"RH" <rh@no-spicedham.exelsys.com> wrote in message
news:f38q2l$t0u$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk...[color=blue]
>
> "Infant Newbie" <infant@newbie.new> wrote in message
> news:f37qir$9ig$1@news.freedom2surf.net...[color=green]
>>I have to reply to myself because the thread is so long. I dont want to
>>start a "spam war". Ivor, I live in London and I dont spam. My email
>>address is invalid, just like yours. I do have a rarely used yahoo address
>>which you can contact me directly on - if you wish. its meshcode at
>>xxxxxhoo.co.uk. I have read the whole thread and I will condense the wish
>>list and reply to all.
>>
>> HOWEVER, one thing worries me and maybe you guys can tell me how to
>> manage it....SUPPORT !!
>> How can I provide proper live person on the phone (note I said person,
>> not cretin) with some knowledge and keep the service reasonably priced. I
>> know what people think about non-UK call centres so lets not even go
>> there!
>>
>> Most of the things required are usually sourced from BT Wholesale and I
>> will surely try to provide a good service.
>>
>> Second thing - how does the provider improve the sound quality when so
>> much of it depends on the connection from the end user?[/color]
>
> Bart,
>
> You have hit probably the biggest issue on the head, customers are hard
> people they want good service
> and they don't want to pay for it. customers want free geographic calls,
> all functions, and cheap costs and a live support
> person who will answer the calls in 3 rings and they want the moon on a
> stick.
>
> Working in support in another industry I see supporting VOIP a nightmare,
> You not only have to support your systems but also
> other peoples internet connection/router/softphones/hardphones/ata all for
> a customer who may only add £10 credit a quarter. In other
> industries you would maybe charge customers £80/hour for decent tech
> support.
>
> I think having live telephone support is nice it is really an impossible
> dream, unless a user whants to pay for it either via services charges for
> the
> VOIP services or having premium chargable support ( in addition to
> standard support - no likes only form of support to be premium rate
> number)
>
> or you can go down the Betamax route, they have several VOIP services
> which offer no support, but prices are so cheap and people get such a good
> deal
> that you kind of let the issues go when you have them as the savings are
> huge.
>
> Sound quality can vary a lot from different services providers.
> The voice provider needs to have the bandwidth to cope with all incoming
> and outgoing channels
> should have different internet backbones
> plus there is the routing of calls, some cheaper companies use grey routes
> to channel calls abroad and quality can be iffy
>
>[/color]
That wont work - I would not expect people to sign up for a service +
support and pay more than people who sign up for service only. I think some
form of paid support will be handy. What about a rapid 24 hour email
support - like within 5 minutes and a VERY EXPENSIVE phone line?

Concerning the voice quality, I can only see a Suck it n See approach. How
can I get competitively priced routes and make sure I have good quality?
There are loads of companies/guys out there providing A/Z routes but there
is no measure of quality. I will investigate that matter.

We already have servers in a UK call centre and hops are low. We will soon
know if we have to move to the docklands --- hmmmm(more
expensive)......(((thinking, thinking, thinking))