Hello All,

I was just wondering as how important is 1-800 tollfree support for hosting business ? does it affect a buying decision to a great extent ?

What I wish to understand is that can efficient email support system be a replacement for 1-800 system.

So the question is :
Which is more important ?

- a response time by email of less than 10 minutes ?
- 1-800 number

I dont think it determines a buying decesion at all..It may however be helpful..I had an 800 number for awhile and did finally disconnect the number simply because I was getting prank messages on my machine, plus it cost me 25 cents per minute and was US only??
If someone insists a call? Sure, I will be glad to call them but give me a reason that I cannot handle via email??
I also have ICQ as well but dont publish that UNLESS a client needs me too--of course, then I would pull it up.
Hope this bit of info helps, just an opinion, nothing more, and btw---hostcaters-equals=FEMALE!!

I think both are important....you should phone your local telephone company and inquire about an International Toll Free number, I was quite surprised, I bought an International Toll free 1-800 number for $6/month, and I got an extra number that they bind it too so I get a different ring when it's coming from the 1-800 number for another $3/month, so it's all very cheap anyway!

Thanx for both the views !
An international 1-800 line is impossible for me, since I am not opeating in USA :(

However in that case I decide to provide support by email.
Do you think 10 minute response time is reasonable ? Or it should be faster or can be relaxed ?

talash--YES, 10 min response time would be very favorable.
Thats alot though to promise..I have found most people respond well if you get back to them within 24 hours.If your response time turns out to be 10 min. or 1 hour then thats great!
Good Luck!!

Thanx Martie,

I am just working on my hosting company, which I am relaunching on Oct 1 :) Want to be very careful.

Any suggestion as what other as services people generally look from a hosting company ? I mean to be a very competitive and professional company. Whats missing ? :) :)
Just trying to understand that !

It will come up at my website and webhostindia.com

Talash, have a look around the forum (previous posts) and do a search for various related topics and you'll find heaps of info for what you require. ;)

It is not impossible to get an International 1-800 number, I'm not in the U.S. either!

I think 24 hr turnaround is a reasonable expectation for most people. As long as the answer they get is helpful and answers their question, or tells people help is on the way and something is being done as they speak (so to speak).

If it is less than that all the better. I'm not going to promote anything less than 24 hour turnaround but am assuming a max of 12 hour (ie, mail check in the morning, frequent checks through the day, with final check later at night). If people are expecting 24 hours and get a response of 10 minutes they'll be happy.. If they expect 10 minutes and get 24 hour... well. :)

akashik hit upon a good point, one that you should consider very carefully. Don't promise 10 minutes, when you know that it just won't be possible. First 10 minutes isn't all that much time. How long do you have your email program set to check for messages? Mine is 10 minutes. Right there you could be in trouble.

Second, 10 minutes reminds me of Dominos "30 minute" delivery promise, which was fine until one of the drivers had an accident and people realized that while fast pizza is important, it isn't worth anyone dying.

I know (as you could probably tell), I sometimes can get long winded if I am not careful and take over 10 minutes to even type an email in an effort to exlain something to a customer or possible customer.

And lastly, what if the problem isn't a quickie, "What are your nameservers?" type problem? What if you have to research the problem which could take several minutes? Quick emails back to customers saying, "We're working on it" don't make them happy.

My suggestion is to be realistic about what you can actually provide, what you think you'll be able to provide a year from now when you get busy, and then add a few hours onto that in case something comes up. This way you won't disappoint someone now, nor in the future.

When you have a simple question, it is nice to be able to call, but otherwise, it doesn't allow time to research the problem. Calling, to me, is like ambushing the techs., and it doesn't make me feel any better to wait on hold while things are looked into. Seems too many companies (even reputable ones) forget to call the customer back after the issue has been resolved which doesn't make them happy as well.

/chapter one

Hello Chicken and akashik,

I think you have given me a very good advice. You are right about this point. However what we can assure our customer that we will try to help you as soon as possible and if there is a basic problem or ooff the shelf answer or a quickie config, you might get it right across in a small time, otherwise we will get back to you as soon as possible on the subject ?

Do you think this will be okay.

I feel that we need to give a commitment (let it be 24 hours or so) to the customer so that he feels confident and convinient.

Just trying to keep things clear.

Thank you again for such a nice advice.

1-800 line is a good tool if customer need reach you any time during the day if email has not been answered as well. I still have my 1-877 line but havent start up yet. Looking for right time, that is important.

Well I'm pretty new here myself but I'm glad it helped. I suppose if you really feel the need to respond straight away to a client, at least check out the problem first and let them know what it is (though in most cases they already probably know themselves). If it's an easy fix, by the time they check their mail it may already be a non-issue anyway.

I can only say what *I* like to hear from support. I don't expect solutions straight away but I do like to be informed as to the problem, that they are aware of it, and if it's not able to be fixed straight away, a general idea of the steps they are taking to fix the solution, with a ballpark 'fix time' if it's going to be more than 24 hours. Forget autoresponders as it primes people for a quick answer beyond the 'canned' response, which usually is a long time coming.

It's that simple in my view. Informed personal responses with enough detail to keep them in the loop. Naturally you may have to 'fudge' the truth at times instead of telling them "I screwed up big time and it's all my fault", but even then, sometimes people prefer that to nothing - just make sure they have a sense of humour *lol*

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

Thats great dude,

I think we were able to figure out the need of the consumer :) thats an important thing to do.

So what we know is that :

- fast response time must be gauranteed (if problem can be solved immediately - solve) or
- you can clearly state that the fix will take xyz time

This will keep the customer calm and satisfied !
I would try this combination.

I am glad we reached a conclusion.

Many times a "support request" has nothing to do with problems with the server. When a client wants something changed and I cannot do so for whatever reason, I try to never simply say "no", even with an explanation. Always try to give alternatives as well, even if they are not practical, and explain that you realize it is not an ideal solution, but that it would work. This way they do not feel like they are stuck out on a limb, or all alone.

It is more often a physciological solution than a technical one :) I have experienced this before, specially when I alone was left to support all the customers on the servers! What a nightmare it was :) This only gave me this idea of providing instantaneous response at least :)

I know, I know, it does not work for some tech savvy clients, but in general it seems to work fine.