Norton antivirus technical support functions.[citation needed] The first job of a Tier I specialist is to gather the customer’s information and to determinethe customer’s issue by analyzing the symptoms and figuring out the underlying problem.[6] When analyzing the symptoms, it is important for the technician to identify whatthe customer is trying to accomplish so that time is not wasted on “Norton empting to solve a symptom instead of a problem.” [6]This level should gather as much information as possible from the end user. The information could be computer system name,screen name or report name, error or warning message displayed on the screen, any logs files, screen shots,any data used by the end user or any sequence of steps used by the end user, etc. This information needs to be recorded intothe issue tracking or issue logging system. This information is useful to analyze the symptoms to define the problem or issue.[citation needed]Once identification of the underlying problem is established, the specialist can begin sorting throughthe possible solutions available. Technical support specialists in this group typically handle straightforward and simple problems while“possibly using some kind of knowledge management tool.”[7] This includes troubleshooting methods such as verifying physical layer issues,resolving username and password problems, uninstalling/reinstalling basic software applications, verification of proper hardware andsoftware set up, and assistance with navigating around application menus. Personnel at this level have a basic to general understanding ofthe product or service and may not always contain the competency required for solving complex issues.[8] Nevertheless,the goal for this group is to handle 70–80% of the user problems before finding it necessary to escalate the issue to a higher level.[8]In other industries (such as banking, credit cards, mobile telephony, etc.),first-level support is carried by a call center that operates extensive hours (or 24/7).This call center acts as an “initial sink” for user requests and,if required, creates an incident to notify other business teams/units to satisfy the user request
