We depend on information technology more than ever; therefore, IT support is more important than ever. The Internet has made the world a smaller place; it has allowed certain products, such as software, to be distributed to customers anywhere in the world. Traditional ways to provide support like telephone and email are no longer sufficient for companies with customers spread all over the world. Users of your product come from different cultures, speak a different language, and are in a different time zone. This makes direct communication with users to provide support a lot harder. New ways to support users such as Internet forums, wiki systems, and extended websites with knowledge bases, attempt to limit the need for direct contact with a support representative. Support personnel needs to change the way they do their job to deal with these new approaches.

This book has been written for IT professionals to help them deal with the changing and growing requirements. The first part of the book covers what IT support is. The second part of the book covers typical responsibilities that are handled by technical support departments. The third part covers key skills that are needed to provide helpful technical support and how to improve them. The final part brings it all together; it handles the case of a technical support department in a rapidly growing startup company selling a set-top box which provides digital television and radio.

I hope that this book will help you become a truly helpful support technician. If you have any comments or just feel like getting in touch with me, please send me a message at <mail@woutersimons.com>.