Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!mintaka!bloom-beacon!eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!ukc!mucs!liv-cs!liv!kpurcell
From: KPURCELL@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Technical Support, 1-900-555-HELP!
Message-ID: <90180.144109KPURCELL@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK>
Date: 29 Jun 90 13:41:08 GMT
References: <9664.268769e4@amherst.bitnet> <103452@convex.convex.com>
Organization: University of Liverpool
Lines: 40

Why don't more companies use e-mail for support. It seems a more sensible
way to deal with a large number of customers.

Pros:

1. The customer only has to write out his request. The need do this only once
and can spend some time getting a good description. Perhaps the company could
provide them with a proforma bug report on the distrition disks.

2. A series of simple generic replies to simple problems can be kept and given
out as needed. This should save some of User Supports time.

3. Complex problems can easily be passed (with the full description of the
problem) to the people who wrote the program. This is much easier than either
TS having to tell the programmers or the customer having to explain the
problem repeatedly to different people.

4. It must be cheaper for both customer and the company. Turnaround time for
bug reports can be improved through e-mail and the load spread throughout the
day (I would imagine TS gets more calls just before lunch and in mid-afternoon
than early in the morning.

cons:

1. It assumes your customer can use and has access to e-mail! Can most people
mail to mci-mail and compuserve (from other commerical services, UUCP, Internet
and other international networks).

I generally send a fax or e-mail than trying to talk to people on the phone. A
lot TS I have spoken too know less than I do about their product, and
trans-atlantic calls are expensive. A fax can be passed around.

Perhaps a mix of services is best? FAX, e-mail and regular phone?

Give preference to e-mail!

Kevin Purcell ................................... kpurcell @ liverpool.ac.uk
\ Surface Science      \ Stepwise Refinement n.  A sequence of kludges K,
 \ Liverpool University \ neither distinct or finite, applied to a program P
  \ Liverpool L69 3BX    \ aimed at transforming it into the target program Q.