What's happened to it?

I used to remember a time that before buying anything on the web, i'd call and make sure that the number on the "Contact Us" page worked.

Now, I have trouble finding a number period. It's not that I make calls everytime, but the fact that its there is comforting if anything goes wrong.

In a service oriented business like hosting, I would expect more of a need for a number. Wouldn't you? The funny thing is, there are all these "dedicated server" and "colocation" companies that do the same thing. No number. Just an email.. or a link to "perldesk".. or a link to a forum.

What ever happened to live phone support?

live phone support costs money. someone has to man the phone.

when you're referrring to discount hosting...as you'll find here...you'll find that some, not all but just some, folks have replaced their phones with AIM/ICQ/MSN id's.

forums allow other clients to fix your problem and perldesk is...well...perldesk. it's a trouble ticket tracker.

I prefer forums, AIM, ICQ, And MSN support

The 1-8** prices are going down...:)

Originally posted by anantatman
What ever happened to live phone support?

Oh, it's still there, but the way the online world is structured these days you're better off with online help. The help desk can be faster most of the time.

Phone support? Never had a need for it. But I'm not a host or reseller.

Basically we plan to offer phone support later this year, however it's much easier to get things done via a helpdesk.

Phone support has it's place, but support via a helpdesk or email gives people a written record. How would you like to spend 10 minutes explaining to someone how to do something over the phone and then have them call back 30 minutes later saying that they broke their site because they couldn't remember exactly what you said.

I do offer phone support and I have a toll free number, but it's not the best option for all types of support. If a host answers helpdesk tickets or emails quickly it can be much more effective than phone support, but I believe there should always be the phone option for emergencies at least.

We also offer a toll free number and will perform call backs quickly however we strongly recommend email and forum support over the phone 99.9% of the time.

As was noted above, email provides both the host and the site owner a record of the interactions. This allows both a way to be able to look back on the details whether it be the same day or months later. It is also a much more reliable way to share accurate information.

With accents and 'sound alike' words as well as simple things such as spaces or CaSe Sensitivity and long urls information can get confusing and become inaccurate quickly. Trying to relay file paths etc can turn a 5 minute email into a 30 minute phone call more often than not.

As was also noted, finances do play a part in the decline of telephone support. Toll-free numbers may have come down in price but I think most clients assume there is supposed to be a human on the other end of the line and that's where costs skyrocket. Those humans range from cheap and clueless answering services to knowledgeable support technicians. Trying to get a 'true tech' to answer phones all day is complicated at best. They are much more willing to answer an email.


I do agree there are some things that are easier to handle over the phone, but when it comes to the technical world, written support is usually far better than voice for all parties involved.

Originally posted by Myacen
it's much easier to get things done via a helpdesk.

Yep. This is pretty much why I do not offer phone support.
Can I? Yes!
Will I? No.

It is much easier to do it over the helpdesk, and it is more manageable. Over the helpdesk, I also have a record of was happened EXACTLY. If it is over the phone, I cannot monitor or track things down of what was done by the previous tech, what has the client done with that info.

I also offer support via, Forum, Chat, but phone system is a bad way of doing support in my opinion.

IMHO, The phone support for dedicated/co-location providers is a must! Lets say one of your servers with 300+ clients went down and lets assume that the network is up, however server is crashed and needs a reboot, which shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. If they have a 24/7 phone support, in approximately 10 minutes you'll be back up. However if there's no phone support, and you want to resolve this issue via e-mail, it make take sometime between 1-6 hours at least. You are down for nothing !

I remember a friend of mine called me up 2:00 AM and said his server at UnitedColo is down. I investigated and got to know that only his server is down and just needed to be reboot. He tried calling them and no lucks. Sending tones of mails still no luck. After 18 hours, they rebooted his server with a note " Sorry for delay, we have rebooted your server. "

Still virtual hosting providers can provide support via AIM/Yahoo/MSN, but for dedicated server providers , Phone support is a must, IMHO.

BurstNET provides real 24/7 Phone support.

However if there's no phone support, and you want to resolve this issue via e-mail, it make take sometime between 1-6 hours at least. You are down for nothing ! Ahhh, if they cannot answer their emails quickly, odds are they wont answer their phones quickly either.

Two separate issues:

1. Ability to call or email
2. Hosts ability to actually man the phones and the email.

If the host had a staff large enough to handle their support desk 24/7 odds are the reboot would have happened faster with an email.

Remember that phone support technicians are (as a general rule..no insults intended) not as technically knowledgeable and/or equipped to perform the task.

The key is ensuring your front line and your 2nd/3rd tier techs are available at all times regardless if it's the phone or the email.

Honestly... The inability to answer an email quickly says nothing about phone support being better or worse...it simply says something about how well staffed the company is.

Honestly, If all questions or problems can be answered via methods online (ex. forums, email, instant messaging) not having phone support shouldn't be a huge problem. I do, however think a phone number to contact the company/host would be nice to have as a "last" resort.

just my 2 cents :D

There are still alot of providers that offer phone support, And i also remember what you speak of, but i also remember paying $50/mo for 10gb of transfer and 50mb space, Because hosting has gone left and right to become so cheap.

Dedicated hosting = phone support must
Shared hosting = Not at all

IMHO.

you pay $10 per month recieves 20 gb of bandwidth unlimited domain hosting and now you need 24x7 phone support as well..lol..get real :D :stickout:

<insert sarcasm tags here> Dedicated hosting = phone support must Even if that dedicated hosting drops to $39.95 a month?? :D :angry: ya just know that's where it's headed :angry: :D

I have a server at RackSpace right now, and I must say that their phone support is fantastic. I can get a hold of a level 3 tech at 3am.

The techs there are also very enthusiastic and willing to help, no matter what type of problem you're having.

It's all in what you pay for.

if you are paying for a dedicated server, then you need immediate response. But in those cases, you are paying $100+ a month so 1-2 calls a month and you're really still making some money.

For a Shared account, I think most people don't need phone support but it's a luxury. To be able to know that 95% of the time you can email them or open a ticket, but when the site is down or their's a major problem, you can get ahold of someone immediately. People just like that assurance.
But there are a lot of people that also just want that 'human' contact and hand holding from talking to someone on the phone.

Personally I'd rather shoot off an email and feel confident that within the hour I'll get a detailed thorough response.

It all goes back to getting what you pay for. if you go with the cheapest host, no way can you afford phone support.

Originally posted by anantatman
What's happened to it?

I used to remember a time that before buying anything on the web, i'd call and make sure that the number on the "Contact Us" page worked.

Now, I have trouble finding a number period. It's not that I make calls everytime, but the fact that its there is comforting if anything goes wrong.

In a service oriented business like hosting, I would expect more of a need for a number. Wouldn't you? The funny thing is, there are all these "dedicated server" and "colocation" companies that do the same thing. No number. Just an email.. or a link to "perldesk".. or a link to a forum.

What ever happened to live phone support?

Hello,

Having done phone support previously and now mainly ticket based support, I will say that the web based support is superior. Why? Costs.

At this point in history web hosting accounts are going for very inexpensive amounts. When you're selling a months worth of web hosting for less than the cost of a happy meal, where are the hosts supposed to come up with the money to run 800 numbers and staff phones? They're not.

Phone/800 number support was doable when hosting was, say, $24.95 per account and up. (just a random number there) Now that we're in the bargain basement prices it just simply cannot be done.

Now, if there's something important that needs to be done and voice contact is a requirement, I have no problem with making an outbound phone call. I do believe in providing for my clients world class customer support, no matter what. But when you're dealing with a plan that earns you 9 cents a day, it makes it tough.

Just an opinion from a bargain host :)

-David

Originally posted by anantatman
What's happened to it?

I used to remember a time that before buying anything on the web, i'd call and make sure that the number on the "Contact Us" page worked.

Now, I have trouble finding a number period. It's not that I make calls everytime, but the fact that its there is comforting if anything goes wrong.

In a service oriented business like hosting, I would expect more of a need for a number. Wouldn't you? The funny thing is, there are all these "dedicated server" and "colocation" companies that do the same thing. No number. Just an email.. or a link to "perldesk".. or a link to a forum.

What ever happened to live phone support?

One sentence

"business being ran out of the home"

This would be my opinion. there are so many hosts that work out of their home it is not possible for them to offer a phone number for support.

For the smaller host, especially resellers, phone support can be a expensive item.

1) Need someone to man the phone. For a small one or two person hosting service, this can be a problem

2) Email and ticket systems allow what phones don't. Cut and pasting. Most times it's MUCH easier to visually describe problems and solutions then try to talk about it on a phone.

3) Phones provide no real tracking. You end up having to type up the phone conversation, and that ends up not necessarily being 100% correct and subject to dispute. Emails and tickets are hard proof of what transpires.

And, you are correct, I think a majority of hosting providers and tech staff work out of their homes. This is the digital age, with IRC, IM, Email, Forums, etc, there is really no need for a small to medium host to have a storefront/office. As you grow, then it makes more sense, but a lot of host still have phones. Usually to the owner though for sales inquiries.

Problem with phones is you end up paying a big bill because Joe Blow forgot his password or feels the need to bitch ever 20 mins, etc. YOu have a sever hiccup where it goes down for a min or two and the switchboard lights up. Usually, the same 3 or 4 people who sit there all day monitoring their sites obsessively. Kinda distracts you from fixing the problems. :)

I've never had the need for phone support. E-mail, support desk, work fine for me though I rarely use that either. All my hosts have forums which is where I normally find answers to questions or server issues.

Heh,

I understand your point of view:

"It's cheap not to offer it"
"Too much work"
"Would raise prices"

But what if you have people who need help over the phone.. A lot of people aren't so called "internet savvy" and need help doing a simple thing like transferring their domain. Then what? You'd rather completely snuff out that prospective customer base because it costs a little?

It's called ROI. Does the cost of the phone in manhours, line costs, etc outweigh the few lost customers at 3.95 a month?

If you aren't internet savvy, maybe you shouldn't be looking to run a website to begin with. It's like trying to walk before you can crawl. If you want to run a website, you should do a little research and have some basic understandings of whats involved. I'm here to provide the resources to run a site, not teach them how to code it, etc.

:)

And I don't think "it's cheap NOT to offer it". It's a business and you have to look at the bottom line. Is it cost effective?

Too much work? No, not if you have the staff. But it's not the most effective method of support IMHO.

Would raise prices? Probably, if not definitely in my case.

Originally posted by anantatman
Heh,

I understand your point of view:

"It's cheap not to offer it"
"Too much work"
"Would raise prices"

But what if you have people who need help over the phone.. A lot of people aren't so called "internet savvy" and need help doing a simple thing like transferring their domain. Then what? You'd rather completely snuff out that prospective customer base because it costs a little?

As stated earlier, I don't have a problem with giving people callbacks if the situation merits it. However, I'd rather completely snuff out the prospective customer base than spend many many times their monthly fees for an 800 number.

Support costs money, simple as that. With people looking for everything and the kitchen sink in their hosting packages at the cheapest price possible something has to give. And that something is usually 800 number support.

-David

I was debating offering 1-800 support. I think it would be quite expensive as most people would abuse this feature ...

The only time I can think of where it would be good is when I am offline and something goes wrong. I've recently picked up two staff to take care of things while I am gone and am teaching them the basic ropes of handling server issues though they're not really for that.

As stated, IMO, tickets/forums/irc/aim outweigh phone ... no language barriers, time don't cost you money (so to speak), and you can copy/paste things as needed.

If you spend 5 minutes explaining how to park a domain and they don't get it and want it repeated that's 5 more minutes, where as you could copy/pastewhat you said and explain more in depth the parts they don't get...

Perhaps for emergency only... or maybe someone could charge for phone support if you use over 5 mintues a month. If it boiled down to price inceases or paying for phone support I think most would opt to stick to better (IMO) means of support or pay for that phone support.

Yes phone for dedicated / colo is a must. But for virtual hosting or resellers phone support should only be used for emergencies.

If used for regular phone support:
Daily requests resolved via helpdesk per tech: 100
Daily requests resolved via phone per tech: 10

As you can see, the costs will be high in hiring phone support techs. The reason why you saw so much phone support before was that there were mostly big companies offering $5 per gig until recently.

I agree, with you there on the costs.. But is it really better to snuff it out completely?

Also what about things like PHP Live!, HumanClick, or LivePerson.. Is this something that could replace phone support?

AIM/MSN/IRC/ICQ, all those things require the client to actually be a member of one of those networks.

I'm looking along more of the lines of convenience and efficiency rather than cost.

Hmmmm, Hmmmmmmmm

Well I would have too say we had a toll free number over the past 6 months and recently decided it's not cost effective.

We recieved 3-4 calls during that 6 months , guess what not one of them were customers , they were all sales calls from people trying to sell us servers , billing software etc

Saying a toll free number is cheap is kinda a joke , it cost money to have people man the number 24/7 , so it isn't cheap by any standard at all.

I have to agree there are many more cost effective means of providing fast support such as Live chat , AIM, ICQ , MSN , Support Desk etc .


There are many fine hosting companies that don't offer toll free numbers and are very sucessful in providing quick and timely support via other methods than a toll free number.

I am willing to join a host that pays me for using them, considering pricing now it's just a matter of time ;)

Originally posted by Myacen
I am willing to join a host that pays me for using them, considering pricing now it's just a matter of time ;)


Indeed :stickout:

We normally deal with Shared Hosting customers via e-mail or IM. This makes sense especially for discount hosting. If someone has a site so important as to warrant an immediate response they should be paying more then $3-$10 per month.

All of our dedicated and colo customers have a 24/7 phone number as well as pager addresses. The 24/7 number is forwarded to a tech's cell phone so someone always answers right away. Having a colo or dedicated server with someone who doesn't provide a phone number is just stupid.

Aaron

Originally posted by anantatman
I agree, with you there on the costs.. But is it really better to snuff it out completely?

Also what about things like PHP Live!, HumanClick, or LivePerson.. Is this something that could replace phone support?

AIM/MSN/IRC/ICQ, all those things require the client to actually be a member of one of those networks.

I'm looking along more of the lines of convenience and efficiency rather than cost.

One does not have to "belong" to IRC like AIM, ICQ, etc. You can simply put Jpilot or one of the other java based clients on your site....

I agree. Even some expensive companies do not offer phone support. I mean, come on, its not like customers are asking for too much. Phone support is not that expensive and its one of the major reasons for ME personally when the time comes to choose hosting.

I just don't trust e-mails and messengers anymore. I'd like to know that I can call somewhere and talk to a real person (even long distance is ok with me) when something happens.

Best,

I am willing to join a host that pays me for using them, considering pricing now it's just a matter of time

not so funny because that was how hosting on the internet started off! and this service is already available today at many web sites.

i am referring to companies like tripod and yahoo/geocities. they offer you web hosting (you get paid with the value of some free of cost web space) and in return they get paid by advertising (your web hosting fees are in reality paid by their advertisers).

will you get paid cash in return for using a web hosting company's services in the future. sure! the amounts could be a percentage cut from their advertising profits. if you site would be very popular, this amount may be attractive enough too. keep in mind that bandwidth is getting cheaper and cheaper. also keep in mind that non-pc based devices like pda's, cellular phones, internet enabled TV sets etc are becoming more and more popular.

so i predict that in the near future your getting paid hard cash to host a web site with some hosting companies will become a reality.

this could become a reality sooner if IPv6 becomes a reality sooner.

Greetings:

There are still a lot of companies that offer telephone support (yes, for shared hosting customers, too) as well as toll free support.

Thank you.

I think the big differentiator would be the size of the company. A lot of the smaller companies (which is hte majority of hosts) don't have the amount of clients to make it a feasible option. Once you have enough clients to support a 24/7 staff then phone support becomes an option. But for most of these 1-2 man deals, not much hope there.

When I decided on a dedicated hosting provider I only considered those who offered phone support. Not because it's a necessity, but because it just gives me peace of mind to be able to call and request a reboot .

If the server goes down and I'm away from a computer but get alerted via my cell phone, I can just call and have the server back up within minutes. That's a big plus.

For shared hosting, though, I wouldn't care if phone support was offered or not.

Originally posted by JP.
When I decided on a dedicated hosting provider I only considered those who offered phone support. Not because it's a necessity, but because it just gives me peace of mind to be able to call and request a reboot .

If the server goes down and I'm away from a computer but get alerted via my cell phone, I can just call and have the server back up within minutes. That's a big plus.

For shared hosting, though, I wouldn't care if phone support was offered or not.

I was beginning to think offering ONLY toll free support was a bad thing, then I read this thread, and I'm glad I did it again. With my toll free, I can be "followed" anyplace - office, home, cell... plus I think it makes my customers feel better. Heck, for a few pennies a minute, it's not that big of a problem.

Joe

You offer ONLY toll free support with a follow you everywhere number? So what do you do if someone calls at 4am and wants to know how to set up their email accounts? I hope you're not the only one answering those calls.

In the past year, I can remember only a handful of customers calling to ask anything - most communication is handled via IRC or E-Mail, worst case, ticket desk.

IF someone calls at 4am to setup an e-mail account, it may get answered, it may go to voice mail, but they WILL receive a call back as quick as possible.

Yes however, there is more than one person answering the phones.

Originally posted by hostpc.com


I was beginning to think offering ONLY toll free support was a bad thing, then I read this thread, and I'm glad I did it again.

I understand your position now, but the above quote gave me the impression that you didn't offer any other form of support other than phone support.