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Amazon's Mayday button average response time is under 10 seconds

The feature has now become the most popular way for Kindle Fire HDX customers to contact Amazon's customer service department.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger

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The Amazon Mayday button. David Carnoy/CNET

Amazon's Mayday feature, which provides on-device tech support all day, every day on the Kindle Fire HDX, has become a popular option among owners.

Three-quarters of Kindle Fire HDX tablet owners are using the Mayday button for IT support and other forms of customer service, Amazon announced on Friday. The average Amazon response time to those calls for help is 9.75 seconds.

Amazon introduced the Mayday feature with its Kindle Fire HDX last year. The company's Kindle Fire HDX tablet line allows users to tap a "Mayday" button on their device to get help from customer service. The feature was designed to replace unnecessary calls and make it easier for Amazon's tech support to fix issues. Once users grant access, Amazon's tech support can, if preferred, get on the device to fix problems without requiring any user input. Amazon's tech support can also draw on the screen and walk users through a fix.

Mayday might have been initially conceived as a way for tech support to fix the Kindle Fire HDX, but Amazon said it's much, much more. In a statement Friday, Amazon noted that a user once asked one of Amazon's tech support professionals for help beating an Angry Birds level. Another used the Mayday button to see how to make the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hopefully somewhere along the way, they also help users with actual tech problems.

CNET has contacted Amazon for more information. We will update this story when we hear back.