This is exactly what I suggested to them on one of the tickets I had open to them..
Like Warren, I too have the habit of sending as much information as is sensible enough to do. I have the Environment Profile section loaded with the all information of my development, and other environments that I need to raise tickets on, for every customer I work for. To such an extent I copy paste the ar.cfg file and sometimes even the armonitor.cfg file on the description fields on that profile.. And I tend to keep that information up to date with every ticket that I raise. Yet invariably, I am used to getting that first time response that Warren got, so much so that now it no longer agitates me. I’ve almost reconciled to the fact that’s not likely to improve anytime too soon.. So I just view my preliminary effort to provide that information as time that I would save on my first response to their reply.. My first time response invariably is – please look at the environment profile, and the attachment section.. everything that you just asked for was already all there when this ticket was raised.... I am however slowly beginning to find that a very small percentage of them, do look into these sections of information.. I wish it was a little more consistent though.. I wouldn’t mind if 1 in 10 tickets if a personnel ended up asking this information that’s already out there, as I would attribute that to a new employee nervously performing his job functions on a new job, which is a human thing to err.. but when its 9 times out of 10 where they seem to not notice you have already give them enough information, then it does get a little aggravating.. Joe From: Tommy Morris Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 9:00 AM Newsgroups: public.remedy.arsystem.general To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Support - An open letter to BMC ** Wouldn’t it be nice if BMC had all of their client’s information on file so you wouldn’t have to list version, OS, etc? Maybe they could have a web portal where clients could log in and update their environment? Possibly the system could have a couple of different environment options such as Dev, QA, Prod and then a client created a support ticket they could select the environment that the issue is being reported upon? Oh! I know! Maybe, just maybe the data could be stored in some sort of configuration management something or other so that the data could be managed easily. Hmmmm…. I wonder if BMC could find a useful tool that could handle that. From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Warren R. Baltimore II Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2012 7:43 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Support - An open letter to BMC ** Once again, I have submitted a ticket that has an abundance of information regarding my problem. It lists the ARS version and patch It lists the Server type and OS It lists the Db and version It gives a succinct description of the issue I then received a response almost 45 minutes later (which I was quite pleased with! Quick Turn around!) After reading the response, I was tempted to buy a ticket to wherever the hell support was and deliver my feelings in person! Response follows: Hi Warren, Thank you for contacting BMC Remedy Support. Our goal at BMC is to provide you with an excellent customer service experience. If for any reason you feel this issue is not progressing properly, please discuss it with me or feel free to contact our Support Manager ************* at ************@bmc.com I am ********** and I shall be assisting you with this issue. This mail is regarding Issue "ISS03967224"with issue summary as: "I am unable to search for a join of 3 forms utilizing the Request ID field." --------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for the initial information. I tried to call you unfortunately reached VM. In order to fully understand the affected environment and narrow down the possibilities, please address the following for me: 1) What is the AR Server version & Patch level? 2) What is the OS and version that the Remedy environment is installed on? 3) What database and version does the AR Server use? Is it local or remote to the AR Server installation? 4) Have you upgraded your environment? If yes then from which version please specify? 5) Have you done any customization? Please explain? 6) When you are getting the error? 7) What is the exact error message you are getting --------------------------------------------------------- Please send me the information at your earliest, it will help me to investigate issue further. Kindly let me know if you have any concerns on this issue. My response was blunt: With the exception of question 5, I answered EVERY question in the ticket. Question 5: we have not upgraded. As to customization, lightly. You will notice that this is a join I built! ___________________________________________ This has been indicative of support for about the last 6 or so years (whenever it was off shored). Support techs seem to read from a script. Based on what I was seeing, I suspect that this particular tech was reading only the description in a notification and not from the actual support request. I don't think I blame the techs. I suspect that they are all hard working people who get lousy pay and little training. I remember sitting in a hall some years back (San Jose perhaps) and being told by BMC how it was going to be so wonderful when they offshore support. All of the domestic support people would be moved to different parts of the structure to utilize that wonderful institutional knowledge they had, and the new support staff would be given all the training and support they needed to maintain a high level of support.... It hasn't worked out that way. 2 years after BMC pulled the trigger, support was so bad that I ended up in an hour long phone conversation with the individual who was tasked with managing that operation (I wish I could remember his name). I expressed my concerns and found that for the most part, he agreed with my assessment! The term he used at the time to describe where BMC had found themselves was that the trigger had been pulled, the deed was done and there was no going back! So here we are, I am not saying that every time I have dealt with support that it is always a disaster, it isn't. As with any organization, there are bright spots. Every tech I deal with seems to have a genuine desire to help. But the process does not work, and the knowledge isn't always what it should be. And (perhaps the biggest sin in my mind), the tool that they should be using isn't utilized! Why do we take the time to fill out all of the data in the support request that they request if they are not even going to bother reading it???? What's the solution? I'm not sure. But the current system isn't working. Warren R. Baltimore II Remedy Developer since ARS 3.2 410-533-5367 _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: "Where the Answers Are"