offer phone support?

[RobAPI]

Do you offer phone support?
Do you think all hosts should offer phone support?

When do you think they shouldnt?
Do you think customers would signup just on the basis that phone support is offered?

 

[turnkey]

I offer a 800 number for my customers and the hours are usually in the evening for support. It is rarely used but there if they need it. In the event of an emergency, my wife answers the phone during the day and calls me at work. The 800 number is pretty cheap. About $5 - $10 per month and about $5 to have a extra phone number on my home phone from the phone company. Only 1 line in the house so it has a different ring. That way I can tell if it is personal or business.

 

[imported_maxhest]

Good Idea,

If I had a office, I would most likely get a 800 number, its good business strat.

 

[Freckled]

When I get back to the states I will be looking into phone support for emergencies only, also looking into outsourced support for when the business gets a little larger. I hate talking on the phone though so it will be hard giving that number to anyone.

Yes I do think some customers shop only sites that offer it. Freckled

 

[BVSDaryl]

Do you offer phone support?
We offer 24/7 toll free telephone support

Do you think all hosts should offer phone support?
Its not necessary for all hosts to offer phone support, depends on the target audience.

When do you think they shouldnt?
Again depends on target audience.

Do you think customers would signup just on the basis that
phone support is offered?
Depending on target audience (ie: corporate customers vs teenagers)

 

[Vovex Technology]

I had a pretty cool seutp for emergency support for 24/7. Instead of a phone ringing and waking people up at home though... the emergency number would be a digital voice box.... then once the user hangs up. The message was converted from voice to text... and paged to my cell phone.

I can't remember what the service was exaclty called. It was $10 a month though and I got it through T-Mobile. I look at my next months bill and post it for you guys.

 

[turnkey]

That's pretty cool. I am thinking of getting a ansering service. It is about $40 p/m for up to 50 calls each month. I am low volume but I don't like the phone ringing at night unless it is an emergency.

 

[imported_HadleyHost]

I offer phone support but the number is UK.

 

[WHW-Rob]

We offer 800 number support during the weekdays, and then we have an emergency number that goes to my cell phone for after hour support. It seems to work pretty well, not many people call the after hours number if its not a real emergency.

 

[Anjay]

Do you offer phone support?
Yes, however we do not offer toll free phone support.

Do you think all hosts should offer phone support?
Personally, I think any company should offer phone support regardless of the service they offer.

When do you think they shouldnt?
When the "company" in question is not really a company, and is merely someone with too much free time on their hands.

Do you think customers would signup just on the basis that phone support is offered?
It depends. If I were a client, then I'd only sign up with a company that was a) a legitimate registered company, a) they showed the address to their office and c) offered phone support.


Personally, I do think that any company should offer phone support (not specifically toll free) no matter what service they offer. If you're a legitimate company, you technically should offer phone support to your clients. I do understand that in many cases, it's simply someone who has another job where they work 40 hours a week and therefore simply do web hosting as a hobby - Although I am against things such as that, I do understand fully that those people are unable to offer phone support to their clients due to many reasons; mainly them being at work all day and wanting to sleep at night.

One thing you need to ask yourself though is, if you owned a large registered company and were looking for a service from another company - wouldn't you feel uncomfortable going with a "company" that was simply someone who had a day job but enjoyed doing web hosting at night, and did not offer a company address nor offer telephone support?
I know I wouldn't be comfortable with that, and I'm sure you wouldn't be either if you were in the same situation.

Small note: There was a lot more here, however it timed out so I had to re-write the post, and therefore a lot is missing as I didn't re-write everything 100%.

 

[gglobehosting]

Phone Support is good and bad. You might get more customers but you also get people calling and asking stupid questions. If it doesn't cost that much money, go with it.

 

[imported_HadleyHost]

Ok, I don't take many calls on my number