How much time do you spend with Customer Service?

[willcambridge]

I am a CAD user who is also responsible for administering the system at my company. I am trying to evaluate whether it is worthwhile to switch CAD packages. I would like to know how much time Solidworks users spend with technical support. I am interested in questions like these:

Are you a regular Solidworks user? (Daily, weekly, monthly)

How often are you using Technical Support?

Why do you use Technical Support? How many issues involve learning how to use the software correctly (user education issue), vs. learning how to mitigate a bug or problem with the software (vendor error)

How much of a problem do new releases cause, in terms of requiring Tech Support to help get the bugs out?

I appreciate your input.

 

[Theophilus]

I very rarely use tech support. The Help files are better than what I've seen in other applications (and occasionally useful ). I grind away all day long using SolidWorks and have for about ten years now. If I have a question about something, it's normally something a bit tricky, so I consult Help, then here, then go to my VAR if it's even beyond eng-tips (such as a software bug or something specific to my machine/installation).

Last year I experienced lots of problems with the new SW 2007 installation (SP 0.0--go figure). I needed some of the additional features/stability of Animator in 2007, but that proved to be one headache after another with crashed/corrupted assemblies. I sent in lots of bug fixes/SPRs on that project, and SP 1.0 seemed to solve all my critical issues. So in that case, tech support proved helpful in helping me through the software glitches and impending deadline trauma and seemed to roll some fixes into the next service pack.

So, for new releases (SP 0.0), you don't want to commit yourself to production work (cannot backward-save your files to an older version)--unless your doing very basic stuff--in which case the new version also will not be of significant help to you either.

Through my VAR, I get the SolidProfessor "What's New in 200x" CD tutorials I can check out for quick learning of the new stuff. (When do I ever really find time to do that?) So that's very helpful in breaking my old-school SW practices--if I actually view it.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The questions you ask will get very varied responses. It depends upon the skill level and resourcefulness of the user. Some people are simply too lazy to think for themselves and/or click on the Help file. They will immediately phone or email their VAR (or Eng-Tips) . Others crave to find their own answers before resorting to their VAR.

A simpler question might be, "We are currently using XYZ cad system and are thinking of switching to SolidWorks. Is it worth it?"

If the current system is any of the mainstream mid-range systems (SolidEdge, Inventor, Pro/E (Wildfire), One Space, etc) then the answer is "probably not". The field and complexity of design will also dictate which program would be best suited.
If it's a 2D package and you are in the mechanical engineering field (or similar), then yes ... almost definitely.

FWIW, I use SW daily, have used Tech Support 5 or 6 times in 7 years, all but the last one during the first 2 years. The last one just recently concerning setting up for BETA testing SW08.

"How much of a problem do new releases cause"?
That's totally dependent on how complex your modelled parts and assys are. Most people have few to no problems. Some seem to have every problem imaginable ... and then some. Many of the problems are caused by hardware/software incompatibilties or misuse of SW.

 

[willcambridge]

Blimey,
Will you elaborate on this:

<i>If the current system is any of the mainstream mid-range systems (SolidEdge, Inventor, Pro/E (Wildfire), One Space, etc) then the answer is "probably not". </i>

I am using Pro/E Wildfire 3.0. For comparison, I have been on the phone with tech support on the order of ten times in two years. (And that's probably an under-estimate) My problems have run the spectrum from forehead slappers (obvious problem/solution in retrospect) to complicated configuration issues...to plain old software screw-ups. Obviously it's the frequency of category three I'm unhappy about.

 

[Heckler]

I've only used Tech Support a couple of time in the 9 years I have been using SWx. It's not that my VAR is not knowledgeable or slow responder but I would rather figure it out myself. With all the resources on the internet it's almost useless to contact tech support. SWx is alway running on my computer even if I'm writing a test procedure or doing hand calculations.

How much of a problem do new releases cause, in terms of requiring Tech Support to help get the bugs out?

If your user base is large then you might want to do inhouse testing of new releases before the user base get a hold of it. I remember my days at LM with 600 seats of SDRC IDEAS we had a CAD Department that tested & benchmarked new releases before propagating to us users.

I also use Pro/E 2001. We still pay for support but I refuse to upgrade to WildFire. I'm not conviced it's any better then Pro/E 2001 which BTW I consider that most stable version to date.

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 3.0 & Pro/E 2001
XP Pro SP2.0 P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[Theophilus]

For what it's worth, I think last year was the second time I called tech support (regarding Animator and the new 2007 install). The only other time I can think of involved rendering a part as contours (lines) only--and it simply didn't work. So I sent the file to my VAR to check it out and they couldn't get it to work either (no resolution--perhaps a software limit).



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe transcends reason.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

willcambridge ... Basically I was inferring that functionally they are all about the same. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and it probably comes down to personal preference of interface and command flow.

IMO, the VAR or tech support, while important, is less important than how the MCAD program fits into your companys product design and work flow. The software should work for you rather than forcing you to work for it. The only way to find that out is to run trials of each. Another important aspect of successful software integration is having the users wanting to use it. If they don't like the program and don't want to use it, then no matter how good it is, it will fail the company.

 

[MadMango]

I am a daily user, and I don't think I've called SW Tech Support in about 8-10yrs. When I did, it was on version SW96+, and back then you called SW directly and spoke to an AE.

As others have said, the path to figuring out issues and work arounds is Help Files, Eng-Tips, Google, then your VAR. Of course this will vary on the types of issues you are having, and is tied directly to understanding the work flow of new software as compared to familiar software.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[willcambridge]

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

That's an awesome quote. Mind if I steal it?

 

[MadMango]

Steal away, I stole it from Steven K. Roberts. I just don't credit him any more, as some people thought that was my name.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

So is Art WITH Engineering a Calculated Dream?

 

[rfus]

CBL We'll have to look at the contrapositve to see if your statement can be true.

Art with engineering is not dreaming; Engineering with art is not calculating.

I think a calculated dream is when my head hits the spacebar after too many hours on this machine.

 

[Standing]

willcambridge,
There is a lot more to changing cad systems than support.
I am also the company’s administer and SolidWorks user everyday all day long. I would say I use tech support about 1 hour or less per month. We have 3 plants across the country, and I do not understand some of the SolidWorks users, who do not know computers very well have. They call tech support. We have our yearly subscription mostly for updates and service packs.

One year we had a layoff and I changed everyone’s password the day of. I also changed my admin password and forgot that I had changed it. That week we also upgraded PDM vault to the next major upgrade. I installed and reinstalled, our IT department got involved no luck. Our VAR’s tech support fixed the problem over the phone in less than ½ hour. They were worth it, what ever the price.

We changed from Pro-E to SolidWorks several years ago and never looked back. We changed because Pro-E always wanted more and more money from us.


Bradley
SolidWorks Premim 2007 x64 SP3.1
PDM Works, Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Virtual memory 12577 MB, nVidia 3400

 

[Heckler]

We changed because Pro-E always wanted more and more money from us.

That's true the last time I saw the invoice for our yearly subscription was $2500 for Pro/E w/mechanica

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 3.0 & Pro/E 2001
XP Pro SP2.0 P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." -- George Best

 

[engAlright]

I am the SW admin for our company, and I talk to tech support pretty regularly. However, we have a number of SW users (60) all doing similar tasks so with every new SW release we generate a pretty good backdrop of SW knowledge quickly. After the initial "learning curve" with a new release, most all of the questions to tech support are bug reports. After awhile, there are no more questions from users I can't answer myself because we've pretty much found all the problems.

Tech support in general is useful, though with any support situation there are some people who are helpful and some people who are not. It helps to know who the helpful ones are...