* SecurityCoverage works behind the scenes
When your ISP sends you software, it has to get it from someone. When you also get support, including software that keeps your computer safe, your ISP (including cable and telephone companies) may rely on SecurityCoverage.
Working behind the scenes for nearly three years, SecurityCoverage supports consumers, home offices and small companies with up to 20 PCs. Now reaching out to smaller resellers and direct to consumers, SecurityCoverage does something none of the major security software companies do: provide free technical support on a toll-free call.
Robert O’Dell, President, CEO and founder of SecurityCoverage, used to work for a huge corporation where he was responsible for personal computers all across North America. He knows how big companies take the worry out of personal computing. “Employees just sit down and use their computer. They don’t worry about virus protection, firewalls, or Microsoft updates. If they have a problem, they call the help desk and get support right there and then, including letting the help desk remotely fix the computer.”
Does your small company provide support that way? If so, you’re unusually lucky. Many small companies scramble to keep computers protected, and a help desk really means one poor sucker (probably you) running around fixing computers while still doing their “real” job.
How much would you pay for this? Perhaps a better question is how much can you talk your boss into paying? Think your boss believes worry-free computers are worth a quarter per day per computer? That’s about the price of SecurityCoverage: $7.95 per computer per month, including toll-free technical support. OK, if you count only business days and divide $7.95 by 22 business days per month, you get 36 cents per computer. But last I looked, viruses and spyware attack every minute of every day, so I’m sticking with my quarter per day (plus an extra two quarters per month).
We talked about a similar program from HP back in early November called TotalCare. The company offers some of the same and some different services, including an off-site data backup option, but the services cost more as well. You pick and choose what TotalCare coverage you want, but the average number given me by the HP folks was about $20 per month per PC.
The fact that more and more companies are offering these kinds of services, and that prices are dropping, is good trends. SecurityCoverage gives you quite a bit for your quarter per day, including antivirus, antispyware, hardened Microsoft Internet Explorer, tested Microsoft update patches, disk optimization and cleanup, personal firewall and a real time threat monitor. SecurityCoverage developed the software itself, taking bits from DiskKeeper Professional (disk defragmentation and cleanup), Symantec (antispyware) and building its own remote control application. Small businesses get online reports on all their covered PCs, and anyone can call for help and talk to a real person at SecurityCoverage’s Cedar Rapids, Iowa headquarters.
If you spend $100 per year on virus and spyware protection applications, essentially two protection programs, you’ll spend more than you will with SecurityCoverage but get less. Package software vendors often hide their telephone numbers so you can’t call them. Many people don’t understand that the automatic virus and spyware database updates on their computers will stop after a year if they don’t renew the support. It’s easy to blow off the pop-up renewal warnings, but out of date security applications no longer provide adequate protection. It’s much harder to blow off the spyware your machine will catch.
A small business itself, SecurityCoverage has 26 employees, all in Cedar Rapids. The company is looking for more employees, and it will need more hands on deck as it rolls out direct sales to consumers. The company supports Windows 98 and later.
Since it focuses on small to micro-sized businesses, SecurityCoverage doesn’t provide perimeter security services. It will handle your PC’s firewall, not the firewall on your Internet connection. But that’s OK, because many resellers offer such services, and often for a small month-by-month fee.
Keep your eyes open for competitors, and don’t forget to ask about this type of 24x7x365 service and support program when you buy new systems. You may get SecurityCoverage in the background. If not, you can still get affordable service and support and lessen your computer frustration. Isn’t less frustration worth a quarter per day?
