The 3 Aspects of Fixing Support Calls

It's very easy in a busy support environment to just be happy that the call queues are manageable, and you're working within the target SLAs. That's the job right ? Not really - it's only the first step of three...

• Resolve the technical problem and complete documentation
• Ensure the customer believes the problem is resolved
• What is their level of satisfaction ?
• Do they have other issues that need looking into ?
• Research the cause of the problem, and fix the process, to prevent it happening again

The last is particularly important. Firefighting is defined as time wasted working on effects instead of causes, and it's only if you try and work backwards to prevent future calls can you say you're doing a proper support job.