• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

IBM Offers Customized Online Support to PC Users

IBM%squots online support strategy will use both %dquotpush%dquot and %dquotpull%dquot technologies to customize and personalize information for IBM PC users.

By Rebecca Sykes, PCWorld   

Customers enter a personal profile at http://www3.pc.ibm.com/support/ and in return receive information and assistance tailored to their machine type, computing environment, and individual interests, such as business or games.

The information requested in order to participate is technical, not personal, and will reside as a %dquotcookie%dquot on the user%squots own machine, according to Talya Bosch, an IBM spokeswoman.

IBM will not market, trade, or otherwise distribute the information gathered from the profile, she said.

In addition to providing information requested by customers, IBM will push targeted information to customers based on their profile, which they will see when they first get into the site. For example, a corporate user of IBM%squots ThinkPad laptop might see information on Microsoft%squots Windows NT and remote connectivity, whereas a user of IBM%squots Aptiva line of PCs who was focused on gaming might see a page of tips on CD-ROM drives and multimedia technology.

Users can e-mail questions to IBM, and the company will also offer e-mail alerts on product updates as well as 24-hour discussion forums monitored by IBM support specialists.