We answer our phones

Marketing is a conversation, yet in the interest of saving a buck we put barriers between us and our market.   Auto attendants, recordings, directing people to a web site, it's all there.

Currently we're putting together our channel program.  One of our big concerns is good support.   We're going all out: support forums, search engines, tutorials, blogs and training programs. 

But sometimes that is not enough.  Or something is extremely time critical.   

One option we have is 8x5 support with after hours voice mail.   I've tried that and am never quite sure if it got through.  So we're going 24x7 live operator phone answering.   

The first part of a conversation is acknowledging you've actually been heard, isn't it?