1st / 2nd Line

Hi Guys,

I've seen alot of jobs either 1st or 2nd line or both. Can anyone tell me the difference between the two and give possible example problems of each?

Thanks

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malcybood

RJ45 wrote:

Hi Guys,

I've seen alot of jobs either 1st or 2nd line or both. Can anyone tell me the difference between the two and give possible example problems of each?

Thanks

1st line = firs point of contact a user will contact. i.e. Helpdesk takes a call for a user issue, if they can fix it there and then it is resolved at first line, if not it is escalated to 2nd line.

2nd line = If the Helpdesk can't fix the problem i.e. a hardware fault, install, network problem....anything that needs to be escalated from the initial phone call

RJ45

When you say a network problem do you mean a physical problem?

malcybood

RJ45 wrote:

When you say a network problem do you mean a physical problem?

It can be anything from a network printer problem, to a router having a problem in it's routing table, a Windows server DNS problem, indeed as you say a server could have a faulty NIC, there a a multitude of things that can come under networking.

In general "networking issues are not dealt with or regarded as 1st line helpdesk unless there is a dedicated network support helpdesk as such in a Network Operations Centre (NOC).

A general IT Helpdesk/Service Desk deals with general user account issues, lockouts, passwords, share rights, remote control software installs, printer installs etc and is regarded as first line

It's the best way I can think of explaining it. You could probably get a good idea by looking at some 1st and 2nd line job specs on recruitment websites as different organisations have slightly different interperetations on what is 1st and what is 2nd but what I've outlined above is the basic idea

forbesl

RJ45 wrote:

Hi Guys,

I've seen alot of jobs either 1st or 2nd line or both. Can anyone tell me the difference between the two and give possible example problems of each?

Thanks

"1st line" and "2nd line", in the context of your post, are also referred to as "tiers". Read this:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19295

plettner

A general guide we use where I work is 1st level support have only a couple of minutes to log and resolve the call. If not, they transfer to a queue to 2nd level. 2nd level then ring the customer back and try and fix the problem using remote desktop, etc. These guys have about 15 minutes. If it cannot be solved there and then, 3rd level take over (desktop support, network/comms, LAN, DCO, etc.)

But after our new organistaonal stucture we have added a twist to 1st, 2nd, 3rd level support.

A third party company runs the level 0 (zero) and level 1 helpdesks for our organisation. Level 0 does nothing but log the customer's details and problems into the service desk software package. However, these calls are then transferred to a "hot-desk" which is level 1. And from there the support side of things take place.

2nd level dervicedesk (which we run) then take the calls from a "queue".

Cheebaman

I'll give you an example of the Service Desk I work on.

1st line have 5 minutes to resolve a call, generally password resets and logging calls to 2nd line queue. They also deal with email enquires.
2nd line deal with all desktop fault queries, from MS office products to bespoke application and generally investigate other calls till it is proven not to be a problem specific to the desktop machine itself. Be it user rights or bespoke application failure.
2nd line either resolve the call as first contact or otherwise, or pass on to another resolver groups queue (Telecoms, Server support, Database, System Integrity, etc)

Btw I work for an outsourcing computer company.