I'm wondering if it may be good to outsource phone support, and maybe actually all support. Could you lot give me some recommendations on companies that provide quality outsourcing services, which are affordable though. The company would be required to have (toll-free if possible) phone support - answering phone with my company name ofcourse. It would also have to be available 24/7, but the main thing that's important for me is that it's affordable.

Thanks for any recommendations.

- André

www.touchsupport.com

They're USA based, which is nice :)

As with most outsourcing companies they offer telephone support, but YOU have to provide the 800 number and pay the 800 # bill, in ADDITION to the outsourcing supports fee's.

And yes, TouchSupport offers branded support.

Also, hostworks.ca

How good are they Incognito?
I like their billing/administrative features

Hostworks has an excellent reputation although they don't seem to cater to small hosts. Also, they aren't very responsive to emails, so I would recommend calling and speaking with Wade.

Hey All-

My big problem with outsourcing tech support was (I hate to say it) that I wanted largely unaccented tech support voices. Outsourcing to South Asia certainly has some cost benefits, but it looks to all of your clients like a cost-cutting measure rather than a benefit to them. And I personally have had a few experiences where I just couldn't understand what the heck they were saying (when calling Dell, for example).

We went with mypchelpline com.

Good outfit out of Vancouver, so you get the friendly exchange rates (if you're in the US).

I found by reading this article at ISP Planet (you can find the article by going to mypchelpline's site and clicking on the "news" section.

(They charge a US buck per domain per month , and are currently support lots of Ensim and Plesk clients (never asked about CPanel). I called their references and they all said pretty glowing things about 'em.

If you are a small hosting company (say you host 2000 domains), think about what 4 $15/hr tech support people cost you ($14k per month or so with tax burden and benefits) versus what an outsource company would cost ($2000 a month in this case).

-Tony Wright
PangoMedia, Inc

Originally posted by Incognito
Hostworks has an excellent reputation although they don't seem to cater to small hosts. Also, they aren't very responsive to emails, so I would recommend calling and speaking with Wade.

im assuming this does not extend to actual support issues, correct?

paul

Tony,
Thanks for the post. just wanted to clarify - C Panel is suredly supported.

Thanks
Dan

Originally posted by webwright
And I personally have had a few experiences where I just couldn't understand what the heck they were saying (when calling Dell, for example).


And hence why Dell is moving support back to the US.


Outsourcing to save money can end up costing you more in the end. Personally I would never do it as I value the hands-on approach to support you can take with in-house. You can keep your finger on the pulse and monitor a lot easier.

I decided not to outsource at all, keeping all in my own hands. I'm going to try to get a toll-free number though, but it's not going to be too easy since it would have to be forwarded to our dutch call center, I'm not even sure whether or not that's possible at all..

Thank you for all recommendations,

Some of our customers have been interested in outsourced support solutions so, I checked into hostworks.ca recently, and can't even get a call back from them. I've called 3 times and whenever I call the person that answers the phone says that the person I need to speak with is unavailable. I have also used their contact and quote forms on their website, and e-mailed "wade" directly, and never get any response at all.

Based on their total lack of attention to prospective customers, I would be extremely wary of what kind of treatment your customers would recieve from them.

Originally posted by Apoc
I decided not to outsource at all, keeping all in my own hands. I'm going to try to get a toll-free number though, but it's not going to be too easy since it would have to be forwarded to our dutch call center, I'm not even sure whether or not that's possible at all..

Thank you for all recommendations,

Kall8.com supports call forwarding to the Netherlands.

I had the pleasure of doing business with hostworks.ca in the past and they are a great company. :)

Unlike some support companies these guys will diagnose the problem you are having or they are having over the phone if you call them :D

A++

Offering 24/7 toll free phone support is going to be EXPENSIVE...whether you do it in-house or not. Consider why you feel you need to offer that.

We're getting ready to offer phone support as an add-on feature for shared hosting accounts (those who want it, will pay for it). After much research, its not cost-effective to do phone support any other way...unless we raise our prices considerably.

Originally posted by AffordableHost
Offering 24/7 toll free phone support is going to be EXPENSIVE...whether you do it in-house or not. Consider why you feel you need to offer that.

- We already have 24/7 phone support, however I was concidering to outsource it all, not necessarily toll-free. I changed my mind though, figured it out that it's better to have my own crew take care of it since they know exactly how to deal with problems.

- Why I would need to offer that? Because we offer quality, unlike many many other hosts.

Originally posted by Apoc
- We already have 24/7 phone support, however I was concidering to outsource it all, not necessarily toll-free. I changed my mind though, figured it out that it's better to have my own crew take care of it since they know exactly how to deal with problems.

- Why I would need to offer that? Because we offer quality, unlike many many other hosts.


From what I see, you're not offering shared hosting accounts - you offer dedicated server packages. Obviously, phone support is needed for those services and I can't imagine any company NOT having phone support in that situation.

Originally posted by tbhost
Some of our customers have been interested in outsourced support solutions so, I checked into hostworks.ca recently, and can't even get a call back from them. I've called 3 times and whenever I call the person that answers the phone says that the person I need to speak with is unavailable. I have also used their contact and quote forms on their website, and e-mailed "wade" directly, and never get any response at all.

Based on their total lack of attention to prospective customers, I would be extremely wary of what kind of treatment your customers would recieve from them. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon with their sales group. Once you do reach Wade (happen to catch him there) he is generally very willing to talk at length. Their sales responsiveness is in no way reflective of their support, which is excellent.

Mod Note: SPAM Cleaned.

Tried to call hostworks.ca and the phone was disconnected... anyone have a diff # I can call at?

Toll Free: 1 800 834 1483