I agree that things are changing at FirstAlert since the merger, but I think it comes down to growth pains.
It's not as easy to get to the "key" personnel like it was a few years ago. However, they aren't just going hog wild either. They are being VERY cautious about overloading their servers on their new internet feed. The tech guys won't let the sales and marketing guys sell the hell out of it and get it bogged down. I respect that and it shows that the techs experience is still being respected. That's a good sign.
I have also heard that they're putting together new documentation, help files. And while that may not mean much to old hats like you, if it's good, it could be very useful to new FA customers. Then, they wouldn't be calling up so much and using up the "front-line" tech supports time and these guys would then have more time to study the product and get to know it well. A company can throw a lot of people onto the tech support phones, but these people still need time to come up to speed on the product and this is particularly true for a product as in-depth and robust as FirstAlert.
For me personally, I'd like to have that manual myself to know what new functionality is there and start utilizing it. Also, I WISH THEY'D PUT BACK THE *&!@# HORIZONTAL SCROLL BARS!!!
I'd prefer to stick with FirstAlert and have the problems and support issues fixed, rather than switch and pay some company for the pleasure of debugging their version 1.0 product for a year or so until it gets it's bugs worked out. Look at some of the problems of other new software products: Tradestation 2000 (a virtual re-write that took more than a year to get stable), Traderware: came on strong then died, TradeLab: Been "in the works" for years, Windows On Wallstreet: never completely lived up to the initial outlook, etc.
Coming from a software development background, I know that it is VERY difficult to handle growth even if you throw a lot of dollars at it. We have a saying "If you want to make a baby faster, putting 9 women on the job for 1 month won't do it." Some things just take time, but I hope FA can speed up the process!
Now I haven't been having the problems with tech support that you guys seem to be having and while I have encountered new names and voices on the phone, they've ALL been extremely helpful in getting me the info I needed even if they had to call me back to do it. They've also been extremely good in letting me know about upcoming situations. So, I'd hope that your experiences are more isolated events due to the growth, but I still have to go back to the fact that the techs won't let the sales people oversell the product and that rates VERY HIGH in my book. |
