Four Types of Support Services

Virtually all Microsoft support offerings can be placed in one of four categories:

Account management. A customer service agent from Microsoft’s Customer Services and Support (CSS) team or a Technical Account Manager in the Premier Support organization routes the customer’s support request to the correct resources escalate the program to higher tiers of support if required, and follows up with the customer to ensure the problem was resolved; maintains a profile of the customer’s type of business, key systems, and support history; and proactively notifies the customer about patches, workshops, and other aids that the customer might find useful.

Problem resolution. CSS provides advice, downloads, patches, and workarounds when a customer reports a problem that is likely traceable to a Microsoft product.

Advisory services. Support engineers assist customers in planning IT projects or code development, provide workshops for customers, and alert them to events, downloads, vulnerabilities, and other issues that might affect them.