Support Services
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Support Services
TurboCASH is Free and Open Source. This means that you are free to copy distribute and even sell TurboCASH programs. If you are not familiar with the Open Source concept, start by reading the GNU GPL licence. If you are used to old style pay-me-to-rent-my-software licences, you are in for a pleasant surprise.
The important concept is that in Open Source, Free means Liberty, not Charity. Yes, you can download the software for free and use it freely, no charges will be made to you. Yes, the Open Source method is likely to bring you better software at a cheaper price than commercial licences. Yes, there is a free support Forum moderated by the Community. Yes, you can get premium support for the software, but you are likely going to have to pay one of the project members.
If you are wanting to push through premium support for your problem without up front payment, you will likely be frustrated.
If you have not used Open Source Software before, you may initially perceive the community to be "Stand offish". This is not the case. The TurboCASH Community consists of Project members (around 400 as at July 2006), usually people that began as users and now support TurboCASH. They are third party persons and it is their business to help users. As long as you are happy to pay them for these services, you will find them obliging and helpful. The strange thing to overcome is the fact that there are No Salesmen on an Open Source Project.
Help In TurboCASH
There is a Help system in TurboCASH itself. Press <F1> to Access it.
There is online Help at www.turbocash.net
Free Support
The best way to get free support is to put your problem on the TurboCASH Forum. By firing an email off to one person, at best you get the input of one person. On the Forum the whole community deals with you. The Forum consists of Accountants, Network Integrators, Programmers and Hardware experts. This wide range of skills is sure to find your answer. If your problem is not part of the mainstream of the project you will need to purchase a Support Ticket to get an answer.
Unfortunately there are no Free services for project members to extensively take on your problems and spend hours working on your needs. If you are used to this kind of service from Commercial companies.(Or have been told that such a service exists), remember with Commercial companies, they have your money before you even begin.
Premium Support
We have a vibrant community of Project Members to offer you Support in most major centres where TurboCASH is used. Please note that these guys are coin operated. YES, we are interested in having the greatest Accounting Program, YES we do want your feedback and YES we are interested in world dominiation, but you are probably going to have to pay to get your specific personal problem solved.
Ebooks
If you are looking for a cheap, easy and immeadiate solution to understanding TurboCASH - check out our inexpensive range of EBooks available
Training
If you need "human contact" in Training, we offer weekly workshops in Johannesburg, twice per month in Cape Town and regularly in other centre. These beginner workshops are R 570 and include a free copy of latest version of TurboCASH.
Installation
Certain Project Members will help you with installation. They will come to your premises and set up a solution for your business. Costs of this starts at R 800.
Bugs
If you have found a genuine Bug in TurboCASH, please do not call or email an consultant. The only way to get a bug fixed is to enter it in the Bug Register. We are really serious about Quality in TurboCASH. Each call is dealt with, but must be followed through a channel that can be used for collaboration. Email and telephone calls get lost in Cyber Space. It is unlikely that a Bug will be fixed without being entered in this system.
Frequently Asked Questions
"OK fix this bug and I will buy the TurboCASH CD for $60" - I wish it were this easy. TurboCASH is a high quality industrial strength application. Fixing even the simplest bug costs at least $ 1000, just in QC and revision. To get an idea of how other Companies handle this check out The Myth of Open Source
"This Bug is your fault, I demand you fix it or I want my money back"
Our commitment to you is clearly laid out in the GNU GPL Believe us, we more than anyone want a great TurboCASH Program. We beleive that we a have the best program in the World for Small business. TurboCASH is used in over 100 000
different companies. We cannot accomodate all of them. There will be errors. It is usually more expensive to fix a problem than to work around it.
TurboCASH is Free. Any fees you may have paid are for CD production, training, demonstration, support delivery. There is no money back on a free transaction. These conditions may seem a little harsh, but they are the same conditions under which we use Open Source components that go into TurboCASH. We are used to the fact that Free means Liberty not Charity. In the balance of things - we choose Open Source.
"Why do I get asked for Money up front"
You are used to dealing with Commercial systems. When you buy a Commercial package, you have already paid for it before you meet a consultant. If everything goes wrong, they already have your money. Our consulttants and Developers do not want to work on risk. They charge for their time - to spec the product, to understnad your problem, to work on the solution. They want to be paid irrespective of the outcome of the consutltation. We do not have a system to arbitrate or discuss the work afterwards. You have to pay them for their time. Pay it in chunks that you are comfortable with. The big advantage that you have with Open Source is that you are not locked to a single supplier. If you do not like the consutltant or developer, you are free to move to another.
"Accounting is Mission Critical to me I need this support."
There are project members that will do this for you. If you really require a problem to be fixed, we are there to do it, but you must be prepared to carry the substantial cost of this. It is unlikely to be as costly as commercial Software, but may not be cheaper.
"I've done my contribution pointing out the errors - all you have to do is fix it"
Make no mistake we want and need your contributions. Pointing out the error usually takes about $ 50 of effort and fixing it takes $ 1000. Developers work for money. They run business and feed their families just like we do. So if you really want to make a contribution to TurboCASH and you are not a programmer, the way to do so is to pay a developer to fix a particular Bug or contribution that you think is important. Start by taking out a paid Support ticket. Its take $ 30 just to have a programmer read and understand your request!
"Money is no object to me. How can I get this problem fixed". We are not here to "gough" users. We are aware of the problem of fixing your needs. We need a means to share this research cost. This states the problem. Who pays for TurboCASH Developement. And this is how we intend to deal with it Research Fund
"I want to talk to the manager" If you are used to dealing with companies with free call centres, read this thread -
There are No Salesmen on an Open Source Project.
"I don't want to deal over email or the Web. I need telephone Support" Razak Accounting offer a 5 days per week business hours telephine support service. This is not free and you will have to purhcase an annual support contract to get support. If you wish to get this premium service please contact Razak Accounting.
"I need someone to come to my premises to sort out my problem. " Some of Project Members are available for call outs. PRrices vary but to get soemone in your area you will have to purhcase a minimum of 4 Support Tickets (Approximately $ 150).
"This looks like a good business". How can I become a consultant?" - There are million of SME bsusinesses out there that need accounting and IT services. Consulting services for TurboCASH are a fair market. In a commerical product, there is one supplier and prices are a monolpoly. Nevertheless a fair price develops quickly. Users are free to use which ever consultant they wish to use. What we want are consultnats that are going to be a credit to our project. Our policy is One TurboCASH Program for ALL markets. This means that we are able to deploy TurboCASH quicker and cheaper than commercial competitors. So we need Consultants to help us bridge the Gap between where the project is going and what our users want. We are there to help you get started and to ensure that you are not overwhlemed by Free loaders. Go here to get started Joining the TurboCASH Project.
