Good Day, A quote from a recent email on this list:
'I also advised her that I am an OpenOffice user and not "customer service".'
Actually one sees this type of comment on a fairly regular basis. It is from a lawyerly perspective quite true, but is this lawyerly perspective the only perspective? I think not.
OpenOffice.org is the name of a computer application and the name of the organization that produces, markets, distributes and supports that application.
This organization is made up of individuals whose labor is volunteered to it, either by their employer or themselves directly. These individuals participate in many facets of the work done by the organization. Some submit code for the application, some documentation, others help with classic software quality assurance functions and still others choose to take on the role of direct, first line, user (customer) support.
This function of user support is unique within the organization in at least one respect. It is the only role for which there are no clearly defined steps that designate a person's willingness to take on the role. For example a code contributor must exercise a legal document with regards to ownership rights of the code the they submit, they must ask for and be granted rights to the version control repository for this code. Much the same is true for those producing the formal documentation. In other projects within in the organization that do not require this type of access control it is still required that the person request to join the particular project.
Not so with this 'role' of user support however. All that is required is that a person read and respond to another persons request for help. It is this difference that leads most to then say; "There is no user support group, only users offering help to other users." Much the same as someone offering a little advice during a conversation at a dinner party.
For the vast majority of individuals that will submit an email to a mailing list or post a message to a web forum this is true. But there is another group of individuals, a much smaller group that by their own decision go beyond this. This smaller group accounts for the majority of traffic on these same mailing lists and web forums. I would suggest that their participation in these organization supplied and supported communication channels can no longer be viewed as serendipitous exchanges of information in a social setting.
These individuals have IMO taken on the role of first line customer support. By the very nature of their continual offering of support they take on, intended or not, a certain mantel of authority and do to many end users of the application appear to be representatives of the organization. I believe that it is prudent for those of us that have by our own actions taken on this role to keep this in mind.
Am I suggesting that this designation of 'user support representative' be somehow codified? NO, I'm not. I am merely putting forward what I perceive to be the reality of the situation and ask, respectfully, that those individuals in this self selected group think about this from time to time.
Best wishes, Drew --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
