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Technical support issues range from emergency to curiosity. There are cases
where a hardware failure brings an entire system down, and then there are cases
where someone wants to know if ABS Agency Builder can do a particular task. We
provide assistance with all levels of tech support. Although we sometimes go
beyond providing support for our products, we encourage you to get help from the
software manufacture. They know their stuff better than we do, and after all, we
didn't sell Windows, Microsoft Word, your printer, your scanner, etc.
Product Help (F1 key)
Most questions about the operation of ABS Agency Builder can be answered by
pressing the F1 key while on the screen you have questions about. Our on-line
help is extensive, and covers virtually every screen, and/or function available
in ABS Agency Builder, and ABS Document Manager. This is the first place you
should go for tech support.
Phone
The vast majority of time we spend with our users is on the phone. Frequently
this is due to the fact that many users don't know they can press F1. Others
have lost their user manual, or left it at home, or it was eaten by the dog. We
really don't mind the "education" kind of calls because they help you
become more proficient with our software. Our feeling is that if you know how it
works, you'll know how good it is, and you'll refer other agents to consider us.
There are cases where a system crash or just a simple hardware upgrade has
made it necessary to reinstall, or re-configure the software. We know agents
aren't computer experts, so we stand ready to assist in these circumstances.
When things are really hairy, and the office is shy on technical know how, we
sometimes need to work with a local computer technician. We encourage that. The
operation and setup of our software is very straight forward, and in nearly all
cases we can assist the office staff in pretty sophisticated stuff, like
configuring ABS Agency Builder to run on a local area network.
We are proud of the simplicity we have built into the setup and operation of
our software, but when questions arise, we are ready to help. . Our software and
support is inexpensive because we control costs. Therefore, we ask that you call
us during normal office hours, so we don't have to call you back. We do return
calls, but if someone calls us before we can return your call, they get
priority, and you get to wait. Our office hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific
time. Our phone is (503) 659-6752.
Internet
Often the need for help is not urgent, and waiting for an e-mail response is
okay. We typically respond to all e-mail questions within one working day. It is
not uncommon for you to get a reply the same day.
E-mail should be used for questions, not for help fixing something. We often
need to ask diagnostic questions. Mailing questions and answers back and forth
is counter productive for you, and us.
Fax
The same things we said about Internet support applies to fax support.
However, you may get a faster response by fax because it is always on, but we
need to go get our e-mail. We only do that periodically during the day.
User Manual
Our user manual is very complete. Currently, it is a 150+ page document
that covers installation, use, backup, restore, ABS Agency Builder, and ABS
Document Manager. Over time, we have discovered that a very big percentage of
the service calls we get could be answered by referring to the manual.
When an order is shipped, a printed manual is included. There is also a copy
of the manual on the CD (in .PDF format), and there is a copy of the manual on
this web site. It too, is in .PDF format (Adobe Acrobat). It can be viewed on
the web, or saved to your hard drive and viewed off-line, or printed. If you
would like additional manuals, but don't want to print one, we charge for
replacements. The current price is $25.
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