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Verizon improves its 'In-Home Agent' self-help tool with the addition of 'How-To Videos On-Demand'

By Carolyn J Dawson
TMCnet Contributor

Verizon (News - Alert)'s innovative In-Home Agent now provides the feature "how-to videos on demand." This new feature will allow the customers to resolve setup and service questions without calling a service representative for assistance.

'Service manuals and help lines are great, but when customers are actually saying 'show me,' it's a lot better to actually show them how to do things rather than talk them through procedures involving their services or equipment. That's why we built this library of short videos right into the 'help' tool in our on-screen TV menu,' said Gary Butler, the vice president of operations for Verizon.

While some of the other competitive video services dedicate a channel to cyclic series of demonstrations, Verizon created a video-on-demand file which can be accessed from the help menu on the main TV menu by clicking 'Menu', then 'Help', and then 'In-Home Agent.'

The topics include 16 videos. Some of the topics include using the In-Home Agent, DVR basics, setting up e-mail, using the message center and configuring TV audio.  In every video, the host explains the issue and demonstrates operation of the feature. Some of the popular how-to-videos include How FiOS Works, DVR Recording Basics, Pay-Per-View FAQS, Parental Controls, FiOS Phone (News - Alert) Service, The In-Home Agent, and Setting Up E-Mail.

These videos help the users to learn the fundamentals of the above mentioned services, set up e-mail accounts using the In-Home Agent, learn the answers for frequently asked questions about pay-per-view programming, record and delete shows, set up a PIN to restrict children from making unauthorized purchases etc.

The Verizon In-Home Agent is a versatile self-help tool which runs on the PCs and TVs of Verizon customers. This tool offers instant assistance with questions or problems. It is wired into Verizon's operating systems. So, in most of the cases, a click of the remote or the mouse initiates an automatic fix for technical problems.

Verizon Communications Inc. is a global provider of broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  In addition, Verizon provides converged communications, information and entertainment services for the most advanced fiber-optic network of America. Also, it delivers ground-breaking, flawless business solutions to customers worldwide.