Re: [Declude.JunkMail] SmarterMail 3.0

[Matt]

Barry, That's good to know, but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out what is at issue here. The difference is "push" vs. "pull".  If you expect customers to help out in providing community support, you shouldn't expect as much success doing a message board because that requires pulling people to a site and then having them dig through posts.  Pushing this information out through E-mail is effective because there are many more knowledgeable people that will monitor and check their E-mail from various discussions since it is easily accessible and all in one place.  The dynamics of course change when the number of active users rise beyond what an E-mail discussion group can handle, and at that point you typically would find enough active members to keep a message board going.  It is also worth mentioning that we are all E-mail administrators and E-mail discussion groups should be more appropriate for us than most any other group. If someone is looking for a best of both world's approach, then maybe investing some time and/or money into a real nice list archive to go along with the group would be beneficial.  IMO, mail-archive.com is lacking a bit and it could have a friendlier interface for drilling down. Both IMail and Declude have their own message boards (if I'm not mistaken), but hardly any of us ever visit them.  That also should be proof. Matt Barry Simpson wrote: FYI, SmarterMail is aware of this discussion thread and I know that they would want to be aware of any issues with technical support.   Barry   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Dave Beckstrom Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 12:02 PM To: Declude.JunkMail@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.JunkMail] SmarterMail 3.0   Guys,   Why don’t all of us who own smartermail send an email to smartertools asking them to launch a smartertools discussion list?  It will take more than one person requesting it for them to set it up.           From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Michael Graveen Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 7:51 AM To: Declude.JunkMail@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.JunkMail] SmarterMail 3.0   I've also posted question to their forum with little or no response (I didn't think the questions were that obscure). There definitely seems to be more "experts" in the IMail camp, or at least experts that are willing to share. As with new versions of IMail, I'll take the "wait and see attitude" with Smartermail 3.0 MIchael Graveen At 03:42 AM 12/21/2005, you wrote: The “community” support for SmarterMail is much smaller (or at least quieter).   We are running one SM server for a client and I’ve posted several questions on the SM support forums and have not received any responses at all.   Similar posts to Imail or Declude discussion lists have always resulted in lots of replies with useful help.   Obviously the products are different and the questions are different, but so far I’m not impressed with the size/responsiveness of the community.  That’s an important factor we will consider seriously before migrating any other servers from Imail to SM – saving a few hundred dollars in license costs is insignificant if we can’t get help one way or another as quickly.   (Needless to say, the SM questions were on issues that SM tech support provided courteous but not helpful replies when first submitted privately as an email support case, so I was hoping for help from the community)   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Evans Martin Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 10:48 PM To: Declude.JunkMail@declude.com Subject: RE: [Declude.JunkMail] SmarterMail 3.0   It’s such a breath of fresh air having been in the IMail camp for the last several years.  LOL!   Evans Martin   EVANS MARTIN  [EMAIL PROTECTED] HOSTING:  http://www.martek.net PROGRAMMING:  http://www.martekware.com   iPlus Info Browser – IPB’s IMail Migration Tool, password browser, reporting suite make IPlus Info Browser something no IMail administrator should be without.  http://www.martek.net/Default.aspx?tabid=96     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Gary Steiner Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 6:48 PM To: Declude.JunkMail@declude.com Subject: [Declude.JunkMail] SmarterMail 3.0   The following was posted today on SmarterTools web forums: Q:  When will we expect to see v. 3? A:  The release date depends on the results of final QA.  The product is essentially done, just making sure that all the bugs are out of it.  Since mail servers are so critical to people's infrastructure, we work extremely hard to make a stable release with no issues that are going to bite you.  We don't sacrifice stability for a quick release. Assuming everything is in good order (which to this point it appears to be), release will be middle of January. You can view the original post at http://forums.smartertools.com/forums/2/11125/ShowPost.aspx#11125 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.3/209 - Release Date: 12/21/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.3/209 - Release Date: 12/21/2005