David_T
TSI, here I am
join:2006-09-01
Oakville, ON
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
 ·Cogeco Cable
edit:
October 3rd, @11:34AM
| My Suggestions to TSI
I'll split this off from the current »Teksavvy Joins the Big Leagues (Sadly) thread.
In response to TSI Marc's comments, I would like to list some suggestions that I believe would greatly help Teksavvy:
1. Keep the customer informed. You say you guys are working on all these new automation systems, network upgrades, etc. The only place I see mention of it is in various threads here however. Once again, not every customer knows of DSLR, and you need to break this wall. You should be announcing your efforts on the TSI website. Yes, remember, you guys have a website. The site is virtually identical to how it was 2 years ago. It's a great medium to get the message across. Show the customers and prospective subscribers what you guys are doing to improve the service and why you should be chosen over other ISPs. The fact that you guys are making changes is great, but we also need to know what exactly these changes are and how they're coming along.
2. Break free of DSLR. An IPB or vBulletin license honestly does not cost much. Why don't you guys set up your own forum on the TSI website instead of being here on DSLR? It would allow you to do all your own moderation instead of having to rely on DSLR and you would be able to better control the forums in general.
3. TSI has amazing reviews... here on DSLR. Why is there no reference to these reviews on the TSI website? Your rating here is one gigantic +1 for you guys, yet anyone who visits the TSI site will have absolutely no clue these reviews are here. Hell it should be right on your home page that you guys are currently a Gold Star ISP with a rating of 92%. The whole "TekSavvy Solutions Inc was founded in January of 1998" and etc. thing on the main page really isn't an important point for prospective customers. The fact that you're the #1 rated ISP in Canada is.
Anyone agree/disagree? |
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Angelo_
The Network Guy
Premium
join:2002-06-18 | 4. Rewards certain people with timbits and coffee |
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David_T
TSI, here I am
join:2006-09-01
Oakville, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Cogeco Cable
| said by Angelo_  :4. Rewards certain people with timbits and coffee I can't believe I left that one out 
Every customer should get a free box of Timbits with the purchase or upgrade of TSI's service. |
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TSI Steve
TSI Steve
Premium,VIP
join:2007-01-12
Chatham, ON
edit:
October 3rd, @11:50AM
| reply to David_T
said by David_T :I'll split this off from the current » Teksavvy Joins the Big Leagues (Sadly) thread. In response to TSI Marc's comments, I would like to list some suggestions that I believe would greatly help Teksavvy: 1. Keep the customer informed. You say you guys are working on all these new automation systems, network upgrades, etc. The only place I see mention of it is in various threads here however. Once again, not every customer knows of DSLR, and you need to break this wall. You should be announcing your efforts on the TSI website. Yes, remember, you guys have a website. The site is virtually identical to how it was 2 years ago. It's a great medium to get the message across. Show the customers and prospective subscribers what you guys are doing to improve the service and why you should be chosen over other ISPs. The fact that you guys are making changes is great, but we also need to know what exactly these changes are and how they're coming along. I partially agree with this. However, if we post that we are making changes people will ask for deadlines. Our business is very dynamic and we can't always give accurate deadlines as we deal with the fluidity of our environment.
said by David_T :2. Break free of DSLR. An IPB or vBulletin license honestly does not cost much. Why don't you guys set up your own forum on the TSI website instead of being here on DSLR? It would allow you to do all your own moderation instead of having to rely on DSLR and you would be able to better control the forums in general. In MY opinion this is not a good idea at all.. Why you may ask? This is a public forum and NOT controlled by us. This allows for freedom of expression. If we controlled the site, even if we never deleted a single post people would assume that we do and wouldn't be as liberal.
said by David_T :3. TSI has amazing reviews... here on DSLR. Why is there no reference to these reviews on the TSI website? Your rating here is one gigantic +1 for you guys, yet anyone who visits the TSI site will have absolutely no clue these reviews are here. Hell it should be right on your home page that you guys are currently a Gold Star ISP with a rating of 92%. The whole "TekSavvy Solutions Inc was founded in January of 1998" and etc. thing on the main page really isn't an important point for prospective customers. The fact that you're the #1 rated ISP in Canada is. Hmm.. I am not involved directly with the design.. at the same time I've never suggested doing this, and I don't know why we don't  Maybe someone else will know!
said by David_T :Anyone agree/disagree? There! You now have my personal point of view.
Steve
EDIT Grammar correction |
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David_T
TSI, here I am
join:2006-09-01
Oakville, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Cogeco Cable
edit:
October 3rd, @12:09PM
| said by TSI Steve :I partially agree with this. However, if we post that we are making changes people will ask for deadlines. Our business is very dynamic and we can't always give accurate deadlines as we deal with the fluidity of our environment. The majority of active posters here are marginally aware of what's being done, but we have not asked for deadlines have we? I think it's a huge deal to make the public aware of your efforts. To me, it seems better to know that a company is working on bettering known issues, despite it possibly taking a while to achieve, rather than thinking they're just letting everything sit as is (which is how it may seem for many).
said by TSI Steve :In MY opinion this is not a good idea at all.. Why you may ask? This is a public forum and NOT controlled by us. This allows for freedom of expression. If we controlled the site, even if we never deleted a single post people would assume that we do and wouldn't be as liberal. That's already an issue here... I remember seeing a few arguments on here about deleted posts. Some of the benefits of having your own forum would be being able to better control the content of the forum, and by this I don't mean posts, but things like announcements and such explaining how a support topic may be dealt with, where certain topics should be posted, what information is necessary for certain topics, being able to easily take up issues with customers personally by being able to see their account information, etc... If you're afraid of arguments starting up, just be sure to put firm, but still non-restrictive rules in place that clearly define your stance on certain subjects, that way nothing that would be deleted is ever posted in the first place. You would be able to set up a dedicated category for complaints and such too. Seems like it would be much easier to read, navigate and manage rather than this giant garble on DSLR where everything about TSI is jumbled into one tiny little forum. |
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HiVolt
Premium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
clubs:
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to TSI Steve
said by TSI Steve :said by David_T :2. Break free of DSLR. An IPB or vBulletin license honestly does not cost much. Why don't you guys set up your own forum on the TSI website instead of being here on DSLR? It would allow you to do all your own moderation instead of having to rely on DSLR and you would be able to better control the forums in general. In MY opinion this is not a good idea at all.. Why you may ask? This is a public forum and NOT controlled by us. This allows for freedom of expression. If we controlled the site, even if we never deleted a single post people would assume that we do and wouldn't be as liberal. In addition to what Steve mentioned, there are really no benefits in Teksavvy's forum leaving DSLR, as the userbase is very well established here.
Things work well here, there is a good collaboration with the Canadian Broadband & Bell forums, DSL is the most common medium discussed there, and since a vast majority posting in these forums run on Bell's infrastructure, the information in the other forums is important.
Also don't forget that DSLR is a HUGE resource, with very technical people that can be called in to help on specific issues such as networking, hardware & software issues, etc. Don't forget the excellent tools such as speed tests, latency tests and other diagnostics that are available here.
By splitting, users who have gotten used to the daily grind of DSLR would need to split their focus between an independent TSI forum and DSLR.
Also TSI would have to dedicate a piece of hardware to run the forum, have someone dedicated to maintain the hardware & forum software...
So all in all, there is absolutely zero benefits to TekSavvy having their own forum. IMO DSLR is the most credible resource when it comes to broadband internet, and having a TekSavvy forum here should be considered a plus, not a minus. Perhaps TekSavvy could post a link to the forum on their website, that way potential new or existing users who are not aware of the DSLR forum can look or join in discussions.
That's my 2c.
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GO LEAFS GO! |
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TSI Marc
Premium,VIP
join:2006-06-23
Chatham, ON
| Hey David,
We do our best to keep people aware of the efforts we're undertaking. We've been just about as upfront as we can be really. Certainly, nobody can fault us on the throttling front. I do believe however that the throttling subject has had the effect of blurring out other valid topics. I think things are getting back to normal now.
As well, we needed to spend some time internally getting to the root causes of these issues. There was some digging required and we did post about it.
For the reviews on DSLR, we try to let those speak for themselves. We once tried to point out our reviews here in an attempt to make people more aware of the various resources available here but it's a slippery slope. We don't want to be seen as trying to influence the reviews because we don't try to influence them and never have. These are all freedom of speech type subjects. We want genuine discussions, we really want to help and for that it means we have to provide for and allow for free will to take it's due course. Effectively it means we need to stick to what we do best and let the good folks running DSLR do what they do best. I don't think that TekSavvy could run DSLR any better then it already is. That TekSavvy is in the hearts and minds of so many people was/is in part made possible by DSLR in the first place. We're not doing any of this alone and it means that everybody has their say and we all need to give credit where it's due.
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TSI Marc - TekSavvy Solutions Inc. |
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beller
@bell.ca
|  reply to HiVolt
Re: My Suggestions to TSI
said by HiVolt :In addition to what Steve mentioned, there are really no benefits in Teksavvy's forum leaving DSLR, as the userbase is very well established here. Things work well here, there is a good collaboration with the Canadian Broadband & Bell forums, DSL is the most common medium discussed there, and since a vast majority posting in these forums run on Bell's infrastructure, the information in the other forums is important. Also don't forget that DSLR is a HUGE resource, with very technical people that can be called in to help on specific issues such as networking, hardware & software issues, etc. Don't forget the excellent tools such as speed tests, latency tests and other diagnostics that are available here. By splitting, users who have gotten used to the daily grind of DSLR would need to split their focus between an independent TSI forum and DSLR. Also TSI would have to dedicate a piece of hardware to run the forum, have someone dedicated to maintain the hardware & forum software... So all in all, there is absolutely zero benefits to TekSavvy having their own forum. IMO DSLR is the most credible resource when it comes to broadband internet, and having a TekSavvy forum here should be considered a plus, not a minus. Perhaps TekSavvy could post a link to the forum on their website, that way potential new or existing users who are not aware of the DSLR forum can look or join in discussions. That's my 2c. well said. couldn't have said it better myself. |
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busted_nut
@rogers.com
| reply to HiVolt
said by HiVolt :Also TSI would have to dedicate a piece of hardware to run the forum, have someone dedicated to maintain the hardware & forum software... That's nuts. Yes theyd have to dedicate a piece of hardware, but dedicate a person maintain the hardware and software? Huh?
Dedicate like 40-hrs per week, FTE? I've got servers that run fine on their own. Once setup they don't need babysitting. Same for Tek.
Maybe you meant to say they'd have to dedicate someone to monitoring or moderating the forum? Is this really a dedicated staff job? FTE? I doubt that moderating 1 or 2 or 3 Tek forums would take 40 dedicated hours per week. And doesn't Tek already have oodles of their staff already on the forums anyway? I don't see a new job opening for moderating a Tek-hosted forum, or 3.
Yes, Tek would have to do what dslreports does in terms of moderation but then Tek would have total control as a benefit.
They could make the forum work 100% in Tek's interest, without worrying about dslreports doing things that look bad on Tek. Or dslreports being sold to someone else. Or dslreports going bankrupt (gee, that never happens, even to banks right). Or dslreports just deciding that they don't like Tek any more. Or dslreports deciding to put the squeeze on Tek for cash once they have Tek totally depedant on the dslreports site (gee, that sort of thing never happens either right?) |
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HiVolt
Premium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
clubs:
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| Yeah i didnt mean a person sitting there and babysitting the server/software/forum and doing nothing else... I just meant they would have to have people taking care of it.
In any case, you're being paranoid with all those "what if's". DSLR has been going strong for almost 10 years now.
It works out in Tek's favour that the reviews, opinions and other things that go on here are NOT controlled by them, because it gives an unbiased view. You can "promise" that you will not delete posts, but you know in reality you cannot really keep that promise.
Besides, the only complaining you hear about deleted posts here on DSLR are from trolls and perpetual shit disturbers, who cannot convey their message in a civilized manner.
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GO LEAFS GO! |
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The Flash
You don't win friends with salad
Premium
join:2002-10-17
Toronto, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Execulink
| reply to David_T
Just one suggestion.
TSI needs a browser icon for their site...even Bell has one lol
I bookmark the bandwidth page and it`s just an empty icon in my Firefox bookmark toolbar.
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Plan4TheWorst
@rogers.com
| reply to HiVolt
said by HiVolt :In any case, you're being paranoid with all those "what if's". So what of my paranoia as you call it - is that paranoia as a pejorative or paranoid as a medical diagnosis or just paranoid as an epithet?
What if Bell starts throttling? What if Bell starts blocking ports? What if Bell starts blocking specific customers of wholesale ISP's?
What if someone flies a plane into a building?
What if someone flies a plane into the dslreports server farm (all of them if necessary). Or the power plants feeding them. Or the towers carrying the juice (it only takes a few).
What if dslreports gets DDOS'd (this one has happened a few times already)? Then Tek loses their forum too and has to wait for dslreports to fix it which may not be as urgent for dslreports as it is for Tek.
What if the US gov goes snooping on Tek's so-called private/direct forum via Patriot Act authority?
What if some Tek customers don't like the idea of their personal info being on US patriot act servers?
What if US comes up with newer more evil laws - does Tek REALLY want their customers private info to be exposed to yet more US gov snooping?
What if dslreports pays their hosting (or other recurring, critical vendor) bill late and gets shutdown for an hour, a day, a week?
What if an internal employee of dslreports goes postal? Or steals all the private info from the direct forum.
What if dslreports database is breached - does dslreports internal security (including vetting people with access to all this info) measure up to Tek's requirements? Up to PIPEDA standards?
What if a Tek customer one day had their info stolen and it was traced to a breach of dslreports security - how would Tek feel about being sued by a Canadian customer for being invited or induced to place their person info into a place where Tek's priavacy policy has no effect and the privacy policies in effect are not up to Canadian PIPEDA standards?
Is it even proper for Tek to invite or induce people to place their ***personal*** info into a place where Tek's privacy and security policies are not in effect? That's probably a serious issue.
What if the dslreports root password is known only to one person and they are in a car accident and unable to provide it to fix the system?
What if dslerports has no contingencies in place for natural/intentional disaster or operational continuity?
What happens to Tek if DSLR shuts down their forum because of some dispute? How much would that hurt Tek.
What-if's are worth considering.
dslreports is just a weak link in the chain of control that Tek should have over all its operations.
said by HiVolt :DSLR has been going strong for almost 10 years now. 10 years -- hah.
120-year old bank WaMu went boobs-upward a week ago.
Barings Bank - 233 years old - sold for scrap in 1995.
How long has Bell been around? 80 years? Their still a stupid company.
dslreports = 10 years. hah
Age means nothing and is irrelevant.
Especially these days with the very unusual market/credit situation (dow is down almost 30% since 12 months ago and the tsx about 25% - that's never happened before, has it?)
Never say never. Especially these days.
Just ask anyone who's ever been divorced since they would probably have said never, too.
said by HiVolt :It works out in Tek's favour that the reviews, opinions and other things that go on here are NOT controlled by them, because it gives an unbiased view. I don't reecall that anyone in this thread has been proposing to move anything except the forum functionality so i'm not going to speak to this irrelevant rebuttal.
said by HiVolt :You can "promise" that you will not delete posts, but you know in reality you cannot really keep that promise. Even /. deletes some illegal posts, but everything else stays and the reader is the one to decide what they want to read - not the censors. Sounds like a policy that Tek would have - let the customer decide.
And i never said Tek shouldn't delete any posts anyway (are you putting up straw men arguements so you can just knock them down?).
I just think that dslreports should be more polite, like when they delete posts without telling the poster or leaving a trace of someone's post being removed (rudeness looks bad on Tek in the Tek forum).
Like the grate firewall of China, it's the grate firewall of dslerports where information just gets disappeared without a trace or an explanation.
Not a good place for Tek to be associated with.
said by HiVolt :Besides, the only complaining you hear about deleted posts here on DSLR are from trolls and perpetual shit disturbers, who cannot convey their message in a civilized manner. Factually incorrect.
Be careful when using only, always, never, forerver.
And of course never say never.
Just ask anyone who's ever been divorced.
Tek should have their own support forum which they control totally. I think that a professional risk mananger would say the same thing for the same reasons. |
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HiVolt
Premium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
clubs: | said by Plan4TheWorst :
Not a good place for Tek to be associated with. I'll just ignore the rest...
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GO LEAFS GO! |
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morisato
join:2008-03-16 | reply to David_T
me thinks we need a Monthly newsletter Included with the new emailed Invoices to keep People abreast of current tides.
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Every time Someone leaves Sympatico an Angel gets its wings.
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Guspaz
Guspaz
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC | reply to David_T
I, for one, am very happy with DSLR, and would not visit the TekSavvy forum nearly as often if it moved off-site. |
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Interlocutor
@teksavvy.com
| said by Guspaz :I {...} would not visit the TekSavvy forum nearly as often if it moved off-site. How come? |
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CensorshipFTW
@qwerty.ru | Inertia Baby! |
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fatness
subtle
Janitor
join:2000-11-17
fishing
Host:
Earthlink DSL
TekSavvy
Forum Feature Requ..
Need Site Help?
Rants, Raves, & Pr..
| reply to Plan4TheWorst
said by Plan4TheWorst :
Is it even proper for Tek to invite or induce people to place their ***personal*** info into a place where Tek's privacy and security policies are not in effect? That's probably a serious issue. There's another side to this, and that is trust. Some ISP customers want help without identifying who they are for trust reasons. And some ISP's are very heavy-handed about things posted here. At least 2 posters on this site have had ISP's follow their posts here, look for clues in their posts of who they are, and called those posters at home. That's horrible. Imagine how heavy-handed those ISP's would be if they automatically knew who each poster was.
Some ISP's ask for negative reviews to be removed, they ask for identifying information about posters they don't like.
And they do not get it from us.
If those same things were posted on boards controlled by those ISP's they'd already have the information. I like control of that information to be in the hands of the customer, not the provider. The customer can choose if and to whom to supply it. Customers lose that when they post in forums controlled by providers.
Teksavvy not hardly one of the heavy-handed ISP's I talked about, not at all, but I bring those other providers up to illustrate why some customers are reluctant to identify themselves personally. I'm certain there are times when any provider naturally wonders "who is this person posting this stuff?" On this board they don't have that information; on a company-controlled board they would. Consumers have more privacy on an independent board.
As for the rest of your "what if's", you forgot the plague of locusts and Mt. Vesuvius erupting. DSLreports is totally unprepared for those things. 
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relax |
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