Gateway Beefs Up Channel Offerings With New Services For Partner Resale

The Poway, Calif.-based vendor, which last week bulked up its size with the acquisition of eMachines, unveiled Thursday its ProNet reseller network aimed at letting solution providers and professional audio/video integrators offer clients support services for Gateway products.

Such partners will be able to resell Gateway Extended Service Plans, which offer customers extended warranties and support coverage for up to five years on the company's desktop, notebook, all-in-one PCs and displays, as well as Gateway Accidental Damage Protection, which insures customers against damage due to unintentional impacts, such as drops and spilled coffee.

Also available for resale is Gateway Enterprise Systems Support, which gives customers three-incident, five-incident and 10-incident packages of technical support for multiple operating systems and back-office applications. For businesses needing more specific support, partners can resell the services of an assigned senior-level support engineer.

Other services in the program are two-hour and four-hour Gateway on-site part replacement services for the company's storage and server products; desktop application support, offering tutorial support on more than 150 Windows and Apple applications via 30-minute, 60-minute or 90-minute calling cards; and Gateway Personalized Help Desk Services, a 24x7 tech support and tutorial service hot line.