Website Hosting Technical Support - Common Misconceptions

Tech support is there to help, right? The reality is, it depends. Learn some common misconceptions about tech support's responsibilities.

You've just gotten a new website hosting account. You're excited to begin your journey onto the web. You're a novice to all this "web stuff", but you're confident and brimming with enthusiasm. Into it you plunge, opening the design program your friend suggested and trying to create some pages. There's a problem, though, and you can't make the program work, and you're not actually building any pages. Well, time to call technical support at your brand new hosting company, right?

Your hosting is providing you the space on its servers to put this information, so shouldn't they be responsible for making sure you can actually make a website?

This is going to sound disappointing, but the answer to that question is 'no'. Your hosting company is providing you space and transfer for a website, but the responsibility for populating that space is your's and your's alone. What is uploaded to the account and how it is uploaded is the responsibility of the client. The role of technical support at any hosting company is the diagnosis and repair of problems with a site relating to the server on which it is hosted. This article will cover the 2 most common "Tech Support Don'ts," training and content update, and offer alternate solutions to the "problems."

Content Update

Many novices enter website hosting with the idea that a hosting company's technical support is not only a troubleshooting organization, but a teaching and maintenance organization as well. These impressions are due mostly to a misunderstanding of what constitutes "technical support" problems. Customers may classify a need to update a web page with new information as a "problem", and perhaps, to them, it is, but it is not a problem for which technical support at your hosting company is responsible.

If you need someone to update your website on a regular or even intermittent basis, then you have 2 basic options. The first, and most economical, is simply to find an editing program with which are you are comfortable, learn it, and use it make your own updates. The program you need will vary according to the kind of site you wish to build or maintain. Many hosting companies even provide online "site builder" solutions that can be accessed right through your browser without the need to install separate program.

Alternately, if you lack the time or skills to update a site, consider hiring a outside web design services firm to perform your needed updates. Prices vary wildly, but you will probably be able to find a great number of resources in your local area, and beyond, by doing a search at your favorite search engine. Most web designers are generally knowledgeable, and, with information you provide, can update your site even if they themselves did not initially design it.

Training

Hosting and maintaining a website requires some basic knowledge. It isn't just another bill you'll pay monthly, like electric and water. It requires a knowledge both of the programs you'll use to create the site and of the programs you'll use to maintain and upload it. When someone arrives to hosting without this general, basic knowledge, they may find themselves lost and believe the only recourse is to call a hosting company's technical support for what amounts to free training.

Training on software, even commonplace software, is something many people pay a great deal of money to colleges and other professional organizations to obtain. Expecting this kind of service for what equates to a monthly hosting fee is, on reflection, a little unreasonable. In virtually every case, there will be resources associated with the programs you're using to provide answers and rudimentary training. Answers to more general questions, beyond those specific to a single program, may be found in a variety of places. Most hosting companies can provide an entry level training in website hosting through online resources, like manuals, knowledgebase, or even advanced video tutorials. Always check for these kinds of resources before immediately picking up the phone to ask your question of technical support.

Mr. Lester has served for 4 years as the webmaster for ApolloHosting.com and previously worked in the IT industry an additional 5 years, acquiring knowledge of hosting, design, and search engine optimization. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.

Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.

 These articles are provided for general interest and content purposes only, and should not be construed as "support" materials. Apollo Hosting does not guarantee the information contained within. All articles are free to reprint so long as they remain unchanged, the "About the Author" section remains, all hyperlinks are preserved, and the rel="nofollow" tag is not added to the hyperlinks.

Open Source Helpdesk Software - Ways By Fast Reporting And Quick Filtering?

Companies with vast resources and capital have several options for choosing a help desk system. Meanwhile companies with a tight budget can opt for open source helpdesk software. A few such options are Liberum Help Desk, OS Ticket, OTRS, Request Tracker and HelpSpot. Liberum is a web-based help desk software solution for handling customer requests in a small company. To run Liberum, you need an MS SQL server or Windows NT/2000/XP with IIS. The application is written in VBScript/HTML for ASP. You need more than 6 MB of hard disk space (1MB for web pages+5MB for database) and a web browser. The functions available in Liberum, though less in number, are useful. Its automatic mail function allows customers to display and track problems themselves. Users can use its simple knowledge base to find solutions easily. An open source helpdesk software solution means you can copy the source code and customise it as per your requirements. You would need to know the coding language. For example, to customise Liberum, you would need to know VB/HTML/ASP. Open source solutions are ideal, if you want to construct a web-based helpdesk software solution on your own. Most such software can be used as is because these have the basic features of a helpdesk system. For software such as Liberum, you need a server.

OS Ticket is a simple ticketing system that you can easily setup and start using. Its code is mostly written in PHP. OTRS is a trouble ticket software system that can be used to monitor customer phone calls and e-mail requests. You can integrate your customer support services, pre-sales, sales, billing, in-house IT, and helpdesk in one system. It is coded using PERL and open sourced under the GPL.

OTRS has many search options and certain other desirable functions such as the ability to retrieve mails and send pre-defined replies, an option for closing the ticket if inactive and the POP3 checker. Request tracker is another open source helpdesk software solution written in object-oriented PERL. It can be moved to and used from any computer or any operating system. Because of its enterprise-grade characteristics, it allows a team of people to work smartly and efficiently to manage tickets created by a group of customers and users.

Apart from help desk, Request Tracker helps in project management, CRM, NOC ticketing, and software development. It does this by helping users to manage tasks implemented at enterprise-level such as the detection, classification, prioritization, assignment, resolution and notification. This platform has been used by support staff, systems administrators, software developers, IT managers, and sales departments of several Fortune 100 companies, government institutes, educational agencies, and global development organizations.

The open source helpdesk software solution, HelpSpot, helps you run your help desk by doing more than ensuring that customer requests are answered on time. It provides features such as real-time analysis and request tracking. It helps you view the help desk data in various useful ways by fast reporting and quick filtering.

If you need a powerful solution for your support make sure you check out the Premium Response Open Source Helpdesk Software for more info.

The ABC's of Online Customer Support

Want to provide great online customer support? Want to provide the kind of customer support that will grow your business, by building customer loyalty and satisfaction? It’s not as hard as it sounds! Just remember your ABC’s.

A-Add value

Don’t just do the bare minimum when it comes to providing customer support on your website. Go above and beyond to provide the customer with an exceptional experience. Remember, there are probably several sites out there right now trying to sell the same products or services that you are. Differentiate yourself by the high level of customer service you provide. Don’t simply answer questions. Provide solutions. Don’t just give a suggestion. Be an expert! If your customers or potential customers come to your site with a question or problem, help them as if you’re the foremost expert in your field. For example, let’s assume you run a website that sells bird houses. A potential customer visits your site and has a question about a specific model. How do you help them? First and foremost, I hope that you answer their question. But you have a great opportunity to go above and beyond. Ask the potential customer what types of birds she’s hoping to attract, where she is going to be putting the bird house, and where she’s located. With this information, as the world’s foremost expert in bird houses, you can recommend the right model in size, style, and material for her desired result. Now, you’re more than just a bird house salesman to this customer, you’re a bird house expert! You’ve added value through your online customer support.

B-Be There

A customer is on your site looking at your information and they have a big question. Where are you? The idea of ‘being there’ is twofold. First, it means making customer support channels easily accessible via your website. Regardless of what channels you use, you want them to be easily accessible from any page on your site. Either put your customer support channels on each page, or provide a clear and easy-to-find link to your support page from every page. As soon as your customer has a question, you don’t want them to have to look far to find a way to get in touch with you. Second, ‘being there’ means being available when your customers contact you. Be ready to answer the phone when they call, respond to all emails within a couple hours, or be prepared to handle incoming chats or support tickets. What good is customer support when a customer finds no one on the other end to assist them immediately? ‘Be there’ for your customers and you will be rewarded with better relationships and stronger loyalty.

C-Count the Cost

Let’s face it, your time and money are valuable. So, how do you provide great customer support on a budget? Come up with a plan. Determine what options are available to you, weigh the advantages vs. the costs, and implement your decisions. Here are some considerations regarding different online customer support options:

Phone support: Convenient for your customers, but potentially costly and time consuming for you. If you have an 800#, that is a large expense, and you can only talk to one person at a time.

Email support: Less effective for the customer than phone support. It is quick and easy to send their questions to you, but uncertainty over the length of time for responses is a concern. For you, email is one of the cheapest and easiest forms of support. You probably already have email, and you can respond to inquiries on your time.

Live chat software: Most effective channel of online customer support for the customer. Their questions can be answered immediately on the website by a real person. For you, the key is finding quality and affordable live chat software, and it is available. Also, live chat requires that you, or an employee, are available to handle incoming chat requests as much as possible.

Knowledge Database/FAQ/Self-Help: This can be a quick and easy way to get answers for your more savvy customers. However, it can also be burdensome for customers if they aren’t quickly and easily able to find answers to their questions. This is probably the easiest channel of customer support for you. After the initial time investment required to dump all of your information to the site, it is there and available for customers from then on.

These are just 4 of the channels for online customer support. You may also consider support tickets, forums, and others. As you can see, each channel has its advantages and disadvantages, both for you as the business owner, and for your customers. The best websites for online customer support usually offer a blend of several of these channels.

Providing great customer support on your website is not difficult, and it will have tremendous advantages for you. To provide excellent support for both you and your customers, simply remember the ABC’s of online customer support: Add value, Be there, and Count the cost.

Dan Cavanaugh is an online customer support expert with the Customer Support Network, an organization committed to the improvement of online customer service. To learn more about online customer support and the role it plays in e-commerce, click here: http://www.customersupportnetwork.com