CAREERS NOW 04-01-07

Making Virtual Work At Home More Workable

DEAR JOYCE: I retired six months ago at 62 from a career doing challenging statistical research. Retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. I am interested in pursuing part-time research work from home but a problem that may seem minor to some can be very disrupting and frustrating: Where do I turn when my PC misbehaves and there's no company help desk to call for a fix?

Several potential clients have indicated interest in retaining me but apparently I'm on my own to keep my technology up and running. How do other independent home workers handle the tech repair issue? - R.D.

Autobiographically speaking, first I switch to mayhem-stand-by mode when my computers go down. Then I call out an S.O.S. to a student staffer whose job title is resident technology genius. The 19-year-old currently in the job is so invaluable that I gave him a T-shirt printed with the message, "Let me drop everything and work on your computer's problems." (Disclosure: He laughed at the shirt and said he'd rather have a raise.)

TYPICAL RESOURCES. For those not fortunate enough to have a resident technology genius available, here's how some home workers remedy technical mishaps and flat-out disasters:

- Vendors are immediate targets. Most mere mortals like me have little idea as to whether a technical misbehavior that makes productivity impossible is a software or hardware problem. So it's not immediately clear whether, to the panic-stricken worker, a call to the PC or software vendor is logical, and hours later it's not immediately clear that you're back on track with the right answer.

- A number of vendors, such as Hewlett-Packard (hp.com; click on Support & Troubleshooting), offer free online documents containing repair advice.

- Some home workers who don't handle frustration well skip those vendor calls and reach out to such commercial services as Best Buy's Geek Squad (geeksquad.com), MakeItWork (makeitwork.com) and Rescuecom. (rescuecom.com). For an inclusive list, Google "home computer support." These services send tech angels to your home to kayo your computer's virus or to effect a resurrection after its roll-over-and-play-dead act.

NEWER WAY TO FIGHT BACK. A recently arrived hero on the technical-salvation block has a fresher twist on the solution -- automation. Working online, support.com (support.com) is a division of SupportSoft, a company that's been helping major corporations resolve their technology problems for a decade. The new service leverages its patented software and extensive knowledgebase of computer problems to now help consumers directly.

Located in Syracuse, N.Y., support.com is refreshingly simple to use. After answering a few plain-language questions, you check in at a designated Web site where you give the company permission to remotely enter your computer and take a look around. Next, support.com runs a diagnostic software scan that finds out what's wrong - somewhat like automotive automated diagnostics - and then repairs the problem. You don't pay if the service can't find and fix your PC's ailment.

What about an old paradoxical problem that used to drive me up the wall - how can you use the Web for help when your computer won't boot? That revolting development is not a dead end at support.com. At no cost to you, its solutions staff will take an educated guess at what's wrong, such as a dead power pack, and point you in a logical direction, even if it's only to the nearest computer repair shop.

Prices - which are cheaper than in-home services - are posted on support.com's Web site. You need a broadband connection and must be running Windows 98, ME, XP orVista. Currently the company supports only the Internet Explorer 6 or 7 browser but will expand to solve problems for all browsers.

Until then, since my preferred browsers are Netscape and Mozilla Firefox, I guess I'd better give my resident technology genius a raise.

DEAR JOYCE: I want to start a home business. You once mentioned a government agency that helps small businesses with advice from experienced businessmen and women for free. Does that apply to home businesses? - K.W.

Yes. Why not? You're talking about the U.S. Small Business Administration's SCORE volunteer program, "Counselors to America's Small Business," which has helped more than 7.6 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops since it began in 1964.

For more information abut starting or operating a small business, call 800-634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE on the Web at score.org.

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