[BC] Manuals online...Not

[Harold Hallikainen]

> As a former manufacturer, I can comment that we would much prefer to
> have them in PDF form on the website for anyone to get at anytime than
> go through the headache of either making them to order or stocking piles
> of them.  Even if you give away a printed manual (which we did
> sometimes) it still costs you to make it, and if it's got large
> schematic prints, it costs a lot.  PDFs are basically free.
>
> This also goes to Jeff's questions about what's good tech support -
> having manuals (and FAQ tech tips) online alleviates a lot of issues for
> techs off hours.  It also means that when the engineer DOES call, they
> usually have the current version of the manual at hand.  It also means
> that you can archive OLD versions of tech notes and support for various
> products you haven't made for decades but which people still desire (and
> in some cases demand) you still support.
>
> These also help a lot with product that is old and resold (thanks eBay)
> and the current owner wants service like they just bought it from you
> that week.  It's hard to support old products with a changing product
> line and online manuals are a very good (and easy) way to do that.
> Plus, it never hurts to make a happy customer ;)
>
> John


Another thing a manufacturer can do to help in customer support is to have
a support forum on their website. The search engine software I use
(http://www.webinator.com) does this, and it's worked out VERY well. Tech
support only has to answer a particular question once, then it's available
for all to see.

Harold


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