McAfee Introduces Comprehensive, Expert Technical Support Services for North American Consumers

Published on Wednesday, 25 January 2012 08:17 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-( Business Wire )-

McAfee today announced a suite of comprehensive tech support services designed to help consumers meet the growing complexity of devices their individual or family’s digital lifestyle needs. McAfee^® TechMaster™ services include a variety of bundled offerings that are competitively priced and leverage McAfee award winning technical support capabilities.

McAfee TechMaster services are delivered remotely via phone, online, and/or chat, allowing consumers to receive help from the comfort of their homes without the hassle of packing up their computers and devices then driving to retail outlets. Consumers simply allow McAfee TechMaster technicians to connect remotely to their PCs, and users can either watch the agents work or enjoy the convenience of a call-back when the issue or issues have been resolved.

Research shows that 53% of consumers try to resolve their technical support issues with friends and family members,¹ not always successfully. With that in mind, McAfee has two unique value offerings:

• McAfee Concierge Gold provides busy families with a year of unlimited technical assistance for just $179.95 US annually.
• McAfee Concierge Platinum provides consumers with unlimited support by North American, English-speaking agents and a subscription to McAfee^® All Access, which provides security protection for all of the devices a family owns including PCs, Macs and mobile devices. McAfee All Access just won PCMag’s Editors’ Choice award. The cost is $349.95 US for 12 months of continuous service and device protection.

“Recent research shows that almost 60 million US broadband households¹ had a technical problem. That’s almost a quarter of the entire US Internet population,²” said John Thode, executive vice president of McAfee consumer, mobile and small business. “Consumers today have numerous devices from their smartphone, tablet, and laptop to their digital cameras, TVs and printers, and there’s no doubt that the need for professional tech support services will continue to grow. Millions of consumers already trust McAfee to protect their digital devices and we’re excited to extend this trusted relationship to now include services that will meet all of their tech support needs.”

McAfee TechMaster Services

McAfee Set-Up & Optimize: $69.95 per incident

• Assistance is offered with the installation and configuration of all widely-used PC, Mobile and Mac applications, smartphones and tablets, home networks, peripherals such as printers and cameras, or tune-up for PCs.

McAfee Set-up & Protect: $89.95 per incident

• For PCs: Out-of-the-box guidance and set-up of new PC’s and peripherals such as monitors, keyboards, a mouse and printer. Includes McAfee^® Internet Security software and complimentary installation.
• For Macs: All of the above except for Macs. Also includes McAfee Internet Security for the Mac and complimentary installation.
• For Smartphones and Tablets: Out-of-the-box guidance and set-up. Includes McAfee Mobile Security and complimentary installation.

McAfee Rescue: $89.95 per incident

• Virus Removal: The discovery and removal of any malware.
• Data Back-up and Transfer: Back-up and transfer of data from a PC to a device.

McAfee Advanced Troubleshooting: $129.95 per incident

• Tech Support for PC and Mac: Addresses hardware and software issues, home network or printer-sharing issues and any problems related to peripheral devices.
• Maintenance for PC: Includes malware removal, PC Tune-Up and Internet Booster, which optimizes Internet performance to get a PC running at maximum speed.
• Data Recovery: Best effort recovery of lost or deleted files.

McAfee Concierge Support:

• McAfee Concierge Gold: Includes all of the services above for $179.95 annually.
• McAfee Concierge Platinum with McAfee^® Total Protection™ software ($299.95); McAfee Mobile Security ($299.95) or McAfee All Access ($349.95): Unlimited tech support services for North American customers only. Assistance will be delivered exclusively by North American, English-speaking agents. Includes installation of McAfee security software.

Technical Support Needs and Issues

A recent survey shows the market need for tech support services that optimize users’ digital devices:

• 68% of consumers would like help in reducing potential computer problems that put their data at risk
• 62% want their PCs to run faster
• 57% would like help tracking down the most recent software updates and security patches.

(Source: CNET Accenture survey, 2011)

According to Parks & Associates research, based on a survey of 2000 households, the most common tech support problems included:

• 56% said in the past year, their PC was working very slowly
• 50% had problems accessing the Internet
• 34% had a malware infection
• 31% had printer problems, wireless home network issues, and problems with email
• 22% either experienced a Blue Screen of Death or their PC wasn’t working at all

The challenges reflected in these research reports represent the main focus for McAfee TechMaster Services.

To learn more, please visit https://techmaster.mcafee.com/.

Sources:

¹ Parks & Associates, Consumer Technical Support Services, May 2011

² Miniwatts Marketing Group, Internet World Stats, Internet Users in North America as of 2011 Q1, March 31, 2011

About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

Note: McAfee, the McAfee logo, McAfee Total Protection and TechMaster are trademarks or registered trademarks of McAfee, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and subject to change without notice, and are provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Copyright © 2011 McAfee, Inc.

H3O CommunicationsEllen Healy, 415-618-8822ellen@h3ocommunications.comorMcAfeeKim Eichorn, 408-346-3606kim_eichorn@mcafee.comFollow @McAfeeConsumer