Japan's largest personal computer maker is looking to put even more distance between itself and its rivals by offering free online support that lets technicians remotely take control of the customer's computer to solve glitches.

NEC Corp. receives about 2.4 million calls to its support center each year, but the company estimates that over 90 percent of the problems can be tackled remotely with greater speed and dexterity than with verbal instructions over the phone. In fact, the company estimates that the new service will cut the average time it takes to fix malfunctioning computers by up to 70 percent.

The service will start in March.

Callers to NEC's support center will be issued an identification number and instructed to access the company's Web site to download a program that enables remote operations over the Internet.

The support personnel will be able to view on their screens exactly what the callers see on their computers.

An NEC official said that the quality of customer support has become a decisive factor for consumers when buying a new computer.

Fujitsu Ltd., the nation's second-largest PC manufacturer, introduced computers last week designed for the elderly that include free support visits to users' homes.(IHT/Asahi: February 15,2005)