Well due to huge growth, we are looking for companies to outsource support to, or support staff, which ever is better.

Please post companies who specialize in out sourcing support.

I know Hyper-Techs (http://hyper-techs.com/). But i never tried them yet. Any others?

I looked into this a while ago, but came up with little. :(

The best thing I could come up with (in the UK anyway) was a manned support desk 8-6, with an outsourced call-centre taking calls outside those hours. I was predicting that a good percentage of the calls could be answered with URLs on the support site (give the call centre a book of questions & URLs), otherwise the call is logged and answered by e-mail or phone (customer's choice) first thing the next morning.

But even that was tough with my short budget..

I'd be interested to see if many exist? (And what they claim to be able to support!)

Sorg

Hello
We use Hyper-techs.com and can vouch for their effectiveness.

Gordon

Gordon,

Do you know what is their average response time for a support request? They told me by email it was about an hour, is it true?

Thanks

Hello
I could check back through our logs but it seems to be within an hour, often faster.
Given that all they do is answer support calls its not surprising they do it quite quickly.

Gordon

Thanks Gordon.

They also monitor the server and if it goes down, they either restart it via telnet, ssh, whm or call the provider for a restart. That's a good thing if it's in the middle of the night :)

Yes
We actually have another monitoring service which alerts me by pager.

Having said that we don't have server failures since we set a cron job to kill off Akopia Interchange every 24 hours.

Gordon

These guys do it.
http://www.cylynx.com/

We had talked to them, but it turned out to be more expensive then we thought.

Yes
I looked at them as well but it would have been about $2000 per month and it just didn't make sense.

Gordon

Originally posted by GordonH
Hello
We use Hyper-techs.com and can vouch for their effectiveness.

Gordon

hi GordonH,

how much you pay Hyper-techs.com for one email request and is there any minimum or maximum amount to be spent each month?

Hello
Best to look at their web site.
I can't remember exactly how much is included in the monthly charge.
After that there is a per incident charge.Also, I am locked into a long term contract with them and they have put up their prices since then so I really wouldn't know what they charge.

The secret is to reduce your support requests to the minimum by providing good documentation. Also I do a lot of the support anyway (especially with new customers).

Gordon

Are you able to still answer the support requests yourself if you are around. If so, do they still count it as one that they have answered. I am getting ready to sign with them soon I think, so any advice would be appreciated.

I dont see how outsourced support can be cost-effective. If you look at $1.50 for any additional support requests and you have a customer that needs help 10-15 times per month, you'll pay $15-$20 for that customer only. Hopefully you'll get that somehow in your packages.

I guess it depends on the average support requests per customer. Personally I have very few customers that require 10-15 different support requests each month that they are with me. I do have a couple that need 5-10 support requests in their first month, but after that they are usually set up and running. Most of the clients don't require any support at all.

Hyper-techs needs some support. Their site is down :)

Hello
They only charge you for incidents they actually handle.
We have our ownhelp desk systemwhich sends alerts to them and us.
If we answer it they don't bill us.
If they answer it they bill us.


Its not as expensive as might appear.
I think our monthly bill is $600 - $700 which is based on us having about 1000 hosting customers we support directly (this excludes resold accounts where the reseller counts as one customer, and people on domain plus hosting mini packages who don't get 24/7 cover)


$600 is still cheaper than paying 2 people, which is what it would take to cover 24/7
Also, there is an opportunity cost problem.
I would rather be spending my time setting up new products and selling them instead of dealing with Frontpage Password problems.
I make more than $600 per month from the things I do when Hyper-techs are covering support issues.

Gordon

Thanks Gordon,

That is what I was hoping. I am thinking I will set up wonderdesk and handle the main support during the day. They can then pick up the ones when I am gone/asleep.

Is the link at the top of the thread correct? I still can't get to their site.

Its working fine here:

http://www.hyper-techs.com

Gordon

We had been using Hyper-Techs. After only 3 days, we received this letter via email without any notice:


Valued Clients,


We regret to inform you that due to the recent and unexpected departure of two key support technicians it has crippled our ability to provide support on any of our offered support plans. We have carefully evaluated our options at this point and we are left with little choice but to remove this offering and possibly relocate to an area that has experienced and available administrators in the active job market. To address any billing issues with your company; there will be no billing or collection in regards to any company that was on a support plan for this month or the remaining term. We sincerely regret that we are unable to provide this service any longer and apologize form any inconvenience this has caused. We can recommend the following companies that can assist you with your support needs if you desire.
www.cylynx.com
www.mermaidconsulting.com
www.outsource-support.com


Respectfully,
Hyper-Techs.Com


After repeated attempts (even as recent as a few weeks ago), phone calls were never returned and basically we were blown off by Joe Sullivan and this very unprofessional company.

Gordon, I am glad they are working out for you, but I would be very careful about using them for tech support. When they were needed the most, they basically up and left and gave this bogus excuse saying that they were closing down. Needless to say, they were and are running operations as normal.

Oh well, buyer beware.

I can honestly say this has not been my experience of this company.

I even went to France for 2 weeks and left them to handle new account set ups with no real problems.
The problems you recount may be to do with problems when they were first setting up.
Certainly, they are still in business and I received a new 6 month contract from them on Friday.

Gordon

Gordon:

As I said, I am glad things are working out for you, but this was not the case for us.

I am not saying they are a bad company, or that they are out of business, but I am just letting people know how we were treated by Hyper-Techs. I know they are still in business, but they made it seem like they were not anymore. They still do not return our phone calls. You may or may not have had a similar experience, I am only showing ours, and the unprofessionalism that we had received.

This is news to me... There was a period of two weeks in the begining when we did put things on hold due to some turmoil with my former partner. I was not aware of any letter being sent out as you posted here. I have also received no phone calls or emails from your company in regards to this.

Interestingly enough right before I was alerted to this post I received a rather obscene submission from our website.
If you care to discuss this further the number is 405-286-0919


Joe Sullivan

Joe:

I hope that wasn't an accusation. If so, please back it up.

Secondly, why would we get the email from your company as posted? Did we make it up? And why is it that right after we got that letter your company did not answer any phone calls or emails from us?

I just spoke to Mike and he said that he has tried to contact you numerous times and you never returned his phone calls. Also, just out of curiosity, did it ever occur to you to wonder why you were not providing support anymore for WeinBar?

If you didn't send out that email, why is it that you just stopped providing support and never questioned it? Must be our problem. Because we are the ones who just made this whole thing up?

Would you like me to post more documentation on this?

Correct me I am wrong but one possible way that things happened is his formal partner was leaving the business (due to some turmoil as stated above). I do not know what is what with the situation but is it not possible his former partner was trying to damage the business that (s)he was leaving and the response that was given here was one by a person in shock of learning about all this and not wanting to air the companies dirty laundry. :smokin:

Yes, that is possible, but it still does not explain why Joe would not return numerous phone calls or emails to us. And this has been as recent as a couple of weeks ago, so that explanation does not hold any water.

Originally posted by WeinBar Jack
Yes, that is possible, but it still does not explain why Joe would not return numerous phone calls or emails to us. And this has been as recent as a couple of weeks ago, so that explanation does not hold any water.


We use Hyper-Techs extensively and have had nothing but professional service....

Even if this email you received was genuine, and it appears that may be in question, I would suggest that it's contents are reasonable in any event. If they were unable to perform their job for any reason, which ISN'T the case, I would rather hear about it that way than have customers complain that there was a problem with support issues being badly dealt with... through lack of staff.

Some of you guys just never give up... you want people to be honest and yet if they are you accuse them of being unprofessional... I suppose Weinbar has had a clear sailing, hassle free run with all customers totally happy, so this is obviously a foreign concept...

Anyway, regardless of whether they do your support or not, I can say that if they accept you as a customer, they seem to act just the way I would expect, promptly and professionally.

Originally posted by felix220

Even if this email you received was genuine, and it appears that may be in question


Right. Now why would I post a fake email here? Are you nuts? Shall I post it with the full headers? Would that make you happy? Any reason why you think I am lying about this? And what would I have to gain about that? Let's be reasonable here.


Some of you guys just never give up... you want people to be honest and yet if they are you accuse them of being unprofessional...


But, that's the issue. They were not honest. If they were honest, they would not tell us that they would not be providing support anymore and yet they clearly are.


I suppose Weinbar has had a clear sailing, hassle free run with all customers totally happy, so this is obviously a foreign concept...


Thanks for the shot. I have been with WeinBar for only a short time now and I know that they have had problems in the past. From what I understand, support has been in question. I know that Mike had started with Hyper-Techs, but they bailed out 3 days into providing support. It has taken a little time, but I am now on staff with them and we could use more as well. This is NOT about WeinBar's support issues and that was totally unreasonable for you to post that. But you did, so I am entitled to stick up for the company I work for.


Anyway, regardless of whether they do your support or not, I can say that if they accept you as a customer, they seem to act just the way I would expect, promptly and professionally.

Not to us. They did accept us as a customer and quit 3 days later. And, even if that email was a fake as you may think (which again, there is no basis for that), that does not explain why we have a signed contract from them and after 3 days they did not provide any more service. No response from them at all except for that email. At the very least, someone would wonder why they weren't providing any more support.

Originally posted by WeinBar Jack
Right. Now why would I post a fake email here? Are you nuts? Shall I post it with the full headers? Would that make you happy? Any reason why you think I am lying about this? And what would I have to gain about that? Let's be reasonable here.

Settle down... did I say you were lying? I said it may not be a genuine email, for example, it may have been sent without proper authority etc.. I have no doubt you rec'd it.



But, that's the issue. They were not honest. If they were honest, they would not tell us that they would not be providing support anymore and yet they clearly are.


Well I don't know the details, nor do I want to, but this is just so far off the experience we have, that I expect there is probably more to it..



This is NOT about WeinBar's support issues and that was totally unreasonable for you to post that. But you did, so I am entitled to stick up for the company I work for.


Well I know nothing of Weinbars support problems, and I didn't even say you had any.. it was a comment that was meant to indicate that this was a common scenario, for any host. Don't be so jumpy... :)

We had trouble keeping up and that's why we use them, so I apologise if it seemed that I was having a 'shot' at you, but I was trying to make it clear that Hyper-Techs are not the way you describe.. just as you are sticking up for your company now...


I certainly don't want to suggest that your company is in any way less than excellent, and I'm sorry you are having troubles, as will plague all hosts at one time or another, but to question someone's honesty over a situation like this is a bit strong, is really what I'm suggesting..

Good luck ..

Felix:

No problems here at all. I was just commenting on your posts.

I have no doubt as to the excellence of Hyper-Techs. Mike had hired them originally for a reason. He had done his homework and thought they would be a great addition to his team. Unfortunately, it did not work out for WeinBar.

There would be no need to post here about them except for the fact that they did not respond at all to any requests. Not one. This is the only reason that I posted here in the first place. It was not to take a shot at Hyper-Techs, but to share our experiences as well. It is only to inform people that things, with any company, are not only good, good, good. THere are people with bad experiences as well and I think that people have a right to hear the bad ones as well as the good ones so they can make an informative decision.

This is the same way with our company. We are not perfect. We have had our problems. We have learned by them and moved on. The problem with a company is when they get their complaints and don't do anything about them!

SInce Hyper-Techs is still in business and obviously providing good support for people, they must have learned by their experiences and moved on. I am glad it is working out for everyone involved.

The only thing that I was saying about their honesty is because from the email cancellation it seemed as though they were cancelling service. I would have no problem with this if in fact that is what they were doing. But, to go ahead and send that response out and continue service for others and not return phone calls is what I am questioning as doing good business. As I said, I am sure that they are providing good support as to the reasons that WeinBar was going to use them in the first place.

I am glad they got their act together.