The work of the technical support department of the local positioning system

Having worked in different companies as a technical support engineer, you subsequently notice a completely different approach to solving client problems / problems. Internet providers all problems are tied to a specific consumer. There is not so much support for the company's services (IPTV, Internet), but the solution of the tasks that the user creates for himself (broken wires, idle Skype, for some reason, quickly running out of money, etc.). The only exceptions are problems caused by malfunctioning of switching equipment, communication lines and other things.

At the moment I am working in the technical support service of the company “RTL-Service”, which is developing local positioning systems with voice communications. The approach of our company is markedly different from other places where I had to work - since there are fewer customers than the provider, all support is built for the specific version of the product to which customers are initially attached.

We use an automated system for processing applications based on Redmine. Or rather, some plugins:
Redmine helpdesk plugin - www.redmine.org/plugins/redmine_helpdesk
Document Management System Features - www.redmine.org/plugins/dmsf (Required for storing logs, software versions and other attachments.)
Any e-mail address instantly creates a trouble ticket in this system, and then goes to the appropriate department for a solution. Ticket status is updated and can be viewed by all support department staff. Managers can monitor all actions that are performed / carried out in real time.
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Only 10% of all calls from clients go to other departments of the company, but the main mass is client infrastructure issues (server configuration, network settings, virtualization)


But there are also requests related to the operation of the local positioning system. And some of them are also solved at the level of the technical support department.



If the question concerns the violation of the functionality of the positioning system itself, it is almost always necessary to request from the client data from the server, logs, screenshots of errors. All information is transferred to the testing department.


The testing department reproduces an error on the required software version, sends it to the developers for revision / correction. The Software Department sends the revised software version to the testing department. Its employees reproduce the error, confirm that it does not occur and transfer to the support. We, in turn, send the corrected version to the client. And we are waiting for feedback from him.

All calls and decisions on them should be saved to increase the speed of customer support. Also, the necessary knowledge base for existing employees and the rapid training of new ones. For all this, we use KnowledgeBase - a system built on the Wiki engine.



Summarizing all the above, I’ll note that you can build a good system for the technical support department based on Redmine, since all plugins are free and their functionality is more than enough. And, in general, support is always extremely important for any company, since it is not only the “face” of the organization, but also the first front line in servicing and interacting with the client. Take care of technical support, train and train employees.

The author: Ilya Kuznetsov