F-Secure community Response Times (english section)
It is rather reassuring to see that, in an age of instant communication, the English section of the F-Secure Community remains firmly committed to a more traditional pace.
Questions can, of course, require time and consideration. Still, when a fairly straightforward query is met with prolonged silence, one does begin to wonder whether patience is considered part of the troubleshooting process.
No one expects an immediate solution to every issue, but even a brief acknowledgement would be a welcome indication that the question has not simply been consigned to some quiet corner of the internet.
Perhaps the response times in the English-language section could be reviewed at some point — no urgency, naturally. That would rather defeat the theme.
Comments
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Hello,
I suppose you are referring to 'official' responses and replies from 'official' people. And general 'moderation' and 'management'. (?!)
:)
Well, if so, I think the point of any 'Community' (or old school 'Forums', 'Boards' or even 'Guest Books') is community itself. So interaction and communication between users as a main point. Without the need of or waiting any "official" statements or help. Where "official" part of community is just a very good bonus of a very good community. So, I am actually surprised that responses are coming in from the people in charge at all; and relatively frequent ones.
However, I do not think F-Secure Community (or what it was before current 'take') was positioned as a Helpdesk or anything of the 'official' Support. Just Community Support or support from Community.
Actually, even this page: Welcome to the F-Secure Community (which is a 'fresh' one; not the very original one) says:
The F-Secure Community is a peer-to-peer space where you can browse through discussion boards covering topics related to F-Secure's product and services, or cyber security in general. You can also find more detailed information about F-Secure's products and services in our collection of Knowledge Base articles.
and
Our Community includes general visitors, actual F-Secure users, and F-Secure employees who are directly involved in the products or services.
…
Browse through our discussion boards with helpful posts by our fellow Community members or ask your questions in there.
….
Our forums is also enriched with our Superusers/Product Experts/Moderators who can help you with your questions
…
Knowledge Base: Find KB articles about F-Secure products and Services, with instructions for performing the troubleshooting steps and general product specific FAQ.
In other words, no specific expectations regarding the result have been set. :)
For a sure result (of help): there are official F-Secure Support Channels.
// but, however, beta board is encouraged to be used as a 'feedback' place. still, I think that part of Community is rather 'active' with response times.
Sorry for the comment!
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Thanks for the comment.
Yes, I am aware that the Community is not an official helpdesk, and I do not think anyone suggested that every question should receive an immediate, authoritative response from F-Secure.
The distinction between “peer-to-peer community” and “official support” is perfectly reasonable. What is slightly less convincing is the idea that this distinction somehow makes prolonged silence from the company side entirely unremarkable.
After all, F-Secure hosts the Community, F-Secure employees participate in it, moderators and product experts are explicitly mentioned, and some parts of the forum are intended to gather feedback. In that context, expecting the occasional acknowledgement does not seem quite the same thing as mistaking the forum for a support ticket system.
Naturally, users can help other users — that is indeed the point of a community. But when a question concerns something only F-Secure can realistically clarify, peer-to-peer support eventually reaches the rather technical limitation that none of the peers actually work for F-Secure.
So yes, for guaranteed support there are official support channels. I do not dispute that.
My point was simply that if a company chooses to maintain an official community around its products, some visible level of participation from the company itself tends to make the “community” part work rather better.
But perhaps prolonged silence is also a form of peer-to-peer interaction. One user asks, and all the others quietly share the experience of waiting. 🙂
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After all, F-Secure hosts the Community, F-Secure employees participate in it, moderators and product experts are explicitly mentioned, and some parts of the forum are intended to gather feedback. In that context, expecting the occasional acknowledgement does not seem quite the same thing as mistaking the forum for a support ticket system.
Yes, I think it is wonderful that they do this (or better to say - when they do this). Interacting with users and helping them. I mean, most of them are probably volunteering into it (and this is not part of their official tasks).
The thing is, getting involved in something more to a help desk or providing support (acknowledgement of something) imposes obligations and responsibility on the one doing it. And that one might not actually have the capacity or 'permissions' for that at all. It is great when there is dedicated staff for this (like a moderator or manager), but when there isn't… or their role is limited to something "invisible".… It likely comes down to an objective need, then.
Do you have examples of completely disastrous handling and 'silencing' (there are some, of course, but anyway)?
And when it is out of Community boundaries - well - there are some ways to intercept it. Either directing to a proper channel; waiting for a response (or 'pinging' staff); or providing a 'Community' acknowledgement. Otherwise - there are wrong expectations from 'the inquirer' (well, they are not wrong; but not how it for whatever reason works with modern "community-forums").
The most important thing and a point I feel strongly about: is that if, for example, I ask something (outside of email communication), I expect a response within a timeframe that is essentially "instant". The faster, the better. I neither need nor want a reply a day or two, a week, or five weeks later. What's the point of that?
That is why I fully, basically, adore the general idea of minimizing 'silence' in discussions and keeping response times to a minimum.
// sometimes "quiet experience of waiting" is just an invitation to an official response. :)
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Thank you, Ukko. You raise a fair point about the obligations that come with acknowledging a post. It is easy to overlook that a quick "we've seen this" from a staff member is not necessarily a small thing from their side.
I would be glad to hear examples as well, though I suspect this is a conversation that deserves a little more time than a forum thread at this hour allows. Perhaps we could return to it later, when there is more to say and more people around to say it.
In the meantime, I appreciate the thoughtful discussion, and I hope the quiet experience of waiting remains a short one for everyone. 🙂
