IT Support Levels Clearly Explained: L1, L2, L3 & More
As an IT service management provider, customers frequently ask about the various approaches to IT Support and how they can be used to organize help desks and service desks. In this article, we’ll explore:
Technical support is a service that supports users of technology products or services. Technical support is also known as IT support, help desk, or service desk. In contrast to traditional training, technical support typically focuses on helping with a specific user problem or issue.
Technical support often contributes to or supports a company’s overall customer service philosophy, so the team or department may straddle the technical world of IT and the practical side of customer service.
Technical support may be comprised of a single employee for small companies or may include many departments and workers. For example, a large company like BMC often has two types of teams:
Technical support can be delivered in a variety of ways, depending on the support level or tier, including by phone, email, live chat or video, chatbots, online tutorials and how-to’s, message boards, and other logging tools. Popular third-party tools for help desk support include Zendesk, Salesforce, and BMC Helix, among many others.
(Understand the differences between customer service & technical support.)
The terms “support levels” and “support tiers” are phrases used interchangeably within IT organizations.
Structuring your IT support around levels or tiers is useful for several reasons:
With some variations, a typical IT Support infrastructure is usually organized around the following support tiers:
| IT Support Level | Function |
| Tier 0 | Self-help and user-retrieved information |
| Tier 1 | Basic help desk resolution and service desk delivery |
| Tier 2 | In-depth technical support |
| Tier 3 | Expert product and service support |
| Tier 4 | Outside support for problems not supported by the organization |
What is a level 0 help desk?
Level 0 or L0 support is sometimes called tier 0 of self-service support for users of IT systems, apps, or websites. It is often used as the first line of help in customer service or user support, and aims to help people solve problems without human assistance. The now-obsolete printed user manual has largely been replaced by digital resources and by automated interfaces. AI-powered L0 support, or tier 0 support, is evolving into a virtual help desk function that facilitates user-retrieved information for problem solving.
What does level 0 support mean?
Users retrieve support information from web and mobile pages or apps, including FAQs, detailed product and technical information, blog posts, manuals, and search functions. Users also use apps to access service catalogs, where they can request and receive services without involving the IT staff. Email, web forms, and social contact methods such as Twitter and LinkedIn are used to send questions and requests to upper support tiers or company personnel. Customer forums allow users to crowdsource solutions, usually without input from company personnel.
L0 support roles and responsibilities
What is a level 1 help desk?
Level 1 help desk, or tier 1 support, is the first level in which customers or users can make direct contact with a live person to solve their problems. The goal of effective L1 support is to quickly resolve a user issue, both for a better user experience and to keep costs down. If a tier 1 support representative is unable to resolve the issue, they need to be able to smoothly escalate it to a higher tier.
What does level 1 support mean?
L1 provides support for basic customer issues that need IT involvement, such as solving usage problems and fulfilling service desk requests. If no solution is available, tier 1 personnel escalate incidents to a higher tier.
L1 support roles and responsibilities
What is a level 2 help desk?
Tier 2, also called level 2 support, engages L2 staff with a higher level of expertise and deeper knowledge of apps, systems, and issues. Tier 2 support involves in-depth troubleshooting and time-intensive problem-solving or more complex issues that are less common.
What does level 2 support mean?
Experienced and knowledgeable technicians assess issues and provide solutions for problems that cannot be handled by tier 1. If no solution is available, tier 2 support escalates the incident to tier 3.
L2 support roles and responsibilities
What is a level 3 help desk?
The advanced help that is provided in tier 3 support, or a level 3 help desk, addresses complex issues that L0, L1, and L2 support teams failed to resolve. These L3 issues are relatively rare. Tier 3 support may involve multifaceted technical issues that require experts with extensive knowledge of the product or service to untangle and resolve.
What does level 3 support mean?
L3 support means access to the highest technical resources available for problem resolution or new feature creation. Tier 3 technicians attempt to duplicate the problem and define root causes, using product designs, code, or specifications. Once a cause is identified, the company decides whether to create a new fix, depending on the cause of the problem. New fixes are documented for use by tier 1 and tier 2 personnel.
L3 support roles and responsibilities
What is a level 4 help desk?
When your organization lacks the in-house expertise or sufficient resources to resolve serious issues, you may need to bring in tier 4 support. Level 4 support is typically provided by third parties—vendors, external suppliers, or specialist service providers with deep and specific expertise about a product, service, or technology. In many cases, such L4 expertise is proprietary and only available from a vendor.
What does level 4 support mean?
Level 4 support is contracted support for items provided by, but not directly serviced by, the organization, including printer support, vendor software support, machine maintenance, depot support, and other outsourced services. Problems or requests are forwarded to tier 4 support and monitored by the organization for implementation.
L4 support roles and responsibilities
Many companies modify this template and combine support tiers according to their resources and philosophies. In some organizations, tier 1 and tier 2 functions are handled by the same personnel. Other companies may combine tier 2 and tier 3 functions, for example.
Another way to think about the tiers is as a timeline: the higher the tier a problem is escalated, the more time (and perhaps resources) it will take to solve. Your company can:
Trends we’re seeing frequently in tiered technical support include:
Of course, as users of any product become savvier, your help desk agents need to keep up—both with your own product as well as with your competitors. With comprehensive internet access, knowledge is the baseline; today, it is personalized help and customer service that become the medium for positive experiences.
(Explore chatbots & virtual agents.)
A case can be made against tiered technical support. Swarming support, including intelligent swarming, has proven to be a strong alternative to traditional tiered support.
Opponents of tiered support sometimes cite employee boredom—solving the same problems repeatedly—or customer frustration, especially when the user realizes she knows more about the product than the help desk rep who’s trying to “help” her.
Collaboration is an often proposed solution: the idea that a help desk ticket is assigned to a specific individual or group who either resolves the issue directly or shepherds the ticket (and its user) through the support system. This can help support staff learn other areas of the company and ensures that customers feel better cared for.
A collaborative approach still relies on delineation around who can solve which problems or which teams are responsible for tickets, while others are there to assist with the help process as needed.
Establishing or making changes to your technical support team can be overwhelming, especially as your company grows.
Developing a structure is the first step. Start with identifying your needs and circumstances. For example, a software company’s users will likely have a lot of technical issues whereas a service or retail company will have monetary or other issues. Using the tiers template above, determine what sorts of topics and issues might fit into each tier. Note that some companies use fewer tiers than the five levels (0 through 4) listed above. If you only have enough staff to support three levels, that is a fine approach!
Once you’ve established your support structure, consider how you can continue to support your support staff, so they can continue to create positive customer experiences:
Tiered IT support is greatly enhanced by ITSM and software products that automate many of the functions provided by each tier.
(Learn about choosing ITSM tools.)
For related reading, check out these resources: