Microsoft Holiday Support Center 2004 Fact Sheet

Updated December 2004

Provided to customers for the sixth year, the Microsoft Holiday Support Center is a convenient, one-stop portal filled with product resources, helpful tips and tricks, and answers to the most-asked questions about popular products offered this holiday season. Available at no charge to anyone with access to the Internet from Dec. 2004 – Jan. 2005, this alternative support resource helps consumers of Microsoft products so they can immediately begin using and enjoying their new gifts. Heres a list of what they can find during the busy holiday season:

  • Product highlights. Organized by product topic and covering Xbox, Games, New Hardware, Microsoft Office System productivity software and more, the site helps users locate the inside scoop on the latest product features and accessories for hundreds of Microsoft products.

  • Solutions for installation pains. The bulk of inquiries at the Microsoft Holiday Support Center site focus on installation issues. The online resources are designed to help users quickly troubleshoot these matters and get on to using their gifts.

  • Additional software, add-ons and downloads. The online support site offers an area that consolidates downloads and updates to make Microsoft products work better, as well as links to additional resources and related sites.

  • FAQs. Consumers can find answers to commonly asked questions that include clear, step-by-step instructions for tasks such as installing a game controller, choosing a language, setting the clock, controlling sound, playing video and much more.

  • Expert skills, fast! Strategy guides and cool how-to articles available through the site will have new users sporting expert skills in no time.

  • Discussion with peers. Through online newsgroups linked from the Microsoft Holiday Support Center, users can discuss issues with other users of Microsoft products, including getting advice from Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs). Users can read interesting postings, search for specific topics, answer questions, or post their own questions to the group.

  • Real-time feedback. Behind the scenes the Holiday Support Center is tracked and updated daily to provide customers with the information they want and need.

Why Go Online?

Every year consumers are becoming more savvy online and more comfortable with the idea of help-yourself product support as an alternative customer service option. The Microsoft Holiday Support Center alone receives an average of 70,000 unique hits between December and January each year.*

Delivered in 35 languages to 76 regions worldwide, the Microsoft Holiday Support Center Web site is just one of the ways Microsoft is working to constantly improve the support experience for customers and increase their access to help, answers and relevant information. Consumers can count on online product support year-round at http://support.microsoft.com/, where they can search for information using the Knowledge Base, a comprehensive database that contains more than 250,000 support articles, or click on a product support center link to find the information they need. Phone support also is available.

*Source: Microsoft internal research

Microsoft and Xbox are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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