Chris Cole
Company: HelpMagicCustomer: Chris ColeSubmitted by: Charlton CommunicationsWhen scuba-diving officer and instructor Chris Cole decided to take the plunge by going online to communicate with his club members via email, he had to start from scratch and teach himself the basics.
Working anti-social hours in his main employment as a gamekeeper, Chris spends the majority of his time on the PC during evenings and at weekends.He turned to a beginner’s guidebook for help, which he found time-consuming and confusing. Frustrated with his lack of IT skills, he volunteered to be a beta tester for newly launched HelpMagic.com, (www.helpmagic.com) a fully integrated and low-cost live, online IT support solution. Providing round the clock, live person-to-person access to IT experts seven days a week at the click of a mouse, HelpMagic.com puts the personal touch back into an increasingly technology-focused world.”I found using a help book a very laborious process that often didn’t give me the answer,” explains Chris. “An immediate answer is very important when you’re online and that’s exactly what HelpMagic gives you, along with accuracy and understanding – it really gets me out of trouble.
“A choice of five HelpMagic options is available, which include: -Voicemagic, the user can speak live to a call centre agent using a PC, speakers and a microphone; Mailmagic, the user can email a query to the help centre and receive a reply back in minutes; Chatmagic, which lets the user talk online to a call centre agent; Searchmagic, which searches via an online knowledge base for self-diagnosis, and Callbackmagic, where the user can request a callback from a HelpMagic expert at a more convenient time.Users can register free of charge to get the benefits of HelpMagic.com’s comprehensive and informative web site, including ‘Tip of the Day’, ‘IT News’, ‘Glossary’, ‘Hints and Tips’ and ‘Top Ten Questions ; Answers’.Prices then range from as little as £1.00 per week for the basic package to less than £3.
00 per week for the premium Support Package, which enables the user to speak directly via their PC to a fully trained expert.”My IT skills leave a lot to be desired so I needed something simple to use,” continues Chris, who uses ChatMagic the most. “It’s so easy!” he comments. “And the quality of the information I receive is very specific and given in words that I understand – most help services are too generic, which is no good if your problem is slightly obscure, or they often talk in jargon, which means nothing to me.”I’ve not only found comprehensive support, day or night, but my IT and PC skills have developed as I’ve learnt from past queries and experiences – my knowledge has really expanded, which is an added bonus.
The majority of the diving club’s members – nearly 100 in total – are contactable by email, so communicating with them is now far quicker and easier and reaches a lot more of them than having a meeting where only a small percentage will turn up, or trying to phone round everyone. Compiling the newsletter is no longer a headache when it comes to members sending me their input.””In an increasingly impersonal Internet arena, HelpMagic.com is all about talking to real people,” says HelpMagic’s managing director, Richard Patterson. “Being left stranded because you have a question that needs answering before you can proceed is very frustrating if you don’t have instant technical support, and is something that happens to us all from time to time, no matter how technically-savvy we are. Subscribing to HelpMagic’s PC Help Desk gives you instant access to a real person for help and advice, using your chosen method of communication, allowing for maximum flexibility.”
