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Ask Slashdot: Good Subscription-Based Solution For PC Tech Support?
New submitter byrddtrader writes: My parents are getting close to the their 70s and neither one of them is particularly tech savvy. Since my teenage years I have been tech support for the family, but now that I am older I can not be at their beck and call every time they inadvertently download something they should not, or the printer stops working. Given the amount of time that I have worked with them I don't feel that it is realistic that I will be able to convey the information they need to become self-sufficient. What I am looking for is a service that will be able to assist with any software PC related issues, viruses, printers and the like. Currently they are using a tech firm out of India (iYogi) that does unlimited support for a few hundred per year per machine -- which is fine, though they are big on the up-sell. They tend to push their own virus protection software, and attempted to sell my Dad, who has 500Mb of documents, a 3Tb external hard drive because they said he needed it. Currently the computers they use are ones I have built. Maybe the best solution would be store-bought PCs that offer additional tech support at a price. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
my thoughts: don't do it. don't get a service. you are their service. you are their health-care. you are their lawyer. yeah, it's like that. it's YOU.
I offer free service to many older folks in my community (56 years in the business; you do the math), and don't charge them for calls less than 30 minutes. 80% of the time it's helping them figure out what to do, not fix something like a broken drive. The other day, a friend (a year older than me) asked for help, I started CHKDSK, he bought me lunch, and we had a great time. I DO charge for heavier stuff (like people who consistently do the same dumb thing...like acting as if they understand what an "Active partition" is, for example, and try to make every partition "Active"), and for initially configuring a new computer so it will remain reliable for a long time.
These off-shore services always break something that will force a new, billable call in a few weeks, so they can boost revenue. I've NEVER known any reliable, phone-support, reputable organization, unless you have an annual contract.
Kudos to you for taking care of your elders; so many adults don't.
i'll probably get modded down for this, but whatever...
get them an iPad or a new iPad pro. stay within the ecosystem, also get an apple wifi point and a printer that supports AirPrint. they'll be delighted and their calls to you will drop 90%. easiest purchase ever, trust me. Note you can set up the apple wifi directly from the iPad, you don't need to deal with a pc or mac.
I told my mom that if her next computer wasn't a Mac I wouldn't provide computer support any more. So she bought a Mac. She hasn't needed my help since, and has 3 in the house now (her desktop, her husband's desktop, and a laptop for the motorhome).
I know you're asking to pay to offload this duty, but I have a suggestion that perhaps you should consider. I would encourage you to consider keeping those duties for yourself, and add a new application to help protect them all the way around.
Deep Freeze by Faronics - http://www.faronics.com/produc...
This product will let you create the perfect configuration for your parents, then 'freeze' it in place. They can have places for documents to go that you can edit and change and so forth. But, if you get infected with something, or an application installs something extra you didn't want, or your browser gets fouled up, you reboot your computer and Deep Freeze makes your system revert back to what it was before those changes took place.
If they aren't changing or updating their system regularly, they just wait until you can do that for them, on your schedule. If they have problems, they reboot and get a working computer back. You'll still want to backup their documents, but you can use a cloud solution for that, so it'll be set-it and forget-it, except when it's time to pay the yearly bill.
It's juts something to consider. Again, I know it's not the hands off solution you're thinking about, but as your parents get older, they'll appreciate your help all the more. It lets you still use this to be connected to them, and feel more like you're taking care of them than pushing that duty off on someone else. Your time is worth way more than the money you spend on them.
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
I'm a retired computer guy (71), and I do a ton of work for my senior citizen neighbors. I suggest a $20/hr "donation" to the R&R fund for me and my wife, for an hour or two of services that would cost them $80-$150 at any computer shop. If the person is really poor, or doesn't tumble that I accept "donations", then I just do the work for free. I go to their homes, and fix their problems (all over the map :). I am viewed as a local treasure by all the old folks I know, as most of them haven't a clue how to fix their problems. I don't advertise because I get enough by word-of-mouth to keep me as busy as I care to be, as I do other things too :). But if your parents have a retired computer guy in their neighborhood, perhaps they can establish a relationship with him/her. I would work for free, as I don't really need the money, but on the other hand, it gets old, and the $20 helps pay for a dinner out or a movie for me and my wife. She used to complain about my being gone, so I came up with the brilliant idea, I split the money with her. So if I'm gone for a 2 hour computer call, and I come home with $40, she gets half. Now when someone calls for help, she smiles and says, "off you go". Bottom line, a little bit of money makes everyone happy :).
Only twice in 10 years have I encountered people who didn't have the money to pay for service, elderly/retirees included. One, a small rural shop that would have required a 40-minute drive was surprised that I wanted $95/hour, and the other actually called back after ringing around for a cheaper rate/faster service. I even get the followup calls from customers of another guy who charges almost half my rate, but can't cope beyond a GUI.
My experience is that retirees/elderly are more than happy to pay for a house call - just like it was half a century (or more) ago. They don't like burrowing under desks to unplug or re-plug cables, and they see value in service at their home. They also have a network and I get lots of work by referral. When they ask for 2 or 3 of my business cards, I know I'll see some new customers within a week or two.
Ask your parents to ask their friends who looks after their computers, then pick the one with the best reputation, and don't try to beat down his/her hourly rate.
They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
My situation is exactly the same. My parents are also retirement age, and have no IT knowledge; and I am an IT professional with a demanding, full time job.
I solved the same problem in a much simpler way. I am always happy to help them with some stupid IT-related problem, any time, day or night. Even though they live several hours away, I will get into the car at a moment's call, and come on over, if it becomes necessary.
It's the least I could do. I could never hope to repay them for giving me the gift of life, and for all the love they raised me, from birth to adulthood. I consider helping them, with some stupid computer issue, the least I could do.
I'm going to have to second this. I've gotten my older family members PCs in the past and it's always turned into a major headache for me. Your best bet is one of two solutions:
1) Apple everything: Macintosh based computers, Ipad tablets, iphones (if they are cellular users), and apple TV streaming devices. While many rip on apple (including me. I was a mac fan in the apple 2/ mac 2 era, but got burned in the shift to OS X) once your completely in everything just works. If they need help applecare or the apple stores are there to assist or you can use something like Teamviewer to log in remotely.
2) Google everything: Chrometop based computers and Chromebook laptops, Android tablets and phones, and finally Nexus players for TV's and stereos. Much like the apple ecosystem Google equipment works well together. Maybe not as much at the local level, but once you tie them to your Google account everything is tied nicely through web services. Unlike PC (and even apple equipment) Chromebooks and Chrometops are immune to viruses as each time you hard boot they get a fresh OS from ROM. Use their existing PC to push their music and photos to Google Music and Photos.
As for the printer get a networked hard wired multi-function printer. I've found issues with WiFi printers including poor sleep states and difficulty getting them to resync to the WiFi after a power event. A hard wired printer is more reliable. By hard wiring it you make sure everything is in one location. Cable modem, WiFi router, and printer. Tie it all into the same surge protector and if anything goes wrong your mom and dad just need to know to turn off the surge strip for a minute then kick it back on.
As for your dad's 3tb drive I'm not sure what he would be storing on that. In the Apple ecosystem he could either just attach it as a external to what ever mac he chooses to use, link it to his router and use it as network attached storage, or plug it into a real NAS box like a synology. On the Google ecosystem you are limited to just external storage. You probably could push the files to google docs if he wants to pay for more storage (unless it's all photos and music then the basic account would probably do) and just hang on to the 3TB drive as an emergency backup.
Hope this helps. While windows is the primary OS, I'm finding older relatives who are less technical are better served by other technologies. Especially since these "Indian tech support scams" are becoming more commonplace. I've had to remind all of my relatives that "Microsoft will never call you". The ones who have Macs and Chromebooks usually just hang up because they already understand that Microsoft wouldn't provide support for their device.
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