Customer Experience

• Europe Vostro Keyboard Update

  Wed. May. 14, 2008
  by Bill Bivin, Laptop Liaison

  Since I blogged about the Europe Vostro keyboard issue, we’ve had several questions about system warranty similar to the comments from Damian Poland and Janet Moore on the blog. I wanted to take some time to answer some of those questions.

  You will not void your warranty if you choose to replace the keyboard yourself. If you do damage components in the replacement process, we will replace damaged parts according to the specifics of your warranty.

  Customers who choose to have the keyboard replaced by an on-site technician will have a longer wait than those who choose parts only, but we will work through service requests as quickly as we can.

  Direct2Dell reader Bryan wondered if his pending Vostro 1510 unit would ship with the updated keyboard. Yes, all orders will be shipped with the updated keyboard.

  Direct2Dell reader Matthew wondered if there was a BIOS update he could utilize before receiving the keyboard. Unfortunately, the short answer is no. I’ll work with the BIOS team and will post updated information when I have it.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Europe Vostro Keyboard Issue: What We're Doing

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

  Thanks to Flickr user Jake Gordon for alerting us to a problem with our Vostro 1310 and 1510 keyboard layout. He's the one that influenced Engadget and other blogs like Wired to write about the issue. There is no way to say it... we made a mistake and want to apologize to affected customers.  I want to point out that this issue only affects some users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It should not be an issue for customers in any other region.

  The pictures below will explain the issue a little more clearly. Bottom line, Jake was right on with his observations: we chose to use a larger left-Shift key than the one that commonly ships on industry-standard keyboard layouts. The backslash key was placed in its normal spot, immediately right of the Shift key. The increased width of the Shift key pushes the whole row of keys one position to the right. This is not a workable layout for touch typists.

  Note: The original keyboard is on the left; the revised keyboard is on the right. Click on these images below for a larger version.

  

  The new layout moves the backslash key to the far right of the second row from the bottom, which pushes the rest of the letter keys on that row to their traditional positions. While this location differs from some layouts, the larger left Shift key is beginning to appear on more systems there.

  Here's what we're going to do: we plan to contact all affected customers, beginning today. All affected customers will receive an updated keyboard. They will have two options: we can send the keyboard and required BIOS update directly to them, or they can choose to have a field technician replace the keyboard onsite.

  Swapping the keyboards is a pretty simple process. Take a look at the field service manual for the Vostro 1310 and the Vostro 1510. Soon, we'll publish a video that walks folks through the process. Update: Here's the video:

  Format: flv Duration: 5:38

  Downloads WMV  MP4  OGG

  Customers who don't want to wait can contact Dell directly via e-mail: emea_ts_pfr@dell.com

  Please use the words Vostro Keyboard in the subject line. Here is the information we need from you in the e-mail:

  • Name
  • Daytime Phone Number
  • Order Number
  • Service Tag Number
  digg del.icio.us email this 31 comment(s)

• Have a Question? Our Community May Have an Answer!

  Mon. Apr. 28, 2008
  by Natalie Davis, Manager—Global Ops Community Team

  Next time you are over at the Dell Forums searching for answers, look for the image like the check mark on the left. It's telling you that there is an solution for that issue. It's part of something we launched in February called Accepted Solution.

  The concept is based on a simple premise... that customers who create a forum thread about a specific issue are the best ones to tell the community which post fixed their problem. Said another way, an original poster of a thread can now select the specific post within their thread that answered their question.

  Here's how it works:

  • Login to the Dell Forum (if you don't register, you can still browse)
  • Click on a thread that contains the kinds of details you're looking for (like Desktops and General Hardware)
  • Look for the threads with a green check mark labeled Solved!

  

  Note: Clicking on the picture above will take you to a larger version of it.

  If you click on one of those threads, you will see the comment that started the thread.  When a customer identifies a post as a solution, the thread gets a special logo in the top right corner that looks like the logo below. Clicking on it will take you right to the solution post.

  

  It also marks the specific comment that fixes the issue with an Accepted Solution icon and turns that comment green like this one below:

  

  This provides a visual way to search through the millions of threads on our forums for an answer to a question, by allowing users with the same question to quickly identify answers already provided by other users. If you spend time on forums like we do, you know that threads can get quite long and quickly! From the usual conversation back and forth to the many steps it often takes to arrive at a good solution, this feature helps users help each other ‘cut to the chase’!

  It's taken off faster than we expected: we recently reached over 5,000 accepted solutions, and are averaging about 60 new accepted solutions added each day. Over half a million views of accepted solutions, our database of questions and answers is growing! We are excited and pleased to see so many members of our community using this feature and helping not just the first user with the question they have, but potentially millions of other users who have the same question in the future.

  So next time you have a question, whether it’s technical or you’re not sure what to buy, check out the forum. There may already be an accepted solution waiting for you. Starting there will probably save you some time and effort.

  For more details on how the Accepted Solution functionality works, take a look at the FAQ.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Dell Offers VoIP to Small and Medium Businesses

  Wed. Jan. 23, 2008
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  If you're a small- to mid-sized business, you may still be looking for proof that the technology heavyweights are interested in giving you access to solutions scaled to your needs and not just force-feeding you something from the consumer or large enterprise portfolio.  Proof is mounting.  Take Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

  Update: February 27—I should have clarified that this service is available to customers in the United States. Sorry for the inconvenience. Lionel

  Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is finally becoming a viable integrated solution for small and medium businesses looking to save time and money. Last summer Dell and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) surveyed small business owners worldwide to better understand their biggest IT pain points, and respondents ranked VoIP among the top five technology breakthroughs that will transform their businesses.

  To help deliver the benefits of VoIP to Dell customers, we've partnered with both Nortel, a worldwide leader in delivering VoIP and Unified Communications solutions to the small and medium businesses, and Fonality, a leader in open source, Asterisk-based IP telephony systems. The Nortel based offerings are best suited to medium-size businesses with more sophisticated requirements and/or multiple locations. The Fonality offering matches the needs of the small business that can manage their own system.

  Both Nortel and Fonality solutions offer savings over traditional phone systems through lower infrastructure and installation expenses, lower service and maintenance costs, and lower phone bills by eliminating intra- and inter-office phone charges.  And, both partners offer solutions powered by Dell OptiPlex computers.

  With VoIP, businesses can lower long distance bills by up to 70 percent, integrate the phone system with the rest of their information technology for easier management, and now turn to Dell as a single point of contact for all their technology needs. For businesses that rely on solution providers to manage their IT, these VoIP solutions are also available through Dell partners.

  The solution is initially available in the United States, and will be offered in other regions in the coming months.  An enhanced online experience will also launch in late February.  You can learn more at www.dell.com/voip or by reading Fonality CEO and Founder, Chris Lyman's blog post from this morning.  Chris, this is a big day for Dell and our customers, too.  We look forward to working with you. 

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Notebook AC Adapter Survey

  Thu. Nov. 29, 2007
  by John Blain, Consumer & Gaming Liaison

  If I've learned anything from surfing customers' blogs over the last year and a half, I've learned one thing: customers do have a voice at Dell.

  When you meet people for the first time, usually the conversation drifts towards what each of you "do for a living". When it does for me, I am never surprised to see a "knowing look" when I tell people I work at Dell. Being the kind of guy I am, I hit that look head-on more often than not. I explain that rather than working at a "big, faceless corporation" as a "drone", my job is proof that the customer has a voice. When people find out I surf and respond to blogs for a living, that "knowing look" usually melts right off of their faces. "Dell actually pays people to do that?"

  In my day to day experience, I am constantly getting feedback from customers, and forwarding that feedback along to the appropriate groups. Customers are always telling me "wouldn't it be great if Dell would do <yoursuggestionhere>". I usually refer people to IdeaStorm, unless their suggestion is break/fix related. IdeaStorm is a great place to share your ideas, but sometimes our product engineers could use some specific feedback while putting together a new product design. Now is one of those times.

  We have used the same AC adapters for all Dell notebook lines since 2003. In that time, notebooks have undergone some fairly significant changes, and also during this time, virtually no changes were made to the AC adapters being shipped with our notebooks. Four years is a lifetime in the computer industry, so it's safe to say these adapters are quickly becoming yesterday's technology. They have worked well, but there's always room for improvements.

  There is at least one AC adapter in circulation for every notebook we sell, so not only is it the most common piece of Dell equipment, it is also probably one of the products we receive the most feedback about. Given these facts, our engineers have decided to focus on the AC adapter to try and determine the best ways to improve its design. This gives us a golden opportunity to give feedback at a critical time in a product's life:

  AC Adapter Survey

  Our engineers want to know how you use the AC adapters with your notebooks so they can take these scenarios into consideration during design. Being that this is one of the most ubiquitous pieces of Dell equipment, this is a chance for us as customers to tell the designers themselves how we collectively use their product, so that they can improve the design and make an AC adapter designed to meet our needs. The survey is yet another way the customer has a voice at Dell.

  I've already filled it out, and I hope you'll join me.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Share Your Stories About IT Complexity

  Tue. Nov. 13, 2007
  by Jeff Johnson, Enterprise Strategist

  Everyone in technology knows that IT is too complex.  By announcing its Simplify IT initiatives, Dell has certainly gone on record saying we're doing something about it. 

  While IT complexity is a serious subject, actual stories are often pretty funny.  I don't know about you, but I've seen plenty of examples that are so tragic they are actually hilarious.  Like unclear and acronym-filled user's manuals, stupid things end-users day and do, idiotic management decisions, and bizarre stories.  Here is one I heard recently.  One company needed to update their server image, but didn't have any automated tools to do so.  They spent weeks updating one server at a time - with a CD.  The IT people actually TRIED to get sick, by eating pizza that was a couple days old, just so they could go home.  There are a lot more like this.

  The conversations need to happen, but people can have a little fun doing it.  (Who says IT people don't have a sense of humor?)  So that is why Dell has become the charter sponsor of The IT Room (http://www.theitroom.com/), sort of a "Digital Dilbert for the IT Crowd" and a place to share horror stories and rant and rave.   This gives people a place to join the fight against IT complexity. 

  We were approached by a company, MotivFilms, to participate with other technology companies in this project and immediately jumped at the chance to participate. Dell doesn't own this project—we're just one voice in this conversation. But since we do have a thing or two to say about simplifying IT, we'll participate in the discussion.

  Dell will continue to support the dialogue around IT complexity, and will continue to sponsor The IT Room along with the other advertisers.  We're wholeheartedly supporting the idea because it generates the right kind of conversations. So join us the fight against IT complexity!  Start by mocking it.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Dell Retail Expansion in China

  Mon. Sep. 24, 2007
  by Michael Tatelman, VP—Consumer Sales & Mktg.

  Today in Beijing, we announced a partnership with Gome, the largest consumer electronics retailer in China, to sell Dell products in local Gome stores. This marks the first time Dell has sold systems in retail in China since we entered this market in 1998.

  Starting in October, customers will be able to buy notebooks like the the XPS M1330 and the Inspiron 1420, and desktops like the XPS 720, Dimension 9200 and the Inspiron 530, at more than 50 major metropolitan Gome stores. Additional Gome stores will carry Dell products in the coming months. Dell employees will be on site in Gome stores to help customers with their purchases and provide tech support.

  Many of you may not be aware, but I lived in this area of the world for almost 3 years and appreciate the increasing sophistication of Chinese customers in how they buy and use technology. Since Dell opened its first Customer Experience Center (CEC) in China last year, customers have shown us how much they value seeing our products in person. That success has led us to establish nine CECs throughout China within one year. These experience centers continue to provide insights into the affinity of Chinese customers for a convenient shopping experience, and helped pave the way for us to enter into retail in China.

  Because of the size of Gome's presence in cities of all sizes, most Chinese customers are probably familiar with Gome. This partnership will help us extend beyond our online and phone direct business model to connect with a broader set of customers.

  Does this mean the end of traditional direct in China? No, it does not. All of our recent retail activities are meant to augment direct sales. Dell has built our business on the foundation of direct customer interaction, and that will not change. This is about reaching more customers in China. 

  Not long ago, we announced retail agreements in the U.K., U.S. and Japan. The partnership with Gome in China is an important extension of Dell's global retail strategy. We will continue to grow and develop this strategy based on needs of customers around the world.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Dell to Open Retail Store in Russia

  Wed. Sep. 19, 2007
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  Michael Dell took part in a media briefing in Moscow today to discuss Dell's plans to open a retail store in the new Gorbuskin Dvor retail center. The store will open next month and will offer notebooks, desktops, servers, printers and more. This is part of additional investments that we'll be making in Russia, which is one of the fastest-growing computer markets in the world.

  Customers will be able to see demonstrations of products and talk to experts about what products make sense for home use or what's required to run a small business. Besides hardware, the store will also offer a service outlet to provide hardware warranty repairs for Dell equipment. While we already sell our systems alongside competitors' products in other Moscow retail locations, this is the first store in Moscow that will sell Dell products exclusively.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Is it Possible to be Everything to Everybody?

  Fri. Sep. 07, 2007
  by Laura P. Thomas, Global eCommerce

  As I hinted in my last post here, a rather large 2D web project has been taking my focus away from 3D initiatives lately. That project is a redesign of the home page of Dell.com.

  How can one single web page be a big project?  When it's a page that gets more than 35 million visitors a week.  When it is the subject of some of the most popular posts on IdeaStorm. When that one page is the entryway to both a corporate and a commerce site. When it must appeal to everyone from individual consumers to large corporate clients, from institutional investors to mainstream media and citizen journalists. When it has to be a place where a student can research a company for their freshman business class, and purchase a computer upon which to write that same paper.

  This is the challenge faced as we roll out a  beta test of a new design today in the United States. Canada will follow next week. More regions will offer the beta in the future. Here's how it will work: 20% of visitors to Dell.com over the next week will be randomly selected for this beta test. 10% of that test audience will see the page as it is today. The other 10 % will see the redesigned page.  We will then compare clickstream data and basic metrics from those two groups to determine if the new page works or not.

  How will we know if it works? If customers tell us it is easier to find the right level of information they need-whether that means finding support for existing products or researching information for future purchases, or adding to the conversation. We don't want to be an Irrelevant Corporate Website. To us, that means integrating community sites such as this blog, the Dell Community Forum, StudioDell and more. Customers like jorge are telling us the same thing on IdeaStorm.

  Click on the image below to see a larger version of the screenshot.

  
  What the redesign doesn't do is what many have voted for—eliminate customer segmentation. We still believe segmentation offers benefits for the customer and here's one reason why: when we have discussions with customers many of them say they dislike being asked to segment themselves when they begin shopping on dell.com; but, many also tell us that they use technology in very different ways and have different needs.  An example of this is a recent survey of small business owners and decision makers conducted by Dell and the International Council for Small Business.  This sort of feedback went into the development of the new Vostro line of notebooks and desktops, as well as the suite of services designed specifically to support small businesses.  As Dell continues to differentiate the products and services we offer our customers, segmentation will begin to make more sense to site visitors.

  So, if you visit Dell.com over the next week and see the new design, feel free to click on the "feedback" link at the footer of the page to let us know what you think.  Or, you can come back here and share your comments on this post.  I look forward to hearing even more opinions on this challenging page.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)

• Dell Vista Upgrade Program Update

  Fri. Apr. 06, 2007
  by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

  I wanted to try to address some of the issues that customers have raised on Direct2Dell and Dell Community Forum regarding the Dell Vista Upgrade Program. Many users often comment about why is it so difficult to get answers. Part of the reason is that we have to work with other companies to fulfill upgrade orders.

  In accordance with Microsoft program guidelines, March 15, 2007 was the last day for purchasing an eligible system to qualify for the Vista Upgrade. March 31, 2007 was the last day to redeem the Express Upgrade to Windows Vista. That said, we will continue to support customers who tried to get their orders processed by March 31 but are still running into issues. We apologize for any inconvenience and will work to correct them.

  We plan to ship the remaining Vista upgrade DVDs over the next few weeks. However, shipment of the upgrade kits for systems that utilize an NVIDIA disk controller driver—the OptiPlex 740, Dimension C521, E521 and the XPS 710—will be delayed until first part of May. So what’s causing that delay? Basically, getting the updated version of the disk controller driver incorporated into the DVD media we need to ship for those platforms. Ensuring a smooth upgrade process requires additional time for development and testing.

  Here’s the background. In late February, before the upgrade kits for those systems shipped, we discovered an issue with the NVIDIA disk controller driver. The previous version of the driver could result in a No O/S found error message. We worked with NVIDIA to get an updated version of their MediaShield driver to fix the issue and made the updated driver (V.5.10.2600.692) available on support.dell.com on 2/26. Soon after, we pushed it through in Dell Support 3.x. It’s also available via Windows Update as a critical update.

  We regret the delay and apologize for any inconvenience. I can assure you that we have been working to correct the issues. We will continue to do so.

  Several readers have asked why we don’t just ship the retail version, or offer various Vista versions for download. The reason is that, in both cases, Microsoft provides technical support in both cases. We ship and support Dell OEM versions of Vista for the upgrade or when we either build a system from the factory. Customers who receive Vista from the Dell Vista Upgrade Program also get the Dell Upgrade Assistant DVD. It contains drivers specific to your system and was designed to make the upgrade process as seamless as possible.

  We mirrored a first in, first out process as much as possible, but as many readers have commented, there were several instances where this did not happen. To deal with the the variety of each kit (language and various versions of Vista like Home Basic, Business, Premium, etc.), these kits were built and shipped in batches. While that process was more efficient, in some instances, it impacted the shipping order of the upgrade kits. I apologize for any frustration this has caused.

  Several Direct2Dell readers have asked about shipping schedules in other countries outside the United States. While we continue to fulfill international orders, the reality is that we expect to have all orders shipped by end of May.

  Though the registration deadline has passed, the dellvistaupgrade.com site is still operational to allow users to:

  • Check their order status
  • Update credit card information
  • Update or change the shipping address for order

  If your order is listed as "In Process," that means your order is being processed. From there, you should receive an e-mail notification when your order ships. Last month, due to confusion regarding order status, Dell changed the word “pending” to “in process.”

  Customers who have tried to submit their order before the March 31, 2007 deadline but are still running into problems getting their orders processed can submit a comment with your e-mail address field completed. I can have someone from the Customer Care team follow up with you. Additionally, you can call 866-634-7426 or 866-409-9542. If you prefer e-mail, the Contact Us page on the Dell Vista Upgrade site lists additional e-mail addresses.

  digg del.icio.us email this 0 comment(s)