I’d like to suggest an “express” lane for live chat support, like the “10 items or less” lane at the grocery store.
I have a simple question I’d like answered by one of the pros. It would take me less than 5 minutes to ask the question, and if there is a properly-qualified support technician on the other end it would take no more than 5 minutes for that person to answer my question.
It’s not worth paying $150 to have an hour of support time to answer a simple question, so my only recourse is to submit my question to the community forum. This results in me having to wait an unspecified amount of time for my response (or possibly not even get a response) and it results in FreePBX getting ZERO dollars.
It would be great if there was an option for, say, $25 to get 10 minutes of live chat support. Then I’d get my answer quick, FreePBX would get compensation, and the world would be a better place. Who knows, maybe it’d even cure cancer. (Probably not, but we can’t discount the possibility!)
I don’t speak for anyone but myself huowever 25 doesn’t hit my radar scope. Rarely doe a question take 5 minutes. Also Freepbx support is staffed by developers/contractors that can’t work in such small increments.
Our developers are some of the best in the world. They are paid well for their efforts and I will not make apologies for success.
Personally I try very hard to motivate success business practices that lead to proper pricing and profit. Just because you implement a “free” open source solution does not in any way dilute the value of your time.
A VoIP expert should bill between $150 and $200 an hour depending on market and skill set. If your customers are not willing to pay that you need to find new customers.
If it only takes five minutes to ask and answer the question, it seems that the support forums are perfect for it.
You get an answer to your question (sometimes multiple answers that are all correct) and the rest of the world can find the answer using Google without having to ask it again.