About Our Support
Why do I need a support contract ?
Our Consultants are often asked by their clients "why do I need a support contract" ? A fair question and as our clients and users become more computer literate and more used to their programs and the various Windows operating systems one would imagine that they would require our assistance much less than they did a few years ago. But is it the case that once you know your way around our programs and your computer's operating system you can necessarily go it alone.
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING
Your data resides in a special folder on your hard drive created when our programs are installed. Your backup data resides in a separate folder on your hard drive created when our programs are installed. Some special control files reside in separate folders on your hard drive away from the all of the rest. The shortcuts on your desktop are specially configured to point to the correct files and to perform special operations when opening our programs. Your end of month and end of year rollover systems are configured so that EOY and EOM data is placed so that AMWin can find them when you need them. A computer is an electronic device, at the mercy of dust and dirt, dependant on the power distributed by various power authorities [enough said], at the mercy of viruses, spy-ware and worms that can infiltrate via network connections, email and the internet.
It's also subject to abuse from staff who may be able to do an invoice and check stock in, but who know very little about the computer but still like to play. [I just put a screen saver on it] and sometimes from the kids who like an electronic babysitter to keep them busy after school. [Little Brittany just installed a new game from a CD/disk that one of her friends burnt/copied for her and now nothing works. [apologies to anyone with kids called Brittany] And this poor old computer is the one you trust to hold your valuable business data, more valuable to you than just about anything else in your business. Here's a few more regulars that we hear that place your computer in jeopardy.
We just put on a new office, or spare parts or store person to replace the one who knew everything, The new person's great but doesn't know how "your" program works. Given time he/she will suss it out. Time - what time - we need invoices, reports, etc now. If only he/she had someone to call when they needed help, so we knew that they won't make a mess of it. Our computer guy came in and put another program on so that we can: - link to our supplier - play better games - put on some programs that give the kids something to do after school - etc etc - and now "your" program doesn't work properly - start up - crashes. Given that your computer is at the mercy of all of these things, Murphy decrees that something will go wrong. It will not only go wrong, but it will happen at the most inconvenient time - when you have to get your books to the accountant - at the end of the month or financial year, or when you are desperate to get that quote out for the big job that you've been looking for since you started business.
Ok, we've hammered home the point. So what happens when one of / some of or God help you, all of the above occurs. Do you get your mate from down the road, or your friends brother to have a look at it and sort it out. We can tell you that there's a "computer expert" in every pub. Do you trust your business data to someone you don't know. Or more to the point do you trust your business data to someone you do know because he gave you a good deal for a new computer for home. Over the last 15 years or so every one of our consultants would have gone out to jobs, where a computer person or a mate has had a go at fixing the problem, and spent several hours cleaning up the mess before even starting on the original problem. Most of these calls have resulted in the Client receiving a fairly hefty bill because like you, our Consultants charge for their services based on time taken to repair or rectify.
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
In short the last thing both you and we need is for someone who doesn't know your system to be mucking around in the bowels of AM-Win. From experience we know that when we get the call to come and sort out the mess it's too late, and that you're going to be faced with a hefty bill to put everything back together, as we struggle to do our best to recover what's left of your business data and make everything right again.
We hope that we have given you enough reasons to consider calling our Consultant's first when you experience difficulties with your computer and AM-Win. Now lets talk about support contracts. A support contract is a bit like an insurance policy. With a support contract Our Team agrees to provide you with an agreed level of assistance, for a certain period of time at an agreed cost. Often a support contract will include a priority support clause that provides priority support to contract holders over those who rely on the more seat of the pants approach. Always, without exception you will find that owning a support contract is a cheaper option in the long run. And we have made it even easier than ever to manage the cost, with payment options that include monthly direct debit and six monthly payments instead of one annual payment [you can still make one annual payment if it suits you better.]