Listen to the column "Easier Desktop Fixes", or visit our Podcast Center to hear more by James Gaskin.

A couple of months ago, my frustration at computers in general boiled over and I wrote "Sidestepping technical pain: 28 years later, personal computing still sucks far too often". As you might imagine, readers sent notes complaining that automated intelligence seems far too slow in arriving to the personal computer support market.

Of course, the keyboard often separates the monitor from the problem source, but physically abusing users still causes more legal hassle than most network administrators can tolerate. Users: can't live without them, but bury just one under the parking lot and you never hear the end of it.

One company pitched their two-pronged approach to solving support problems that clog help desks everywhere. SupportSoft sells solutions, including their ASL (Automated Solutions Library) to broadband service providers. These are answers to common customer problems (20 percent of which focus on e-mail, which seemed low to me) that users can find and follow themselves. Think of this as a better means of automated self-help.

For enterprises, SupportSoft offers a Windows-resident client agent that includes a "one-click-fix" for some user issues. SupportSoft found, correctly, that a 10 step fix including a Registry modification should not be trusted to users.

One example of their one-click-fix is resizing a client PST file. Thank you Microsoft, for foisting such a fragile database onto the most critical user application. While you know how to compress a PST file, can your users follow the process successfully? SupportSoft offers that fix as one of many that automate common client fixes. For example, mapping a new network drive, confusing to some users, is also automated.

SupportSoft's lightweight client (starting at 300k resident) is Windows-specific, as are most of your support problems. Options for more functionality increase the RAM requirements.

With over 100 one-click-fixes available now, SupportSoft adds to their list each quarter. Pricing varies widely, but this program isn't a casual purchase but an investment. SupportSoft claims you can move one or more techs off the front line support desk, and uses an employee's total cost to frame their pricing, which starts at around $100,000 for about 20 common fixes.

Unfortunately, automated support systems will likely become a growth market as Microsoft's Vista rollout forces application upgrades. SupportSoft may have found a Vista-driven goldmine.

ITworld.com

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