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Technical Support Job Description

Leena Palande
Looking for a new job? Interested in knowing the duties and responsibilities of a technical support person? Read more to know the technical support job description, basic skill requirements and salary this job fetches.
Those who want to pursue a career as a technical support person should know that the duties and responsibilities of the person may vary from company to company, depending on the hardware or software for which you'll be providing the 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 are the expectations of the company. Technical support job description informs us about the duties and responsibilities of the person who is supposed to manage the technical requirements of the process and the staff.

Duties and Responsibilities of Technical Support Personnel

He provides technical guidance and assistance to the staff, clients or customers. He is a trouble-shooter who understands every problem and provides technology for hardware, software and the systems.
He assures an uninterrupted work process and advises how the output can be maximized. He sees to it that there is no technical problem in executing the mission with perfection. The support person is an invariable part of the IT industry.
Main duty of technical support engineer is installing computer software and hardware. The duties 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 job is available either in a company that uses several computer systems or at a computer hardware or software vendor's office. Today, technical experts have more opportunities 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 nontechnical employees face computer problems they cannot settle on their own as they aren't computer experts. The person who knows everything about technology is responsible for installing, configuring, modifiying and trouble-shooting 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 person may have to 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.
Those 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.
He monitors and adjusts operation of existing networks and regularly reviews current system to determine future network needs, recommends upgrades for existing systems and enhancements in implementing future servers and networks. 1 year certificate from college or technical school and 3 to 6 months related experience and/or training is needed to get the job.

Salary

As of July 2018, the average technical support salary is US $49,000. While the salary range for freshers is US $30,718 to US $72,003; an experienced person may fetch salary between US $35,618 and US $82,604. The salary varies depending upon many factors such as size of the company, type of the industry, location, employee credentials, salary negotiation etc.
From last few decades, computers are an inevitable part of daily life. Computers, printers and Internet are used for a many purposes at homes, offices, schools and hospitals. As every computer user runs into problems sometime like a tragedy due to a hard disk crash or irritation due to a forgotten password, a technical support person is always in demand.