I’ve heard all sorts of complaints and had all sorts of experiences with calling a tech support number and reaching an offshore outsourcer. Sometimes the customer service is good, sometimes not so good. But yesterday a reader sent me his story about a tech support incident that is unique to my knowledge. Who would think that local politics would interrupt your support call?

Here’s what the reader told me:

Our production system was down and needed immediate resolution (which Microsoft did not provide because of the incident I’m about to describe). We had just paid $250.00 for Microsoft support. I called Microsoft support and had a terrible connection, with static on the other end every time the support person spoke.

 During our call, the Microsoft support rep sent me the wrong file (grrrhh). I emailed her back, and she was about to send the right one when everyone on her end of the call started yelling, "It’s time to go!" She had to leave because of fear that there might be a local riot over a river that two states have to share.  She just went home. We didn't have the right file with the settings she wanted, and she was not going to even be in the office to review it anyway. Fortunately, she was back in the office the next day and did send me the right file (a day late).

This is really the Microsoft support call of all calls!

By the way, this article was published the next day: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/05/HNbangaloreriverdispute_1.html

 

Non-News from Microsoft and Oracle

Yesterday, I received a press release from Microsoft that made me wonder why this should be news. But just in case you were doubting that Oracle would continue to support Microsoft platforms, I’ll share the information with you. (If I’m missing something important here, please send me a ticket for the clue train.)

According to the press release: Last week at Oracle’s Applications Unlimited event in New York, Oracle reiterated its commitment to preserve and support customers’ existing and future investments in Microsoft Windows Server and Microsoft SQL Server.  The announcements this week combined with Oracle’s path forward on the Microsoft platform include:

• Continued support for SQL Server 2005 for PeopleSoft, Siebel, and JD Edwards Enterprise One applications
• Inclusion of Siebel Collaboration, which is built on Microsoft SharePoint, in the new Siebel CRM 8.0 release
• Highlighting of a forthcoming Office Business Application (OBA) integrating Siebel CRM and Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft says the company is looking forward to “working with Oracle to ensure our mutual customers continue to get the most out of their Oracle Applications running on the Microsoft platform. This is a great step forward in providing peace of mind for Oracle applications customers with investments in Microsoft platform technologies. If you’re interested in more information, please feel free visit our site for mutual customers at  www.microsoft-oracle.com.”