IT home help services

Little_John

jinx_uk_98 wrote:

thanks for the feedback.

i currently work in User Support and am more than aware of some the stupid things they do (which is why I think this might work)

I think as long I get some sort of confirmation from them that the issue has been resolved then that should cover it.

i'm thinking about give them a window of 24hrs, if they haven't notified me by then the call will be considered closed.

cheers for the comments so far.

User support? I will assume that is within the company you work for, supporting users on your work network using pc that are locked down so they cant install anything, have specific software they use day in day out with upgrades every 3 years. limited access to the internet and constantly upto date antivirus. home users want access to intrenet, email and to play games unfortunalty they download anything and everything, click yes to EVERY box that pops up on the screen just becasue they want to install their new screensaver yeah guess what the screen saver really is.

Go in ask what they did, the answer will be nothing, spend the next half an hour checking the registry and removing the startup programs uninstalling mywebsearch and the xxx toolbars ect. 30 minutes and you get the I just downloaded a new screensaver whihc you knew about after your search remove everything that the "screensaver did" if your lucky you will get home before the call, yeah you guessed it they tried that screensaver again.

24 hours is no good it doesnt work.
you will be repeatedly returning the following day and doing exactly the same thing again, they managed to get infected in the first place. if you are lucky you will get a call in 4 years asking you to fix their pc again its running slow yeah 4 years of use kind of does that to a pc, you will get there and it will be the exact same pc with the celeron 700Mhz seized cooling fan 99% full hard drive with every possible process running in the memory. they wont be happy when you tell them its time to replace the PC they are proberbly still paying for it on credit at PCworld/DSG.

You will also be expected to install software for free, "I used to be able to open the files on this floppy/cd/memory stick what ever now I cant on this pc" they are loaded with .doc and .xls files so you ask for the disk "ohh my mate steve has the disk he installed it on my other pc" or they pull out their coppied version of office 2000 or 97 with the well know pirate cd keys writen all over the cd. the best you will get is an OEM version from thier old PC which you know OEM licences are non tranferable. They will not be happy when you say you cant install it and expect you to install office 2003, mcafee 2006 security suite, Windows XP pro, Nero ultimate edition and adobe photoshop cs2 so they can play with their photos.

They will also expect you to know about TV's, surround sound, dvd recorders, washing machines and where they can buy them the cheapest (can you not get them off the back of a lorry is what they really want to know)

Ive been there done it, I now deal with small to medium companies that dont mind replacing a pc every 2 years tell them what they need and they buy iteither source it myself and make a bit extra or let them source it.

Ganyam

Or the time the pc is that f*** up, it does need a reinstall, you ask what needs backed up... do it, and all of a sudden they realise they have a folder with all there work on it......

Or when time has no meaning, getting phone calls 11.30 / 12 at night wanting it fixed or even just advise, i think i have a virus but i'll try and do it myself..... aaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhh......

The list will go..

Get established, and try for sb, as someone said home users download anything and everything and yes to it all, back where they started within a day or two.

jinx_uk_98

Little_John wrote:

They will also expect you to know about TV's, surround sound, dvd recorders, washing machines and where they can buy them the cheapest

Great! if they want to pay £x per hour for me to look on google and find out how to wire up there surround sound etc... then I'll be more than happy.

cheers
Kev

gavinp

Perhaps offering a remote service is the way to go (obviously with some advantages and disadvantages):

http://www.btbroadbandoffice.com/internetapplications/itsmremote

Thanks

Gavin

electron_3

gavinp wrote:

Perhaps offering a remote service is the way to go (obviously with some advantages and disadvantages):

http://www.btbroadbandoffice.com/internetapplications/itsmremote

Thanks

Gavin

Remote isnt the way to go as you really need to get your hands dirty
and if they have a slow connection, forget it.

scheming_gypsy

“The best £25.00 I have ever spent!! Thank you.” (IT Support Manager Pay-As-You-Go customer)

If they have to rely on BT remote then they need a new Support Manager.


1 man on his own offering a remote service is going to be more hassle than it's worth. Majority of problems will be spyware / virus related and there's no point having them connected to the net while you're trying to fix it.
Also getting payment is going to be a nightmare.

gavinp

electron wrote:

Remote isnt the way to go as you really need to get your hands dirty and if they have a slow connection, forget it.

Mmm - I have been working in I.T. support for 16 years - I'm not sure where "getting your hands dirty" comes into it...

I guess BT's offering may become the yardstick - £10 a month for "unlimited" remote support so the OP would need to be offering something better but probably couldn't compete pricewise...

With the event of greater broadband takeup, remote control is more viable and can still be done - I can remote control the in-laws PC in Spain and they have a pulse-dial 33.6K modem..

Remote support is much more viable for businesses as they can ship out a new PC base unit with a standard build installed in the event of a serious problem - something which is not going to happen with home PCs.

Anyhow, I wish the OP luck with his new venture but I don't think he will have a quiet life...

Thanks

Gavin

electron_3

The thing with remote is.....

Someone sees your website offering remote, you hook up with them
you fix their PC, now travel 200miles to get your payment :rotfl:

Its not going to catch on as folk dont really like it. (and thats a fact).

jinx_uk_98

electron wrote:

The thing with remote is.....

Someone sees your website offering remote, you hook up with them
you fix their PC, now travel 200miles to get your payment :rotfl:

Its not going to catch on as folk dont really like it. (and thats a fact).

suppose they could pay by paypal or alike?