System for providing support for an electronic device

摘要

A support system is provided by which a support agent (10) can assist a user (12) to resolve a problem with a device (14). The support service provides a telephone link (32 ) between the user (12) and a support agent (10), a call initially being handled by an automated answering service (34) which invites the user (12) to prepare for the call by visiting a support website to run a preparation routine (112) which determines the configuration and state of the client's device (14). Once the data has been harvested,the web application (32) carries out a plurality of sub-routines to determine the operating conditions of the device (14). Where the problem can be corrected automatically, the web application (22) performs this directly. Where this cannot be done, the web application (22) stores the harvested data in memory (25) and provides the user (12) with a location code for that data. The user (12) can then contact the support agent (10) and provide the agent with the location code. Support can thus be provided efficiently without the agent needing to waste time on data harvesting tasks.