Who is using a Billing & Tech Support service?

[mohave_steve]

Hello All,

The last system I set up I contracted with NetNearU for billing & tech support. They did a great job and had a very sharp crew manning the helpdesk 24x7. If something came up that required my attention they would call my cell & home. It took a great load off of me. I got a call if there was a network problem and I got a check in the mail every month. The downside was that they take a 30% cut to do that and I lacked the ability to give out free accounts or promo accounts the way I wanted.

How many of you are using a similar service?

[alrantech]

why not get a mikrotik with level 5 or 6

[MaximumISP]

an almost 1/3 cut seems a little steep to me and
I assume thats off the gross not the net
so your costs (bandwidth, equipment and labours) come out of your 70 as well

I recall someone a dslr mentioning that they used colledge kids for support at very reasonable prices

[kshive]

I'm sorta in the same boat needing a third party to do technical support - not billing. I've looked around and some companies like Hospitality Wifi and Air2data but has anyone actually tried anything like this? I'm not necessarily a WISP - but I do wireless for hotels and PtP and PtMP links and I'm trying to add value to the hotel side of business.

[BoC]

I use a 3rd party Tech Support service.

Pros:

-Someone to answer the phone 24/7/365 that's not you, or someone you're paying to stay up all night watching youtube just to answer the phone for that one person who calls.

-You get holidays off again.

-PEBKAM calls aren't your problem.


Cons:

-Everything is handled by the book (unfortunately). It'd be like running a hospital where your front-line staff always go through the same checklist for every patient even when it's clearly asinine. If someone comes in with chest pains, the flunky will check if they're having a heart attack even if they have a tent stake hammered through one of their lungs.

-3rd party support companies hiring "CSRs" instead of "TSRs". Expect to argue with said company for awhile before you stop receiving escalations that "the internet is broken" because the customer's laptop won't link to their wireless router.

-Some things are just over their head (Yes, you will get a blank stare if you tell them that the customer's computer is having problems because it isn't automatically adjusting their TCP MTU).


Overall I'd say 3rd party tech support is worth it, you just have to have tons of documentation prepared with chimpanzee-IQ level explanations. Largely because it lets you concentrate on *fixing* problems instead of *talking to* problems.

[kshive]

Overall I'd say 3rd party tech support is worth it, you just have to have tons of documentation prepared with chimpanzee-IQ level explanations. Largely because it lets you concentrate on *fixing* problems instead of *talking to* problems.

I completely agree - I've used the support when I traveled before and I KNEW the autogenerated code they gave me was incorrect or already used but I had to go through a 10 minute script before they would even listen to me.

Anyhow, anyone have any recommendations on who to use and how much you're paying per user/unit?

[Airwip]

just my 0.02euro..

if your a wisp one of your best selling arguments are good direct service and that you'l never can archive with a 3rd party tech support as sharp as they ever be it won't be the same.
Investing some time in a propper radius and billing setup that fits your need 100% and automate
as much as posible is gold worth.

the other hand is 1/3 cut is simply too much .

call me old stylish but i keep all in oure own hands radius auth billing install fixing etc.
Of course it's more work but who told that a wisp is candyshop.

[BoC]

I wouldn't pay anywhere near 1/3...but if you can outsource tech support on the cheap it'll save you a ton of $$$ in your own labor. Instead of talking to some newb for an hour you can have the newb talk to some $8/hr TS goon for an hour. This is especially obvious when spending 2 minutes fixing an issue where 99% of the time investment was in handholding the customer to ID the problem, and 1% of the time investment was in actually fixing it.

Junky computers not adjusting TCP MTU is a prime example of this - it takes forever to ID the problem over the phone if you're talking to Bingo McMuggins, but if you can get some TS guy to walk them through the dozens of troubleshooting steps to identify it and then forward you the symptoms...it's 2 minutes to login to your SM, turn on MTU clamping, and the problem is resolved.

[Ron]

I heard good things about http://www.swift-fox.net/ and their prices are reasonable, altho I have no personal experience with them.

[Ron]

Everything is handled by the book (unfortunately). It'd be like running a hospital where your front-line staff always go through the same checklist for every patient even when it's clearly asinine. If someone comes in with chest pains, the flunky will check if they're having a heart attack even if they have a tent stake hammered through one of their lungs.

When I call for support, such behavior upsets me because it's a waste of my time going thru dumb troubleshooting procedures when I already know where the problem is NOT. I will not subject our customers to that.

Keep in mind thru, our cheapest plan is $60/month so our customers expect excellent service. If we were selling $20 plans then of course we would be using third party support.

[BoC]

When I call for support, such behavior upsets me because it's a waste of my time going thru dumb troubleshooting procedures when I already know where the problem is NOT. I will not subject our customers to that.

Keep in mind thru, our cheapest plan is $60/month so our customers expect excellent service. If we were selling $20 plans then of course we would be using third party support.I agree. For the higher end customers who aren't "spehhh-shull" they get a more direct means of contact. The rank and file where 95% of the time the PEBKAM...that's what tech support is for. ;)

[mohave_steve]

Wow! First response to my post only took 18 months :)

I am still contemplating going back to NNU as the quality of thier support was extremely good and thier call center is still in TX.

The 30% is still awfull steep though.

[BoC]

Wow! First response to my post only took 18 months :)

I am still contemplating going back to NNU as the quality of thier support was extremely good and thier call center is still in TX.

The 30% is still awfull steep though.Up it another 20% and you can upgrade to the "marriage" package. ;)

[mohave_steve]

Up it another 20% and you can upgrade to the "marriage" package. ;)


I believe that may actually be 21% :)

[BoC]

I believe that may actually be 21% :)Usually that comes a week afterwards when she tells you that she's 'renegotiating' the deal. ;)

[heviejob]

I find calling tech support a pain in the neck especially when some ones asks you to switch off your pc and back on when its my AP not recieving any signal. I prefer in house training especially in this part of the world where labour is cheap to outsoursing it and having very bitter customers.

[urmom]

some ones asks you to switch off your pc and back on

i do this when i can't think of anything else to do. it gives me a minute or two to do some quick research on the person's problem.

[heviejob]

I usually ask then to power cycle their CPEs not their PC.

[urmom]

I usually ask then to power cycle their CPEs not their PC.


its not always a cpe problem that people call me with.

[heviejob]

You just reminded me where a client disabled the network card and called in accusing us of disconnecting him. After troubleshooting on the phone and getting nowhere I decide to go check personally. I find its the NIC that's disabled and decided to start charging if its the clients fault they are not connected.

[urmom]

I find its the NIC that's disabled and decided to start charging if its the clients fault they are not connected.

that's a good idea!