Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!uwm.edu!ogicse!qiclab!techbook!jamesd
From: jamesd@techbook.com (James Deibele)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386
Subject: Re: Buying UNIX for a clone
Message-ID: <1991May3.203044.10456@techbook.com>
Date: 3 May 91 20:30:44 GMT
References: <15283@life.ai.mit.edu> <1991Apr27.180658.18160@techbook.com> <1991Apr28.024726.24206@jwt.UUCP>
Organization: TECHbooks of Beaverton Oregon - Public Access Unix
Lines: 38

In article <1991Apr28.024726.24206@jwt.UUCP> john@jwt.UUCP (John Temples) writes:
>In article <1991Apr27.180658.18160@techbook.com> jamesd@techbook.com (James Deibele) writes:
>>I like the attitude of ESIX towards customer support: call them, tell them
>>your problem, and they help you fix it.
>
>There's one thing I find very disconcerting about ESIX tech support.
>When you call the tech support number, a tech support person answers
>the phone.  I'm just so programmed into expecting to go through seven
>levels of synthesized female voice menus, followed by "please wait
>while your call is transferred" followed by "all of our representatives
>are busy now, please hold," I just seem to freeze up when a real person
>answers the phone.  :)

True.  It seems like even companies that consist of one programmer (part-
time) and his cat are using those telecomm systems. 

I was very surprised when somebody told me his experience when calling
ESIX.  The conversation went something like this:

(ring, ring)
"Hello, ESIX tech support.  This is somebody."
"Hi, I have a problem."
"What is it?"
"I'm having problems with configuring my Logitech mouse."
"Well, what you need to do is ... blah, blah."

Very nice.  Things down there seem to be kind of confused, which I think there
are two reason for: one is the pressure to get 4.0 out the door (it's still in
the "Real Soon Now" stage), and the other is that they moved their marketing
people into the same people as the techies.  One can hope that they'll cross-
pollinate the right way, with the techies influencing the marketing people 
and not the other way 'round.

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