Customer Experience

• Wal-Mart to Test Solution Station Concept with Support from Dell

  Mon. Jul. 14, 2008
  by Downs Deering, Director—Retail Services

  You may recall that in April, Lionel blogged about our intent to develop premium services and services in retail. Well, today we have a little more information to share—specifically a concept Wal-Mart will begin testing in select stores called Solution Station by Dell.

  These services are designed to make it easier and more affordable for people to set up and use digital lifestyle technology. Beginning this month, Wal-Mart will be testing Solution Station by Dell services in about a dozen Dallas-area Wal-Mart stores.

  These services will be available on Dell and other branded systems and include things like home television installation, PC set-up, wireless network set-up, computer upgrades, services designed to protect computers and in-home training. Wal-Mart customers in the test locations can also sign up for basic computer support and repair for their laptops and desktops.

  We'll keep you posted as we explore different ways to support our retail partners in the marketplace.
  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Making Technology More Accessible

  Thu. Jul. 03, 2008
  by Chris Vein, CIO—City and County of San Francisco

   Note from Lionel: The power of technology grows as more users have access to it. Dell is helping the city of San Francisco provide some of its residents a connection to the digital world.

  It's an example of one of Dell's key goals behind the concept of the Connected Era—ensuring that the benefits of IT can be accessed in every part of the world. Connecting is one of four priorities—along with regenerating, simplifying and listening—that Dell believes will define the next stage of technology.

  City of San Francisco officials recently announced the launch of the TechConnect PC Purchase Program for Working Families.

  Here is a guest post from Chris Vein, Chief Information Officer, City and County of San Francisco:

  The TechConnect PC Purchase Program is a partnership that offers low-income working families in San Francisco the opportunity to buy a discounted Dell computer for a low monthly cost. This program is sponsored by Dell, Intel Corporation and Patelco Credit Union.

  The City is committed to working with its corporate partners such as Dell to address San Francisco’s digital divide. Computer and Internet access have become essential to education, employment and civic participation. Mayor Gavin Newsom and I announced this program as part of a comprehensive citywide Digital Inclusion initiative to bring technology access to the City’s most disadvantaged residents.

  The TechConnect program enables low-income families to more easily afford a computer and to use this access to improve their lives. In order to qualify, families must have received the Working Families Credit, a tax credit available to San Francisco households who earn less than $39,000 and have at least one child. The City provides free computer training at its public libraries and recreation centers.
  digg del.icio.us email this 1 comment(s)

• New Premium Service for U.S. Consumers: Your Tech Team

  Tue. Jul. 01, 2008
  by Laura Bosworth, Director - WW Customer Experience

  Last year, we experimented with a new type of service. Lionel blogged about it back in April It was provided to about 30,000 customers in the New York City area. The idea was to provide a more personalized support experience to them by designating a team of highly skilled technicians they could call anytime. It was very successful, running about 90% customer satisfaction, as the technicians are more familiar with their circumstances, require fewer explanations and are able to solve a broad-range of issues beyond just the basic warranty.

  This week we are launching the new premium warranty service called “Your Tech Team” modeled on our experiment. The new service will be an option for customers in the United States who purchase a system directly from Dell—it’s not available to customers who buy from retail. The service will cover all Dell-branded devices under warranty in your house-hold, gets you rapid access to specialists, allows you to schedule calls with your favorite technicians, and if you desire, can provide technical support options well-beyond what is covered under your warranty without needing to transfer you to a different group.

  Your Tech Team costs $99 and provides hardware warranty support for your new system and all other systems in your household (that are still under warranty). Other technical support options, like performance tuning, wireless network set-up and anti-virus support are available for a fee but can be purchased while you are on the call with your favorite technician.

  At this point, households are determined by billing address. This means if your daughter is away at college, but you bought her an Inspiron and it is still under warranty, she can call Your Tech Team  directly. If her system is out of warranty, you would need to purchase an extended warranty for her system before she is covered

  Finally, there is one other piece of information you’ll want to know about Your Tech Team—the agents are based in North America. Now, I know this can be controversial for some people but we have 2 critical customer needs to meet that are in direct conflict with each other. First and foremost, customers want low prices. We see time and time again, that when we increase prices to cover certain costs we drop in sales. We also have a great deal of research that corroborates that PC decision making is largely influenced by price and customers expect low prices from Dell. On the other hand, we must balance that with many suggestions that we provide North American support. Dell’s philosophy is all about providing customer choice and this service is no exception, rather than adding cost to every system for something that many people aren’t interested in, we will make it optional.

  Your Tech Team is not just about North American support, it is a different offering focused on your relationship with our technicians and ultimately it is about giving our customers the choice to prioritize what matters most to them.
  digg del.icio.us email this 29 comment(s)

• My Thoughts on Blog Potomac & More

  Thu. Jun. 19, 2008
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  Last week, I had the pleasure of being one of the speakers at Blog Potomac, an event that was well-organized and driven by Geoff Livingston and Debbie Weil. It was an honor for me to be part of such a strong group of social media folks. Simon Heseltine wrote a wrap up post and also summarized each of the keynotes over at EndlessPlain.com. Or take a look at the Blog Potomac site for all kinds info—videos, photos from the Flickr feed and more.

  Since I still get broad questions about how Dell's social media strategy has evolved over the last two + years, I figured it made sense to begin my part of Blog Potomac by providing a framework for our external efforts:

  • Listening: Originally started from a pure customer service perspective in April 2006. I've blogged about this in the past.
  • Launching our own blog: Direct2Dell went live in July, 2006. Now we blog in five languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Norwegian and Japanese. We've also rolled out several additional standalone blogs: DellShares, Cloud Computing, Small Business, Inside IT, Dell Channel, Your Blog, and ReGeneration.org. A University Relations will be coming soon.
  • Brand presence in the blogosphere: Started in August 2006 as natural extension from the listening we had started earlier. Outside of customer service issues, we found lots of bloggers who were commenting Dell from a brand perspective. It made sense to have conversations on that front as well.  
  • IdeaStorm: Launch date, February 2007. Click here for a background on what it's all about.
  • Our latest phase is Microblogging: Twitter, Friendfeed, YouTube and Flickr comment threads.

  I know this was familiar territory for folks that have followed Dell throughout our experience in social media. In fact, Technosailor called our blog outreach efforts old news, and asked me what we planned to do moving forward. My answer was that we've combined our outreach strengthen our focus. This combined team is a mix of our Digital Media Communications team, the Dell Community Forum team and our blog outreach team.  I went on to add that we're also beginning work to better integrate our social media properties. More on that in a bit.

  I failed to mention the concept of accepted solutions will play an even greater role in the future. Essentially, any customer who creates a new thread on the Forum can mark a response as an answer to the question or issue they raised. Take a look at Natalie's blog post for a better understanding what they're all about. Accepted solutions have taken off quickly—we've recently surpassed 7,500 accepted solutions since we introduced them in the Forum. We need to bring that functionality to the blog, and longer-term figure out how to pull useful information from accepted solutions into wikis.

  That's where Integrating our properties comes in. We're really just getting it off the ground, and it's going to take us a while. We're aiming to have Dell Community Forum, Direct2Dell and wikis on the same platform. May seem easy on the surface, but it's pretty complex thing to solve. In my view, all of our social media efforts should revolve around connecting our customers to information that's helpful to them—whether they are looking for product support or trying to educate themselves on new technology or the latest Dell products.  Lots of work to do there, but I think if we can get it right, we'll reach a more mainstream set of customers. We need to make it easy for all our customers to have conversations with Dell employees or other customers, and most importantly, to find the information they need.
  digg del.icio.us email this 1 comment(s)

• A Beast of a Card for a Beast of a Laptop

  Tue. Jun. 17, 2008
  by John Blain, Consumer & Gaming Liaison

  You may remember my last post on Direct2Dell, where I had announced the imminent arrival of the GeForce Dual 8800M GTX upgrade kit for existing XPS M1730 customers. In fact, we’ve been talking about this for quite some time. Back in January, Lionel blogged that Dell was offering the 8800M GTX to new customers. Last month, he said we’d be offering this upgrade to existing customers. For customers in the United States, that day has finally arrived!

  The card can now be purchased from our Dell.com, either as a stand-alone part for the slightly more adventurous, or with an installation service for folks that don’t want to do it themselves. I would recommend seeing what is involved in changing your video card before deciding which option is best for you. The service manual for the XPS M1730 can be found here, and we’ll soon post a vlog with Louis Bruno that walks you through the installation process.

  Update: Below is the vlog for customers who will install the 8800M GTX card themselves. If you would like to see a larger version, click on the links to download or view the Windows Media Video file or this version for QuickTime/ iPods and the iPhone.

  For those of you who opt to buy the installation service, here is what you should expect. After you place your order, a work order will be sent to a service provider in your area, who should contact you within 48 hours after you place the order to set up a service appointment for the installation. When the day of the service appointment arrives, your service technician should once again contact you to make sure you’ve received the parts from Dell, after which the technician will arrive at the appointed time to do the installation. After the work is complete, the technician will leave you to enjoy your new video card.

  Also of note, M1730 customers with version 3.3 of MediaDirect will have to install version 3.5 for MediaDirect to work with this new card. The catch? The MediaDirect partition has to be enlarged for the new installation to work, requiring that users repartition their hard drives, and then reformat their Operating System partition and reinstall Windows, drivers, software, and Dell QuickSet. MediaDirect 3.5 will be included with the upgrade kit for this purpose. If you opt for the installation service, the MediaDirect reinstallation will not be done by the service technician. If you want MediaDirect functionality, you’ll have to do the MediaDirect 3.5 installation yourself.

  Despite the complications in bringing this to you, this beast of a video card boosts performance over the older Dual 8700M GT cards by up to an astonishing 49%, and is capable of up to a 13,496 3DMark ‘06 score. Since I’m not a benchmark junky myself, I have to ask, what does this mean for real performance?

  The answer is astounding. Dell Labs noted an average of 43 frames per second in Crysis as opposed to 30 frames per second on an identically configured XPS M1730 with a Dual 8700M GT, and 21 frames per second on an XPS M1730 with the single 8700M GT. The answer, simply put, is that the difference this card should make is DRASTIC.

  So, all of you hardcore gamers out there that jumped on the M1730 when it launched, now you can upgrade your video card and make your machine truly worthy of the nickname “Beast”.
  digg del.icio.us email this 91 comment(s)

• Dell XPS 630 and LightFX

  Fri. Jun. 13, 2008
  by Russell Thompson, Dell Gaming Team

  The Dell Gaming team includes a large contingent of gamers and nothing delights us more than being able to bring systems like the XPS 630 to thousands of our closest friends. We always hear a lot from our gamer customers… they tend to be some of the most active community participants at the Forum, on Direct2Dell and IdeaStorm. A lot of the feedback on our XPS 630 has been positive, but not all of it has.

  There are lots of questions and some confusion around LightFX support. To clear the air, I want to have an honest discussion about what exactly LightFX technology is, what features of LightFX technology the XPS 630 and XPS 730 systems support today and what our plans are to improve the LightFX graphics user interface (GUI) going forward.

  For context, let’s start with a brief history of LightFX:

  • LightFX was introduced on our early gaming notebooks – about three generations ago. At its introduction, LightFX was limited to choosing the color of the LED zones via a BIOS interface. Our customers thought the feature was a cool way to customize their system, but the interface was cumbersome.
  • The natural evolution of LightFX was to give the user a GUI to change their LED colors in a run-time environment. The most elegant solution at the time was to add this functionality to the existing Dell’s Quickset application; a utility application used to fine tune and customize our notebooks.
  • About the same time we were plugging LightFX into Quickset, some smart developers here at Dell were also defining a slick programming interface that allowed software developers (especially game and multimedia developers) the ability to fade, flash and control the LEDs zones of our XPS notebooks. Internally this was known as LightFX 1.0.

  To help demonstrate how the LED zone control could be used, plug-ins were developed for popular media playback tools like iTunes and Windows Media Player. Using these plug-ins, the LEDs on the system could be made to ‘dance’ in time with music and videos. Take a look at the end of Patrick’s vlog for an idea what I’m talking about. Again, we were pretty happy with the results and as we released new notebooks and desktops we even created a special desktop version of Quickset for the XPS 720.

  • Fast forward to 2007: Developing a new round of gaming desktops, the XPS 630 and 730, offered us the opportunity to, once again, improve LightFX technology. This time the design of these next-gen systems provided us with a dedicated microcontroller that improved LED related performance (off loading the overhead of changing states etc. from the system CPU). To take advantage of this we also updated our gaming API; bumping the revision to LightFX 2.0.

  Along with these improvements, however, we had to make a change. The new hardware architecture and implementation meant that we couldn’t continue to use the Quickset application as our GUI control. As a result, this functionality was moved to NVidia Control Panel, under the Chassis section of the Performance tab. The good news is that the user can still customize the LED zones and colors. The bad news is the final look and feel of this GUI was not quite on par with what we have delivered in the past and we could no longer support the media player plug-ins.

  This brings us to today. The XPS 630 and 730 platforms both support some elements of LightFX technology. Users still have the ability to individually control and set the color of their LED zones. We still support the LightFX gaming API. What we don’t have today is the user-friendly GUI.

  To solve this case of the missing GUI we’ve turned to our team members at Alienware. As the trendsetters of the gaming industry, Alienware offers AlienFX which is a customizable lighting effects program allowing the user to set visual colors and unique effects. It made perfect sense to leverage something so well done for our XPS systems.

  So in the coming months XPS 630 and 730 users will be able to download a new, customized version of the AlienFX application that is compatible with LightFX technology. This unique version , called AlienFX: Lite, will provide Basic Mode support for setting LED zone colors, meaning that, for each of the LED zones (four for the XPS 630, and five for the XPS 730), users will be able to choose from the 16 preset colors made popular on the XPS 7xx series and XPS M17xx series platforms. Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, AlienFX Advanced Mode features like defining and saving Themes and Events will not be supported by the XPS compatible version.

  Keep your eye on the download section of support.dell.com because, in the same time frame, we’ll also be posting the updated LightFX gaming API for our customers to download as well; and you can be sure that soon after their release we’ll be installing the AlienFX and API elements on our XPS 630 and 730 systems as they’re built in the factory. This will ensure that our customers are able to enjoy them right out of the box.
  digg del.icio.us email this 11 comment(s)

• Providing Mission-Critical Assistance to ProSupport Customers in Earthquake Disaster Areas

  Mon. Jun. 09, 2008
  by Wendy Wong, Manager—China Command Center

  It was an ordinary Monday afternoon, and a new week had just begun in western China. At about 2:28 p.m. on Monday, May 12th (6:28 a.m. GMT) an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0, capable of causing major damage, hit China. Over 1.3 billion people were impacted by this devastating earthquake that caused homes to crumble and massive panic to ensue. In the turn of a hand, the earth was moving, mountains were shaking, and buildings were falling. There was no time to run for help. Many lives silently fell into the ruins. People from all over the world mourned and paid attention to the area of Sichuan. Dell's services team quickly reacted out of compassion  to help mitigate service delivery delays in the disaster areas affected by the tragedy.

  Dell's Global Command Center in Xiamen acted as the emergency command post by escalating and coordinating resources during the critical situation. At 3:01 pm, the first communication was broadcast out by the Command Center to all Dell teams when the earthquake hit Wenchuan. All impacted teams immediately responded and a corresponding message was sent at 3:10 pm to Dell global related functional teams. At 4:30pm, the Command Center coordinated and led the first initial meeting with all the Dell services teams from technical support, the services operations, logistics, and every Dell service provider to discuss and deploy support resolution strategies. Updates from CCTV News streamed into the center in order to capture new, impacted areas. At 5:50pm, the initial action plan was issued and published.

  For 2 weeks, the command center scheduled crisis management meetings with representatives from every service delivery team to update all open dispatches and support cases in order to prioritize and escalate appropriately. The coordination and 24/7 efforts of all the teams from the technical support staff at the frontline to the onsite technician and parts delivery couriers who made contact with the customers was remarkable and unprecedented. Prioritized response went to rescue departments such as government, transportation, medical, earthquake bureau, telecom, water & electricity supply. Real-time tracking procedures were implemented for every service order which were on hold due to road damage by earthquake or governmental transportation control. The logistics department provided daily status of closed highways, railways & flights. Once the transportation systems were back online, spare parts fulfillment resumed to the affected areas. Logistics arranged for backup parts inventory while the Technical Support staff continually communicated with Dell customers to make them aware of the situation and provide the updated status on their parts and technician. During the period time when the Chengdu Airport was shut down, spare parts were transported to Chongqing to solve service delay issues caused by part shortages. This allowed for restored equipment to rescue teams. When a Dell Technical Account Manager (TAM) was informed that the Sichuan Police Department needed a technical support team to help the Police Bureau at understaffed cities, the TAM offered his contacts to the Police Department to ensure the promptest response was available.

  On the evening of May 14th, the Sichuan Police Bureau contacted Dell's Support hotlines to report a downed mission critical server needed for information regarding earthquake rescue information. Despite the fact the system was out of warranty, Dell's mission critical team of technical engineers supported the customer with professionalism and urgency to get the critical server back-up as soon as possible. In addition to finding the technical solution, the Dell team had to brave aftershocks in Chengdu city, but stayed onsite to complete the work at hand.

  Regardless of the insurmountable number of open technical support cases and dispatches, the Dell teams worked around the clock to complete the work at hand and get them all closed within 2 weeks. So many heroic stories occurred in the wake of the China earthquake, and at the heart of each support case was Dell’s determination and selflessness for ProSupport customers. In fact, one customer was quoted as saying "Dell - what an excellent service!"
  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Dell's New Service Partner Program - FAQ

  Wed. May. 28, 2008
  by Katie MacDonald, Program Manager

  We recenty introduced the Dell Service Partner Program (SPP) for independent service providers who manage local or regional computer repair needs.  These are smaller service provider businesses - sometimes just one employee big.  And, like larger, multi-national computer repair companies, Dell Service Partners provide essential consulting and repair to their customers, so we're here to provide support that will help them answer a customer's needs fast. 

  In an effort to offer more benefits to these smaller service provider businesses, including discounts and training programs, Dell has created the Service Partner Program because we know your business succeeds when you offer value, efficiency and reliable service to your customers.  When their computer breaks, you are there to fix it fast, so Dell wants to back you up on your customers' needs.

  Before I jump into the FAQ, you can also find more details about the Service Partner Program at www.dell.com/servicepartner.

  Who can join the SPP?

  Service Providers in the United States are eligible to join the Dell Service Partner Program.  We plan to offer the Service Partner Program globally at a future date. 

  What type of discounts can I get as a member of SPP?

  • Discounts on Replacement Parts = 7% for telephone orders when you call this toll-free number 1-888-925-4528.  We will offer online discounts in the future. 
  • Discounts on Service Warranties = 10% when you call 1-877-277-9723.
  • Discounts though Dell’s Employee Purchase Program (EPP) = up to 12% on laptops and desktops.

  How do I get these discounts?

  By calling our toll-free, Dell Service Partner sales representatives, you can opt-in to receive discounts on Parts, Warranties or EPP system purchases.  Tell our sales reps that you would like to be a member of the Service Partner Program by providing your email and receive information on future promotions at Dell.  

  What if I need a part late in the day or the Next Business Day for my customer?

  You need a part, Dell has it for you.  Order parts as late as 7 p.m. CST M-F when you call our parts sales queue for your order.  This beats most industry shipping cut-off times that range from noon to 4 p.m. CST. 

  Dell also reminds everyone that Next-Business-Day delivery (NBD) is always an option when you call one of our parts sales representatives. Our prices for NBD are also some of the best across all computer vendors and our competitors. 

  Can I give Dell feedback on the Service Partner Program or Dell products and services?

  Yes.  We hope that our customers and partners continue to provide ideas or suggestions about how we can improve things.  You can give your feedback here here on Direct2Dell  or at IdeaStorm.  We've implemented programs based on suggestions from businesses and customers, including Dell's participation in Red Campaign.

  I think Dell products and services are great, but sometimes I feel I need more training on how to best use them for my customers?

  Dell offers some great training for service providers, technicians and anyone interested in knowing more about how to get the most from our products. 
  digg del.icio.us email this 13 comment(s)

• Latest on the Graphics Card Upgrade for XPS M1730 Customers

  Tue. May. 13, 2008
  by John Blain, Consumer & Gaming Liaison

  A few months ago, Lionel blogged that Dell had added the NVIDIA Dual 8800M GTX to the XPS M1730. This raised a lot of questions from existing M1730 owners, as you can see from the comments to the post, mostly regarding the possibility of an upgrade program. Given how absolutely amazing this card is, I’m surprised it didn’t generate more churn than it did.

  As the gaming/consumer liaison for the Dell community, I was able to take some of these questions to those in the know and get a few answers.

  First thing’s first: an upgrade solution is in the works, and will hopefully be released later this month. From what I’ve seen, there will be two options, one with an installation package, and one do-it-yourself kit for those die-hard techies. Considering the number of screws holding this beast together, most people will probably want the installation, but the do-it-yourself kit will be appealing to people like me that like playing with computer innards. The price of these upgrades is yet to be determined.

  So what’s taking so long? The core issue is that MediaDirect 3.3 is not compatible with the driver for the NVIDIA card. This incompatibility means that the Media Direct software needs to be upgraded. Unfortunately, the upgrade will require a reformat and reinstallation. Beyond that, it will also require you to repartition the hard disk to make room for the new version of MediaDirect, which is a bit larger. Data loss has been a major concern for the engineers working on a solution. At this point, it would appear that there’s really no way around wiping the drive to make the upgrade work with every feature.

  Since this card is obviously “the r0x0r”, I would think people’s inner gamer would be perfectly fine with a reinstallation in order to make this card work. This card is just that cool.

  I know this upgrade has been long in coming, and I know it's caused some frustration. We're sorry this is taking so long, and are working to get this card into your hands as quickly as possible.
  digg del.icio.us email this 74 comment(s)

• Issue Fix: XPS M1330 CD Eject Freezes System

  Thu. May. 08, 2008
  by Bill Bivin, Laptop Liaison

  Thanks to Notebook Review user nexas for pointing out an issue with the XPS M1330. When a user presses the eject button on the optical drive, the system may hang for a few seconds.

  Dell Community Forum users like Vishnu M. issue reported this issue. We've identified the issue and corrected it with the latest BIOS revision posted yesterday, version A10, which will correct the symptoms.

  Again, users that have encountered this issue can click here to download the BIOS.

  There have also been reports of this issue on the XPS M1530. The next BIOS revision is being tested now, and will also correct the symptoms. That revision is slated for web posting in June.
  digg del.icio.us email this 5 comment(s)