What is 3rd line support?

When managing your business and researching IT support you’ll probably have come across the term ‘3rd line support’.

You may have a vague idea of what that means, but if you don’t know what that involves exactly and you’re wondering what the difference is between 3rd line, 2nd line, and 1st line, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for our guide to 3rd line support where we’ll be explaining what it is exactly and whether it’s something your business needs.

All of these lines of support basically relate to what happens when you phone or email a company because you have an issue with something technical, for example a faulty phone battery (read about my first-hand experience with 1st line support here), printers that won’t print, or something far more serious with your company’s computer or phone systems.

Firstly, you submit an online ticket, you email a helpdesk or customer support email address, or you give your IT company a ring.

You’re then connected to first line support. If you’ve chosen to call (if you have the option), the person you’re speaking to will have limited IT knowledge, and USUALLY read off some sort of script. They’ll ask you for more details about your problem, run through a few of the standard fixes (turning it off and on again for example). If none of those fixes helps, they will escalate the issue to second line support. They’ll either put you through to them on the phone, or they’ll call you back.

So you’re now speaking to second line support. This team has slightly more specific knowledge, and they may be able to help you out with some more technical advice. They may visit you, but they’ll probably stay remote, trying to establish the cause of the problem with your printers. They’ll then either fix it or escalate the issue again, this time to third line support.

Third line support: these are the people you really want to be speaking to if you’ve got a problem. They’re more technically trained, experienced, and knowledgeable. Whatever the issue is, they’ll probably be able to fix it, and if they can’t, you’ll get an on site visit.

What’s the difference between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line support?

To summarise, here’s the difference between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line support:

1st line support
A general help desk that takes more information, provides simple fixes, and determines whether the issue needs to be escalated to someone with more knowledge.

 2nd line support
A team with more technical knowledge that can help with more difficult, skilled fixes.

3rd line support
Expert technicians that will be able to understand the cause of and fix the issue.

Do I need 3rd line support for my business?

 At PCS, our IT support team are all 3rd line support competent. What does that mean? Well when you phone up or contact us with an problem, you’ll be speaking with 3rd line support straight away. So whether your issue is minor or major, you’ll get a quick response and won’t spend time on hold while you’re passed around on the phone.

When something’s gone wrong with your printers, PCs, or phones, it has the potential to cost your business money and valuable hours, so you need the reassurance that you’re in the most capable hands. With 3rd line support, you can be confident that you’re talking to experts, so you’ll have much less to worry about if something does happen.

If you need to speak to us about how we can help with 3rd line support for your business, for or if you have any questions, feel free to get in touch. Alternatively visit our IT support page for more information about our managed services.