The bigger companies, realizing they do not have $$ for support staff are doing this. Although there is these forums, FAQs,and an adequate search engine, more could be done to provide lean support. (deflection of Support cases) This is just as much a mindset as a process (which can be simplified than what is typically done). Customers can provide input into knowledge.
Examples from this website
- I search on faq in the forums. The top five results returned are not clear how they are related to faq . Searching at top level has some relevant results but gets into specifics as well. (I could do a whole post on search engines . But will refrain.)
- FAQ is more Q& A than Support Case or Best Practice/Project oriented. There is no date on them when updated or releases impacting. No feedback mechanism on the page for customers to say if relevant or not. No way to tell the top 5/10/20 help pages accessed. Most is task oriented which be better covered by a user's guide or a wiki.
- Old material appears not to be actively retired.
I hope that a KCS-like approach is used in the future by Genopro resulting in searches for knowledge that are quick, relevant, and current.
At this point would not be interested in a conversation to discuss further due to lack of time.