[asterisk-biz] I need your skiils, but I can't hire you

[Steve Totaro]

> I like the phone support idea but I think that Digium is on the right
> path. If you don't draw the line somewhere you end up either not
fixing
> the fault which leads to unhappy customers and therefore a bad
mouthing
> experience or worst still getting dragged down in a fault that frankly
> is not worth fixing for the price.
> 

The problem with this is that Digium has canned the idea of "We don't
support this configuration".  Any problem can be fixed.  At an hourly or
fraction of hourly rate, anything is worth fixing from our perspective
since the price adjusts with the time spent.  It is up to the customer
if it is worth spending the money for the fix, not us.  The customer
will know this upfront before the support even starts.

> As for "branded" support; you'll have the same problem. How would the
> tech answering the phone know anything about the install he's fixing?
It
> would take him quite a considerable time to get up to speed before he
> could reasonably start working on the fault.

With the proper systems and database sharing, this is not a problem.
Obviously, NDA and non-competes will need to be in place and the data
will have to accurate but this could easily be a non-issue.

> 
> If you agree on a standard set of configs that you'll support and
offer
> a 2 teired support system, you could fix the easy things like messed
up
> passwords or mis-spelled statements and then bump the non conforming
> ones back to the customer (not the user).
> 
> You could then offer "consultant" support exclusively for those that
can
> demonstrate they are purveyors of Asterisk systems. You shouldn't have
> to do so much hand holding here as you'd require a minimum level of
> expertise. You'd be acting as more of a mentor rather than a support
team.

I think the mailing list acts very well as a mentor since the consultant
knows how to ask the right in posts to the user's list.

> 
> A final avenue could be training. Offering various levels of Asterisk
> training could be a way of ensuring that you have capable customers
and
> confident end users as well as being a low level money earner.

Training is another awesome idea.

> 
> Mark, G7LTT/KC2ENI
> Randolph, NJ
> http://www.g7ltt.com
> 
>