In the US alone consumer spending for home technical support services will reach nearly $1 billion by the end of 2011, according to Parks Associates' "Digital Home Services: Carriers, Retailers, and the Consumer." This new study predicts that remote or on-site IT support services for home computers and networks will grow from approximately $450 million in 2007 to $977 million by year-end 2011. Simultaneously, in-home services for the installation and configuration of new PCs will generate revenues exceeding $700 million by year-end 2011.

"Consumers have been very consistent in expressing both their frustration with the complexity of today's digital home products and services and their willingness to seek professional assistance to solve these issues," said Kurt Scherf, Parks Associates' vice president and principal analyst. "Customer service and support are not just critical challenges for retailers, manufacturers, and service providers to overcome but also significant revenue-generating opportunities for forward-thinking companies."

Scherf has identified eight elements critical to delivering end-to-end digital home support. These key requirements for building enhanced customer support include developing robust solutions to simplify CPE and hardware installation, improving service provision, automating troubleshooting services, building metrics-gathering solutions, and enhancing help desk support systems, which could include the development of dynamic knowledge databases and other operation support system (OSS) features.

"Digital Home Services: Carriers, Retailers, and the Consumer" provides insight on the drivers for digital home support solutions. It profiles more than 40 companies in the digital home support value chain and provides more than 60 primary consumer data points. The report provides U.S. forecasts for digital home support services, including remote and on-site troubleshooting and in-home PC installation and setup through 2011.