Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[kstuart]

For $x per month or year, a user receives the ability to submit "Support Tickets" that are looked at by JRiver personnel.

(I use another software package, which has the same concept of a User Forum where your problem has a random chance of either being solved by a user, or an employee happening to have time to look at the User Forum.... but... your money gets you the capability of submitting a Support Ticket.   Like all Support Tickets around the world, it always gets a verbal answer, but that may or may not include any sort of fix for the problem.)

[JimH]

This was split because it's not an easy change.

[glynor]

I don't think this is a bad idea.

However, I think most people don't have any idea what paid support contracts usually cost.  For most software packages we use at work, the support contract is the most significant cost.  The support contract on our Digital Media Asset Management system (which is less complex and powerful than MC in many ways) is, ~$35,000 annually, for example.  I wonder if this would be perceived as a bad thing by consumers when they find out the support contract costs (making a number up out of thin air) $600 per year.

You could reduce this cost by limiting the number of tickets the customer is able to create, but this could also create a kind of perverse incentive to "bundle" problems, making the actual tickets much more complex.

So... It could help, but the path there isn't entirely clear.  Plus it would take a fair bit of analysis to figure out what you'd have to charge to pay for the increased support burden (hiring new people, etc).

[Vincent Kars]

Something like this?
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92769.0

[ferday]

I still say a better organized forum to help users search for solutions, and a more regularly updated wiki, would fix most of this

My last paid support ticket took three weeks to resolve, and in the end didnt work anyways.  I'm a little suspicious of such a system

[glynor]

I still say a better organized forum to help users search for solutions, and a more regularly updated wiki, would fix most of this

+1

[shAf]

I still say a better organized forum to help users search for solutions, and a more regularly updated wiki, would fix most of this

My last paid support ticket took three weeks to resolve, and in the end didnt work anyways.  I'm a little suspicious of such a system

+1

[AoXoMoXoA]

I pay for the software and updates to new versions, support should be included.

And I agree that a better help section, some video tutorials, and better documentation is needed.

[Zero_G]

I pay for the software and updates to new versions, support should be included.

And I agree that a better help section, some video tutorials, and better documentation is needed.

+1

[jctcom]

I pay for the software and updates to new versions, support should be included.

And I agree that a better help section, some video tutorials, and better documentation is needed.

Seriously!  You think your $25 - per year ($50.00 for the first year) entitles you to one on one support with a software technician who probably get's paid double or more than that per hour?

Do you use any other software that comes with real support.  Like accounting software or anything else with an actual support number etc...  You generally pay these companies around $600 - $1500 or more per year on a contract basis to get such support.

I have been using JRiver for a few years now and for the most part the forums work quite well.  and unlike most other software support forums the people from JRiver are very active on this forum.  With most other support forums there is a disclaimer that they are user supported only and the actual company related to the software is not involved at all in the forum.

Granted this is not "Business" software for most.  But I am pretty sure the cost of developing and maintaining it is no different.

Carl.

[AoXoMoXoA]

Seriously!  You think your $25 - per year ($50.00 for the first year) entitles you to one on one support with a software technician who probably get's paid double or more than that per hour?

Whoa! Hold on there cowboy . . . . I did not say one-on-one.

[jctcom]

Whoa! Hold on there cowboy . . . . I did not say one-on-one.

How do you think a Paid support system works?  It is an employee that addresses your issue directly and therefore needs to be paid himself (Or herself). 

People would be creating support tickets for all kinds of silly things that can be answered easily by the more than capable users in the forums.  I wouldn't want to pay the increased price that would come with your "Paid" support system.

Carl.

[AoXoMoXoA]

How do you think a Paid support system works?  It is an employee that addresses your issue directly and therefore needs to be paid himself (Or herself).  

People would be creating support tickets for all kinds of silly things that can be answered easily by the more than capable users in the forums.  I wouldn't want to pay the increased price that would come with your "Paid" support system.

Carl.

I pay for the software and updates to new versions, support should be included.

And I agree that a better help section, some video tutorials, and better documentation is needed.

The items I listed are not support?

I am not here to argue . . . I am through with this.

[jctcom]

I pay for the software and updates to new versions, support should be included.

And I agree that a better help section, some video tutorials, and better documentation is needed.

No problem.  I didn't realize that we were supposed to ignore that part of your comment "Support Should Be Included".

I also agree that the help and documentation sections can be improved upon. I don't think there are many that would disagree with that.

But that is quite a different issue from the other.

Carl.

[adlelare]

Aox,

i have suggested a few times a different approach but likely same impact.  i would pay more for a well functioning JRiver and Gizmo, they seemed stretched thin given the demands placed on them.  for instance i would like to see a beefed up Gizmo and pay $5-$10 for it, that money could be spent say to improve Gizmo and also devote more resources to much better pro=active support (how to use videos, better structuring of this site, etc.). as i posted before i pay $2.00 for a service that strips out inet ads at my router, a good JRiver is worth more than that, i also paid i think $30 for a very good Android do all remote control software.  but many you are right what a bunch of angry people as the objective is a good one a better customer experience.  regards.

[jctcom]

Aox,

i have suggested a few times a different approach but likely same impact.  i would pay more for a well functioning JRiver and Gizmo, they seemed stretched thin given the demands placed on them.  for instance i would like to see a beefed up Gizmo and pay $5-$10 for it, that money could be spent say to improve Gizmo and also devote more resources to much better pro=active support (how to use videos, better structuring of this site, etc.). as i posted before i pay $2.00 for a service that strips out inet ads at my router, a good JRiver is worth more than that, i also paid i think $30 for a very good Android do all remote control software.  but many you are right what a bunch of angry people as the objective is a good one a better customer experience.  regards.

I don't disagree with any of this.  I have both an iPhone and an android Tablet and I keep wondering why they don't just port JRemote over to Android.  It is far far superior in every respect.  I think Gizmo needs a lot of work to catch up.

  And I am sorry if I came off as angry.  I am not angry.  I do take issue though with the statements above that seemed to indicate they expect a dedicated support system for the $25.00 / year they were already paying.  This is in my mind simply unreasonable.

Carl.

[jmone]

I used "Paid Support" once for an issue I had with Gallery a open source web based photo album organizer.

Here is how it works - http://galleryproject.org/paidsupport

It worked very well and pending the issue it could be addressed not only by JR'ers but could allocated to knowledgeable users.

Thanks
Nathan

[adlelare]

jct,

no offense take by me... but one of the real dilemma's of these type of forums is the propensity for dis-mis-re interpretation of what someone posts vs. potentially what the meant vs. how someone interpret its.. the classic tomato- tomatoe, etc. problem, made worse by the generally less than optimal world of inet posting.
i do find that some people are quick to negative judge and then gang tackling can occur. like a while back some person posed a question about something and then got gang tackled by people accusing him/her of asking the wrong question, not using the wiki, not searching, blah, blah, blah...now what it was to me was someone who was frustrated trying to do something and couldn't get it done and so asked a question (i howl at people expecting people who don't know to supposedly then be able to magically craft an insightful question to fully describe a problem that they likely have no ideas as to the root problem just that something ain't working (seems to me if they could do that they likely would know the answer and so wouldn't ask the question)). and i suspect anyone posting here has a lot of $'s tied up in their entertainment systems, which likely raises the expectations for flawlessness.  PS if you go way back i believe JRiver used to bundle a word type document as their installation guide (i found it by accident a while ago as i was deleting some old directories).  cheers.