Reach out and help someone

Carla Fahie lost control of her home computers last year, and she's delighted about it.

Fahie, 43, of Dorchester, was sick of the machines' sluggish performance. Despite having a high-speed Internet connection, Web surfing and e-mailing were taking too long. "They were both slowing down," Fahie said, "especially the one that the children use."

So Fahie contacted PlumChoice, a Bedford company that reached out over the Internet, seized control of her home computers, and whipped them into shape. At $185, the treatment wasn't cheap, but Fahie has no complaints. "It was quite, quite worth it," she said. "I liked the fact that I didn't have to unplug anything or leave home."

Software that lets one computer remotely control another has been available for years, and large businesses have long used it for computer maintenance tasks.

"It's in the tens of thousands of companies that offer this," said Jeffrey Leventhal, founder of ComputerRepair.com, a website that helps businesses and individuals find technical support. With remote control software, a company's computer technicians can upgrade and maintain thousands of machines scattered around the world.

But consumers have been slower to embrace the concept. "People are reluctant to give you access," Leventhal said. Some prefer the personal touch, while others worry that an unscrupulous technician could seize permanent control of the machine. "Can he take over my computer tomorrow, while I'm not home?" asked Leventhal.

Still, a growing number of consumers and small businesses are embracing the technology. "There's a real push on," said Eric Rocco, vice president of services research at Gartner Inc. in Lowell. "I think users are becoming more comfortable with the idea of using it."

With about 6,000 customers in 49 states, PlumChoice is one of the leaders in the field. "We have packaged all the services we think a home or small office user would like to have," said CEO Ted Werth, who founded the company in 2000. But PlumChoice faces plenty of competition from rival firms like The Digiticians in Waltham.

Neither company relies solely on remote control to aid their customers. When Julie Palmer, director of operations at Charlie Allen Restorations in Cambridge, needed a new printer installed, The Digiticians did it the old-fashioned way -- by sending a technician. But when one of the company's three laptops was tainted with spyware, Palmer logged onto The Digiticians' website and asked her favorite tech, Samir, to clean it up.

"The Digiticians to me is one of those rare companies out there that actually delivers what they promise," Palmer said. "They make your computers run better so you don't have to worry about them any more."

The Digiticians and PlumChoice both rely on software from Citrix Systems Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. When a customer logs onto the company website, it installs a small piece of Citrix software on the customer's computer. The program creates a chat window so the customer can send messages to the technician by typing. It also enables the technician to run the customer's machine as if it were his own.

Once connected, the technician can install or remove programs, update the antivirus software, or in Fahie's case, he can delete huge quantities of old files that had piled up inside her two computers.

"I try to faithfully clean up the temporary Internet files," Fahie said. "but they weren't really being deleted."

When the repair session is over, the remote software deactivates itself. Nobody at PlumChoice can regain control of the machine unless the customer logs in again.

PlumChoice charges $80 an hour for its services, or $23 for 15 minutes. Many small business customers pay in advance for three- or five-hour tech support packages, while most individuals pay as they go, using a credit card. The Digiticians charges $25 for 15 minutes. Customers must set up an account with a minimum payment of $100.

When technicians make repairs over the Internet, they can be located anywhere in the world. But both PlumChoice and The Digiticians say they only employ American technicians. "That's a very high demand of our customers," said PlumChoice's Werth, whose support team is scattered throughout the United States, often working from home. All support staff at the Digiticians are based in Massachusetts.

Both PlumChoice and The Digiticians face lots of competition. Their remote-control services rely on commercial software that anyone can buy, so any technician with a high-speed Internet connection can challenge them. But PlumChoice is counting on exemplary customer service to fend off rivals. For instance, the remote-control techs stay on the phone with the customer, explaining everything they're doing to the machine. The idea is to provide some long-range hand-holding. "We are providing a very high-touch service," Werth said.

The Digiticians hopes to take the lead by taking a high-tech approach. It's planning to launch PCCare Premium, a new remote support system that will replace the technician with a computer that will keep computers healthy without human intervention. "It's about making technology simple, which was the promise of digital technology in the first place," said Kenneth Smith, founder and CEO of the company.

PCCare Premium is scheduled for release next month. The service will link a customer's PC to a remote computer that will automatically carry out a variety of maintenance tasks. For an annual fee of $99, PCCare Premium will automatically update the machine's antivirus software; delete unnecessary browser files, defragment the hard drive and test it for defects, and reset the computer's clock. It will even track which programs are installed on the computer, thus providing warning of attempts to install illicit spyware.

Smith said his company is in negotiations with a major cable television company to offer a simplified version of PCCare to its broadband customers. These customers will be able to upgrade to the premium version for an extra fee.

Some crises, like a crashed hard drive, will always require the laying on of human hands. But hands are expensive. Techs would rather repair a computer without touching it -- and these days, they frequently can.

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.