Considerations for small shops

Technical support can be tough for smaller shops (1 to 5 developers) when you are out of the office. Our clients sometimes run our applications 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What happens when we need to take a vacation or attend a conference? In the case of Geeks and Gurus (a four person shop as of the writing of this chapter) we all plan on attending each of the VFP conferences held in the USA and often speak at various user groups throughout North America. How do we support our clients when we are attending technical sessions and various events when we are out of town? For the most part the same as we do when we are in the office, with some special handling.

First and foremost we have contact available via our cell phones. Our cell phones have voice mail in case we are unable to take the call immediately. We carry our notebook computers so we can investigate the problem via source code and to dial into their systems if necessary from our hotel room. We have even supported our clients from a remote campground in the past so almost anything is possible. We also handle our e-mail as many times a day as needed to provide top- notch service. The key as usual is fast response and appropriate action to satisfy the customers ‚ needs. Our customers are also notified in advance when we are leaving town or are unavailable for a period of time.