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The differences between call center technicians and technical support technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a call center technician and a technical support technician. Additionally, a technical support technician has an average salary of $40,210, which is higher than the $34,630 average annual salary of a call center technician.
The top three skills for a call center technician include center management, patients and technical support. The most important skills for a technical support technician are customer service, technical support, and patients.
| Call Center Technician | Technical Support Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $34,630 | $40,210 |
| Hourly rate | $16.65 | $19.33 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 117,083 | 165,677 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A call center technician is someone who handles quality-wise communication, product representation, and customer support for clients. Call center technicians research issues related to call quality and documentation. They plan and assist in the installation of hardware, maintenance agreements, and software to maximize the compatibility, integration, and continuing operations of applications or systems. Also, they provide end-users with technical support and respond through telephone or email requests.
Technical support technicians are skilled professionals who resolve computer or information technology-related concerns. They may do installations, repairs, or maintenance activities of various applications or computer hardware. They are sometimes assigned specific issues or concerns to resolve so that they will not be bombarded with various issues. This means that they can now specialize in a specific family of concerns. Technical support technicians may provide on-site support, going directly to the person who needs help and doing what needs to be done or troubleshoot the problem in person. They may also be offsite and would usually be manning helpdesk hotlines. Offsite technical support technicians walk the caller through the steps they should do to fix the issues. As such, when a technical support technician is offsite, they are expected to be good communicators and will be able to provide clear instructions.
Call center technicians and technical support technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Call Center Technician | Technical Support Technician | |
| Average salary | $34,630 | $40,210 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $52,000 | Between $24,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jacksonville, NC | Philadelphia, PA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | Ciena Healthcare | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a call center technician and a technical support technician in terms of educational background:
| Call Center Technician | Technical Support Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between call center technicians' and technical support technicians' demographics:
| Call Center Technician | Technical Support Technician | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 56.5% Female, 43.5% | Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 10.6% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |