Quality Technical Support should be included with a New Computer
When you purchase a PC you look for all the bells and whistles you would like to include in you new computer. You are hoping the bells and whistles are also assembled with quality and great performing components. Well when you are looking for a great performing reliable computer most people should be looking to see what type of technical support is provided with their purchase. Even computers with quality are likely to need some technical support during the warranty period. Here are some issues with technical support on new computers.
Qualified Technicians: Technicians should be with good training on the customers computer. Watch out for computer manufactures that hire employee reading scripts to troubleshoot customers computers.
Language Barriers: Nothing is more frustrating than phoning for technical support and trying to communicate with a hard to understand technician. I have heard stories of wrong replacement parts being shipped to customers for repairs. Customers having to phone technical support 2-3 times before they get a technician they can communicate with and make progress on their problems. These are some of the countries that Technical Support for computer manufactures are based from United States, Canada, Ireland and India. It is bad enough to have computer problems without have communication problems with your technical support. It would be wise to purchase a computer with technical support based in a country you would be able to clearly understand and communicate to resolve your problem.
Trying to Phone Technical Support: When telephoning technical support customer have to maneuver through menus and listen to recording pushing buttons on the phone before reaching a technician. This can be a very frustrating experience. When you reach the end of menus it seems you are then put on hold for ever.
Hardware vs Software: Most computer manufactures will only support hardware issues. The truth is if a computer is manufactured with quality hardware most of your problems will be software related issues. Software that is purchased with the computer should have technical support that includes the operating system (e.g.. Windows XP) and software utilities such as anti-virus, firewall, spyware. application software such as word processing, photo editing and games. The computer manufacture should supply technical support phone numbers for each individual software vendors if they do not support the software themselves.
Quality Control: Problems should be kept to a minimum if good quality control measures are taken before shipping. Quality control consists of testing the computer for any flaws after assembly. The problem is some companies do not test every computer. They will test every ten for instance. This could increase the chance that your computer you purchased may sneak by quality control with a defect. You may get a computer delivered to you DOA (Dead On Arrival).
Computer manufactures could take it a step farther and bench mark your computer. This will show you the performance of your computer comparing to similar computers manufactured by competitors. I would imagine some manufactures would decline to do this because they are giving you a great price for your computer using older technology. The bottom line is it may not perform better than the reference computers. Just remember a better performing computer will last into the future longer before having to purchase a new computer again.
Online Support: This is a great option for the more experience computer user to find information about resolving their computers problems on your manufactures web site. Some manufactures offer Online Chat technicians. This is convenient and much cheaper for the manufacture if the customer uses both these options for self help resolving their computer problems. The Cons to these options are - If your computer is down how are you going to get on the manufacture web site for help. Using the chat technician may be hard for people with limited typing skills. It is also hard to try and repair your computer while you have to keep going back to the manufacture web site after rebooting, installing software or drivers.
When purchasing a computer it may payoff to research what type of support your manufacture offers. Things to look for are support in a country where you are able to clearly communicate with the technician. Technical support that does not have phone menus and long wait times for a technician. Support for hardware and software on you new computer purchase. A company that quality checks every computer for defective components, reliability and performance before they ship to their customers. Finally online support is a plus, but make sure the computer manufacture does also offer good phone support.
Written by JR Computers Staf
From: http://www.jronsite.com/article_4.htm
Qualified Technicians: Technicians should be with good training on the customers computer. Watch out for computer manufactures that hire employee reading scripts to troubleshoot customers computers.
Language Barriers: Nothing is more frustrating than phoning for technical support and trying to communicate with a hard to understand technician. I have heard stories of wrong replacement parts being shipped to customers for repairs. Customers having to phone technical support 2-3 times before they get a technician they can communicate with and make progress on their problems. These are some of the countries that Technical Support for computer manufactures are based from United States, Canada, Ireland and India. It is bad enough to have computer problems without have communication problems with your technical support. It would be wise to purchase a computer with technical support based in a country you would be able to clearly understand and communicate to resolve your problem.
Trying to Phone Technical Support: When telephoning technical support customer have to maneuver through menus and listen to recording pushing buttons on the phone before reaching a technician. This can be a very frustrating experience. When you reach the end of menus it seems you are then put on hold for ever.
Hardware vs Software: Most computer manufactures will only support hardware issues. The truth is if a computer is manufactured with quality hardware most of your problems will be software related issues. Software that is purchased with the computer should have technical support that includes the operating system (e.g.. Windows XP) and software utilities such as anti-virus, firewall, spyware. application software such as word processing, photo editing and games. The computer manufacture should supply technical support phone numbers for each individual software vendors if they do not support the software themselves.
Quality Control: Problems should be kept to a minimum if good quality control measures are taken before shipping. Quality control consists of testing the computer for any flaws after assembly. The problem is some companies do not test every computer. They will test every ten for instance. This could increase the chance that your computer you purchased may sneak by quality control with a defect. You may get a computer delivered to you DOA (Dead On Arrival).
Computer manufactures could take it a step farther and bench mark your computer. This will show you the performance of your computer comparing to similar computers manufactured by competitors. I would imagine some manufactures would decline to do this because they are giving you a great price for your computer using older technology. The bottom line is it may not perform better than the reference computers. Just remember a better performing computer will last into the future longer before having to purchase a new computer again.
Online Support: This is a great option for the more experience computer user to find information about resolving their computers problems on your manufactures web site. Some manufactures offer Online Chat technicians. This is convenient and much cheaper for the manufacture if the customer uses both these options for self help resolving their computer problems. The Cons to these options are - If your computer is down how are you going to get on the manufacture web site for help. Using the chat technician may be hard for people with limited typing skills. It is also hard to try and repair your computer while you have to keep going back to the manufacture web site after rebooting, installing software or drivers.
When purchasing a computer it may payoff to research what type of support your manufacture offers. Things to look for are support in a country where you are able to clearly communicate with the technician. Technical support that does not have phone menus and long wait times for a technician. Support for hardware and software on you new computer purchase. A company that quality checks every computer for defective components, reliability and performance before they ship to their customers. Finally online support is a plus, but make sure the computer manufacture does also offer good phone support.
Written by JR Computers Staf
From: http://www.jronsite.com/article_4.htm