Home Definitions Customer Support Webopedia Staff Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Service that computer and software manufacturers, and third-party service companies, offer to customers. For personal computer products, the following are common customer-support options: mail-in service: The manufacturer will repair your equipment if you mail it in. Typical turnaround time is about four days. In some service plans, the manufacturer charges you for shipping expenses. carry-in service: The manufacturer will repair your equipment, but you must deliver it to a local service site. This is sometimes called depot service. on-site contract: For a monthly or annual fee, a repair person will come to your site to fix problems. (The fee is included in the purchase price of some machines.) Most on-site contracts guarantee that the service will be rendered within a fixed number of hours from when you report a problem. hot lines: Many software manufacturers provide a phone number that you can call for advice and trouble-shooting. Often the number is toll-free. The quality of this type of support varies considerably from one company to another. Some hot lines are so good that they enable you to solve most problems yourself. Others are so bad that you are unable even to get through. bulletin board system : Some companies maintain electronic bulletin boards (or forums within online services) staffed by service engineers. If you have a modem, you can report a problem to the bulletin board and a technician will respond. This can be convenient because bulletin boards are usually open 24 hours a day. Also, bulletin boards enable you to download software updates that correct known bugs. Customer support is also called technical support. Related Links Customer service software Related Terms support customer service center MSP Meaning & Definition Managed Security Service Metadata Catalog Service CRM Meaning & Definition Tiny URL Definition & Meaning Booter Services Definition & Meaning after sales support Utility Computing Definition & Meaning Next articleBSI – National Standards Body of the UK Webopedia Staff Top Articles Huge List Of Texting and Online Chat Abbreviations Reference Vangie Beal - January 4, 2010 1 From A3 to ZZZ we list 1,559 text message and online chat abbreviations to help you translate and understand today's texting lingo. Includes Top... Read more How To Create A Desktop Shortcut To A Website Reference Vangie Beal - April 23, 2014 0 This Webopedia guide will show you how to create a desktop shortcut to a website using Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer (IE). Creating a desktop... Read more The History Of Windows Operating Systems Insights Vangie Beal - January 16, 2012 0 Microsoft Windows is a family of operating systems. We look at the history of Microsoft's Windows operating systems (Windows OS) from 1985 to present... Read more Hotmail [Outlook] Email Accounts Definitions Kaiti Norton - January 4, 2010 2 By Vangie Beal Hotmail is one of the first public webmail services that can be accessed from any web browser. Prior to Hotmail and its... Read more Related Articles Definitions Cybersecurity Awareness Training Definition... Cybersecurity awareness training informs employees of the attack surfaces and vectors in their... Jenna Phipps - January 21, 2021 0 Read more Definitions Supply Chain Definition &... A supply chain is a network between an organization and its suppliers to... Abby Dykes - January 20, 2021 0 Read more Definitions Relational Database Definition &... A relational database stores and connects data in tables and columns, emphasizing the... Paul Shread - January 19, 2021 0 Read more
