New Service Tool Enhances Dell’s Ability to Prevent and Diagnose Common PC Problems in the Home

Dell is improving its ability to serve customers from the comforts of their home with the introduction of a new service tool that helps keep consumer computer systems running in top shape. The new tool, PC Tune Up, extends the reach of the highly successful DellConnect, a remote-diagnostics tool used by technicians to fix hardware problems under warranty.

“Prevention and easy access to a solution are important to delivering a great customer experience everyday throughout the life of your system,” said Dick Hunter, Dell’s vice president of customer experience. “Our goal is to free up our customers time to spend enjoying their PCs, not fixing them, which is why we are offering solutions that are convenient and easy to do from the comfort of home. Life is busy enough.”

PC Tune-Up is the latest customer-support tool designed by Dell to help prevent common computer problems from occurring, and if they do occur to help correct them quickly.

Independent data shows Dell’s efforts to improve service are paying off. Nationwide, the number of customer incidents reported to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about Dell is down 12 percent this past full year, and a variety of third-party customer-service surveys also shows improvement. For example, the 2006 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) published by the University of Michigan improved 4 points to the highest level for Dell since 2004.

“Prevention is an important part of delivering a great customer experience,” Hunter said. “Direct relationships with tens of millions of customers provide an incredible amount of knowledge about common system problems. We are listening to our customers, and making concerted efforts to prevent problems or quickly correct them when they come up.”

PC Tune-Up is available through a one-time contract or can be set up to run automatically every month. In either case, the tool can help protect PCs against spyware and viruses by removing unwanted pop-ups, adding the latest operating systems updates, enabling needed security features; it also defragments the hard drive.

The assisted version is delivered by a Dell service technician via a secure broadband Internet connection for a one-time fee of $129. Through it, the technician performs the tune-up, can walk the customer through what has been done and provide some tips and training for how to maintain the system. The automated version, available for an annual $60 fee, is set up to run at a convenient time every month.

PC Tune-Up joins another successful support tool in Dell’s efforts to improve service delivery. DellConnect, the remote-diagnostics tool used by technicians to fix hardware problems under warranty, is approaching nearly 5 million sessions with a 93 percent satisfaction rate with the tool.

In addition to the BBB and ACSI, in another survey Dell received the Computer Shopper 2006 Shoppers’ Choice Award for best customer service and support.