@ 35 seconds
“Helpouts is a new way to connect people who need help with people who can give help, in real time, over live video. With Helpouts, people can get help whenever it’s needed and from wherever they are — from teachers, counselors, doctors, home repair experts, personal trainers, hobby enthusiasts and more. People will be able to choose who to get help from based on qualifications, availability, ratings and reviews. Scheduling and paying for help will be easy, and Helpouts will be accessible from any device.
“Real help from real people in real time”
“Google’s Helpouts has finally gone live, although it is invitation-only at the moment.
Helpouts is a Hangouts-based marketplace that enables individuals, but also businesses to buy and sell services via live video.
The service could prove to be particularly useful for buyers and sellers across the world. For instance, a language teacher could give training to students half-way across the globe without having to actually travel the distance. The same can be done for various repairs or sports classes, as illustrated on the Helpouts page.
Professionals and experts could thus be a click away with Helpouts and their knowledge could easily be shared via live video”. Source – Softpedia
A Google+ account is required to use Helpouts
“Helpouts are face-to-face video calls powered by Google+ Hangouts. You can start and join a video call from your computer, Android, iPhone, and iPad devices. The Helpouts platform is different from Hangouts because Helpouts takes care of all of the setup and maintenance associated with delivering your services – from payment, to scheduling, reputation management, and customer acquisition.
You’ll need an invitation code to sign up as a provider. The invitation codes allows you to set up an account and create Helpout listings. Visitors without a code will be able to give us their contact information for future outreach”.
To what extent is the Google Helpouts ecommerce platform the gamechanger for knowledge workers?
Google Helpouts provides access to expert skills and experience who will be able to offer their expertise on a one-to-one basis from the comfort of their own home.
Google is offering Helpouts to further exploit their investment in Hangouts and Wallet to build an ecosystem of interdependent products.
Google will retain 20% of the fee processed via Google Wallet that the expert charges for the use of their real-time video Hangout platform.
I envisage that Helpouts will be a massive revenue generator as people now need an immediate response to their requests for help.
The only limiting factor is the number of sessions an expert is willing to offer per day.
How cool is it to Helpout others [previously via community spirit / trading goods and services] and get paid for providing an expert service to an individual on an as needed basis at a time to suit both parties.
Create a Helpout – LINK
thisiswhatgoodlookslike 