AOL France has begun testing a new support service dubbed “AOL chez vous” (AOL at Home).
Featuring
home Internet support through a specially trained
sales force, a preview version of the service began trials last week.
Other companies have already attempted to market similar products, but failed to
make it popular among users.
“Everything is ready to
sell the service throughout France and we have checked that it meets the
users’ demand,” said Sylvain Caubel, member of the
management team.
AOL chez vous was developed in cooperation with mass department store Carrefour, and is sold with a computer as a service complement to
the hardware. AOL is betting that the service will attract new Internet access
subscribers, provided that increased home tech support effectively leads to
mass adoption of the Internet in France.
AOL certifies that Internet teams will be able to deliver home support
within a 15 days period. AOL subcribers can benefit from a
special discount offering: FF 290 ($45) instead of FF 490($95). 600 Internet
“teachers” were recruited for the occasion.
The official launch
should be at the beginning of November.
