Technical Support Job Description

Those who want to pursue a career as a technical support person should know that the duties and responsibilities of technical support person may vary from company to company, depending on the hardware or software for which you'll be providing the technical support. The sudden great increase in the use of computers has created a high demand for specialists to provide advice to users and to assist in day-to-day administration, maintenance and support of the computer systems and networks. If you are applying for the post, you should collect information on what a technical support person is expected to do in that particular company. Technical support job description informs us about the duties and responsibilities of the technical support person.

Duties and Responsibilities

Technical support persons provide technical guidance and assistance to the staff, clients or customers. They are regarded as trouble-shooters who understand all types of problems and provide technical support for the hardware, software and the systems. They assure an uninterrupted work process and advise how the output can be maximized. They see to it that there is no technical problem in executing the mission with perfection. Technical support person is an invariable part of the IT industry.

One of the main duties of technical support person is installation of computer software and hardware. Technical support person's duties and responsibilities include a prompt response to the staff or clients, prompt replies on telephonic inquiries, instant analysis of problems using automated diagnostic programs and finding solutions for recurrent difficulties, etc. This type of job is available either in a company that uses several computer systems or at a computer hardware or software vendor's office. These days, more opportunities for technical support persons are available at the help-desk or support services firms, which provide computer support to clients on a contract basis.

Technical support people help computer operators in an organization, in several ways. Most of the nontechnical employees encounter computer problems that they cannot settle on their own, as they are not computer experts. A technical support specialist is held responsible for the installation, configuration, modification and trouble-shooting of computer hardware and software. He should have detailed knowledge of servers, computer networking, monitors, keyboards, printers, scanners and mice. Technical support job description may include testing and evaluating new technology, writing training manuals and training the non technical employees for using new computer hardware and software. The technical support people may assess software programs for usefulness.

Help-desk technical support persons answer telephone calls and e-mail messages from customers seeking guidance on technical problems. They need to find out the cause of the problem immediately. They should be able to explain the ways of solving the problems, step by step, patiently. Technical support persons working as network or computer systems administrators are responsible for designing, installing, and managing an organization's LAN (local-area network), WAN (wide-area network), Internet and/or intranet system. Everyday, they may have to provide valuable support for computer users in different work environment. They examine problems and monitor the network to ensure its availability to system users.

The technical support person's responsibility also involves monitoring and adjusting the operation of existing networks and regularly reviewing the current computer system to determine future network needs. The person is expected to make recommendations for up-gradation of the existing systems, enhancements in the implementation of future servers and networks.

One year certificate from college or technical school and three to six months related experience and/or training; is required to get technical support person's job.

Salary

According to the data as of Dec. 2011, the average technical support salary is $51,840. The salary range for freshers is $31,000 - $ 40,000. Experienced senior persons may get a salary around $75,000 -$95,000. Technical support salary may vary according to the size of the company, type of the industry, location, employee credentials, years of experience, salary negotiation and other factors.

In the last few decades, computers have become an inevitable part of everyday life. Computers, printers and Internet are used for a variety of purposes at homes, offices, schools and hospitals. Almost every computer user runs into a problem occasionally. The problem can be anything, like a tragedy due to crashing of the hard drive or irritation due to a forgotten password, a technical support person is always in demand. I hope, those who are looking for a similar kind of job, found the above information regarding technical support job description, helpful.