Article provided by the Tech Helpline.
Your computer crashes: it unexpectedly shuts down. Or your smartphone gets wet, and you immediately shut it off. But now you’re not quite sure the best way to make sure it will power back up. Or your monitor has started to show an occasional flicker. You suspect it is caused by malware that installed itself from a single website visit. Do you search Google for a solution and try to fix these tech glitches yourself?
Here at Tech Helpline, as real estate industry’s No. 1 technical support team with more than 250 years of combined IT experience, we want you to know that you can often do more harm than good if you try to do it yourself when it comes to self-help tech support.
We encourage you instead to reach out to us as early in the process as possible simply because it’s the safer, smarter option.
Why you don’t have to go it alone
The number one reason people go online for advice and try to fix a technical glitch themselves is to save money. But because you have access from Tech Helpline, its free to you. That’s because your local MLS, Association or your brokerage is making sure you can get the tech support you need as a member benefit. You can contact Tech Helpline at no additional cost for as much help as you need.
Our team of friendly, U.S.-based experts is just a call, click or chat away. Most importantly, our analysts deeply understand what you, as a real estate broker or agent, need for your technology solutions. More importantly, we are incredibly familiar with the most common technical problems and challenges that brokers and agents encounter every day.
Online shortcuts can be dangerous
Another reason people are tempted to fix their tech glitches themselves is the wide availability of automated software repair tools and malware removal tools. The problem is the web features malicious sites that disguise themselves as reputable, and tout repair tools that do just the opposite. If you don’t know which link the safest link is to click on or the right repair tool to install, you could be corrupting your computer instead of fixing it.
Best bet: Just reach out to one of our Tech Helpline analysts and we can walk you through the process. One of our analysts can provide you with trusted software and the right links to help you remove malware that has caused your computer problems.
Bad actors prey on folks with tech problems
Have you ever entered a website and had a screen pop up and make it look like it was scanning your computer and then warn you that your computer was in bad shape? These were ads, of course. Your computer wasn’t scanned, but the popup ad was a scare tactic was designed to get you to download their software to “fix” the fake problems. If you installed their software, you would most likely be causing your computer to have more problems than before you installed their software!
The fact is bad actors – malicious firms – target people with computer issues. You are most susceptible to downloading and installing software when you are trying to attempt a do-it-yourself repair and these firms know it. That’s precisely why we want to hear from you when you encounter a tech glitch – big or small.
More ways Tech Helpline can help
Our friendly team at Tech Helpline is eagerly waiting to help fix any of your technical glitches. But keep in mind that we also do more than help you solve your tech woes. You can get help on everything from setting up email to resolving Wi-Fi connection issues., just by contacting us and asking for help.
Want to know all the different ways we can help? Here are two stories on more many of the different ways Tech Helpline helps agents and brokers every day: just click here or here.
