MS restructures support services

NZ Business, Aug 2001

Microsoft New Zealand's new technical support policy provides unlimited technical telephone support to users who are setting up and installing Microsoft products at home and in small businesses.

The policy offers set up and install support to retail and OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers and applies to current or preceding versions of Microsoft consumer and desktop products.

"The majority of Microsoft support inquiries come from customers who are setting up or installing applications," says Gerrard Kaczmarek, services manager for Microsoft New Zealand. "We've refocused our support policy to make sure that all personal users have access to set up and install help over the phone, whether they purchased their PC from retail or OEM outlets.

"We are also removing the free 'how to' support incidents, which will become feebased," continues Kaczmarek. "We have made significant investments in adding support and help features into our products as well as providing a vast amount of online technical information via the internet."

The restructured support policy encourages users to take advantage of the web-enabled Help features built into new products like WindowsME and Office XP. As Microsoft New Zealand continues to update its Help system online, Office XP's "Office on the Web" function will automatically add the new online information to the Office XP Help database.