Remote tech support has been around for decades, but even in the digital age it is vastly underutilized and used mostly by the world’s largest tech companies. There will always be a need for on-site tech support, but the number of issues that can be solved remotely is greatly underestimated and many times the remote support is poorly executed. Until robots are sophisticated enough to handle jobs on their own, technicians will have to come on-site to complete jobs such as hardware installations and network cabling. Remote support is getting more sophisticated and should be taken advantage of, as it saves both time and money for business owners and technicians, and has also proven to be customer friendly as well.
Fast and Convenient
Businesses typically experience 3 - 4 tech interruptions per year, with an average of 8 hours of downtime per interruption. That’s roughly 30 hours of network downtime per year! Remote support is an effective way to solve those technical issues quickly and easily. Business owners spend thousands of dollars each year on on-site tech support when the majority of the issues could be solved remotely.Remote support offers an immediate solution to business owners who need their problems fixed in real-time. If a POS system crashed or the network connectivity failed, a business will pretty much shut down due to the inability to confidently process transactions. Imagine if this happened during a rush or the holiday shopping season. It happens all too often, and business owners feel helpless as they sit and watch money walk out the door while waiting for a technician to arrive. Utilizing a remote support platform can help solve most issues in a fraction of the time it would take to schedule and execute an on-site support call.
Cost Effective
Very few services offer same day on-site tech support, and if they do they’ll make sure business owners pay for it. Typical onsite tech support can cost upwards of $145 - $195 per hour for the simplest fixes, and over $200 per hour for more intensive support. Often times they’ll make you wait 3-5 days for a technician to show up and have a required 2-hour minimum. This doesn’t include the inevitable trip fee, tacking on an additional $50 - $70 to account for the technicians travel time and expenses. It’s easy to see how this can add up quickly.Now let’s look at the flip side. For remote tech support, the average call is about $50 per hour, and rarely do remote calls take more than hour to resolve the issue. Onsite support can cost upwards of $350-$450 per call, not accounting for the possible loss of revenue experienced during that period of downtime.
Customer Friendly
Remote support is not only more convenient for business owners, but it is customer friendly as well. Restaurants and fine dining establishments, for example, try to provide a pleasant ambiance for their customers. Having a technician lugging around tools and hardware during business hours can be intrusive. Remote support allows technicians to work in the background without disturbing the customers currently in your business. It’s also a more eco-friendly approach to tech support, which should be a factor to consider as well. Customers love businesses that “go green.” Preventing technicians from having to drive long distances (most likely in a gas-guzzling truck) to fix minor issues is something businesses should pride themselves on. Regardless of the size of their business, owners should look into using a remote tech support service as often as possible. It will save them time and money, and provide a much needed level of comfort as well. With recent advancements in mobile technology, remote tech support is more convenient and user friendly. At Boomtown, we’ve created an app-based tech support solution for businesses of all sizes. With our unique technology, business owners can video chat with remote technicians on any mobile or tablet device at the tap of a button. Multi-user video chatting also allows business owners to tap into their support calls remotely, staying on top of their business even when they’re on-the-go! Here’s a sneak peek of the Boomtown app in action. Have you ever used remote support to solve a technical issue? Let us know your experiences, and next time you need help download the Boomtown app and test out our network of certified IT professionals!
