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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2001
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    1,349

    Good to turn off email support tickets?

    I'm seriously looking into turning off allowing support tickets via email. Here are the reasons:

    - For some strange reason users always like to send emails with anything OTHER than their registered billing email address. This means less security, more time to authenticate the users, etc. Not only this, but many won't even bother telling me what their account is, resulting in email tag.

    - Some users insist on sending duplicate emails to multiple email addresses, some of which don't even deal with their issues. For instance sales@, reseller@, billing@, etc when their issue has to do with FTP.

    - Security. Often times sensitive information needs to be sent. Email is plaintext, so there's no security there.


    Obviously the downside is that customers may be pissed because it's harder to contact support. They'd have to log in to their ModernBill (suppose ModernBill is being used, integrated with some support ticket system) and send it from there.

    What are your thoughts?

  2. #2
    You should not disable support by email as thats the most convenient way for customers to communicate and many times customers just like to email support@yourdomain.com to get some issue resolved.

    If they email billing dept for FTP issue then move the ticket in support queue and inform the customer to email support for support related issues from next time. Potential customers also send email to sales or support to see the response time and disabling email support will make you loose some potential customers.

  3. #3
    Which help desk you are using ?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Israel
    Posts
    133
    Won't be very smart to disable email support.

    Regarding the wrong department. Simply transfer their message to the correct department and email the client telling them next time they would receive a faster response if they emailed the correct address.

    You might also want to redirect them to a page explaining what each department handles and their addresses.

    - Tomer
    Christmas time is among us, get your loved ones Designer Fragrances

  5. #5
    I agree with Tomer, You can always have way around (complete shutting down email support is not a wise move )-- Also several ticket boards provide move option ... you can simply move tickets from one queue to another.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Posts
    542
    This is quite reasonable - we don't officially allow direct email support.  Only via our "open a support request" page.

    Just too many people were sending emails like "my email doesn't work" and then getting upset when we sent a reply asking for trivial things like their domain name or customer info.

    With all the spam problems, it is not unusual for emails to not be received or delivered.  A few people were irate saying "I sent you 5 emails and you never bothered to answer a single one".

    Of course, the "funniest" ones are where the client is having a problem with their email account (usually the Outlook settings on their PC) but the only contact info they put in their request is the email address that isn't working so trying to reply is fruitless..

    With a web-based form as the initial point of opening a support request, we at least have a chance to explain on the form "Use an alternate email if your inquiry is concerning your email account" and also "we reply to all requests promptly, if you don't receive a reply it may be that spam blocking or other problems are preventing us from receiving your request", etc. etc.

    We do allow replies via email once a suppport issue is opened, but not allowing initiation via email has increased our service levels and customer satistfaction a lot.

    For the rare person that complains how not being able to send a support request via email is inconvenient, we remind them that if we can't receive their request at all, it is a lot more "inconvenient" that a few extra key strokes.
    Voicegateway.com Web Services - High-performance Hosting & Fully Managed Servers
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    We haven't allowed email support for a very very long time. By not allowing email support, you make getting/giving support much more efficient.

    As spiv said, you'll completely eliminate the clueless "my email doesn't work" tickets...with no other information whatsoever.

    If the customer has to actually fill out a short form (name, email address, domain name, servername, description of problem and error messages) - they may decide its easier to take 20 seconds and read the FAQ before firing off an email to support.

    --Tina
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    6,990
    Problem is they may just decide to pick up the phone and call "my email doesn't work" : (. This would be a worse scenario taking up more resources and time.

    But if we don't have phone support, I think I would follow your method. The hassle of filling up the form might make them look at the FAQ twice.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2001
    Posts
    1,446
    Depends on your client base... If you cater to businesses and ecommerce clients, offering email and ticket based support (or ideally merging it all into one backend) is the best approach IMNSHO, as businesses use email every day. Fix your spam filter to not filter out client emails, and you'll be all set. If this also gets piped into your support desk, then you have a record to show a client as well.

    If you cater to personal websites, then streamliming to form based only may be the best approach for maximizing efficiency.

    In our business, we offer email, ticket, and toll-free phone, and the combination works well to cater to business focused hosting. All 3 methods are used, and mostly used effectively by our clients. If your company prides itself on superior customer support, then offering various methods for clients to get that support to suit individual tastes works wonders for your "image". (And image is everything I believe).

    - John C.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    1,349
    Originally posted by AH-Tina
    We haven't allowed email support for a very very long time. By not allowing email support, you make getting/giving support much more efficient.

    As spiv said, you'll completely eliminate the clueless "my email doesn't work" tickets...with no other information whatsoever.

    If the customer has to actually fill out a short form (name, email address, domain name, servername, description of problem and error messages) - they may decide its easier to take 20 seconds and read the FAQ before firing off an email to support.

    --Tina
    I see from your site that you are using Kayako? You can turn off email support from that software? I can't seem to turn that thing off.

  11. #11
    In my oponion if you think email support is not working for your company (overall) just shut it down, have an autoresponder guide the clients to your helpdesk incase anyone sends an email to support.
    Last edited by dubfire; 07-27-2005 at 03:14 AM.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    1,349
    I'm just trying to figure out what to do based on the experiences of other hosters. I got this idea initially when VenturesOnline started doing this.

  13. #13
    If you want to follow the majority of hosters and their experiences, use a helpdesk with email piping features; I believe thats what most hosts do now a days.
    "there are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who dont!"

  14. #14
    Regarding the security side, I think using an ssl certificate will help passing the passwords. How do they contact you in case your entire network is down. You need at least reliable phone or chat support in parallel if you are turning off email support
    Affiliate Services - Your search ends here!

  15. #15
    Originally posted by BeUnlimited
    You need at least reliable phone or chat support in parallel if you are turning off email support
    how would email help when the entire network is down? Phone or AIM is the only way of contacting you if the entire network is down unless your using foreign web/mail/etc. servers.
    "there are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who know binary and those who dont!"

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
    Posts
    9,687
    Originally posted by BeUnlimited
    Regarding the security side, I think using an ssl certificate will help passing the passwords. How do they contact you in case your entire network is down. You need at least reliable phone or chat support in parallel if you are turning off email support
    You don't need your customers' passwords. You should also have your support desk on a separate network.


    --Tina
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  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Scotland
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    We stopped providing direct e-mail support a long time ago and haven't really had any problems.

    Our support address sends back an autoresponse explaining that unless the issue is regarding a problem logging into the control panel, they need to submit a ticket and it then gives them directions on how to go about that.

    Once the ticket is created, they are free to reply by e-mail and then it is piped into the helpdesk, but having the original request come from within the control panel means we have their details in front of us and we know they are authorised to access the account.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    West Michigan, USA
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    9,687
    Originally posted by Wullie
    We stopped providing direct e-mail support a long time ago and haven't really had any problems.

    Our support address sends back an autoresponse explaining that unless the issue is regarding a problem logging into the control panel, they need to submit a ticket and it then gives them directions on how to go about that.

    Once the ticket is created, they are free to reply by e-mail and then it is piped into the helpdesk, but having the original request come from within the control panel means we have their details in front of us and we know they are authorised to access the account.

    Exactly.

    --Tina
    ||| 99.999% Uptime SLA!!!
    Plenty of space and bandwidth to fit your needs!
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  19. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    1,135
    We've been concidering this for a while now too -- mainly the same problem.
    Our ticket system automatically associates tickets with accounts assuming that
    they send an E-mail in from an address that is listed under the clients Authorized
    Contact Addresses... If it is not associated automatically, we have to manually
    do it and it is not something anyone enjoys doing.... sometimes the client provides
    limited information and searching for the customers account is like looking for a
    needle in a haystack.

    The disadvantage to it is it makes submitting a ticket more of a trouble to the
    client. I'm interested to know how it goes for you, can you update the thread as
    you proceed, if you proceed?

    Thanks.
    ---
    Dan Ushman
    Co-founder & CMO
    SingleHop, Inc.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    1,349
    Originally posted by BeUnlimited
    Regarding the security side, I think using an ssl certificate will help passing the passwords. How do they contact you in case your entire network is down. You need at least reliable phone or chat support in parallel if you are turning off email support
    SSL is completely defeated when users/technician replies are sent via email in plaintext.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2001
    Posts
    542
    We've been doing this (opening new requests only via web not via email) for over a year and it has worked very smoothly for us.

     

    Originally posted by midphase-Dan
    We've been concidering this for a while now too -- mainly the same problem.
    Our ticket system automatically associates tickets with accounts assuming that
    they send an E-mail in from an address that is listed under the clients Authorized
    Contact Addresses... If it is not associated automatically, we have to manually
    do it and it is not something anyone enjoys doing.... sometimes the client provides
    limited information and searching for the customers account is like looking for a
    needle in a haystack.

    The disadvantage to it is it makes submitting a ticket more of a trouble to the
    client. I'm interested to know how it goes for you, can you update the thread as
    you proceed, if you proceed?

    Thanks.
    Voicegateway.com Web Services - High-performance Hosting & Fully Managed Servers
    Specializing in Virtual Machine Hosting with Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2, Windows SharePoint Services, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, ASP.NET 2.0 hosting and Newsletter/Mailing list services

  22. #22
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Posts
    1,349
    Originally posted by spiv
    We've been doing this (opening new requests only via web not via email) for over a year and it has worked very smoothly for us.

     
    Do you allow replies by email?

    Now the thing is, if you do, how would this work?

    Initial emails to support@ gets an autoreply back saying to start a new ticket view the web interface.

    A reply is sent back from support@ (or some other email?) to the client. Client then replies back to this email.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    2,833
    Originally posted by Skeptical
    Do you allow replies by email?

    Now the thing is, if you do, how would this work?

    Initial emails to support@ gets an autoreply back saying to start a new ticket view the web interface.

    A reply is sent back from support@ (or some other email?) to the client. Client then replies back to this email.
    We allow replies by e-mail. but the tickets are not under our support@ address, they use another address.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Bay Area -USA
    Posts
    1,740
    Originally posted by AH-Tina
    We haven't allowed email support for a very very long time. By not allowing email support, you make getting/giving support much more efficient.

    As spiv said, you'll completely eliminate the clueless "my email doesn't work" tickets...with no other information whatsoever.

    If the customer has to actually fill out a short form (name, email address, domain name, servername, description of problem and error messages) - they may decide its easier to take 20 seconds and read the FAQ before firing off an email to support.

    --Tina
    Always nice to hear what a veteran thinks about it. Thanks.
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  25. #25
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    1,461

    Re: Good to turn off email support tickets?

    Yes, it is amazing that users do not identify themselves. I hardly have any customers who let me know their domain name or something in the first place. I am looking into making my support system "ticket only", too.

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