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Subject:Re: Eliminating Need for Technical Support (fwd) From:Kathryn J Acciari <acciari -at- ACSU -dot- BUFFALO -dot- EDU> Date:Fri, 20 Jun 1997 08:59:55 -0400
Subject: Re: Eliminating Need for Technical Support
Great question, Matthew!
I work for a very small software firm in the higher ed industry.
Am in the not-so-enviable position of being the sole tech writer,
as well as the person who oversees customer service (aka support).
Our software users collaborate with us on ideas for new features,
and are very comfortable providing us with good and bad feedback,
which means that I've been able to hear first-hand what our
users think about my documentation. There's nothing like immediate,
personal feedback!
Their comments have helped me grow significantly as a writer/communicator.
And, have helped me come to the opinion that there are some people who
are documentation-worms and like to solve problems themselves, while
others lose patience and want to vocalize their frustrations or have
their hands held.
I don't think the need for tech support will ever disappear. It's been
said that this is the 'Information Age'; I believe it is actually the
Age of Customer Service. Our advances in technology have raised
people's expectations as to how products will perform. And when the
product does not perform as expected, we want the problem solved fast.
Customer support (the hot potato of the day) is one of the most important
services that an organization can provide, yet the one that most of us
hate to deal with.
That's my 2 c.
Kathryn J Acciari
Technical Writer/Communicator
Buffalo, New York
acciari -at- acsu -dot- buffalo -dot- edu
On Thu, 19 Jun 1997, Matthew J Long wrote:
>
> Do you think that it is possible that the need for technical support for
> software be eliminated or at least reduced if the documentation were
> written well enough?
>
>
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