rtucker55
I guess I did not see the part about being able to schedule a call at some relatively exact time. 

TL;DR?

@Bapu
 
You got me? What is TL;DR? - Please excuse me as I'm having a bad hair day...
 
Just another thought;  This entire thread is just a Bad April Fools joke!!! right????

Hi Rick,
 
Thanks for the feedback.
 

rtucker55
I have never been on hold for over a few minutes

I'm glad to hear it, that isn't the same experience for every user and our phone data shows that often hold times surpass what we feel is a reasonable wait time. 

rtucker55
I am concerned about this Call Back program as it will catch me off guard and the issue will no longer be foremost in my mind, my system will probably already be turned off and I will be engaged with some other project.

 
The idea is that if a Cakewalk rep calls you back at a time of your choosing that your system and mind will be ready. Again, you the end user gets to pick when Cakewalk will call you.
 

rtucker55
Also, I do Not answer phone calls from unknown numbers unless a voice mail is left stating who's calling, why they are calling, and a phone number is left for me to call them back and there would most likely be other Customers that have this same policy. This now turns your Customers need for tech support into a game of phone tag... 
 

 
Well for anybody in the US 99% of the time the call will come from 'Cakewalk', be clearly labeled on your caller ID as 'Cakewalk' and be coming in at a time that you chose. The only exceptions to this might be:
 
a) Terrible snow storm makes getting to the office or our VOIP system unreachable and support rep is doing calls from home over skype or google voice.
b) You have an international number and for one reason or another the carrier chain doesn't pass on our CallID or we need to make the call via skype or google voice.
 

rtucker55
I do know that other software vendors that have removed phone support no longer get any of my money or very little of it. 
 

 
I understand the sentiment. To make one thing very clear. Phone support is not going away, we're just changing the way the conversation starts. This change also means that everybody, not just the folks who have time to wait on hold can speak with someone for help.
 

rtucker55
I guess I have a general concern that several things have been changing with Cakewalk that just do not feel right so this would just be one more broken straw for me.
 

 
I don't know how to address this other than - we're the same dudes we have always been and software is always changing. Have you considered opening a thread with what specifically is changing that concerns you and maybe the relevant folks from Cakewalk can chime in?

Too Long; Didn't Read.
 
AKA: The Beepster Phenomena

Hi Beeps,
 
Thanks for the feedback.
 

Beepster
3) I seriously hope you guys aren't going to completely deny help to those who's memberships have lapsed (within reason).
 

 
This is already the policy today - we can't practically support everybody just like we can't support Pro Audio 7 users on Windows 98. That being said we always have been and probably will continue to be pretty flexible with our support policies. 
 

Beepster
4) If you guys stayed on top of emails more efficiently there would be far less call volume.

 
If we stayed on top of emails faster than nobody would be answering the phones ;) It's a bit of a chicken-egg problem and sometimes issues can take longer to resolve over email than they do over the phone. This system will make it easier for a rep to say, 'Hey Beeps - can I call you at 3:15pm so we can work this out' instead of sending 15 emails back and forth. The rep will be able to do this because they'll see their booked calls for the day and know when they have a free slot versus today's model where everything between 1pm and 6pm is blackout because the queues are open.
 

Beepster
So yeah, this is a good idea IF you still continued to take calls as well.
 

We don't have the resources to do both, but we strongly believe this change will allow us to help more users, in a more timely manner and on a schedule that is more productive for the end user. 
 

Beepster
Please consider these issues.

 
We hear you loud and clear. Is it perfect - probably not? Will there be a few issues? Most likely.
 
But its crazy for us not to try it, since I've been at Cakewalk our available hours of phone support have been cut back year after year (we used to offer phone support from 10am to 8pm). The logistics, reality and costs of US-based phone support are tricky. What is considered a reasonable hold time is drastically different for each person. This model will allows us to help more total users over the phone and have time for reps to respond to emails and follow-up throughout the day (versus just the morning).
 

Willy Jones [Cakewalk]
But its crazy for us not to try it, since I've been at Cakewalk our available hours of phone support have been cut back year after year (we used to offer phone support from 10am to 8pm). The logistics, reality and costs of US-based phone support are tricky.

I'm not sure enough people realize this. Cakewalk could always just outsource support overseas to people who can't do much beyond "Please reboot your computer." I see this as Cakewalk making the changes necessary to maintain the quality of support interaction. 

There are numerous WiFi-based communication apps that are free anywhere in the world to anyone connected to WiFi. This would require nothing more than a "CW cell phone" to use. It is rather impressive to call anywhere in the world for free and have it ring within 2 seconds... try it out sometime.

mettelus
There are numerous WiFi-based communication apps that are free anywhere in the world to anyone connected to WiFi. This would require nothing more than a "CW cell phone" to use. It is rather impressive to call anywhere in the world for free and have it ring within 2 seconds... try it out sometime.

Requiring a user to install skype or use google hangouts for support isn't something we're opposed to its just not something we're doing this month. 

Willy Jones [Cakewalk]
Greetings Friends,...
Historically we have supported the most recent versions of SONAR and current instruments over the phone. With that in mind, the phone support windows for Z3TA+ 2 and Dimension Pro are sunsetting quickly and will probably not be offered much longer. Both of these will continue to be supported via email.

This makes a lot of sense.  I would suggest you announced End-of-life of your products, so we all can plan accordingly, and place it prominently somewhere on the web site.
 
For instance, a recent/current promo include Z3TA+2 along with RapPro. I think it's only fair to announce somewhere public when you plan to sunset as I would think active promotion would imply active support.
 

Thanks for the reply, Willie but I feel like this is going to be another one of those things where it's just going to happen no matter what gets said.
 
This process seems to create more hassle for the user and only benefits Cake/Gibson (but is being presented as a positive).
 
As I said, I've never had a problem getting through. At most maybe 5 minutes on hold (usually 2 minutes). If it got to be more than that I would simply call another time. Of course I know better than to call on major release days.
 
So I get all my info together (S/N, reg, etc which are all stashed in a special place), type up a checklist of everything I need to discuss, make sure I've got a free half hour to call, wait, talk, type up/process/enact the results, put all my papers away and move on.
 
With this I'd have to take the time to log into my account (which I only do from my DAW... which is otherwise offline so I have to set all that crap up too), set up the call (which I'm assuming will require me getting together all my usual info and will take almost as long as just getting the call through and an answer) then hope nothing else comes up at the callback time, set myself back up again and wait by the phone for the callback.
 
It's a two step process and in the meantime I've got to keep all my ducks lined up/papers out/thought process on the query instead of on all the other wacky stuff I need to think about and so on. I also generally call IMMEDIATELY when support opens because I don't like dealing with tech crap later in the day (I'm usually doing other stuff by then and even 1pm is getting late for me as an ESTer).
 
It seems to me this could turn out the way emails have. As in... "We'll get to it whenever we get to it.... if we get to it." Hopefully not.
 
It should also be noted I'm one of the ones who, if the question is complex, I'd submit a support ticket number with details (system, version, problem, etc), call and then reference that number so the tech staff can have all the info on screen for the call. I've only had to do that twice because most of my questions are really quick fixes and account related.
 
My point is the current system has worked extremely well for me and has been a major bonus of being a Cake customer. I swear it's always been a very pleasant "In and Out" experience for me. What is being presented is absolutely NOT how I want to deal with problems. It is much more complex and inconvenient to me than just calling and waiting on hold for a while.
 
As for not answering emails... weeeell, I don't even know what to say to that. Might as well just not offer email support if that's the case. It's very frustrating composing and sending a support request and having it ignored.
 
 
I realize I'm probably getting a rep as a crank around here lately (which is partially why I'm not around much anymore) but seriously... this strikes me as a downgrade in service. Not an improvement.
 
Sorry.
 
I'll go be cranky somewhere else now.