Have You Seen the Cool Customer Support Feature That Amazon Will Offer With the New Kindle Fire HDX Tablet?

Earlier today Amazon.com introduced their latest Kindle Fire, the Kindle Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HD.
This post is not an overview of what will be available.
There is plenty of coverage of today’s announcement and here are direct links to the formal announcements and specs for the HD ($139) and HDX.
In this post I wanted to call your attention to one feature that will be part of these devices.
Say hello to the “Mayday Button” and what I think will be the next step in customer service in the tablet/smartphone age.
It’s not only something librarians should be aware of but also be prepared to offer moving (in some form) forward.  When it becomes available the service will only be available for Kindle HDX users. Of course, this service will very likely expand over time.
From Amazon:

The Mayday Button delivers revolutionary on-device tech support and is available 24×7, 365 days a year, for free. 15 seconds or less is the Mayday response time goal. The Mayday button is built into Quick Settings and an Amazon expert will appear on the Fire HDX and can co-pilot a customer through any feature by drawing on the screen, walking them through how to do something themselves or doing it for them.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says, “with the Mayday button, our goal is to revolutionize tech support.”
My point is that similar types of customer support services in many different forms will become available direct from inside a device or via an app. It will make certain types of customer service (including research assistance from a librarian or library tech-support) a visual activity and an interactive event that the user can get to QUICKLY and EASILY with a single click or tap of the screen.
Yes, you can already do some of this with a minimal amount of work via Skype, Google Hangouts, etc. but what Amazon is doing is taking it to the next level for the consumer/end user.
Here’s more about the Mayday button along with a commercial that Amazon.com will air and stream to promote the new service.
See Also: Amazon.com Also Announced a New Version of the Kindle Fire Operating System (Fire 3.0)

Additional Coverage

• Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX (via The Verge)

• Amazon refreshes Kindle Fire HD with new body, $139 price tag (via Engadget)

• Amazon debuts faster Kindle Fires with quick, easy tech support (via Seattle Times)

• Hands On with Kindle Fire HDX

Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users