experience with L1, L2, L3 Support
Sencury’s services offer two types of support expertise. These are the L2 Support and L3 Support. Our team of skilled Support Specialists has the perfect knowledge and skills needed for 24/7 support services.
Sencury offers two types of support services:
Dedicated support team
SLA-based support service
A dedicated team is usually requested by enterprises with a significant support incident flow, requiring a focused team. It can be also required by the IT security and Data Protection requirements when the support team works for a single client.
SLA-based support service corresponds to a certain service level agreement – an agreed timing for response and solution of incidents with different severity levels. This contract can correspond to a shared support team, optionally.
We value our clients and desire to resolve their technical issues as soon as possible. Therefore, the team puts all our efforts into ensuring a systematic and quality approach to the technical incident management procedure.
Sencury’s skilled tech support professionals offer the following services:
Tell us about your main issues that require quick solutions and let’s support your software’s continuity and excellence together!
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