In this previous thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=797538&page=1&pp=30), there seemed to be more questions than answers concerning the support of ColorFacts 7.0. The guys from LionAV will be hosting some type of support forum, but it's unclear to me, what type of support can be expected.

Since a lot of people are excited about the upcoming ColorFacts 7.0 release and are also considering purchasing this product, an open discussion about support should definitely be warranted. In the previous thread, there were a few opportunities for LionAV and DataColor to clarify and answer these questions, and though they chimed in with many other responses, these questions remained unanswered. It's possible that these questions aren't yet resolved, and we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, it would be nice to get definitive answers, so anybody contemplating an upgrade or purchase will know exactly what to expect.

These are the questions that I think just about anybody considering an upgrade or purchase should want to have answered:


What is Level-1 support? Where does it come from? What types of questions can we expect to be answered?
What is Level-2 support? Where does it come from? What types of questions can we expect to be answered?
What is Level-3 support? Where does it come from? What types of questions can we expect to be answered?
Is Level-3 the lowest type of support, or the highest, or something completely different? (Comments in the previous thread would seem to indicate that it's not support for the product at all -- but something completely different.)
Is there anything beyond Level-3 support? Who provides it? What types of questions can we expect to be answered?
Specifically, what types of questions may be asked at the CF7.0 forum and expected to be answered? Will questions be limited to product support, calibration, neither, both, or no restictions at all?
What happens if the CF7 forum administrators can't answer a question or solve a problem with the software? Then what?

In the software industry, level 3 support is typically the highest. Level 1 is basic support (e.g., "where's the any key?"). Level 2 is typically where you get to someone who is able to actually troubleshoot with you (e.g., "Your video card driver is causing a conflict with our foo.dll."). Level 3 is basically QA-type where the level 2 guys think that there is something that may be wrong with the software (e.g., "Our foo.dll has a memory bug that is crashing your video card driver."). You will RARELY come across level 3 support for mainstream applications, but how LionAV and Colorvision are implementing support tiers is up to them.

Bill

I agree Bear5k. I've never heard of any tiered tech support that is ranked (numerically) high to low.....in any industry.

I found a product announcment for Colorfacts Pro 7.0 (attached below) that has some info and specs. Looks like it only runs on Windows 2000 or XP; I'm still running Windows '98, but I've been thinking about upgrading to XP for quite a while.

Looks like the Platinum Spyder2 is a "hand selected" unit; I suppose this means "better calibrated" unit.

-Steve

Hi guys!

Ive been in the middle of a 1400 mile 12 day, 32 display calibration tour, and have had little time to respond (though I have been trying to). I am finally back at the Ranch, until I go down to Florida Tuesday (break out the 15 SPF!) to support a few dealers there.

I dont know if any company discloses what their support structure is. That being said, LionAV has been hired to answer calibration related questions for Datacolor customers. This will be done in a private setting, away from Datacolor customers customers (did that make sense?) eyes and keyboards. I have performed more than 2000 video calibrations over the past 6 years and so have many of my team. We will even have a section on repair assistance (as best as we are able to assist). Please note that this is a free "benefit" included in the ColorFacts 7.0 release. If this forum is of no benefit to you, then fine so be it.

I am excited about it. Datacolor has a team of programmers, customer support personal, hardware engineers, and even PHD color scientists that will be on the site. This offering is in addition to any other support service that Datacolor provides.

I do not have specific answers to some questions, as I am not a Datacolor employee, but rather a contractor that performs services as required including: Hands On training, ISF instruction, Beta Testing, Development assistance, and now web forum support.

LionAV has a stellar reputation within the industry and we are proud to be a part of the Datacolor support. We are staking our reputation on this newest venture and are proud to be supporting Datacolor and its customers.

Regards

Gregg Loewen

Hi guys!

Ive been in the middle of a 1400 mile 12 day, 32 display calibration tour, and have had little time to respond (though I have been trying to). I am finally back at the Ranch, until I go down to Florida Tuesday (break out the 15 SPF!) to support a few dealers there.

I dont know if any company discloses what their support structure is. That being said, LionAV has been hired to answer calibration related questions for Datacolor customers. This will be done in a private setting, away from Datacolor customers customers (did that make sense?) eyes and keyboards. I have performed more than 2000 video calibrations over the past 6 years and so have many of my team. We will even have a section on repair assistance (as best as we are able to assist). Please note that this is a free "benefit" included in the ColorFacts 7.0 release. If this forum is of no benefit to you, then fine so be it.

I am excited about it. Datacolor has a team of programmers, customer support personal, hardware engineers, and even PHD color scientists that will be on the site. This offering is in addition to any other support service that Datacolor provides.

I do not have specific answers to some questions, as I am not a Datacolor employee, but rather a contractor that performs services as required including: Hands On training, ISF instruction, Beta Testing, Development assistance, and now web forum support.

LionAV has a stellar reputation within the industry and we are proud to be a part of the Datacolor support. We are staking our reputation on this newest venture and are proud to be supporting Datacolor and its customers.

Regards

Gregg Loewen

Thanks Gregg for taking the time to answer. Your description of the new forum sounds fantastic...and the forum sounds like it will be very useful to many people on many different levels. Speaking for myself, this is the exact type of forum I would have wanted to see. Even if there were a nominal fee for the forum to aid in "more technical questions" -- or questions that don't cover the mainstream use of CF7.0 (such as "I think this macro-API should return X, but I'm pretty sure it's returning Y"), that would be fine with me. You definitely mullified my concerns about the forum, and the support being offered for CF7.0.

Thanks again for taking time to straighten this out.