Patent ID: 8594304

Claim:
A method for providing remote online support service in conjunction with local onsite support service, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing, by a local technician, a predetermined amount of time of onsite support service for a device at a premise, the local technician having a first type of skill from a plurality of skills; establishing, by the local technician within the predetermined amount of time, remote connectivity between the device at the premise and a centralized service, the local technician performing within the predetermined amount of time one or more tasks for resolution of the issue, leaving the premise upon expiration of the predetermined amount of time and leaving the device connected to the centralized service for remaining portions of the requested service to be performed by one or more remote technicians via the centralized service; (b) receiving, by the centralized service, identification by the local technician of an issue with the device resolution of the issue comprising a plurality of tasks, each of the plurality of tasks to be performed by one or more remote technicians having a corresponding skill type from the plurality of skills, the predetermined amount of time comprising a fixed amount of time of a total time of both the local technician and the centralized service to complete the plurality of tasks for resolution of the issue and to at least connect the device via a network to the centralized service for one or more remote technicians to continue performing the requested service via the centralized service; and (c) performing, by a first remote technician having a second type of skill from the plurality of skills, a first task of the plurality of tasks on the device via a first network connection to the device, the centralized service assigning the first task to the first remote technician.