October 1st, 2009
Lenovo introduces Lost & Found service for ThinkPad owners
Lenovo on Thursday announced its Lost & Found service, which takes Absolute Software’s Computrace offering and augments it with features specifically tailored for ThinkPad owners.
The service is free for ThinkPad users who have Computrace pre-installed.
Lenovo says:
Considering that a lost laptop can cost a company almost $50,000 on average in data breaches, lost data, lost productivity and legal and regulatory expenses, not to mention replacing the laptop itself, the ability to securely retrieve a lost laptop could help businesses save millions in the long run.
The Lost & Found service is a five-step process, according to Lenovo:
- If the PC is lost, the owner can flag it with Absolute to have the PC automatically lock if turned on. If it’s turned on, the screen can display a message indicating the laptop is lost and will provide a toll-free number to return the laptop. Alternatively, anyone who finds a ThinkPad laptop can call the toll-free number for Lenovo found on a sticker on the outside of the laptop.
- Lenovo receives the call, confirms the registration of the laptop for Lost & Found and sends a pre-paid shipping box to the finder.
- The finder sends the ThinkPad laptop to Lenovo.
- Lenovo ships the laptop to the owner.
- The owner unlocks the ThinkPad through Absolute once the PC is returned to him.
The service will be available in the U.S. starting in October. Existing ThinkPad laptop customers who have Computrace installed will automatically receive Lost & Found capabilities, including device locking capabilities and on-screen messaging, later in October.
Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet.
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