User support is the assistance provided to software users when encountering technical issues or questions regarding the product or service. User support can be provided in several ways.
- A technical team via chat, email, or phone (internal or external)
- Automated chatbots
- Library of vendor resources
- Embedded application support
How does user support work?
User support is composed of the following elements:
- An internal technical team or external provider of user support.
- A ticketing system to prioritize technical support issues and questions. A ticket is an outline of a user request.
- There are 3 levels of support requests:
- Level 1 support request: one-time issues that can be resolved quickly
- Level 2 support request: recurring technical issues that prevent software usage
- Level 3 support request: urgent and complex issues that require immediate mitigation
- The team addresses the technical issues and can mitigate them.
What are the different types of user support?
There are several types of user support:
| Service desk | Help desk |
| Self-service Portal | Embedded application support |
Why is user support a major issue for companies today?
The digitalization of company tools and processes requires the proper and complete handing of digital tools, day-to-day.
When users encounter technical difficulties with their tools, rather than turn to colleagues for support, reducing the productivity of two people. They should be turning to technical user support.
However, calls to software and service vendors are often costly and time-consuming. According to ZenDesk:
“It takes support teams an average of 24.2 hours to provide an initial response to internal tickets.”
Companies face various challenges concerning support:
- Reducing costs related to support requests.
- Reducing the time it takes to process support requests.
- Increasing user autonomy on tools.
- Reducing time spent on low support requests for higher value added tasks.
What is the connection between user support and user experience?
A positive user experience reduces users’ digital frustrations. Efficient user support is accessible to users from the moment they encounter a problem with their tool. The more effective the user support, the faster users can locate and request it, improving overall productivity and satisfaction.
The benefits of a user support system
- User efficiency on their digital tools.
Accessible user support creates a more fluid experience. It improves the day-to-day user experience on digital tools and the quality of output (functionalities, business processes, etc.).
- Optimization of internal tools.
Ongoing internal software evolutions and optimizations help companies reach their full potential. Users only reach their full potential (digital adoption) once they can use all the basic and advanced functionalities of a tool.
- User autonomy on digital tools.
The implementation of support resources facilitates user autonomy across the software. Users learn to manage their low-level requests alone (level 1 or 2 support requests) using the resources and support available.
