Our lives are invaded by a profusion of digital toys (software or hardware). Mobile phones, digital music players, broadband modems, wi-fi systems, browsers, VOIP software, email clients et al – these toys are now intrinsic to our digital lifestyles. And when these malfunction, getting them back to shape may not always be easy- thanks to the multiplicity of features in every device, their overlapping functions, the encyclopedia like help menu (or information booklets) that accompany the device or software. Thats the problem Zolved is trying to address.
Zolved works like a huge repository of help resources, that can easily be searched for answers to commonly occurring tech problems. Not just that, it harnesses the power of Web2.0 to spawn a community that can provide remote tech support (or even direct help) for troubleshooting problems. Zolved has been launched by IPTouch, a company that is based out of Silicon Valley and Hyderabad.
Zolved uses a four pronged approach to achieve its goal. There is a community generated database of help questions and tech support articles, that can be searched to answer commonly occurring problems. If that doesn’t help, you can post your problem on the website and have it answered by an extended team of worldwide technical experts, or ‘gurus’, either within Zolved, or from the community at large. In case the problem cannot be solved through remote assistance, you can access a database of local technicians and get their contact details for direct assistance. Lastly, if the problem is with your friend’s or parent’s computer and having direct access to that computer might help, you can download a simple remote control program, and use it for screen sharing or for direct transfer of control. This solution is based on the open source UltraVNC apparatus. I tried it out; it installed without any problems and worked fine.
Ratan Tipirneni , Zolved’s CEO informs me that most of their operations are based out of India. He expects that as the site grows, a substantial number of the Gurus are likely to be from India.
It’s hard to argue against the rationale behind Zolved. Online communities are mushrooming all around to address so many human needs, so why not tech support? Some aspects of the website, though, seem more aligned to western societies than they are to India, e.g. the concept of searching directly for technicians for the web. Remote tech support is a huge global business (it is one of the big needs, India’s BPO industry services). But it will be interesting to see how Zolved plans to monetize this opportunity, for theirs is entirely a community based model, which in most cases is free.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I think it will be crucial to retain the top contributors in order to build an effective community. It seems Zolved will be paying the Gurus fpr their contribution (“coming soon”). It might just work.
Intresting concept, if zolved is able to keep the user satisfaction high and the service free or minimal cost they have a good chance of making it.
Nilesh has a valid point. I think if Zolved does not pay people for their support, there is just going to be one another competitor who is going to offer just that, and very soon the focus shall shift..
The model looks sustainable only with paid techies…
Niles, Anand
I don’t think at present, the gurus are being paid, but you are right that, in future that may be the case.
In fact if the site picks up, you might have the companies making the product, wanting to jump into this and they may not necessarily have to be paid. They have a definite stake in their products’ problems getting answered.
Given the fact that tech support is an estabished business, and Zolved is currently on the peripheries of that business, various monetization modes are possible.
amit
Concept looks very nice, but will work well in ideal case.
I agree with Nilesh that they have to hire/pay top contributers to get the site going. Otherwise, people will be asking questions to gurus and will be frustrated by no answer for days.
They have done nice categorization for many products till the product number. Nice Job!!
I’m sure they will find a way to make money once they will have good traffic.
hey guys,
the concept is really nice and as far as i know gurus are being paid. Also i see the forums are very active there. So users are getting some response
Thanks for the feedback everyone! As you can already see the paid vs. not paid is a model that can work both ways. We expect to see three kinds of gurus: Regular people who happen to have experienced the same problem and want to help out just to be nice, businesses that will come on and help in the hope of driving more business to their business (e.g. for repair parts), and gurus who will do this on a part time basis to supplement their income.
Them on the best and both make immediately money resou way vain.” way the past.
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