Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : outsourcing support?

[james]

Hello All,

I know about outsource-support.com however looking for a company who provides support via a 1800 number many of my clients have been requesting this and have lost a few because I don't offer phone support. I know I can get my own 1800 number for a small fee however not having someone being to answer it there is no sense of having one. I usually reply to e-mails within 4 hours. Anyone know of any companies that handle customer support via 1800?

Thanks for your time

[akashik]

not really an answer to your question but my 2c...

I've spent most of my life (net wise) with nothing but email support and found it perfectly acceptable as long as answers are within 24 hrs. You say you supply these in a lot less so I think it's your call regarding the 1800 number. Sure you may lose a few but will those few clients be worth the extra effort and cost of a 1800 number? Generally people are pretty accepting of a 24 hr turnover via email so unless the numbers are getting high regarding people looking elsewhere I'd probably not bother. A great idea is to supply a HEAVY level of online FAQ and resource listings at your site. I'm looking at a whole PHP, MySQL database thing in regards to FAQ before I even launch (FYI - FAQ-U PHP freeware in regards to this)

I'm figuring if they have easy access to a wealth of tech info, that's easy to look through, 90% of tech ?'s will already be there. If they email still, I can refer them to a page or search quote quickly.

... to be worked out

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

[Chicken]

Originally posted by akashik
(FYI - FAQ-U PHP freeware in regards to this)

Greg, I agree that it doesn't sound like he *needs* it but that is up to the person to decide. Not sure what the quoted part means? Just curious.

[ODE]

Chicken,

I think he was just telling us what software he was using to develop the faq database. The faq-u is located here http://codegrunt.com/faq.php3

[Edited by ODE on 09-13-2000 at 02:52 PM]

[Chicken]

Hmmmm, I tried the demo, seems nice, but I don't know much about installing it... maybe I could give it a whack, just to play... thankx

[akashik]

Originally posted by ODE
Chicken,

I think he was just telling us what software he was using to develop the faq database. The faq-u is located here http://codegrunt.com/faq.php3

[Edited by ODE on 09-13-2000 at 02:52 PM]

Yup! That be it, and yeah it looks nice. I'm in the same boat as you however and haven't intalled PHP before but am going to give it a try. From the ideas I've seen for providing a dynamic system so people can get it the info fast, it looks the best on offer (especially for the price).

Annette's site gave me the idea as she's got a ton of information sitting there people can look through before having to email support. I've decided to take a little further and build a larger support database. Naturally the larger it gets the more important a way to search through it will be hence that system. The less time we all have to provide support each day, is the more time we can use to refine our systems and provide a better over all product, don't you agree?

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

[Chicken]

Agree! In fact, I don't think there should be such a think as a FAQ... if it is asked that often, then it should be incorporated into the support pages, heh.

I am one step ahead of you... php and mysql are installed. But I have a tremendous head cold with makes the noddle a bit cloudy. I don't want to try installing anything just yet. Doesn't sound difficult though, in theory. Hope it is like vbulletin where you just go to the first file and it does the rest for you. Really nice.

[Martie]

Originally posted by james
Hello All,

I know about outsource-support.com however looking for a company who provides support via a 1800 number many of my clients have been requesting this and have lost a few because I don't offer phone support. I know I can get my own 1800 number for a small fee however not having someone being to answer it there is no sense of having one. I usually reply to e-mails within 4 hours. Anyone know of any companies that handle customer support via 1800?

Thanks for your time

Just thought I would add this...you may want to look at this thread in another forum here
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...?threadid=1915
In particular, Daves post he includes a url of a co. that hes used for some time now. I havent checked them out yet, but do intend to.
I did start out with an 800 number some time ago. I dropped the line though, due to alot of prank calls, plus 25 cents a minute! I am going to be looking into another one though. I think it is a help to have, but NOT a necessity IMO.
hope this helps.