dfr@CAD.USNA.MIL ("Prof. David F. Rogers") (03/14/90)
For Dave Ratcliffe: Although I can certainly appreciate your problems with end runs and absorbtion of Software Engineering's time, you should appreciate your customers problems. The basic problem is that the Hot Line is nearly useless for someone on the East Coast. The scenerio goes something like this: A problem develops in the early to mid morning. We spend the rest of the morning and the early afternoon confirming that it is an SGI problem and not our problem. That's only fair and responsible action on our part. Right, it is now SGI's problem for whatever reason. Call the Hot Line. No one available for an immediate answer. Get a number with promise to call back. It is now 1530 EST or so. No way do we get a call back that day. When we come in in the morning it is 0500 on the West Coast! No realistic support can be expected until noonish, but that is lunch time so it will be 1300-1400 local time before we get ANY response -- 24 hours!!!! This is sure not a HOT LINE more like a COLD LINE. There is usually 2-3 days of this before the problem gets defined, much less resolved. We can't afford that and neither can commercial customers. Hence end runs. Note I am not one of the end runners. I have long recommended and still recommend an electronic mail Hot Line. This solves the time zone problem and significantly increases the interaction for those of us who have email access. Why is SGI so reluctant to develop an email Hot Line? Dave Rogers Professor David F. Rogers Aerospace Engineering Department U.S. Naval Academy Annapolis, MD 21402 USA Tel: 301-267-3283/4/5 ARPANET: dfr@usna.navy.mil UUCP: ~uunet!usna!dfr
doelz@urz.unibas.ch (Reinhard Doelz) (03/14/90)
ahem ... in Europe the situation is not crtitical. It is no problem to contact the next SGI *sales* office. The only problem here (in Switzerland) is that support issues are piped through numerous 'specialists' unless they reach ISO in the U.S. if they get there at all. Which means that you will get any *reply* within short time (sometimes a day, sometimes six months), but you can be nearly sure that you will not get an *answer*. The SGI support in Switzerland is miserable! There are a few guys there who do their best but can't work because they don't have equipment/experience on hand. My best source of information so far have been SGI engineers who replied on my problems posted on this bboard, either by reposts, or by direct mail. I really appreciate this kind of support and I don't want to miss it! - Reinhard
fsfacca@AVELON.LERC.NASA.GOV (Tony Facca) (03/14/90)
> "Prof. David F. Rogers" <dfr@cad.usna.mil> writes: > > I have long recommended and still recommend an electronic mail Hot Line. > This solves the time zone problem and significantly increases the > interaction for those of us who have email access. Why is SGI so I second this recommendation. I can't see that it would require an inordinate amount of time on SGI's part to establish an e-mail Hot Line. We could mail problems "in our own words" and include system error messages. This may even cut out some lead time as the Hot Line personnel won't have to take all this information down. When the e-mail gets to SGI, it can still receive a message ID number which can be mailed back to the requester to let us know that the mail has been received and is being worked on. Works for me. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony Facca | phone: 216-433-8318 NASA Lewis Research Center | Cleveland, Ohio 44135 | email: fsfacca@lerc08.lerc.nasa.gov -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
martinm@kmart.sgi.com (martin) (03/15/90)
In article <9003131856.aa03408@CAD.USNA.MIL> dfr@CAD.USNA.MIL ("Prof. David F. Rogers") writes: > > >There is usually 2-3 days of this before the problem gets defined, much less >resolved. We can't afford that and neither can commercial customers. > >I have long recommended and still recommend an electronic mail Hot Line. >This solves the time zone problem and significantly increases the >interaction for those of us who have email access. Why is SGI so >reluctant to develop an email Hot Line? > until there is an official e-mail hot line, i freely give my email to calls i have taken. i also ask the call administrators to ask for an e-mail address when a customer calls back that i have had a hard time reaching. it is perfectly acceptable to give your e-mail address to the call administrator when first opening a call. this is still not as good as an electronic mail hot line, but still cuts time down between coasts. Martin McDonald SGI Life is unpredictable. Eat dessert first. Martin McDonald SGI Life is unpredictable. Eat dessert first.
markb@denali.sgi.com (Mark Bradley) (03/15/90)
In article <9003131856.aa03408@CAD.USNA.MIL>, dfr@CAD.USNA.MIL ("Prof. David F. Rogers") writes: > Why is SGI so > reluctant to develop an email Hot Line? > > Dave Rogers > Just personal opinion and wild guessing with professional bias against the competition, but I'll go out on a limb and guess that it's that HP box that is/was used for call logging??? :{) Actually, sounds like a good idea, as long as it can filter out cruft from irresponsible netters. I have had good success w/ e-mail to and from certain special, *very privileged* customers. :{) :{) :{) markb -- Mark Bradley "Faster, faster, until the thrill of I/O Subsystems speed overcomes the fear of death." Silicon Graphics Computer Systems Mountain View, CA 94039-7311 ---Hunter S. Thompson Disclaimer: Anything I say is my opinion. If someone else wants to use it, it will cost...
dfr@CAD.USNA.MIL ("Prof. David F. Rogers") (03/15/90)
G'day Lara, Also no offense but you are also wrong. I'm up by 0700 and in the office by 0830. However, I have these funny things called classes that DO take precedence. My systems programmer for family reasons doesn't get in 'til 0900. Some of us like to try to accommodate those that work with us. I also always give my home telephone number when contacting the Hot Line because of the time difference. Yet to receive a call. If I were running a company that had as large an installed base as SGI does on the East Coast on the West Coast, I would definitely keep my `Hot Line' open till 8PM for them. Especially, if I charged money for it!!! My comment about an email `Hot Line' still stands. Dave Rogers
crscott@sdrc.UUCP (Scott_Klosterman) (03/16/90)
Certainly I've recieved better response from the SGI hotline
than EVERY other vendors Hardware/Software Support line, for this
would like to give you a hand. (clap,clap,etc.)
But consider the following.
After I receive a call back at my office phone (usually the next
morning as described previously for us East Coast persons) I try
the little tidbit which the Support person wants me to try which
will verify the problem. This usually involves shutdown of the
machine so I tell Support I will call him/her back right away, hang
up the phone, walk to the machine, and call the Hotline back within
thirty seconds. Now instead of getting an operator, During busy periods
(afternoon our time) I get about five minutes of music, by the time
some-one picks up and forwards my call, the Support Engineer has given
up on me, and called another person or had another call come in. So I
leave a message and write down the results of the previous test and walk
back to my office and wait for his call. This may happen again if the SE
has found something else to try.
A lot of my time could be saved if I was given the direct call
number of the SE to call him back. Instead all the SE are given
instructions that all calls should go through the hotline even if
a call has already been logged.
Lately it seems that I don't wait nearly as long getting through the
hotline, have you hired additional hotline staff?
root@MCIRPS2.MED.NYU.EDU (03/17/90)
Hotline accounting software and screening procedures: They could use a little management consulting. fax and e-mail hooks are important. Having your own consultant assigned to you , and being able to call him back if you need to make a momentary disconnect is also needed. I get around this bug by asking the call coordinator to put me through to the person immediately by asking not for call id, but for the person. They will want the call id, and I give it, but i indicate that we were in the middle of somthing, and if the operator is experienced, she/he will put you through right away, even interrupt the support person to do so. dan. -- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | karron@nyu.edu Dan Karron | | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New York University Medical Center | | 560 First Avenue \ \ Pager <1> (212) 397 9330 | | New York, New York 10016 \**\ <2> 10896 <3> <your-number-here> | | (212) 340 5210 \**\__________________________________________ | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ghelms@hellfire.sgi.com (Gretchen Helms) (03/20/90)
Scott_Klosterman writes: > After I receive a call back at my office phone (usually the next > morning as described previously for us East Coast persons) I try > the little tidbit which the Support person wants me to try which > will verify the problem. This usually involves shutdown of the > machine so I tell Support I will call him/her back right away, hang > up the phone, walk to the machine, and call the Hotline back within > thirty seconds. Now instead of getting an operator, During busy periods > (afternoon our time) I get about five minutes of music, by the time > some-one picks up and forwards my call, the Support Engineer has given > up on me, and called another person or had another call come in. So I > leave a message and write down the results of the previous test and walk > back to my office and wait for his call. This may happen again if the SE > has found something else to try. Unfortunately, due to the quantity of calls coming in to the support line, *each* support engineer is dealing with an average of 50 to 60 calls, and is constantly taking new ones. If the engineer has the time and few enough customers, they will wait that minute or so to see what will happen. However, when an engineer is dealing with 60 calls or more, they will take the opportunity to give someone else a quick call to see if the solution they have provided has worked. Many times customers who have solutions forget to call back in to let us know that a fix worked and require no further assistance, and we have to call them instead to confirm that the solution worked and the call can be closed. Support engineers are also called back with "critical calls" demanding immediate assistance, and this may sometimes require that we place our primary customer on hold while we deal with our "hot" second line. We ask for your understanding and patience if we should suddenly interrupt you and ask if you would mind being put on hold...this usually means our second line demands attention. > A lot of my time could be saved if I was given the direct call > number of the SE to call him back. Instead all the SE are given > instructions that all calls should go through the hotline even if > a call has already been logged. The reason this is done is that the support engineers are *continually* on their phone dealing with customers and other engineers alike. If our direct lines are given out, a number of things happen. 1) The call is no longer a 1-800 toll free number. 2) The possibility that you will get through unassisted on the direct line is very low. 3) The engineer may not be there, and then there is no record of your call. However, if you call in on the 1-800 line, there are *always* call coordinators there to handle your call. If the engineer is sick and your call is critical, they can handle the problem in an appropriate fashion. If the engineer is on the phone, they log the time of your call and flag the calls in our queues so we can see that someone has called while we were working on another call. If the engineer is not there, they will also flag the call so we can get back to you when we return. G. "Murdock" Helms As free as the wind, Silicon Graphics And hopefully learning Product Support Engineer Why the sea on the tide ghelms@sgi.sgi.com Has no way of turning.
tom@mims-iris.waterloo.edu (Tom Haapanen) (03/20/90)
>Scott_Klosterman writes: >> After I receive a call back at my office phone (usually the next >> morning as described previously for us East Coast persons) I try >> the little tidbit which the Support person wants me to try which >> will verify the problem. This usually involves shutdown of the >> machine so I tell Support I will call him/her back right away, hang >> up the phone, walk to the machine, and call the Hotline back within >> thirty seconds. Now instead of getting an operator, During busy periods >> (afternoon our time) I get about five minutes of music, by the time >> some-one picks up and forwards my call, the Support Engineer has given >> up on me, and called another person or had another call come in. Gretchen Helms <ghelms@hellfire.sgi.com> writes: > Unfortunately, due to the quantity of calls coming in to the support > line, *each* support engineer is dealing with an average of 50 to 60 > calls, and is constantly taking new ones. If the engineer has the time > and few enough customers, they will wait that minute or so to see what > will happen. This doesn't address the problem pointed out by Scott: even if you call right back, YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH TO THE OPERATOR, but have to listen to elevator music for five minutes first, after which it's too late. However, let me point out a couple of things in SGI's favour: First, most support engineers are willing to wait a couple of minutes on the phone while I go try what they suggested. Second, most of them are also willing to get back to you by email, if you just tell them you're on the East Coast and are hard to reach. Third, the support lines open EARLY; you can call at 9 am EST and get hold of a support engineer (but not necessarily thhe one you were talking to before). But I *still* like the idea of an Email hotline where I wouldn't have to hang on the phone listening to music... [ \tom haapanen -- university of waterloo -- tom@mims-iris.waterloo.edu ] [ "i say what i say, but i say it for myself and myself only" -- me ] [ "i don't even know what street canada is on" -- al capone ]