As technology evolves, businesses rely on MSPs for IT needs. L2 support engineers are the most important professionals within an MSP team. These engineers represent a higher level of support to solve complicated technical problems and provide comprehensive support solutions, ensuring minimal business downtime.
In this blog, we will discuss what level 2 support engineers are, their roles, and their responsibilities. Let’s get started!
A] What Is a Second-Level Support Engineer?
A second-level support engineer, also known as a Level 2 or L2 Support Engineer, handles more technically complicated issues that, by definition, exceed the competence of Level 1 support. Their main focus is incident resolution, which is deeply connected with technical knowledge and enriched troubleshooting skills.
While Level 1 support deals with basic work, like password resetting and simple troubleshooting, Level 2 Technical Support involves complex problems at the levels of network configurations, bugs in software, or customer inquiries that need more in-depth attention. They work closely with the Level 1 team and higher-tier engineers who can offer an integrated support solution without disrupting the workflow.
B] Key Role and Responsibilities of a Level 2 Support Engineer
The roles and responsibilities of Level 2 support are extensive as they combine technical skills with communication capabilities. An overview of what the role typically comprises can be explained below:
- Advanced Troubleshooting: An L2 Support Engineer fixes technical problems that have been escalated from Level 1. Some of the problems may involve software issues or malfunctioning hardware. In most cases, the L2 team performs deep diagnoses to trace and resolve the issue.
- Ticket Resolution: The L2 Support Engineer will manage the support tickets to ensure timely resolution of all technical incidents that are raised. They track the status of each ticket and send detailed updates to both the customer and the Level 1 team.
- Collaboration with Other Teams: The L2 support engineers normally collaborate with the other IT teams, like the third-level engineers and developers, when the problem is out of their expertise. This ensures that even complex technical problems are solved quickly.
- Communication with Client: In addition to handling technical issues, the role of technical support engineers at the second level is to communicate complex technical details in a way that clients can understand. They often act as an intermediary between the client and their technical team to maintain transparency and ensure customer satisfaction.
- Documentation: Record-keeping is a key activity in this role. A Level 2 engineer is responsible for keeping proper records of the issues and the resolution process or any changes to the procedure. Such documentation allows scope for improvement in the responses in the future, apart from building up a knowledge base for the present and future support engineers.
- System Monitoring: Most of the time, L2 engineers rely on monitoring tools to continuously observe the health of the client systems. This helps them find problems and resolve them before the situation gets out of hand.
C] Basic Competencies of a Level 2 Support Engineer
The skills required of an L2 Support Engineer go beyond technical knowledge. A combination of technical and soft skills is highly important. Following is a checklist of some common requirements that one might come across while applying for an L2 Support Engineer:
- Technical Expertise: An L2 engineer should be well versed with operating systems, networking, software applications, and hardware as it helps save time and act efficiently
- Problem-Solving Skills: The L2 engineer should have powerful analytical and problem-solving skills. They should be able to analyze a problem, think critically, and arrive at a solution that prevents its recurrence.
- Communication Skills: As much as technical skills are necessary, communication skills cannot be ignored. Technical engineers are supposed to explain what they say to clients in simple terms.
- Time Management: Taking care of multiple issues simultaneously requires time management. An L2 engineer has to ensure the right prioritization level is carried out so that pressing problems are resolved in the least amount of time.
- Team Collaboration: Since Level 1 support, higher-level engineers, and possibly vendors work closely with the L2 support engineers, such personnel are expected to collaborate, as this ensures a comprehensive approach to complex issues.
Conclusion
The role of a Second Level Support Engineer in an MSP framework is one of the most challenging and coveted professions. These technical professionals ensure businesses can continue operating smoothly, addressing complex IT problems and providing timely solutions. As businesses grow and technology advances, the demand for skilled L2 support engineers will continue to rise.
If you need experienced IT support engineers or want to expand your technical team, partner with an MSP IT staffing company like Vertical Talent Solutions. We help hire top talents for your MSP who meet your requirements. Our expertise in finding the best L2 engineers ensures that your IT operations are efficient and reliable. For more information on how we can help you, contact us today!
Ted White is the President & CEO of Vertical Talent Solutions and has over two decades of IT recruiting experience. Specializing in assisting Managed Service Providers in securing their ideal roles, his expertise navigates career paths precisely. Connect with Ted White for tailored recruitment solutions today.