Just last week Tom Gore, 75, fumbled around all day with his computer, which was acting particularly slow that morning, and his Netflix account, something that has, not infrequently, “been the bane of his existence.”
“[Netflix] is somehow connected to the internet—well that’s what they tell me, anyway,” Gore said, referring to the tech support offered by his smart TV’s company, which he says never can quite satisfy the problems he encounters.
“They’re on the phone and tell me the details of what to do and what they think is wrong over the phone,” he continued, “so they can never really see what is wrong. I am old now and sometimes it’s hard to articulate all of these problems over the phone. It helps when someone is right there in front of you.”
Gore remarked that he wished there was some way for his TV’s tech support to come to his house, “which would make everything much easier for him.”
This is where HelloTech comes in, a company specializing in in-home tech support.
The idea for HelloTech came about when the three co-founders discussed the idea that they were all the “IT Guy” for their parents. They realized that the other options for tech support were Geek Squad or some local computer repair shop, alternatives that are often expensive.
HelloTech’s goal is to simplify the in-home tech process. They do this by making it easy to sign up online, book an appointment within 12 hours (which is a quicker response time than Geek Squad), and by charging an hourly rate ($79 an hour) — and until the end of August, HelloTech is offering the first hour of service for free as a special introductory offer.
“In the first few months of service, we are finding that the majority of our users are over 45 years old,” said a representative from HelloTech. “Seniors are using HelloTech for a number of technical support needs from basic email and iPhone tutorials to PC troubleshooting.”
This sort of service is exactly what Gore has wanted. For significant malfunctions, he said, there needs to be someone you can go to for help, especially for people like me, who are “illiterate with all this tech stuff.”
Their team is a group of passionate techs, developers, designers, and strategists dedicated to making technology accessible to everyone and each has served as tech support for friends and family members at one time or another.
“One of the next initiatives for HelloTech is to allow customers to buy technology for their parents and have the techs set it up and teach them how to use it,” said the HelloTech representative. “Some of the products that we are going to feature include Sonos wireless speaker systems, Harmony Universal Remote Controls, and Nest Thermostats. These are all products that are amazing to use but can be difficult to set up for late tech adopters.”
Gore reaches for the remote on the coffee table. He sighs as he takes a seat on the couch, looking up at the frozen Netflix symbol on his TV. He pushes the two buttons his grandchildren told him to press when he ran into trouble with Netflix, the “exit” and “Netflix” buttons. Despite his constant thumbing on the remote, the screen still displayed the frozen Netflix sign.
“Why won’t this work?” Gore said, exhausted from dealing with the phone tech support he just got off the phone with. “I need some help.”
For more information, visit www.hellotech.com.
