What is technical support? Explains future potential, annual income, and necessary skills

1. What is technical support?

What kind of work does technical support do?

This time about the following 3 points

I will explain each in detail.1.1 Definition of technical support

Technical support is the role of a consultation desk specializing in technical content . It specializes in solving technical problems such as how to operate hardware and software and troubles, and is often provided as a contact point for companies that handle hardware such as computers, smartphones, and embedded devices, and software sales companies. is.

If it is a technical question about the product handled by the company, we also respond to questions and answers from the general public, not the company, and the role is close to that of a call center . In addition to telephone inquiries and e-mail inquiries, chat support is increasing recently.

1.1.1 Specific examples of technical support operations

Specific examples of technical support operations are as follows.

1.2 Technical support work

The work contents of technical support are as follows.

I will explain each in detail.

1.2.1 Responding to technical inquiries

If you are using an IT product and “I don’t know how to use it” or “I can’t use the function well even if I work according to the manual”, I will respond as an inquiry window. Ask the customer to send you an error log, check the error log, and use diagnostic software to identify the cause . If the cause cannot be identified, we may have a technical interaction with the in-house SE or technical staff.

1.2.2 Remote control of equipment and software used by customers

In some cases, the problem can be solved by remotely connecting to the customer’s terminal via the Internet and remotely controlling the device or software.

1.2.3 In some cases, a business trip / visit is required

If remote support is difficult due to hardware equipment troubles or security management, we may go on a business trip or visit the customer to provide direct on-site support.

1.2.4 Service improvement

It also includes tasks such as troubleshooting, customer inquiries, and in-house improvement proposals that are compiled into a report .

1.3 Difference between technical support and help desk

The help desk has a wider range of support and is closer to the call center . For example, in response to an inquiry that “software has frozen”, we will give instructions to restart or log out and then log in again, initial response such as clearing the cache, and the main countermeasures written in Q & A. It is the role of the help desk to convey.

If you cannot solve the problem or if there are many similar inquiries, technical support is the place to escalate . Technical support will identify the cause by checking error logs and diagnostic software. If it cannot be identified, we will investigate the cause at a higher level with the in-house SE.

If you would like to know more about the help desk, please refer to this article as well.

What skills do you need for a help desk job? Commentary from business content to recruitment

2. Skills and appropriateness required for technical support

The skills and aptitude required for technical support are as follows.

Especially for communication skills, advanced skills are required because we can accurately hear the customer’s problems and present solutions.

2.1 IT literacy

It is more specialized than help desk work, and requires knowledge of the company’s products in general + IT literacy . Many IT solutions run on a combination of OS, applications, and hardware, so technical knowledge about them is also required. Some jobs require knowledge of operating systems such as Windows and Linux, and server networks.

In addition, at the help desk stage, we are taking basic measures such as restarting, and the main problems are still unsolvable. Therefore, it is necessary to have the ability to master log analysis and diagnostic software, and the ability to think logically to identify the location of a defect. If technical support cannot handle it, it is necessary to cooperate with the in-house SE, and at that time, literacy as “basic knowledge” to accurately convey the details of the error from the technical side is also required .

2.1.1 Obtaining an IT passport is recommended

If you do not have programming experience, OS knowledge, hardware knowledge, etc. at this time, it is recommended to obtain an IT passport. This is an introduction to IT-related national qualifications, and you can acquire basic knowledge comprehensively.

The IT passport is a representative of IT-related national qualifications, and is the easiest test of the “Information Processing Engineer Examination” . As it is positioned as a gateway to IT qualifications, as of 2016, the number of applicants has exceeded 770,000, making it a popular qualification.

If you would like to know more about the IT Passport Exam, please refer to this article.

What kind of qualification is the IT Passport Exam? We have summarized from the difficulty level to the recommended reference books

2.2 Communication skills

When troubleshooting, customers are not always technically savvy. Therefore, when you receive a report by phone or email, you need to hear information that can reproduce the error carefully and accurately. Moreover, it is a job that often requires “complaint handling ability”, and customers are often stressed. Therefore , it is necessary to have patience, to continue to treat them politely, and to have the skills to obtain necessary information.

3. Is technical support tight? Reasons for being called “stop”

Is technical support tight? The reasons for being called “stop” are as follows.

I will explain each in detail.

3.1 Jobs that receive customer complaints

For customers, service is “naturally working” and it is very frustrating when an error occurs. Even if the error is resolved at an early stage, it can sometimes be the subject of complaints such as “Thanks to the work not progressing”. Not only those customers, but of course they can be thanked and sought after, but for people with weak mental health, it can be mentally painful to be hit directly by the frustration of the customer .

3.1.1 Tight for people who are not good at calling

The most frequent use of telephones by new members of society is “almost never used” at 21.3%, and in the first place, young people today often use chat such as LINE rather than telephones.
Therefore, many people are not accustomed to the telephone and are not tolerant. Since technical support involves a lot of telephone conversations, answering the phone itself can be stressful for those who are not accustomed to it or who do not like it in the first place .

Reference: Frequent use of telephones by new members of society “Almost never used” was the highest at 21.3% “Basic LINE with friends” [New member of society white paper 2017] | Mynavi

3.2 High skills required to bridge with in-house SE and technical staff

If neither the help desk nor technical support resolves the error, you will have to interact with an in-house SE or technician. In that case, technical support needs to tell you how to isolate the cause of the defect and how much logic was used to verify it.

Moreover, the content needs to be based on accurate technical knowledge, and it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the technical aspects of the company’s products. Therefore, the amount of learning will be required.

3.3 Work styles tend to be irregular

Since the working style is close to the call center, some companies are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You may need to work night shifts due to shifts, or you may be forced to work overtime in case of urgent trouble.

4. What is the reward of technical support?

Some errors that occur during the operational phase are unpredictable, such as a combination of very limited conditions or errors that occur only under certain conditions. For example, “Bugs cannot be reproduced in the company’s environment, but they occur in the customer’s environment. What is the difference between the company’s environment and the customer’s environment?” So, you can enjoy the depth of thinking by making various hypotheses such as “Isn’t the code that would be judged as an error when compiled in a static language?”

It’s physically and mentally tough while you’re troubleshooting, but it’s a job that has its own appeal. It is also a job that “directly helps people in need “. Services with technical support are often medium to large scale services.

For example, due to the incomprehensible UI that was not noticed when verifying in-house, “elderly users without IT literacy do not understand the operation method in unexpected places and make inquiries” etc. It can also be an opportunity to get an unexpected perspective.
Opportunities to get in touch with the live voices of users from various perspectives are valuable, and are often helpful if you want to develop services yourself.

4.1 Future of technical support

It is a common career to start with a career path from technical support, take charge of management as a manager, and then take up a team leader or department manager . In addition, as a service engineer, if you are a human resource who has abundant knowledge of both infrastructure and hardware / software, and who has abundant communication with customers and has high customer satisfaction, you can also be an IT consultant . The market value will be high because there are not many human resources who have knowledge of software, hardware and infrastructure, communication skills and management skills.

On the other hand, the future of the technical support staff itself is not very high (because the required skills are only elementary IT literacy + communication skills). Call center operations for similar operations continue to be relocated to Southeast Asia. For example, there is a case where a Japanese call center is available from Cebu Island. If development is easy, overseas outsourcing will be popular, and technical support may be transferred in the future.

5. Estimated salary for technical support

Here are some guidelines for technical support salaries by age group.

Source: Average annual income of technical support | doda

Technical support is positioned as a gateway to becoming an IT engineer from inexperienced, so the average annual income is not high, but on the other hand, there are people who receive a maximum of 11 million yen, depending on the scope of work they are in charge of. You can say that.

6. To become technical support

If you have knowledge of your own products + IT literacy, and have patient communication skills, even inexperienced people will be sufficient. On the other hand, rather than continuing only in technical support positions, it is better to keep an eye on career paths such as management positions . In that case, it is good to clarify why you want to be technical support and why you want to be.

7. Summary

This time, I explained the future of technical support, annual income, necessary skills, etc. Technical support is a job that is positioned as a gateway to the IT industry, so it is easy to get started even if you are inexperienced. If you are not good at communicating with people, this is a recommended job. We hope that you read this article carefully to gain a better understanding of technical support.