Bucking Scope of Support for Fun and Profit (intro) #custserv

"Scope of Support" is a phrase that every tech support phone rep should be familiar with. It's the guideline that determines what you're allowed to help a caller with. It helps avoid the liabilities of messing with third party products, and makes sure you don't set unrealistic expectations for the next agent. It also causes headaches for customers and support agents alike who know the simplicity of what they're asking for, but simply aren't allowed to get satisfaction.

Working for an ISP, I used to get into all sorts of spats with our scope of support. I'm a generally helpful guy, and got myself in trouble whenever I skirted these rules to help out. Granted, the rules themselves were written for the internet of the nineties. Want help configuring a mail program other than Outlook? Preposterous. Setting up a router? Forget it. Getting a video game system or handheld device to connect to the internet? Yeah right. If you were lucky, your agent would give you some general tips and a link to the proper documentation. If you weren't lucky, they'd just tell you to call the other company and hang up, not even offering a number, website, or any advice on what to ask for.

But people continue to call anyway. In the customer's view, everything that touches the internet becomes associated with the ISP, and the general availability of support staff makes them the first call when help is needed. Callers often understand that their hardware wasn't manufactured by the internet company, but they also understand that these techs work with computers and networks all day, every day, and are very likely to have some knowledge to impart.

Bridging the Gap

There's an interesting new trend in the tech support world. After years of being told "We don't do x" or "We can't support y" a handful of brave companies are shrugging off these limiting shackles and providing help for their confused callers. The genius move? They're also charging a premium for this service, allowing you to recruit them as your own personal 'tech people' for any issue that you might need to look into. It's like roadside assistance for your technology. I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with a couple of players in this space to get some insight into their all-inclusive support offerings, and over the next few posts I'll be sharing their answers to a few of my burning questions about the how and why of these new offerings.

So! Watch this space. This is going to be fun.