There are already many technologies that exist to help disabled people take advantage of computers and the Internet. Perhaps, not enough so, we can’t afford to be complacent. Expertcity.com (www.expertcity.com) has a taken a different approach by providing a unique technology that allows disabled users of computers access to a broad technical support market, for fun and profit. Expertcity.com is about using the computer as a tool to empower the disabled community to deliver services that take advantage of their intellect, and experiences of technology.

Expertcity.com is a marketplace for technical support services. Users who visit the site can submit a technical support question through a simple dialogue box, and immediately receive bids from online experts to resolve their problem. There’s no hanging on the phone waiting in a call queue, or shooting off e-mails to some anonymous engineer hoping for a helpful reply. Expertcity.com site visitors get to choose the person who supports them in a Dutch auction, and can browse each expert’s resume before choosing the person that they prefer. So far; so good. The really cool stuff doesn’t stop there, though.

Once a user chooses an expert, they are connected either via a Internet chat interface, or through a unique telephone interface which allows the user to enter his, or her, phone number, and Expertcity.com establishes a connection by calling both expert and user, and hooking them up. It’s anonymous, and free, and therefore, very much oriented towards the needs of the consumer. Yet, the really cool stuff doesn’t stop there, either.

A session between a user and an expert is one in which the expert sees the user’s screen and can remotely control the user’s mouse and keyboard. Not only can an expert tell the user how to resolve their problem, but the expert can also show the user what to do. It’s like getting a house call from a computer consultant and having them sitting at your desk, working things out for you, and with you. It just happens to be that in the Expertcity.com model the expert can be anywhere on the Internet. This screen sharing technology is proprietary and patent-pending, and is called DesktopStreaming. It is a technology that has already been adopted by such big name companies as Sun Microsystems, and CompUSA. And, there’s still more cool stuff.

Expertcity.com’s experts can log on from any Internet connection, even a simple dial-up modem, and have the full benefit of the tools on offer. In addition, they are part of a community that is screened, managed, motivated, and energized by an active expert community group located at Expertcity.com’s Santa Barbara headquarters. Experts are encouraged to get certified, and Expertcity.com has a relationship with online certification sites such as Brainbench.com to make the process as smooth as possible. Expertcity.com handles all the transactions, and its experts get a check for their work at the end of each month.

Experts can log on for as long, or as short a time as they want. They can choose to answer questions, or not, depending on how confident they feel about a topic. Experts can also define specific technology subjects that they want to be recognized for so that when a user types in a keyword, or even looks for an expert by name, they find just the person they are looking for. There are experts who are philosophy graduates, some who are stay-at-home moms, and even college students looking for part-time work.

Expertcity.com’s community of experts were attracted by the flexibility and independence that the service offers, and that is why the company is actively promoting its recruitment drive in the disabled community. The company believes that it offers a singular opportunity for people who may be bound physically to one location, or who prefer the independence of working online at their own instigation. What is important is that a vibrant, active disabled community has a clear opportunity to sell services based on its intellectual capabilities.