First Line Support Apprentice (Talk Straight )

Level 3 Information Communication Technician

About the company:

Talk Straight specialises in Cloud-Hosted Services and Virtual, Private Wide Area Networks for Businesses. We provide some of the most robust network security in the industry with awards from ISPA for Best Security & Cloud Service four times in five years.

Over 2000 small, medium and large business establishments trust us to keep over 700,000 of their staff safe online.

Talk Straight is a vibrant, exciting place to work where no two days are ever the same!

Talk Straight have grown year on year since our inception in 2007, and we put our success down to the hard work and commitment of everyone in our business.

We’re a diverse team and pride ourselves on being so. With a workforce aged between 21-58, we employ people from many different backgrounds and walks of life. We know that it’s this varied combination of life experience, knowledge and skills that will give us the right balance in which can continue to grow and succeed.

When you work with us you can expect to receive 20 days annual holiday plus statutory holidays, company funded social events, hybrid working and structured training and development.

Our office is in Ilkley within walking distance of Ben Rhydding and Ilkley train stations.

Brief job description:

Estio Training have an exciting new opportunity for a First Line Support with Talk Straight a Cyber Security and Telecommunications Company based in Ilkley.

Job Description:

First point of contact answering customer phone calls, supporting the customer base to provide an outstanding customer experience. Providing initial triage to customers.

Your duties and responsibilities in this role will consist of:

Customer Service

• First point of contact, answering calls and logging these onto the supporting ticket system.
• Categorising these by product, ticket type and impact to the customer. 
• Categorise email auto-generated tickets by product and ticket type and impact to the customer. 
• Consistently demonstrate outstanding levels of customer care. 

Technical Support

• Management of cases in line with defined service level targets.
• Provide clear and concise case notes/customer replies.
• Ensure customer is provided with timely updates.
• Respond to system monitoring alerts.
• Reference to CTS documentation.
• Maintain accurate data customer data within Talk Straight systems. 

Knowledge & Training

• Maintain and develop good levels of technical knowledge.
• Carry out formal training as required in relation to products, services, customer care.
• Manage study time where feasible. 

Introduction of new products, services, suppliers

• Ensure knowledge of new products is sufficient for effective troubleshooting and support.
• Cross-team working
• Develop and maintain internal relationships, working effectively with teams/colleagues across Talk-Straight.
• Develop understanding of function and responsibilities of other departments.
• Keep relevant account managers informed of priority 1 cases; high impacting cases; escalations or complaints from the customer.

Qualifications:

• 5 GCSEs grades A*-C/9-4 or equivalent (including English Language and Maths)

Skills Required:

• Excellent troubleshooting skills.
• Ability to work effectively at all levels.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written.
• Good organisational skills and ability to multitask.
• Strong understanding of Microsoft technologies.
• Good knowledge of networking, security, VOIP and broadband technologies.
• Good understanding of DNS.
• Basic understanding of routing protocols.
• Experience of firewall configuration.
• Experience in supporting Fortinet technologies.
• Knowledge of web filtering technologies.

Personal qualities:

• Time Keeping.
• Professionalism.
• Communication Skills.

Future prospects:

The role offers long term security and the opportunity to progress into a permanent position.

Training to be provided:

Estio apprenticeship training programmes are delivered virtually by our fully qualified and industry experienced training team. Using their expert knowledge, we’ve purposefully built our programmes around the real-world use of modern technology, so that the skills we create can be directly applied in the workplace.

Throughout the apprenticeship learners receive coaching, help and guidance from a dedicated team who are there to ensure they get the most from their work experience.

Successful completion of this apprenticeship gives you an accredited Level 3 Information Communications Technician, with training in how to:

• Efficiently operate and control your ICT infrastructure – physical or virtual hardware, software, network services and data storage. Use infrastructure management tools to automate the provisioning, testing, deployment and monitoring of infrastructure components. Prioritise systems support tasks and monitor and maintaining system performance Maintain regulatory, legal and professional standards. Support the information systems needs for your business.