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  1. #1
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    Having A Seperate Billing/Support Site

    Looking for opinions . . .

    What do you guys think about having a support/billing site seperate from your main company web site. Basically a seperate site where clients log in to do billing and get support.

    i ask, because the solutions I want to use for support and billing are PHP and my company site is in PHP.

    Thanks for your input.
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  2. #2
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    I think it could get confusing for customers.

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  3. #3
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    I think its a great idea and more and more companies are doing this. If, for example, you have downtime on your main site or server and have your billing/support site elsewhere then customers still have a way to get in touch with you. I would make sure the domain is very close to the original though so that it would be easy to remember in the event that they can't reach your main site. I'm in the process of doing this with my support site as well (though the domain has NOTHING to do with my main company name - ugh)

  4. #4
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    My main site is MyNameSolutions.com
    I was thinking of using mnssupport.com for billing and support.
    I also have a seperate domain site set up at mnsdomains.com

    Thanks for all your input.
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  5. #5
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    Yeah, but you could have http://support.yourdomain.com hosted someplace other than your main site.

    We did the domainname.info thing for awhile, for sales/support. It caused alot of confusion. We also did the supportdomain.com for awhile - got some complaints from customers thinking we were outsourcing our tech support because it was a separate domain name.

    --Tina
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  6. #6
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    If I did do a second site, what would be a better domain to use?
    mnssupport.com
    or
    mynamesolutions.info

    thanks
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  7. #7
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    Oct 2000
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    Why would you want to go to the 2nd site? I'm sure you'd be losing some visitors.

    If they go to site 1 for information and realize they have to go to a different site for support & billing, they might just say forget the hassle.

  8. #8
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    I don't know about using this method for the everyday but having a back up support area and client management solution on a different network is a good idea.
    Dana aka Laci My Alter Ego
    Former WHT Moderator

  9. #9
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    another thing to consider is to set a 3rd NS and setup a clone site on the 2nd server. Then if your main site goes down the clients will fail maybe once or twice but will get to your site even using the main domain. With the cloned site available then they'd never notice a difference except when one of them was down, and even then it would be only momentary? Just an idea...

  10. #10
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    I was thinking of keeping the design the same, so the transition would be almost transparent.
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  11. #11
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    Aug 2004
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    Originally posted by Laci
    I don't know about using this method for the everyday but having a back up support area and client management solution on a different network is a good idea.
    Having a backup support area is a good idea, but not a separate one from your website. It causes a lot of confusion.

  12. #12
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    Mar 2000
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    Re: Having A Seperate Billing/Support Site

    Originally posted by MyNameSolutions
    What do you guys think about having a support/billing site seperate from your main company web site. Basically a seperate site where clients log in to do billing and get support.
    I think it's unnecessary. You want to make things as simple as possible.
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  13. #13
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    ok - as i am thinking through this . . . i am thinking seperate sites as in hosted on different servers. BUT keeping the same design so it integrates and looks like one site.

    My company site is all CF, but my billing and support is PHP. And I would rather run the PHP on a Linux than Windows.

    that being said which domain would be better:
    mynamesolutions.info
    or
    mnssupport.com
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  14. #14
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    You can host a subdomain of your primary domain on a different network, you know?

    --Tina
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  15. #15
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    Re: Having A Seperate Billing/Support Site

    Originally posted by MyNameSolutions
    What do you guys think about having a support/billing site seperate from your main company web site. Basically a seperate site where clients log in to do billing and get support.
    Or you could host your main site + billing + helpdesk in a different datacenter than that of your clients. I've found that method to be optimum.
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  16. #16
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    Apr 2005
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    Originally posted by MyNameSolutions
    that being said which domain would be better:
    mynamesolutions.info
    or
    mnssupport.com
    Like AH-Tina already told you:

    mynamesolutions.com as your main website and
    support.mynamesolutions.com as your support/billing website

    Why make it complicated when it can be so simple

  17. #17
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    I think the point is being glossed over here.

    My company site is in ColdFusion, so it is on a Windows Server. My billing and support solutions are in PHP, which would run better on Linux. That is the only reason I want to seperate them. It's not to make anything harder.
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  18. #18
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    Aug 2003
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    We know that you want two different OSes, but mynamesolutions.com can point to a Windows box so CF can run, and support.mynamesolutions.com can point to a Linux box to run the PHP.

    They can be in different datacenters, whatever, it doesn't matter.

    Heck, they can be in different countries for all it matters.

  19. #19
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    I think a separate domain works just fine. We've been doing it for years, and nobody's become "confused." Whether you do a subdomain or a separate domain is an issue of semantics, in my experience. So long as you tell people how to reach you, and communicate it consistently, people will find you...

    • Be sure to include detailed information in your welcome e-mail on how exactly people can get support.
    • Include the support & billing URL on all your invoices, ticket response templates, etc.
    • Put direct links to your support URL on your main website.


    We also have a separate off-network site for reporting network status and server problems, and have installed a copy of Cerberus over there as a back-up helpdesk so that if the main support site is down, they can just send an e-mail to our Support Team address. The e-mail will get logged into our back-up desk and paged straight-away to the tech pager.


    Layers of redundancy makes it work. Communication is the key.

    Bailey
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