Support for Adminsoft Software

The software is fairly intuitive to use. The menus tend to be self-explanatory and lead you through most tasks. Context sensitive F1 help is available in all modules. However, as with all software, some timely training and assistance is very valuable on occasions. We have provided a number of resources for "self-help" support, and established a Help-Desk to provide personalised support when required. The support resources and support policies are as follows:
Internet Based Help Library
We have provided a small web based support library to assist with installation, and getting started with the software. We will expand this over time with common support questions and answers.

(Click here to access the Internet Based Help Library)

Downloadable Support Resources

The "Administrator's Guide" is particularly worth printing out and reading as part of the evaluation process. It gives good conceptual foundations to the software, and very helpful suggestions with getting started. It also has some suggestions about establishing your own regular administrative procedures associated with the software.

F1 Context Sensitive Help

While running the software, context sensitive pop-up help is always available. Simply press the F1 key at whatever point you need assistance.

Printed Manuals

Our printed manuals are essentially just a printed version of the F1 Help (but not quite as up-to-the minute, as the Help may have received some revisions since the manuals were printed). For this reason (and being well aware that the primary function of manuals is often as a "dust collector"), we have made the printed manual an optional extra. Separating the manual from the software itself (which you can download and purchase directly from our web-site) allows us to reduce the purchase price for those that don't want it, and also legitimately reduces import tax significantly for those users that do.

Personal Assistance from our Help-Desk

Personalised support is available from our Help-Desk. Requests for assistance can be communicated to us by e-mail, fax, or telephone. Our help-desk is currently staffed during normal working hours (New Zealand time zone - please bear this in mind if attempting to telephone us from other courntries). We can normally provide a 'next day' turn-around for support requests, which is usually adequate in most cases. (Obviously adequate relevant information must be furnished with the request, so that our help-desk staff can reply without first seeking additional information.) When required, we can provide remote interactive support, working directly with your computer, using Microsoft Net Meeting or Symantic pcAnywhere. Remote training using these tools, is remarkably effective.

Time-zones are not really an issue, in that we can find adequate overlap even with Britain (and Europe) which has a 12 hour difference with New Zealand. In fact, time-zones are actually an advantage for overnight turnaround of non-urgent support issues. You can book a remote support appointment for a suitable time, (for yourself or an outside contractor who supports your computer network and applications software).

Help-Desk support associated with basic single-user installation is free (for both evaluation purposes and live usage). However, we understandably expect people to first make a conscientious attempt themselves to follow the support information already provided on this web-site (see the Internet Based Help Library). Support associated with multi-user installation is subject to normal support charges, as is assistance with fine tuning configuration settings to suit your particular preferences (for all sites - both single-user and multi-user).

For simplicity and fairness to more computer literate users, we do not factor a support component into the purchase price of our software. Training and technical support obviously need to be a commercially viable activities (for both our sake and yours in the long term). We offer several "Support Packages", which ensure that adequate help-desk resources are available to users when required, yet allow users to select a support arrangement that is most appropriate for them.

Confidentiality

If users send a copy of their data to our Help-Desk (for investigation of a problem, or merely for better support and telephone training), we will treat this data with all due confidentiality.

On-Site Assistance

Within New Zealand, and where we have suitably located agents in other countries, on-site assistance is possible. Where this is feasible, it has considerable advantages. On-site training and consulting on special requirements can significantly increase the value obtained from using the software, and is particularly cost-effective for larger sites. Understandably, on-site assistance incurs travel costs in addition to charges for the time on-site. Where such support is provided by an agent or dealer rather than our own staff, that agent will usually invoice you directly for the work and associated travel costs.

Support Packages

The support packages are usually purchased at the same time as the Software itself, and are renewed when they expire.

Software Update Contracts
Annual Update Contracts cost 12.5% (approx.) of the respective Licence purchase price. They commence at installation, and are renewed on each anniversary subsequently. They entitle you to receive all standard production releases for your software modules during that 12-month period. (Users on Annual Update Contracts also may ask to participate in our Beta Test Programme if they are keen to receive the very latest new features of the software, before these are introduced as a production release.)

GECL gives an informal 'warranty' to users on current Update Contracts, in that if you discover a bug in our software we will not charge for any associated support. If the bug actually damages data, we will usually repair the data for you if this is feasible, and send a new version of the software that fixes the initial problem. (This 'warranty' is limited to simple manipulation of the damaged data, and does not extend to re-keying any data-entry since the most recent backup. Damage to data is a fairly unlikely event, even for participants in our Beta Test Programme.) Users without a current Update Contract have no such warranty, and will be charged for all telephone support and any work done by GECL on their data (which is fair, as we probably will have already fixed the problem in a more recent release).

Update Contracts are not compulsory, but are of course very sensible and highly recommended. When eventually updating users who had previously elected not to take the annual Update Contracts, it has always been our policy to charge for missed updates. This is fair to the users that have taken the update contracts (and continued to renew them), and also to ourselves, as we have done a lot of work on the software in the interim. (Users of our remaining DOS modules must have current Upgrade Contracts to be eligible for the 'Trade-in' concession to our Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 software.)
User Support Contracts
One doesn't have to be around computers for very long, to appreciate the value of good training and support, especially in association with software that plays an important part in the everyday administration, revenue tracking and collection, and management of your company. Murphy's Law dictates that you will need technical assistance at some stage. Our Help-Desk is set up to provide you with remote training, general assistance, and technical support when you require it. Sometimes you can "work things out for yourself" relatively easily, but on many occasions some quick and effective support from "the experts" can save you many hours of inefficiency and wasted effort.
We recognise that the requirements for support vary very widely between users. Smaller firms with computer literate users who are already well established, don't need much support. However, larger firms (especially for multi-user sites), or sites which lack high computer literacy or lose the key person who previously ran the software, can require a lot of support. Rather than impose a support fee structure that is applied to all users regardless of their needs, we have attempted to devise a flexible scheme that is fair to everyone, especially users who don't require much support. (Hopefully we have done our sums right, and this flexible fee structure will also ensure that our Help-Desk covers its costs, and is therefore sustainable in the long term. We reserve the right to alter our fee structure from time to time to ensure that this is the case.)

Support Contacts are in essence pre-paid support arrangements between you and us. You are both paying us to ensure that we have adequate help-desk resources "on call" to provide timely assistance when you require it (a very small retainer), and also paying in advance for the support we provide. There is no fixed time period for such contracts. They may last 5 days or 5 years, depending completely on your level of requirements for support (and the amount you have pre-paid).

In practice we will credit your "support account" with the amount you pre-pay. Every three months, we will deduct the nominal retainer for the next quarter. When you obtain assistance from our Help-Desk we will record the work involved and deduct an appropriate fee (for time and any expenses such as toll charges) from your "support account". Support contracts can (and should) be renewed, before they are completely used up.

Support contracts are not compulsory. However most users recognise that the nominal retainer is very reasonable, and are happy to pay their small share in some of the Help-Desk's overhead. Our Help-Desk will not provide assistance to any users who do not have a current support contract. This is fair and reasonable, given that these are the mechanism by which such support is paid for. (Users who do not take a support contract, or do not renew it when it has been used up, should be aware that there may be an administrative delay of several days (depending on weekends and statutory holidays) before a payment is credited to your "support account", and our help-desk staff begin to work on a support request. During this period, it is fair that we let other users (who have been paying their way) move ahead of you in the any support queue.)

We offer several levels of Support Contract. These let you pre-pay only as much as you consider necessary. Obviously users with heavier ongoing requirements for support will want to pre-pay larger amounts, to reduce the hassles of continually renewing their contract and to reduce the risk of any untimely administrative delays associated with the renewal process. The bigger pre-payments attract increasing discounts (done in the form of a bonus credit). In effect, this provides a "volume discount", and a "use of money / interest" recognition in cases where your pre-paid amount lasts a long time. We are also passing on to you much of the increased efficiency from our end, in that we don't need to process as many renewals.