For many small businesses IT technical support can be prohibitively expensive. However, IT is evolving to suit the smaller-budget businesses.
April 30, 2006 (Press Release) --
As we all become more computer and Internet savvy, self help is becoming a viable option for small and home based businesses. No longer is the computer a mysterious box that only the IT savvy and computer-geek types understand. Small business operators are finding that, with a little bit or guidance, they are able to fix problems which in the past they may have called a technician in for.
This is particularly true of home based businesses and those in remote locations. Support has often been difficult because of low budgets and, in some cases, the additional cost of having a technician travel 100 miles or more to fix a problem.
From an industry point of view, technical support companies have been hesitant to provide online or remote services because of the additional time it sometimes takes to guide a person who is not computer literate through a procedure that may have taken only five minutes if the technician were on site.
Times are changing though, and your average small business person is much more familiar and comfortable with their computer than they were a few years ago. Because of this new found confidence, technical support businesses are appearing that have remote or online technical services as a core component of their product range.
One such company is YourNetMechanic.com, a newly created support provider which has made the decision to specialise in providing online helpdesk support as their main product. This is an interesting shift from most other online support businesses, as most of their competitors provide a service whereby the support technician actually logs in to the customers computer. Company CEO, Gary Smith explained why they chose this path and how they see the remote support market evolving.
"What we've found is that the majority of people are a lot smarter now with their computers and software. Where the computer was, in many cases, considered to be a necessary evil even as recent as 2 or 3 years ago, business owners are now viewing their computer as being a tool that can help them build their business. Because of this shift in attitude we've found that the majority of small and home business owners know their computer systems a lot better than they used to. They have much greater confidence in their own abilities. This makes it much easier for us to deliver an online service that they can get good value from. Our whole philosophy revolves around not only assisting small business people with their computer issues but also providing them with a lively community where they can interact and discuss computer issues and ideas that relate to their businesses. So, in addition to our helpdesk service, which is staffed by qualified and experienced technicians, we provide a number of forums where issues can be discussed in a community environment. We also have a unique concept for growing our business. Rather than maintaining a centralised office we will be opening support outposts which will be staffed by qualified personnel who have completed an internship on our community forums. We want our customers to be on a very level playing field with our consultants so that they don't feel at all intimidated when we are communicating instructions to them or discussing their computer issues."
This is particularly true of home based businesses and those in remote locations. Support has often been difficult because of low budgets and, in some cases, the additional cost of having a technician travel 100 miles or more to fix a problem.
From an industry point of view, technical support companies have been hesitant to provide online or remote services because of the additional time it sometimes takes to guide a person who is not computer literate through a procedure that may have taken only five minutes if the technician were on site.
Times are changing though, and your average small business person is much more familiar and comfortable with their computer than they were a few years ago. Because of this new found confidence, technical support businesses are appearing that have remote or online technical services as a core component of their product range.
One such company is YourNetMechanic.com, a newly created support provider which has made the decision to specialise in providing online helpdesk support as their main product. This is an interesting shift from most other online support businesses, as most of their competitors provide a service whereby the support technician actually logs in to the customers computer. Company CEO, Gary Smith explained why they chose this path and how they see the remote support market evolving.
"What we've found is that the majority of people are a lot smarter now with their computers and software. Where the computer was, in many cases, considered to be a necessary evil even as recent as 2 or 3 years ago, business owners are now viewing their computer as being a tool that can help them build their business. Because of this shift in attitude we've found that the majority of small and home business owners know their computer systems a lot better than they used to. They have much greater confidence in their own abilities. This makes it much easier for us to deliver an online service that they can get good value from. Our whole philosophy revolves around not only assisting small business people with their computer issues but also providing them with a lively community where they can interact and discuss computer issues and ideas that relate to their businesses. So, in addition to our helpdesk service, which is staffed by qualified and experienced technicians, we provide a number of forums where issues can be discussed in a community environment. We also have a unique concept for growing our business. Rather than maintaining a centralised office we will be opening support outposts which will be staffed by qualified personnel who have completed an internship on our community forums. We want our customers to be on a very level playing field with our consultants so that they don't feel at all intimidated when we are communicating instructions to them or discussing their computer issues."
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