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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Technical Services Representative

💰 $45,000 - $75,000

Technical SupportCustomer ServiceField ServicesIT

🎯 Role Definition

A Technical Services Representative is a customer‑facing technical specialist responsible for installing, troubleshooting, maintaining and optimizing hardware, software and network systems. This role blends hands‑on fieldwork and remote diagnostics to resolve complex technical incidents, ensure SLA adherence, train customers, execute rollouts, and act as the technical liaison between clients and engineering. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong troubleshooting ability, clear communication, and a service mindset, while using ticketing systems and remote tools to deliver measurable customer satisfaction and uptime.


📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Customer Service Representative with technical aptitude
  • Help Desk Technician / IT Support Technician
  • Field Service Technician or Installer

Advancement To:

  • Senior Technical Services Representative
  • Technical Services Lead / Team Lead
  • Implementation Manager or Project Manager
  • Technical Account Manager / Solutions Engineer

Lateral Moves:

  • Product Specialist or Trainer
  • Field Operations Coordinator
  • Quality Assurance / Service Delivery Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Diagnose, troubleshoot and resolve complex hardware, software and network issues for customers both remotely and on‑site, documenting root causes and resolutions in the ticketing system to build a reusable knowledge base.
  • Install, configure and commission customer equipment and software, following vendor documentation and internal implementation checklists to ensure first‑time‑right deployments and adherence to configuration standards.
  • Manage the end‑to‑end support lifecycle for assigned incidents and service requests, owning tickets through timely updates, escalation when needed, and formal handoffs to engineering or manufacturing teams.
  • Perform preventive maintenance and scheduled health checks on customer devices and systems, applying firmware updates, patches and configuration hardening to reduce recurrence of incidents and increase system availability.
  • Execute on‑site repair, component replacement and diagnostics for failed hardware, including removal, replacement, calibration and verification of returned equipment per RMA and warranty procedures.
  • Conduct remote diagnostics using remote access tools (e.g., TeamViewer, LogMeIn, SSH, RDP) and network utilities (ping, traceroute, netstat) to isolate networking, performance and configuration issues under tight SLAs.
  • Follow ITIL‑aligned incident, problem and change management processes to ensure compliance, traceability and reduction of escalations across the service lifecycle.
  • Coordinate scheduling, logistics and point‑of‑contact communication for field visits, ensuring customer availability, safety compliance and required spare parts or specialized tools are present for each appointment.
  • Act as the primary technical point of contact for customer onboarding and implementation projects, delivering configuration, integration, and handover documentation while training customer administrators on day‑to‑day operations.
  • Maintain, update and optimize technical documentation, runbooks and knowledge base articles for common issues, installation flows and configuration templates to accelerate team response and improve self‑service.
  • Escalate and collaborate with product engineering and vendor support to resolve software defects, hardware failures and emergent issues, providing detailed logs, packet captures and reproduction steps to accelerate fixes.
  • Monitor service level agreement (SLA) performance metrics, prioritize work to meet response and resolution targets, and proactively communicate impact and remediation plans when SLA risk is identified.
  • Provide in‑depth customer training and onboarding sessions—both virtual and in‑person—covering product features, best practices, and troubleshooting workflows to increase adoption and reduce repeat support calls.
  • Perform root cause analysis (RCA) for recurring incidents, propose corrective actions, and drive closure of underlying problems through cross‑functional projects with development, QA and operations teams.
  • Track spare parts, consumables and field inventory, initiating procurement requests and managing stock levels to minimize mean time to repair (MTTR) and ensure field readiness.
  • Validate software deployment packages and configuration changes in lab environments before production rollout, documenting impacts and rollback plans to minimize customer disruption.
  • Support warranty claims and RMA processes by performing diagnostics, verifying defect symptoms, and coordinating return logistics with fulfillment and supplier partners.
  • Identify opportunities for service improvement and revenue growth during customer interactions, feeding back product enhancement requests, upsell opportunities and competitive intelligence to sales and product teams.
  • Use CRM and ticketing tools (e.g., Zendesk, ServiceNow, Salesforce) to log activity, update customer records, and generate reports that support executive dashboards and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Participate in on‑call rotation to provide after‑hours support for critical incidents, performing triage, escalation and communication with stakeholders until restoration is achieved.
  • Ensure compliance with safety, security and regulatory requirements during installations and service work, including lockout/tagout practices, data privacy controls and customer facility policies.
  • Collaborate with cross‑functional teams on pilot programs and beta deployments, acting as the voice of the customer and validating new product features under real‑world conditions.
  • Deliver measurable improvements in customer satisfaction (CSAT/NPS) by applying a consultative support approach, following up on open issues and ensuring complete customer acceptance of solutions.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist sales and account management with technical pre‑sales support, proof‑of‑concepts and scoping estimates to ensure deliverables meet customer requirements.
  • Mentor junior technicians and new hires on troubleshooting discipline, safety procedures and customer communication best practices.
  • Participate in continuous learning to maintain current vendor certifications and product knowledge.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proven troubleshooting of hardware, operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) and common enterprise applications with documented resolution steps.
  • Strong networking fundamentals: TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, VLANs, VPN, routing basics and ability to analyze packet captures.
  • Hands‑on experience with remote access and diagnostic tools (TeamViewer, LogMeIn, SSH, RDP, Wireshark).
  • Proficient with ticketing and CRM systems (ServiceNow, Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud) for incident management and customer communication.
  • Experience installing and configuring enterprise hardware and peripherals, including cabling, power management and field calibration.
  • Familiarity with cloud services and SaaS platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and basic troubleshooting of cloud connectivity and APIs.
  • Basic scripting or automation knowledge (PowerShell, Bash, Python) to automate routine diagnostics and data collection.
  • Patch management and firmware upgrade processes across device fleets, including rollback procedures and testing.
  • Ability to collect and interpret logs, event traces and diagnostic outputs to produce actionable incident reports.
  • Knowledge of ITIL practices and incident/change/problem lifecycle management.
  • Familiarity with mobile device management (MDM) and remote provisioning for tablets, smartphones and IoT endpoints.
  • Experience using monitoring and alerting tools (Nagios, Prometheus, Datadog) to identify and triage performance and availability issues.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills tailored for both technical and non‑technical audiences.
  • Strong customer empathy and consultative problem‑solving orientation to deliver exceptional service experiences.
  • Time management and prioritization under pressure to meet SLA commitments and manage competing escalations.
  • Collaborative team player able to coordinate with engineering, operations and sales to resolve complex issues.
  • Attention to detail for accurate documentation, configuration management and safe field practices.
  • Adaptability to shifting priorities, new technologies and fast‑paced customer environments.
  • Conflict resolution and de‑escalation skills to handle frustrated or high‑stakes customer interactions.
  • Coaching and mentoring ability to develop junior staff and disseminate knowledge across the team.
  • Analytical mindset to drive RCA efforts and convert incident data into process improvements.
  • Professionalism and reliability for on‑site customer interactions, security clearances and access to sensitive facilities.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent; technical certifications or relevant vocational training preferred.

Preferred Education:

  • Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Electronics, Telecommunications or a related technical field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Information Technology / IT Support
  • Computer Science / Software Engineering
  • Electrical / Electronics Engineering
  • Telecommunications / Network Engineering
  • Systems Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–5 years of hands‑on technical support, field service, or systems administration experience.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years supporting enterprise customers in field or remote technical service roles, including experience with installations, escalations, SLA ownership and cross‑functional collaboration.
  • Certifications such as CompTIA A+, Network+, Microsoft Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator, Cisco CCNA or ITIL Foundation are highly desirable.
  • Prior exposure to hardware RMA processes, technical documentation creation and customer training/deliverables for implementations.