Level 1 Technical Support Agent/Customer Service Representative for VPN Services

Join an energetic team in one of the hottest growing sectors in software—cybersecurity. VIPRE Security Group, a part of Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD), is a global, highly rated, award-winning security, privacy and data protection company protecting millions of consumers and businesses supporting some of the largest brands. Backed by cutting-edge machine learning, one of the world’s largest threat intelligence clouds and real-time behavior monitoring, the VIPRE Security Group delivers unmatched protection against today’s most aggressive threats. The group operates under various brands, VIPRE™, STRONGVPN™, IPVANISH™, Inspired eLearning™, Livedrive™, and SugarSync™.

Our team helps fight the cybercriminals and protect our customers by delivering innovative solutions that help keep families and businesses and their data, digital identity, employees, websites, email, and applications private and safe.

IDEAL CANDIDATE:

• Patient and customer care focused
• Strong technical skill set including LAN/WAN networking and router configuration
• Knowledgeable of VPN services
• 3+ years recent work experience involving technical troubleshooting
• Work experience in a call centre/BPO industry, help desk or NOC environment assisting customers through ticket, chat or phone interfaces
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English
• Self-motivated and works well within a team environment

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide technical support via phones, tickets, and live chat
• Provide billing support via phones, tickets, and live chat
• Engage customers via multiple interfaces
• Interact, simultaneously, with multiple customers when in the chat interface
• Practice empathy and positive words choices when communicating with customers
• Resolve first level issues by:
• Determining the nature of the issue by identifying what the customer is trying to accomplish
• Gathering information from the customer including steps that customer took
• Attempting to reproduce reported issues 
• Analyzing the symptoms and where possible identifying the underlying problem
• Offering relevant troubleshooting steps and/or solutions
• Directing customers to appropriate help articles
• Communicate and follow-up with customers
• Escalate unresolved issues to second level support with appropriate detail
• Make every effort to exercise customer retention strategies with cancellation requests
• Monitor for and proactively identify potential or emerging issues
• Participate as an integral member of the shift-based team problems and make recommendations regarding solutions
• Keep up to date with all communication that impacts the organization

REQUIRED PERSONAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:

• Proficiency in English interpersonal/communication skills, both written and verbal
• Demonstrate empathy, patience and understanding in stressful situations
• Enjoy solving problems for customers
• Cultivate respectful relationships with colleagues
• Maintain consistency in attendance, time management, attention to detail, and commitment
• Be unconditionally reliable and available to work scheduled shifts
• Work well independently and as part of a team
• Adapt to change
• Resolve conflict effectively
• Accept constructive criticism for enhancement of knowledge and skills
• Learn new skills in a timely manner without sacrificing existing responsibilities
• Expand deductive reasoning and problem-solving skills
• Prioritize tasks accurately and make decisions within established guidelines and policies

EXPERIENCE:

• 3+ years recent work experience technical troubleshooting and problem-solving
• Primary use of spoken and written English in a work environment focused on customer interactions
• Customer service experience in a technical support position
• Intermediate to advanced experience with Windows, MacOS or Linux operating systems/software
• Knowledge and/or use of commonly used Internet Protocols
• Internet ready device knowledge and associated applications

Experience with the following is strongly preferred:

• VPN
• Router troubleshooting
• Network troubleshooting
• Online Media & Streaming Services
• Popular File Sharing Services

EDUCATION:

Minimum - High school and at least one professional technical certification

Preferred - College diploma/University degree in technology related discipline

WORKING CONDITIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

• This is a full-time permanent position with a competitive benefit package
• This is a 24-hour x 365 days per year support organization
• The work week is 40 hours
• Schedules are static with 2 days off per week
• Schedules may involve holidays, weekends, day, or evening shifts

This is a home-based position requiring a stable Internet connection, a backup internet source when needed, reliable power and adequate computing devices. 

• Stable Internet connection
• Backup Internet source
• A location with reliable and stable power supply
• A Laptop or Desktop Computer with the following requirements:
  • Dual-processor computer capable of running Windows 7 or better (quad-core to run VM)
  • (Intel i3+ / AMD A8 or better highly recommended. Core2/duo, Celeron and Atom processors will tend to be too slow)
  • 4gb ram or more, with at least 1gb free (8gb total w/ 4gb free to run VM)
  • A hard drive that has at least 2gb of space remaining
  • A Computer monitor with a minimum resolution of 1280x760
  • A fully working keyboard and mouse
  • A working headset with microphone
  • The ability to share your screen so others can see what you are doing / demonstrating via Skype, TeamViewer, Google Meets, and SLACK

• Mobile phone capable of updating to latest iOS or Android OS