Microsoft Technical Support Ready for Windows 98 Launch

REDMOND, Wash., June 15, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. officials today announced that the company has increased its technical staff to a total of more than 1,000 support engineers in anticipation of the June 25 launch of the Microsoft® Windows® 98 operating system.

Lori Moore, general manager for Microsoft technical support, said increasing the Windows 98 staff by 40 percent gives the company the flexibility to meet its customer needs.
“Windows 98 has new tools that help customers diagnose and fix problems themselves, without support calls,”
Moore said.
“However, we want to ensure that they will still be able to receive the same high-quality support they have grown accustomed to receiving from Microsoft.”

Microsoft Technical Support has been preparing for the launch for several months, Moore said. Improvements have been made to Support Online, the company’s Web-based support unit, which is used by more than 100,000 customers daily. Users can now connect directly to Support Online using WebHelp, a new feature in Windows 98 that makes it easier to search and locate the most up-to-date support information. By launch day, technical support plans to have added 200 Windows 98-specific
“how to”
articles to its online archives that will aid customers in accomplishing common tasks.

Microsoft Technical Support not only helps users with technical questions, but also tracks customer feedback and product suggestions. Several of the technical support features incorporated into Windows 98 are the direct result of that feedback. For example, the Maintenance Wizard can be scheduled to automatically optimize a user’s computer in a number of critical areas, helping avoid potential problems and keeping the system running as quickly and efficiently as possible. More than a dozen new troubleshooting wizards are available to help users easily diagnose and solve technical issues such as modem difficulties and printing problems. Troubleshooting wizards lead users through a series of questions and provide the most likely solutions to common problems, without users ever having to call for technical support.

Should a call be necessary, Windows 98 also has special diagnostic features such as the System Information Tool, which gathers all system information in one place, speeding the process of information gathering for the support engineer. All customers will receive 90 days of no-cost standard support.

“We’re extremely proud of the support that we have already offered to our customers,”
Moore said.
“We have supported more than 100,000 units of Windows 98 that have circulated through beta programs and provided the product development team with customer feedback. We now have an excellent understanding of potential issues and their solutions.”

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

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