Change in Support Procedure

Wiki (en)
1

Communication channels

Until recently, Invantive used multiple communication channels for first-line support for its Invantive SQL-based products such as Invantive Cloud, Invantive Control for Excel and Invantive Data Hub, ranging from direct contact to:

  • chat,
  • email,
  • tickets,
  • phone,
  • forums.

We started with the forums about a year ago and with chat about two years ago. The forums now have almost 2,000 topics on them. We are happy to say that we have experienced double digit growth in users month-on-month in the last year.

We are concentrating on knowledge sharing. That may be commercially peculiar at a time when many products are given away for a small fee only to sell the result of the knowledge required for use. But focusing on knowledge sharing is also done out of a belief that society and children benefit when knowledge is shared.

For Invantive, the use of e-mail and tickets for one-to-one communication not only leads to sometimes bleeding subscriptions, but unfortunately also to less social benefit. This disadvantage lands mainly on those who have a greater distance to modern technology, and we would like everyone to have access to the knowledge necessary to use modern technology for a great business revenue and pleasant working conditions.

Shift to Knowledge Sharing

For these reasons, the support procedure has been changed to focus on knowledge sharing in first line support. The forums (where this topic also appears) are the starting point. For simple questions the chat remains available during Dutch service hours.

The email channel, tickets and phone number are no longer available. Support questions will be redirected to the forums. Users will be supported with the transfer till January 1, 2022.

We understand that this change in focus is cumbersome for some users: no more quick answers to simple and complex questions and/or a need to explain a problem clearly in writing. We think that this annoyance on a macro level outweighs the advantages; the past year we have seen a sevenfold growth by people who consume the information Invantive offers, both from paid subscriptions as well as from visitors through search engines. And where possible we will guide you in learning how to work with the forums.

What will not change is that Invantive employees actively participate in helping users on the forums. Both for (of course) bugs, but also for sharing knowledge.

It is possible that some questions require consultation or that the organization-specific situation needs to be looked at; for this consultancy is and will remain available.

Bugs

In the case of bugs, subscription agreements remain unchanged (see Support (Nederlands)). As much of the analysis and communication concerning a (possible) bug as possible will take place via the forums. If absolutely necessary, a support appointment can be scheduled via the “Support (NL)” and “Support (EN)” buttons on the top of the screen.

Unchanged: 2nd and 3rd line, billing, accounts and keys

For the 2nd and 3rd line the modus operandi remains unchanged; at this moment there is no advantage for either Invantive or community when the exact details of the solving of bugs are shared widely. Solved bugs themselves will continue to be shared via https://releasenotes.invantive.com.

Also for information about individual subscriptions, user accounts and license keys the procedure will remain unchanged: communication will take place directly between Invantive and those involved. Of course we welcome it when general issues in the process of invoicing, user accounts and license keys are discussed on the forums, for example in the Ideas section.