Graphisoft TECHNICAL SUPPORT

[Anonymous]

Just received notice from my reseller that they will no longer be providing direct technical support. The announcement says - "Effective immediately Graphisoft NA will require all technical questions and issues to go directly to their in-house support team. Graphisoft NA has mandated that their resellers no longer be the first line of support and that you call them directly." Notice stated that effective date was June 1, 2010.

I had been receiving good, reliable, responsive tech support from my reseller and this revision seems 'odd'. will have to wait and see how the new system compares to the retired system. I liked the 'local' contact and sense of community.

Does anyone have an inkling of the reasons other than what was outlined in the announcement explanatory link?

[Erika Epstein]

Count yourself fortunate, this was the announcement I and others received a year ago from our resellers.

[Achille Pavlidis]

I wonder whats the policy regarding support on european reselers...

[Link]

Actually, I'd have thought this would be a good thing. Tech support issues are directed to the right people, just one step away from GSHQ and the resellers are still able to help with implementation and general how-to questions. And they can focus on selling.

Seems generally like a smart move.

Cheers,
Link.

[gpowless]

Link wrote:
Actually, I'd have thought this would be a good thing. Tech support issues are directed to the right people, just one step away from GSHQ and the resellers are still able to help with implementation and general how-to questions. And they can focus on selling.

Seems generally like a smart move.

Cheers,
Link.

For whom?

I have had experience with Graphisoft support and I can tell you they are slow to respond and I have waited a couple of days for them to get back to me on an important - work stopping - issue.

When I called my reseller they were quick and concerned and came back quickly with a work around until the problem was solved. In dealing with problems they are more familiar with the local code issues, and construction practices than any call-centre support tech because they work in the field.

In my opinion this is nothing more than a Graphisoft money grab since the subscriptions are now handled entirely through them. One more reason to consider Revit might be a better way to go.

Anybody want my 2 licences?

[Greg Kmethy]

The change in the Technical Support policy actually took place in last July (see announcement here). The deal is that technical issues are handled by us, the Graphisoft North America support team, while training is still provided by our resellers locally. I'd like to think that our support team here in Boston are not the typical call-centre guys. We all come from a background in architecture or IT, and we all have years of experience with ArchiCAD. We solve ArchiCAD problems all day every day and have direct access to all the resources of the development team in Budapest. We believe we can provide the highest level of support this way. And again, your reseller is still there to help you with implementation and questions regarding the use of the software.

This is how it work in most European countries as well – Tech Support is usually handled by the distributor, training by the reseller.

[gpowless]

Europe is in a crisis right now so it is not a useful example of the way things should be here.

My father-in-law managed the implementation of General Motors' Technical Support Call Centre quite a few years ago. The intent even today is not to replace the mechanics, but to provide a resource when the mechanics are stumped with problems they can't figure out. Thus the support centre are "specialists" allowing the mechanics the front line opportunity to meet with their clients and solve problems.

That was the way it used to be with my local reseller. They were like local mechanics who know how to "tune up" the software, and provide tips and advice on how to approach more complex issues. But now Graphisoft has essentially cut them out of the process. And with taking back the subscription processing you have pretty much cut them out of the loop.

Working with large bureaucracies that you are part of, is neither efficient or beneficial to the customer. You cannot replace the personal faces and voices of those that I purchased my software from. I also suggest that you care less and are less knowledgeable about local issues here - after all, what incentive do you have to get involved with my two license operation in Canada when all those big US firms have you working on their problems.

It was a dumb move and one you may not regret if I leave for Revit, but one that will eventually be pivotal in the loss of market share. If we want indifference and disconnection we can always go to Autodesk, but with a greater user support base they still have an advantage over Graphisoft. It is looking better all the time.

[Anonymous]

I am currently trying the NEW AND IMPROVED [sic] support systems with both a phone-in and email request for support on a "using the software" issue.

The phone-in try got the voice recording that they were currently unavailable and to leave a message. The email is in the pipeline. GS policy says it may take a couple of days to respond depending on how busy they are (great news).

I offer that the local reseller support was probably a better system for sense of community (connective-ness), efficiency, timely response, just plain 'more better'. I will admit that most folks do not like change, especially when things seemed to be working well; so maybe this is a thing that is going to take getting used to. Or, it may hurt GS market share as GPOWLESS proposed.

GKMETHY says > "And again, your reseller is still there to help you with implementation and questions regarding the use of the software." This creates a grey area in policy that someone needs to clarify. If this is true I wonder if the resellers know this because they told me that they are required to give up direct support to the users and the only contact GS support. This is a definite disconnect in support policy.

After digesting the little that is known at this stage it appears that 1) this may allow the resellers to offer and focus more on revenue generating services like training and consulting (but lose the personal touch factor), and 2) GS gets to try something to see if it works (not a great strategy).

I am willing (forced) to see how this goes. So far, color me 'not happy'.

[Anonymous]

Starting day 3 waiting for a reply from GSNA technical support. Not exactly working for us yet.

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this is how it is but I'm getting the vibe that what was meant is you can call the reseller for "How do I do this?" support. But if there is a bug, showstopper, or something of that nature then it should be sent upstream directly because they can deal with those easily whereas directing them through the reseller is inefficient and is an unnecessary cost.

But costs are going up for everyone. Someone has to pay for the support and it's probably makes sense to the Graphisoft bean counters to remove that aspect of the cost of however they compensate the local resellers and centralize it into something more efficient.