Originally Posted by James Henry

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It's not unknown for me to fire an email to a chap in tech support informing him of something as I've read something in a forum and needed to correct him, getting a grateful response and knowing that he's now a more informed member of staff and if asked that question again he'll be fine. He knows that if he needs to know things he can speak to me and I'll help where I can.

That's the advantage of inhouse service. Customer satisfaction is increased as the entire company from the people answering the phones for 10k a year right through to the more senior engineers on 40k a year feel a responsibility to their customers, as there's a direct line through the company linking them all.

Outsourcing REALLY blows in my opinion, a cowardly way out for companies that don't care about their customers and just want to get them off the phone as cheaply as possible.