IRIS improves service despite snow

Frankly this is something they should keep quite about rather than boast about.

They have been in business xx years and they are only now coming to grips with customer service in adverse conditions - it they have'nt got it right by now the do they really deserve to be in business  

Should'nt this be part of their disaster recovery (or whatever) process to provide the customer with seemless support irrespective of their own problems - or is that an old fashioned notion

Being such a large IT company ..and with modern technology ...surely it was possible for them to provide TELEPHONE support - snow or no snow, with support staff working remotely from home!! I think it is a disgrace that they couldn't offer telephone support!

Other software providers off extra & extended support hours during December & January ...but not IRIS - thier support was even closed between the right from X-mas to 4th January! (whilst no do doubt their sales dept was still working).

They even want to charge us extra for any support migrating to SQL, which should be included in our support contract! The sheer cheek of it!!

IRIS Support + rip off pricing/price increases = LOUSY!

The title of this post reads "IRIS improves service despite snow" - How can closing you helpline during the snow be an improvement? I can't in my book. Just a load of self-promoting spin & lies from IRIS again, and shame on John Stokdyk for posting such a blatant advert for IRIS!

Also, Support PTPused to be great, untill IRIS took it over, you now have to wait untill someone rings you back! Improvement ?? I don't think so!!

I received an email promoting their Outsourcing product and then the next day one saying that support was available only via email. I thought to myself “well if you even outsourced a few of your support team to India at least someone would be able to pick up the phone”. Keeping support open during adverse weather conditions is not something that should be headline news. Using modern technology with VPN’s and teleworker redirection of calls on most new phone systems, some sort of support should have been maintained.This should be built into their disaster recovery plans. Especially during the January Self Assessment period.

Think yourselves lucky, we have been waiting for a support response since the 4th November and another before Christmas when a white Christmas was just a dream in many people's minds or something you could lay odds on at Ladbrokes. Their support is the worst I have ever experienced, their attitude towards customer service is incredulous and we are all of 5 miles away from their Bournemouth Office!

Apart from that, we were missold the product and what it could do, had the most traumatic implementation, have been stitched up by Bank of Scotland Corporate courtesy of Iris Exchequer and Genesis Capital to the tune of £7K and still have issues that are outstanding.

There are some excellent aspects of the software, I have spoken to some very helpful and honest staff over the three years we have suffered but the good points pale into insignificance when I think of the pure frustration caused to my staff and myself. How they have won awards for customer satisfaction beggars belief. Maybe we have just been very unlucky?

As Marketing Manager for a Sage Partner I am always interested in customer feedback, as it gives us an opportunity to improve.

Irrespective of the software supplier / brand we are talking about here, there is always room for improvement but this can only be achieved if there is a good line of communication between suppliers and clients.

Getting through to a main supplier or their support team can be quite difficult at times, especially at the larger call centres. This is one of the reasons why we encourage people to sign support contracts with local supply partners, as they tend to have closer relationships and a better understanding of their clients' requirements. I personally prefer to be able to speak the same person each time I call, so I don't have to repeat myself. They may even supply you with an 'out of hours' or mobile number just in case. How many call centres would do that?

There is always a possibility that internal communications at your supplier slow to a crawl or break down altogether. This can be very frustrating if you are not being kept up to date regarding progress on your query. Again a local supply partner is more likely to get to the bottom of this than a faceless call centre.

Frustrated by the lack of functionality or a bug in a piece of software? Who is more likely to get things done, a call centre operative or your account manager at your local supply partner, who can fight on your behalf? Going direct is not always better or cheaper.

We are only human and everyone can make a mistake or have a bad day but as long as we keep communicating, issues can be resolved, so you can concentrate on your business.

We used to use Sage and we had similiar issues and it was costly!! I've been using Digita for some time and really enjoy the product/support levels/service..........