PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

While many Advantage users have purchased “turnkey” software/hardware packages from Compulink, we have always offered the option of purchasing your own local hardware. We have also supplied our configuration standards and requirements to those accounts with local hardware support and representation. We’ve found that the levels of technician experience vary widely from the certified to the novice.

Many calls received by our Software Support department are obvious hardware problems, which should have been routed to your local hardware supplier. Some calls are for problems not handled well or even caused by a hardware supplier because of their lack of knowledge, education, and/or experience. Other calls are made simply because an office doesn’t know who to call or have any place else to turn.

In the past, we’ve always endeavored to accept calls from users on our Software Support Agreement who were experiencing computer (hardware) or network related (hardware or networking software) problems. We’ve helped diagnose, and in a majority of cases, solved system and network issues for hardware and networks…sometimes, for systems that were not purchased or configured through Compulink! However, this type of assistance has always been designated as “ Services Not Provided” under our agreement, and has only been done as a courtesy to our users. The intent of the agreement has always been to provide assistance with your Advantage office management software product only.

Through the years, our clients have been very consistent in requesting quicker call-response time and support technicians with industry experience and knowledge. We have responded to your request for a support team with industry experience by concentrating on rounding out our support team with individuals from the medical community. We are now focused on an equally important task—that of improving the response time to your calls. Analyzing the types of calls received each day, we’ve found that we spend an inordinate amount of time answering calls unrelated to our Advantage software product and/or not covered under our support agreement. And, we’ve determined that we must now either decline or divert these questions to another resource if response time is to be improved. The delays this situation has caused in responding to software related issues, has compelled us to implement the following changes:

Should your office call in with a known System or Network related problem (whether you’re on Software Support, or not) your call will now be routed to our Hardware Department. Examples of “system problems” are...a workstation that won’t turn on, servers or networks down, local or network printers not printing, etc. If you haven’t pre-paid the Hardware Systems Alliance fee, you will be asked for credit card payment prior to Compulink addressing the problem. Our preference is to work directly with your hardware technicians, since they’ll be supporting any changes made or recommended. However, if such a technician is unavailable or you don’t have one, please designate a “point-person” in your office that will be our contact to troubleshooting your problems.

If you routinely call Compulink first, regardless of the problem, are planning a hardware update soon using a local supplier, or don’t have a hardware support contract with anyone, we suggest you pre-purchase a Hardware Systems Alliance block of time. Down systems and/or problem systems raise the level of anxiety quickly in your office. This is compounded if the person authorized to give credit card approval is unavailable. And just imagine the extreme time delay if we have to wait for a company check.

To pre-pay the Hardware Systems Alliance Fee, please fill out the attached form, enclose payment, and forward to Compulink. Thank you in advance for your participation. We believe this change will allow us to improve our Support Services in both Hardware and Software.