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Google is answering the call from Nexus One phone owners.
More than a month after officially unveiling the new Android-based phone, the search giant on Monday launched a phone support line specifically to answer the questions of Nexus One owners. Phone owners can call (888) 48NEXUS (63987) between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m. PST and reach a live tech, Google advises.
Following the launch of the Nexus One, Google’s online support forums were flooded with questions from customers who were having shipping and technical issues. Google attempted to direct questions to HTC and T-Mobile, its hardware and carrier partners on the Nexus One, but the Nexus One is being sold exclusively through Google at the moment, and it’s the company that customers look to when they have a complaint.
The phone support line is a bit of a departure for Google, which has traditionally offered a pretty bare-bones customer support operation to this point in its history. Forums, FAQs, and e-mail support had up until now been pretty much the extent of what Google offers to everyone other than paid customers of Google Apps.
Google has since learned that that approach goes only so far.
“By design, we focused initially on providing the best possible customer support through our on-line channel, and our experience in the four weeks since the Nexus One launch enabled us to significantly enhance that on-line support offering. We have been able to address a large majority of customers’ inquiries successfully through on-line support, in combination with phone support from our partners, HTC and T-Mobile,” a Google spokesperson said. “That said, our approach with our new consumer channel is to learn fast and continue to improve…Live phone support from Google, combined with an optimized on-line support experience, enables a superior Nexus One customer experience.”
Still, the phone support launch isn’t a total surprise as Google recently posted a job opening ad for a “Phone Support Program Manager, Android/Nexus One,” to be based at Google’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
