[sf-lug] Centralised phone number for Linux Support

[Tom Haddon]

On Sat, 2007-09-15 at 10:47 -0700, jim stockford wrote:
> by "put in time" i mean people who answer the phone
> and/or respond to phone messages and provide help
> to callers.

Hi Jim,

This is already happening for the HVLC project. Currently Gloria, Ruby
and Kami have my number and are calling me with issues (I've had three
calls so far for tech support issues). I don't have a problem with
answering their calls, but I'm trying to think of ways to make the
system more reliable if I'm away on holiday/unable to answer the phone,
etc. Currently we could just set up a call tree (Jason has volunteered
as an alternate person they could call if I'm unavailable), but that
means them having multiple numbers, knowing who to call when, and if any
of us changes our phone number then they need to be updated.

Obviously this will require time from those interesting in offering
support to projects like these. What I'm trying to figure out is, if
there are people who are interested/able to provide that support, what's
the best way of managing that.

Thanks, Tom

>     seems like installing and config'ing would need time
> and expertise. as to maintenance, i don't know, but a
> tho't is how phone messages are stored, queued,
> removed--standard filesystem stuff, probably.
> 
> 
> On Sep 15, 2007, at 9:04 AM, Tom Haddon wrote:
> 
> >
> > On Fri, 2007-09-14 at 17:25 -0700, jim stockford wrote:
> >> a reaction: great idea.
> >>     someone has to pay for the phone and some ones
> >> have to be willing to put in some time.
> >
> > I guess I should have specified - another criteria would be low cost if
> > not free. However, I actually don't think the cost is the real issue - 
> > I
> > think if it was cheap enough it would be easy enough to find funds to
> > pay for it.
> >
> > How do you mean someone would have a to willing to put in some time? 
> > For
> > what aspect - the management of the system? I think that would be
> > outweighed by the benefits of a system like this.
> >
> >>     this might best be done using VoIP and software
> >> such as asterisk.
> >
> > That would be cool. Perhaps some VoIP/asterisk experts could weigh in
> > and let me know if all this is possible using asterisk. If so, I think
> > this would probably be a better way to go since then you're not
> > dependent on some outside provider. What I'm not sure about is how you
> > hook up asterisk to the regular phone network so that people can all
> > into it from a regular phone. If anyone has some experience on this,
> > would they be willing to discuss at a LUG meeting?
> >
> > Cheers, Tom
> >
> >>
> >> On Sep 14, 2007, at 5:01 PM, Tom Haddon wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi Folks,
> >>>
> >>> I've been mulling over an idea that came up in my head after reading
> >>> about Grand Central:
> >>>
> >>> http://www.grandcentral.com/
> >>>
> >>> The idea is related to phone support for the Hayes Valley Learning
> >>> Center project that a few members on the list have been working on, 
> >>> but
> >>> could related more generally to a number of other projects. I was
> >>> thinking that often non-technical users need support, especially in
> >>> something they're as unfamiliar with as Linux, and that ongoing 
> >>> support
> >>> is pretty vital to the success of any project like that. Preferably
> >>> phone support, because if they could get online and/or get to a
> >>> ticketing system to enter a problem for a support team to deal with,
> >>> chances are they don't have a problem in the first place :)
> >>>
> >>> So, are there any sustainable free centralized phone services like
> >>> Grand
> >>> Central out there (or Grand Central itself) that anyone has 
> >>> experience
> >>> with and could recommend? What I'm looking for (in an ideal world):
> >>>
> >>> - One phone number that could be relied upon to last for a good few
> >>> years at least
> >>> - You could subscribe multiple phones to this number at will
> >>> - Voicemail if no forwarding numbers are subscribed
> >>> - Email notification of messages and online storage of voicemail
> >>>
> >>> This would allow for a fairly nebulous group (like the SF LUG) to
> >>> provide a project with one support phone number to call, and behind 
> >>> the
> >>> scenes (and without too much administration) to turn that into a 
> >>> phone
> >>> support system that would be reliable enough to cope with members
> >>> leaving/joining the project and/or being away on holiday or 
> >>> something.
> >>>
> >>> Any ideas or recommendations?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks, Tom
> >>>
> >>> P.S. All I know about Grand Central I read on their website. I 
> >>> haven't
> >>> used them and while I tried to sign up, it seems like they're in a
> >>> closed beta at the moment.
> >>>
> >>> -- 
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----------------------------------
> >>> Tom Haddon
> >>> mailto:tom at greenleaftech.net
> >>> m +1.415.871.4180
> >>> www.greenleaftech.net
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> sf-lug mailing list
> >>> sf-lug at linuxmafia.com
> >>> http://linuxmafia.com/mailman/listinfo/sf-lug
> >>>
> >>
> > -- 
> >
> >
> > ----------------------------------
> > Tom Haddon
> > mailto:tom at greenleaftech.net
> > m +1.415.871.4180
> > www.greenleaftech.net
> >
> 
-- 


----------------------------------
Tom Haddon
mailto:tom at greenleaftech.net
m +1.415.871.4180
www.greenleaftech.net