Comments on: Some new services for the general public (who will never see this post ‘cos they don’t read blogs)

By: lance wiggs

lance wiggs — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:31:36 +0000

1: $20 a month is a lot for the people that need this service, but there is a gap in the market. I've solved my computer servicing issues (family and friends) by having a "macs only" policy. It's astonishing how many people have switched. 2: I would never recommend that anyone is gets dependent on an ISP or Telco for their email delivery. Xtra's Yahoo migration is a case in point. There are plenty of independent email suppliers. 3: But most of all I wish Telecom would first start investing in and delivering decent and cost efficient infrastructure, and they have done that then come back and invest in these sorts of add-ons.

By: benkepes

benkepes — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:46:59 +0000

Thanks for the update Vic – great to hear that you're following, and even better to see you get involved n the discussion – keep it up!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:39:52 +0000

Hi it's the mothership here – sorry couldn't resist Vic from Telecom here. Re question above about Computer Care, we have partnered with a local company in regards to this service. A key part of this is the remote monitoring software. And if something does go wrong, this same company provide a nationwide fieldforce of IT engineers to get out their fast and fix it. Full details will be put on the site at launch and at that stage we will be very visible about who our partner is. And yes pricing is monthly and we'll get that fix made to the website – thanks for alerting us.

By: benkepes

benkepes — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:34:55 +0000

@stuartm – hopefully someone from the mothership can fill us in on this…..

By: stuartm

stuartm — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:30:33 +0000

So Telecom are reselling Verio's Easy Site builder, probably a good idea for them as it's cheaper than building their own solution. Will they be hosting the sites in the USA too? And the Computer Care plan sounds good but without any details it's still vapourware at the moment. How are Telecom proposing they integrate with the existing vendors, or are they trying to oust the existing vendors in favour of their Gen-i unit? Best bet would be to partner with existing vendors as they will be able to promote it to their customers as a trusted advisor.

By: benkepes

benkepes — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:55:15 +0000

$20 a month I think Sam – and yep, once it launches I'm sure they'll have better details on pricing

By: Sam Law

Sam Law — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:50:58 +0000

I can see both of these really taking off for Telecom, anything that can make users lives easier is good, whomever the supplier. One oversight though is on their "coming soon" page for Computer Care they mention "Our Computer Care service plans will start from just under $20 +GST per computer." but they don't specifically say whether it's a one-off charge or ongoing per month/bi-monthly etc. I imagine it will be $20 + gst per month per computer, but they should explicitly state that.