I like the phone support idea but I think that Digium is on the right
path. If you don't draw the line somewhere you end up either not fixing
the fault which leads to unhappy customers and therefore a bad mouthing
experience or worst still getting dragged down in a fault that frankly
is not worth fixing for the price.
As for "branded" support; you'll have the same problem. How would the
tech answering the phone know anything about the install he's fixing? It
would take him quite a considerable time to get up to speed before he
could reasonably start working on the fault.
If you agree on a standard set of configs that you'll support and offer
a 2 teired support system, you could fix the easy things like messed up
passwords or mis-spelled statements and then bump the non conforming
ones back to the customer (not the user).
You could then offer "consultant" support exclusively for those that can
demonstrate they are purveyors of Asterisk systems. You shouldn't have
to do so much hand holding here as you'd require a minimum level of
expertise. You'd be acting as more of a mentor rather than a support team.
A final avenue could be training. Offering various levels of Asterisk
training could be a way of ensuring that you have capable customers and
confident end users as well as being a low level money earner.
Mark, G7LTT/KC2ENI
Randolph, NJ
http://www.g7ltt.com
Steve Totaro wrote:
Mark,
Thanks for the "excellent idea" statement.
I agree, the only way that this part of the site will work well is when
the site grows and people actually develop feedback and ratings so
customers can know who is really established and qualified.
The phone support idea is still a ways off. For that, the techs will be
tested for ability prior to added to a queue. They will also be rated
by the customer and dropped from the system if not qualified as well as
a refund of time/$ to the customer.
I would love it if you had some suggestions on how to promote the site
without spamming the lists, which will also give the site a bad name.
Going even further, Asterisk Helpdesk is a one man show at this point.
I just took a job as a Senior Telecom Engineer and need to design and
implement a 300 seat call center with a full T3 circuit. My time is
basically consumed by this for the foreseeable near future. I could use
some help with Asterisk Helpdesk. I too see it as an excellent idea and
see a big future for it, whether it be a paid service or even free
(selling advertising).
I think the phone support piece could be huge with the right "gurus"
available to answer phone calls. Digium is great but they will provide
limited support and often their answer is "Digium does not support that
configuration". I think users and even small startup asterisk
consultantcies would use the service, especially if we do a branded
helpdesk. That is, answer the phone based on CID and ANI to the company
that the customer belongs to. We could give small startups the ability
to focus on sales and installations and not worry about support, while
making them seem larger and more capable to the end customemr. This way
they can even markup the telephone support calls and make a couple
bucks.
Feel like helping? I like to make money but my real concern is to build
an Asterisk resource that is very helpful to the community.
Thanks
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Phillips [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 9:14 AM
To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] I need your skiils, but I can't hire you
Steve,
I suggest you look harder for qualified techs. Of the five or so jobs
I've seen come into my mailbox from your system generally only one of
the replies comes from someone one might consider qualified. The rest
are from young opportunists tring to make a fast buck.
This will get your excellent idea a bad name. It has already disuaded
me
from posting my services in response to advertisments.
Someone once told me that if the words "reliable", "cheap" and
"quality"
were aranged in a triangle you would only be able to pick two of the
three. He's right!
Mark, G7LTT/KC2ENI
Randolph, NJ
http://www.g7ltt.com
Steve Totaro wrote:
www.asteriskhelpdesk.com <http://www.asteriskhelpdesk.com/> is
planning
on offering such a service. We are in the process of obtaining
qualified techs that speak different languages and are available
around
the clock. We are developing testing for the techs and a backend
system
for escalation, billing, and history.
Thanks,
Steve
_____
From: Rusty Dekema [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 9:32 PM
To: Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion
Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] I need your skiils, but I can't hire you
Ahh, I gotcha. I thought you meant basically the opposite :). It
does
sound like a good idea.
Somebody could start a firm that would have a contractual
relationship
(employer/employee, independent-contractor, whatever) with some
asterisk
gurus and hire its services out to companies like yours. Companies
like
yours could elect to keep configuration data regarding your system
on
file with the support firm to aid in troubleshooting. The main
stumbling
block that I see is reluctance on behalf of client companies to
trust a
newly-formed firm with the passwords to their phone systems.
-Rusty
On 1/20/06, Michael Welter < [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote:
No, I'm asking the list. How can we collaborate in order to provide
good service to our customers? How do we organize (like Geek Squad)
to
provide 24x7 coverage for Asterisk systems?
Rusty Dekema wrote:
This sounds good to me. Do you have any more information on what you
envision? What information would you like me to provide about my
Asterisk, networking, and computing skills and knowledge?
Sincerely,
Russell Dekema
On 1/20/06, *Michael Welter* < [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>
wrote:
Anyone that isn't looking for a 401K and health insurance,
please
raise
your hand. Anyone that's willing to accept a check (and a 1099)
for
services rendered, please raise your hand.
I envision a large community of collaborators, each with his/her
own
skills. When I decide to spend a week in Can Cun with the Mrs.,
I
need
to know that any problems my customers have are handled by
competent
professionals.
This is an opportunity for someone. Please bring us together
with
the
goal of servicing the customer.
--
Michael Welter
Telecom Matters Corp.
Denver, Colorado US
+1.303.414.4980
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<mailto:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >
www.TelecomMatters.net <http://www.TelecomMatters.net> <
http://www.TelecomMatters.net>
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Michael Welter
Telecom Matters Corp.
Denver, Colorado US
+1.303.414.4980
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
www.TelecomMatters.net <http://www.TelecomMatters.net>
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