Technical support (often shortened to tech support) refers to services. Within a corporation, these are also known as help desks often arrange their technical support structure as a three-tier (plus two) system:

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• Tier 1: Basic help desk – initial point of contact, including software opening a trouble ticket. Information available to its personnel include FAQ and a basic knowledge base.

• Tier 2: In-depth technical support

• Tier 3: Expert product and service support.

 

The extra tiers are:

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• Tier 0: Self help (i.e. by the end user)

• Tier 4: Outside support for "items not directly serviced by the organization"

 

Access to varying levels of support for products and services to in-house employees and corporate customers, providing information and troubleshooting is via various channels such as toll-free numbers, websites, instant messaging, or email.