No offense Rick, but... I don't think there's enough coders / emergency tech response in the world to even handle something like this. Why? Because anyone and everyone will all declare their problems as 'emergencies' and no one will "RTFM."
There is a _a lot_ that the 'customers' could be doing, but won't do because they have no time. No time because either the project deadline is unreasonable (as it always is the case because, I've yet to see a VP that actually requested something reasonable... in fact, I think whatever school they all pop out of, one of the classes is "Overwork your workers 101" or something stupid). What I mean by could be doing is that ... again, this is just what I consider common sense to me: 1.) Find the "ROOT" of your problem. Don't just stand there, throw hands up in the air and said, "Jee, don't work, duh!" 2.) Once the root has been found, ping the communities ala "Anyone else having this problem?" 3.) If the answer to #2 is no, this might mean you're a unique case, which sucks because you're going to have to dig a little harder. Document what your thoughts are "Well, I thought it was this, but turns out that it's not because that is working," etc. Probably the most important step involved in all of these steps is that .. documentation. Document what your problem is. Document what the communities have been saying, Document what you have found so far. Once you've done that, call up Macromedia Tech Support and say, look, this is my findings so far. Send emails back and forth, show the work. If you document everything, then you can truly say, "Look, 100 of us all have the same problem, what more proof do you need?" If you don't get an answer, then... there's a problem. If the answer is 'next updater will take care of this', then you have a decision to make. In some cases, it could be that MM never thought of that problem and ... by damn, you're a genius. In other cases, MM thought of it, but ... perhaps there's not enough screaming for it. Who knows... I do agree that communicate needs to improve, but I don't think Macromedia is the only guilty party involved. Just my opinion, ~Todd On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Rick Faircloth wrote: > I realize that technical support is most likely a profit center for > MM, but what I'm proposing is what an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) > is to a patient. Upon first having a problem, a patient needs immediate > attention. EMT's don't arrive on your accident scene, notice you have > serious injury and ask for credit card assurance that you can pay. > Their job is to treat as best they can and stabilize the situation. > If further treatment is required, they take you to the hospital (Technical > Support) > where more expert care can be provided, and, naturally is more costly. > > I know it's not MM's policy to offer free technical support under all > circumstances, > but couldn't they on a limited "first contact" basis for forums/lists to try > to solve problems, > but if they can't, to refer the patient up the chain? > > It seems reasonable for MM to be willing to spend some of its profit to > provide *some* free support to the location where the patients are showing > up. > > If the lists are where they are, go there. Don't stand in the hospital door > and > insist that all patients, under all circumstances, come to the hospital for > treatment > and credit card authorization. > > >For a company that charges for technical support, it makes little sense > >to then provide *free* technical support through a mailing list of > >forum on a formal basis. > > Why not? Is there too much money to be made that would be sacrificed? > > It makes perfect sense if it doesn't hurt the business too much and keeps > the users happier. It's about cost/benefit to MM. If MM wants to try to > diminish "firestorms", perhaps that's the way to do it. > What's it's about is providing appropriate care of customers without going > too far in doing so. > Sometimes it's good to make sacrifices to keep the community happy. > > >As it is, several of us at MM provide free support here because it > >helps. It isn't Macromedia's policy to provide free support. > > I'm suggesting that maybe it should be as far as can be expected on > forums/lists. > > Why is this an inappropriate scenario? > > Rick > > A Business Owner's view-- > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Sean A Corfield [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 12:12 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: Re: The Myth of Bugs (Was Huge Ungainly thread of Doom) > > > On Wednesday, Oct 9, 2002, at 09:28 US/Pacific, Rick Faircloth wrote: > > I've just been monitoring the thread, but from what I've read earlier, > > this and maybe other CF-lists and other software lists might be worth > > assigning someone to, to monitor and respond to as their "day job." > > Like a "Community Manager", you mean? Hey, Vern... > > > size of MM, that there would be funds to hire a "Mailing List / Forum > > Troubleshooter" who is an expert in the software AND its use in > > production who could provide a "first response" technical support > > to users, free of charge...public relations people who are not experts > > For a company that charges for technical support, it makes little sense > to then provide *free* technical support through a mailing list of > forum on a formal basis. > > As it is, several of us at MM provide free support here because it > helps. It isn't Macromedia's policy to provide free support. > > An Architect's View -- http://www.corfield.org/blog/ > > Macromedia DevCon 2002, October 27-30, Orlando, Florida > Architecting a New Internet Experience > Register today at http://www.macromedia.com/go/devcon2002 > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists&body=lists/cf_talk FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com
