Microsoft: Windows 7 support calls down – Twitter, Microsoft Answers used instead
Microsoft has reported that the number of support requests about Windows 7 made to call centers is around half what it expected. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Windows 7 is causing less trouble for people installing or upgrading it, but that customers with problems are seeking solutions in other ways.
Has any operating system launch gone without any hitch? I don’t think so. And Microsoft always seems to bork the launch of a new Windows OS in some way or another. Windows 7 went smoother than most, certainly smoother than its predecessor Vista, and yet installing or upgrading 7 still left a multitude of people with huge problems.
But what to do when you have a problem? Contact Microsoft, of course. But while ringing for support would have been the done thing back in the day, it’s now just as likely that a troubled consumer would use another method for seeking help with their problem.
This has led Microsoft to declare that it has only experienced around half the volume of call center support requests that it expected to when Windows 7 launched. According to CNet, Barbara Gordon, vice president of customer support for Microsoft, said:
Overall we are finding our call center volume is down significantly more than we expected. What we have found is we are seeing far more take-up of self-service… forums and Twitter to get responses.
The forums Gordon mentions are the Microsoft Answers forums, where users post questions, and experienced community members post responses. Microsoft then makes sure the response is both technically correct and suitable, and, if so,validates the response. The Web site was launched in December 2008 for Vista users but expanded in September 2009 to include XP, 7, and MSE.
Meanwhile, Twitter is a new tool in Microsoft’s arsenal. The @MicrosoftHelps account was launched a week prior to the release of Windows 7 and has since posted around 600 tweets. As well as responding to tweets directly, Microsoft uses the account to monitor what else is being said about Windows around the Twittersphere.
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