According to a new post on ITManagerDaily.com, in 2012 IT  departments will spend $10 billion on iPads and $9 billion on Mac computers (Forrester, Jan2012 report). The big boom in IT spending on Apple devices is driven by more and more employees bringing their own devices to work, despite IT’s insistence otherwise.

Is your IT department prepared to handle and support these devices? Setting up such capabilities should be a top 2012 IT priority. Indeed, businesses of all sizes are increasingly seeking new ways to keep their workforce connected and productive without tethering them to their desks and laptops.

In this endeavor, the Citrix Online “GoTo” application suite offers crucial solutions to support employees on the go. Products like GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting and, of course, GoToAssist carefully balance personal freedom and connectivity with company security. Whether working from home or held up in the airport, employees can access everything they need. And by creating a more mobile and agile workforce, businesses realize the benefits of increased employee engagement and productivity.

Did you know GoToAssist lets you provide remote support to Mac computers?  In addition (and now more importantly), you can provide remote support from an iPad if you have the free GoToAssist Express/GoToManage iPad app. Give yourself (and your IT department) a break – go mobile.

Sent from my iPad

Conquering the tech generation gap. Photo courtesy of Ollie Crafoord at flickr.

I’ve recently made a pretty useful remote support discovery. Despite the fact that my elderly parents are eager to join the computer world (hello Facebook), they aren’t quite the best at navigating computer problems when they arise.

In the past, I’ve tried talking them through issues over the phone (or worse yet, email), which as anyone who has tried knows, is no easy feat.

“My Word has an extra page I can’t get rid of.”

“Have you tried scrolling as far down as you can and then holding backspace?”

“Of course I’ve tried that – the page is still there!”

And so on. I’m always happy to help when I can, but boy can it be frustrating. That’s when I realized remote support is for more than just professionals. One URL and a couple clicks later, I’m viewing their screen, solving the problem painlessly. It’s almost too convenient – soon they won’t even try to figure it out themselves, and that worries me and my free time.

Reuters just published an article on a group of elderly Japanese who formed their own IT support group, called “Computer Grandmas.” That sounds like a fantastic idea to me. I might have to leave that page open on my parents’ screen the next time I remote in.

Google too recognizes the looming tech knowledge gap between us and our elders. They’ve taken a stab at solving it with these easy self-help videos, and they’ve made it fun to send one to Ma or Pa.

Who knows, maybe someday, my mom will be schooling me in the complexities of IT.

You really should read the whole thing, but here are 5 tips discussed.

1. Suggest the client get a cup of coffee: this whay they aren’t hovering over you while you try to do your work.
2. Understand that even trivial issues have a massive impact: the story here is a good one so you should read it. Sadly, I’ve been there. Meaning, I once didn’t realize I had to actually unmute my audio to get sound (it was an embarassing moment but hasn’t happened since!). However, the one thing I can add is you don’t have drive 100 miles to figure this out, you can use that wonderful remote support product called GoToAssist
3. Accept that clients don’t think like you: You are all super smart people and you know a lot about computers.
4. Understand a computer is a personal object: Sad but true.
5. Don’t fix things that don’t need fixing: Even though it takes quite a bit of restraint.

Any other tips you want to share?

You’re invited to participate in SupportIndustry.com‘s latest 5-minute survey and help shape the future of customer support. This research tackles the timely topic of how support operations are evolving to support customers on their mobile phones and in social media environments.

This very brief survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. We do not require you to provide any contact info, and we will make the results freely available to participants.

The more responses, the more valuable the data! In addition, you can provide your suggestions for questions to be addressed in future surveys.

Use the link below to get started.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e334k1yqgfllg7v6/start

Responses are requested by November 12, 2010.

From Carolyn Healey, Publisher, SupportIndustry.com:  If you would like to view the results of our previous surveys, visit the SupportIndustry.com research page: http://www.supportindustry.com/research.htm

Mysticgeek at How-To Geek reviewed our beloved remote support product and gave us 4.5 stars (we’re thrilled).

You can read the full article, his conclusion is below.

“GoToAssist, which is powered by Citrix, and is a dead simple way to support other user’s Mac or PC remotely. The performance is surprisingly fast compared to some other remote assistance software out there. It provides a great toolset that allows you to transfer over needed files like software patches, easy to use chat, easy to find diagnostics, and settings which help increase the speed of your remote session. If you have a lot of people to help at a given time, it allows you unlimited live support with up to 8 sessions at a time.

It makes supporting computers much easier than trying to figure out what users are saying over the phone. You can dial in to see and control what is happening and explain what you’re doing, or start an unattended session and just fix the problem.”

1. Ability to collaborate: delegate, build strong releationships, connect with customers.
2. Be self-fulfilled: love what you do and your passion will help you be successful.
3. Future-focused: think not only about today or this year, have the future planned out.
4. Curious: read, ask questions, learn. When you ask a lot of questions you can uncover more truths.
5. Tech-savvy: relying on new technology helps businesses succeed. From what I’ve heard from our customers, remote support technology is critical for folks in IT and Software support. In fact, I surveyed our customers and found that by using GoToAssist Express, customers see a productivity increase of 30% to 50%, leading to increased revenues of $50K to $100K a year. That is one strong ROI!

You can read the full article from Inc. Magazine here.

Need some help here! Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons

I’ve tried to track down and resolve these issues. I’ve spent tedious hours looking for helpful hints on Internet forums. But all my efforts have only ended in me deleting my PC’s audio driver and losing sound. (Please don’t ask me how.)

Americans love their glistening, data-munching machines and they celebrate that treasure trove called the Web. But at the same time, those much-beloved technologies are an unending source of stress.

A recent study by the Customer Experience Board says two-thirds of consumers have either experienced significant computer problems or contacted tech support last year. OK, I’ve done both. Furthermore, I join 78 percent of users who feel at least somewhat tech savvy, however that same group is afflicted with what one expert is calling “Computer Stress Syndrome.”

Despite all manufacturer efforts, computer technology is complex, prone to malfunction and even susceptible to “disease.” After all, connectivity means being exposed to the contagion of viruses and malware.

All that is enough to make a grown, supposedly practical fellow like me start pulling out my hair and weeping, when not dodging the angry glares of my family. Yes, I’ve got Computer Stress Syndrome and I’ve got it bad.

We consumers need help. And we often aren’t getting it from manufacturers and vendors. Microsoft, apparently hurting for revenue, tells those who want live help to get out their credit card. In fact, Forrester Research recently reported that only one major computer manufacturer has decent consumer ratings, nearing 80 percent “good” ratings, while other major producers barely achieve a majority of “OK” ratings. (Can you guess who scored the decent ratings?)

There’s a deep and growing gap in support, and that’s where all the tech wizards using GoToAssist Express and Corporate need to step in. To tell the truth, sometimes I feel like you guys and gals are the grease keeping civilization from coming to a big screeching halt and complete mental breakdown.

(Next: Consumer views of tech support: the latest research)

Follow these simple steps:
• Go to following URL: https://www.fastsupport.com/unattended
• Click on “Set Up Unattended Support”
• You will be prompted to login to your GoToAssist account
  • Enter your GoToAssist username and password
• You will be prompted to enter your system username and password
  • (e.g. Domain Admin, Local Admin, Local User Account with install rights, etc.)
• You will be prompted to enter the following information
  • Computer nickname (e.g. Bob’s Office Computer)
  • Access Code (Unique to this machine)

That’s It. Your Computer will now show up in your Unattended Machines list!

Click on icon below to watch a step by step presentation of the steps outlined above:

Here’s an inspirational video to entertain you while I’m away. Enjoy and happy holidays everyone.

We will also be joined by Eric Frank, president and co-founder of NexTec Group. Frank will share with us how GoToAssist® Corporate™ has helped his company provide high-touch services remotely.

Join this live Webinar to learn:

• Leading industry drivers and trends of remote-service delivery
• How tools like GoToAssist Corporate raise the bar on remote-service delivery
•  How NexTec Group uses GoToAssist to significantly increase consulting capacity while slashing costs

Date: November 19, 2009
Time: 11am Pacific, 12pm Mountain, 1pm Central, 2pm Eastern

Note: If you can’t attend the live webinar, you can still sign up to view the recorded version on demand. Just click the regisration button above.