MailScanner support

[Nathan Johanson]

> 1. Membership of private, closed, high-priority mailing list

This sounds good, but I haven't had any "real" problems with MailScanner. If I did, I'm not sure I could justify joining a list just to get the problem resolved. I can see where this would be a good investment if I was having constant problems or was perpetually confused by various installation and configuration issues.

> 2. Traditional annual support contract

A good option for those with budget constraints, but not the best for us as we could possibly go a full year or more w/out ever using it.

> 3. Regular installation of new releases and updated anti-virus engines

Not necessary for us. A testament to this outstanding piece of software!

> 4. Advice on configuration and installation, paid for as needed

I wonder if this could simply be part of the annual or per-incident support contract. Once paid, I figure anything goes. Correct? This would encompass everything from broken installations to configuration questions. If we wanted to spend our hours having someone install the software for us, I'm assuming we could do this too?

> 5. Remote testing and inspection to ensure your setup looks sane and should
> work

Again, I wonder if this could be part of the regular support contract? 

> 6. Out of hours support of all the types above (perhaps out-of-hours
> installation of new releases?)

Sure, but you might want to offer a higher level of support to cover after hours options or more in-depth support options (similar to what RedHat currently offers for Advanced Server).

> 7. Support paid for per-incident, possibly paying for a block of time in
> advance. How you use the time is up to you.

This is my favorite option, and the one I'm most likely to use. I particularly like the "block of time" option, as this is exactly the kind of support we offer our clients and the kind they tend to use the most.

Sincerely,

Nathan Johanson
Email: nathan at tcpnetworks.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Denis Beauchemin [mailto:Denis.Beauchemin at USHERBROOKE.CA] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 5:50 AM
To: MAILSCANNER at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: Re: MailScanner support


Hello Julian,

Thanks again for the great support for your great software!

We would be interested in options 1 or 2 as we are usually capable of
doing the rest ourselves.

Denis
Le mar 25/02/2003 à 05:15, Julian Field a écrit :
> At 04:56 25/02/2003, you wrote:
> >Julian: Your stance is perfectly justified. But for you, users would have
> >paid some Bill, Tom, Dick and Harry! Why not you instead for such selfless
> >service.
> 
> Thankyou all for such kind comments!
> 
> The next obvious question is this: what kinds of support service are you
> most likely to use?
> 
> The options so far are these (in no particular order):
> 
> 1. Membership of private, closed, high-priority mailing list
> 2. Traditional annual support contract
> 3. Regular installation of new releases and updated anti-virus engines
> 4. Advice on configuration and installation, paid for as needed
> 5. Remote testing and inspection to ensure your setup looks sane and should
> work
> 6. Out of hours support of all the types above (perhaps out-of-hours
> installation of new releases?)
> 7. Support paid for per-incident, possibly paying for a block of time in
> advance. How you use the time is up to you.
> 
> And any other options I haven't thought of?
> --
> Julian Field
> www.MailScanner.info
> MailScanner thanks transtec Computers for their support
-- 
Denis Beauchemin, analyste
Université de Sherbrooke, S.T.I.
T: 819.821.8000x2252 F: 819.821.8045