Direct2Dell : Customer Services & Support

Introducing The Team Behind Dell's Enterprise Technology Center (Dell TechCenter)

DELL-Bruce Eric — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:00 GMT

A little more than three years ago, Dell created the Enterprise Technology Center, informally known as Dell TechCenter. It has grown from it's very meager beginnings to a site boasting regular members from more than 140 countries -- large enterprise customers, small and medium-sized business and even public institutions. I recently sat down with the team behind the TechCenter to get a sense of what they do and how they are a big resource for our data center customers.

The team is made up of Scott Hanson (@dellservergeek), Kong Yang (@kongy_dell) and Jeff Sullivan (@SANpenguin) a team whose sole focus is helping customers figure out the "what if" scenarios for their PowerEdge servers, Dell|EMC, PowerVault and EqualLogic storage systems, and the myriad applications of those systems including systems management, virtualization, operating systems, de-duplication, among many other topics.

Dell TechCenter is a community that discusses data center issues from a technical perspective. You will not find any PR/marketing types in their lab (aside from when I was there to interview them :)) -- these guys have pocket protectors and propellers on their heads. You won't find glossy brochures on their site. You won't find them linking to news releases. What you'll find is great technical content to help you get more out of your data center.

These guys were recently out at vmworld 2009 and were geeking out with all their virtualization colleagues. In fact, just before they left, @dellservergeek had a group of us over to his house to hang out with the whole TechCenter team along with @virtualtodd, @gabvirtualworld and @B_renda, @dennismsmith (who is the guy behind our break-fix oriented data center community forums) and @lionelatdell, among others.

Let's hear them describe what they do.

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If you haven't been to the TechCenter, give it a try. Here are the various coordinates at which you can find these guys and their work:

Dell Enterprise Technology Center, aka Dell TechCenter, community site
Dell TechCenter Blog
Dell TechCenter Delicious Links
Dell TechCenter group on LinkedIn
And soon, we'll have a fan page on Facebook

I invite you to come on to the Dell TechCenter site, look around and let us know what you think.

Dell Fast Track Systems—Tell Us How We’re Doing

DELL-Joe M — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:15:00 GMT

Last month, we introduced a new ordering option for U.S.-based small and medium business customers called Fast Track for Business. It’s clear that many of our customers (not just small and medium business ones) need systems need them right away. That’s why we’ve expanded the Fast Track option for some consumer systems for customers in the United States. Fast Track is a way for Dell to offer great deals on some of our most popular configurations. The Fast Track program also means that when you order one of these configurations, it will be shipped to you by the next business day.

Lots of customers have already ordered Fast Track systems. If you’re one of those, we’d love for you to share your opinion and review your system online.

To do that, click on the links below. They will take you to the product details page where you can write reviews for Fast Track Systems. In order to write a review, click the Write a Review link in the middle of the product page. From there you can enter Your Account details (the same one you used for placing your order).

Mini 10v netbook
Inspiron 13 laptop
Inspiron 15 laptop
Inspiron 537 desktop

And don’t forget we’ve got a contest running until September 4, with a chance to win a $500 Dell gift card. Be sure to share any pictures or videos for a chance for your review to be featured on our site as a customer spotlight!

Dell Driver Download Manager is Optional

DELL-Eoghan O — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:15:00 GMT

Since I blogged about our Driver Download Manager functionality last week, some customers like mattroberts, nigel1999 and terryko and others made it clear they did not want to have to download an app to get driver downloads. To be clear, the Driver Download Manager was meant to be optional.

Customers like kittykat21589 rightly pointed out there was a bug in our opt out functionality. Yesterday we made a configuration change on the site to fix this. The opt out to download via Browser without the Driver Download Manager is now working correctly. We apologize for any frustration this has caused and will be closely monitoring the site over the coming days to ensure it continues to work as expected.

Here's the option you should see the next time you download a file from support.dell.com:

And for Firefox users like keepsloanweird who reported that the Driver Download Manager app doesn't work properly, take a look at my comment for clarification. The short answer is that the app requires both Microsoft .NET 3.5 Service Pack 1 and the Microsoft .NET Assistant 1.1 to be installed.

It was never our intention to force users to install and use the Driver Download Manager. Although some of you may choose not to use the Driver Download Manager I would hope that at some stage you may give it a try to see the benefits it can provide.

Thanks again to our customers for the direct and honest feedback. If you have more to share on the topic, let me know with a comment below.

Dell Unveils Its Digital Forensics Solution

DELL-Josh C — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Today we're unveiling a new solution we feel is pretty special and embodies everything we wanted to achieve when we decided to restructure the way Public Sector customers' needs are addressed by Dell. At the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) International Policing Exhibition and Summer Conference (ACPO-APA) we'll be announcing the Dell Digital Forensics Solution - a collaboration between customers and specialist partners to help solve one of the biggest challenges facing police and security forces today - managing digital evidence.

The amount of digital evidence that needs to be reviewed is growing at a huge rate, and this is putting forensic experts under pressure to analyse data quickly and accurately to help secure arrests and convictions. It makes perfect sense that this is happening, when you consider how entwined in our lives digital devices are - why would criminals be any different? In the UK you have 28 days in which to get your case together before a suspect must be released, which isn't a lot of time to look through what might be terabytes of data in a single case. The average backlog of data awaiting forensic analysis in the UK is 18-24 months across the 43 police constabularies, according to comments made by the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit at InfoSec.

Working with support from AccessData, EMC, Intel, Oracle, Symantec, VEGA and others, Dell has developed a new data centre approach to digital forensics that simplifies the entire process, improves the efficiency of sharing and administering data across analyst teams, and supports strict evidence handling guidelines. This is very different to the way many systems work now, where data is analysed in isolation on a workstation with little protection from malicious code and no ability for analysts to collaborate on the same evidence. We've taken our experience in servers, the cloud and high performance computing, and created a solution which we believe will transform the way digital evidence is processed, leading to quicker forensic analysis and criminal convictions.

Our mission at Dell is to ensure that we combine our 25-year history of driving affordable, accessible IT with an intimate understanding of what different parts of the public sector need to deliver solutions that are green, simplified and secure. By simplify we mean cut costs and conquer complexity, ultimately leading to customers reclaiming time, money and people. The Digital Forensics solution really embodies this, and through our partner network we've been able to bring best of breed and insight to the project, to produce something that really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Share Your Opinion For A Chance to Win $500 From Dell

DELL-Joe M — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:10:00 GMT

There's any number of studies that show that consumers trust product opinions from friends, family members and other customers more than they trust what a company says about its own products.. Since 2006, we've added the Ratings and Reviews functionality in multiple countries and added the ability to share them in other social media sites. Many customers have told us that these reviews are helpful during the shopping process.

Since the early days, we've amassed thousands of reviews written by people around the world, sharing thoughts about what was great, what wasn't ideal and so on. We appreciate those who take the time to write reviews, and want to encourage more people to submit new ones. So if you're one of our customers who have read reviews or used them to compare products, we're hoping you will take that next step and write one! Now it's the right time to finally grab the old pen and paper (or keyboard in this case) and put your words to use for a chance to win. Share your opinions on anything and everything from the Studio 17 to the Wasabi Photo Printer or even non-Dell products that we sell through the Electronics and Accessories area on Dell.com. Give us your thoughts, photos or submit a video review for all of the dell community to see.

From July 2 - September 4, everyone that submits a review will be entered for a chance to win one of three $500 gift cards. Write as many reviews as you want on each Dell product you own to increase your chance to win. And remember, when you're writing your review, think about all the things you wanted to know about the product and tell people how you use your product in real life.

To rate a product, you can visit www.dell.com/ratings or go to any of our product pages and sign in to write a review. Dell uses your reviews in action across all of Dell.com. The most useful reviews are selected to be Customer Spotlight Reviews which many customers have told us help them when they are making up their minds on what to buy. We want to put you and your review in the spotlight! Share your pictures, your stories, your thoughts with the community not only just for a chance to win but for a chance to be heard by all at the Dell community!

For more information, check out our official rules for our Ratings & Reviews Sweepstakes.

Why You're Waiting on Your Alienware M17x

DELL-John B — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:40:00 GMT

Last week I had the pleasure of emceeing three contests on Twitter for two Alienware M17x laptops and other prizes. I was simply amazed by the sheer number of responses I received. The M17x is a very popular item judging from the responses, and with good reason. It is an amazing machine, simply put.

While conducting the contest I received a personal message on twitter from co-optimus.com owner bapenguin, letting me know he had ordered an M17x to review for his site, and his order had been delayed for several weeks. A quick perusal of the internet showed others are experiencing similar delays as well. I knew something was up when I got a direct message from another twitter friend, csharpzealot, who wrote: "Seems like the popularity of the M17x has landed Dell/Alienware in a bit of a parts problem :) oops..victim of your own success."

I decided this deserved a little looking into.

Here's the scoop: due to popular demand, there's been a slight hiccup in the supply LCD panels for the M17x, so csharpzealot isn't too far off with his statement. These aren't just your average LCD panels, but some of the highest quality LCD panels available, so just substituting any old panel to fulfill the orders just won't do. This part shortage is the root cause of most M17x delays, and the system's popularity is a major cause of the parts shortage. That's the bad news.

The good news is that the supply problem is well on the way to being conquered, and while we can't say when the shipping delays will subside, we know they soon will. If you're one of those waiting for your M17x to ship, you can be assured that when your system is built, it will be built specifically for you with the highest quality parts available.

Hang on to your hats, folks! Your M17x's are on their way!

Dell Driver Download Manager

DELL-Eoghan O — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:00:00 GMT

I would like to share some details on an important update for the Drivers & Downloads application on Support.Dell.com. Recently, we completed the launch of the new Dell Driver Download Manager. This new functionality, which is available globally across all of Support.Dell.com, has been created to improve your experience when downloading files from Dell.

The big change you will see when using the new Driver Download Manager is an improvement in download speed. The time taken to download files using the Driver Download Manager is a lot shorter, up to a 30-40% reduction, depending on your internet connectivity.

The Driver Download Manager also offers a number of improvements to help you through the process of downloading files from Support.Dell.com. You can now pause and resume your downloads. The progress of your download can be saved via an icon on your desktop which you can restart at any time. You can also restart your download should your internet connection get cut off in the middle of a download, as the Driver Download Manager saves your progress ensuring that you don't lose out.

To use the Driver Download Manager (Fig 1 above), you will need to complete a once off install of the application on your system.

Please take some time to visit your local Drivers & Downloads site and check out the Driver Download Manager. Hopefully you will find this new functionality useful and that it helps improve your download experience. I look forward to your feedback.

Editor's Note: Eoghan has posted an updated blog post at this link. To make sure everyone gets the newest information possible we're turning off comments to this post. Comments are still welcome on the newer blog post, so please click on the link above to find the new post.

Dell Windows 7 Upgrade Program

Daniel_Judd — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:50:00 GMT

Windows 7 General Availability
Today on the other side of the world, at the Computex show in Taipei, Microsoft confirmed that later in the year, on October 22nd to be exact, you will be able to purchase Windows 7 factory installed on your favorite Dell PC. YEA! We have been working with Microsoft for the last three years to develop the best possible computing solutions for you and we are excited to see our work come to fruition. Globally, Dell will have a broad selection of netbooks, laptops and desktops available for you on both www.dell.com and on the store shelves of our retail partners.

Dell Windows 7 Upgrade Program
Microsoft also confirmed that as with previous Windows launches, they are partnering with PC manufacturers like Dell to offer the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program. Later this summer, if you purchase select systems through retail or directly from Dell you may order a Windows 7 upgrade kit. It’s important to note that the Windows 7 upgrade kits will not be shipped until AFTER Windows 7 has officially launched (Oct. 22 as noted above). Once the Windows 7 Upgrade Option program is officially announced more details will be available including supported PCs, languages and countries.

Windows 7 Release Candidate testing feedback
I also want to provide new details since my last post on how our internal testing and developments efforts are coming along with Windows 7 release candidate code. So far so good…Overall we’re impressed with how well the operating system is working on our systems. Here are some of data points that we have captured over the last 4 to 6 weeks:

Solid Improvements in boot time (ie hitting the power button and getting to the desktop)
Suspend results are looking much better (versus Windows Vista)
Battery life is still trending to be as good as Windows XP (and better than Vista)

And this is more qualitative than quantitative…the systems just feel faster in a good way.

We’re looking forward to adding Windows 7 to our compelling notebook and desktop systems later this year.

Best Buy Customers Now Have a Choice

DELL-Todd S — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:15:00 GMT

Dell has been selling systems at Best Buy for over a year now and to say that there has been some confusion on support is putting it mildly. Many Dell customers, like brlfqq and Ron Schenone, show examples of customers who were bounced around between Dell and Geek Squad when looking for support on their systems. There were many times were both Dell Techs and Best Buy’s Geek Squad members were confused over which company was to provide the limited hardware warranty and tech support on these systems so I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for our customers.

Thankfully, that’s all ended.

Customers that purchase Dell systems or monitors at Best Buy can get limited hardware warranty support from either Best Buy’s Geek Squad or Dell’s Technical Support. If it’s easier for you to contact Dell via telephone, email or online chat, then that’s the option for you. If you prefer to take your system into a store and have a Geek Squad Agent work on it then you can get support that way as well. You can even switch between Dell and Geek Squad as your needs change. Here’s a little more detail into the kinds of support options you have between Dell and Best Buy:

Tech Support (based on our Limited Hardware Warranty)
Payment Issues
Returns
Wrong / Damaged Parts

Tech Support (based on our Limited Hardware Warranty)
Missing Parts
Reinstallation Media

System returns will be handled by Best Buy according to their return policy. Normal Dell limited hardware warranty limitations such as data recovery, advanced software support, accidental damage, and out of warranty still apply. For more details, go to http://www.Dell.com/warranty.

One of the easiest ways to get support through Best Buy is to carry your system into one of their stores or you can take a look at their Contact Us page. You can reach Dell’s Technical Support group by calling 1-866-955-2251. Techs are available 24/7 to help you.

If you do purchase a Dell system from Best Buy you will want to register your system with Dell as soon as possible to make sure there are no delays in the event you need to contact Dell support teams.

Go to the Internet and visit Dell’s Product Registration website at http://www.Dell.com/register
Select the language, country, and retailer from where you purchased and fill out the online form.
Once the form is complete, click Submit.

If you are unable to register your product online you can call us at 1-800-624-9896. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For customers purchasing a stand-alone Dell monitor from Best Buy you will need the PPID number for support. That number is a 20-digit alphanumeric identification code printed on a sticker attached to the back of the monitor. They normally begin with two letters and look like this:

Dell Technicians will be able to identify your monitor using that PPID code and determine whether your monitor is still covered by our Limited Hardware Warranty.

Making the Forums Look Like Forums

Lionel_Menchaca — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:50:00 GMT

We rolled out a new version of our Community site in early November last year. The goal was to create a community site that combined blogs, forums and wikis. Since that time, it’s been a bumpy ride for many of our users, and they’ve let us know it.

Up to this point, we’ve made updates to the site, improved performance issues that prevented users from posting reliably to the forum and worked to implement some fixes along the way. That said, It's still a work in progress. Not too long after we went live with the fix for the performance issue, Geoff Knox published a poll to get feedback from the community. One clear request from our readers was to make the forums look and function like a forum. Last night we rolled out some design and functionality changes that attempted to do just that.

One thing we tried to do is make it easier to post. You'll see the Start a New Thread button right near the top of the Forum aggregator page. Clicking on a board from the left hand nav will bring you to a page that's divided into board sections. See the Laptop board below as an example (click on link or or the image below to go there). Each section then displays the three most recent related threads.

At the sub-board level, you'll see two clickable options:

View All Messages - This will show you all threads in that board
Create a New Message - This will allow you to create a new thread in that board section

At the main board views, you'll see Posted By, # of Replies, # of Views, Last Action which shows who last posted to it with a date/ time stamp and Accepted Solutions which shows if the original issue was marked as solved by the user who created the thread.

Made it much easier for users to post a message on a forum
Finally added the ability to mark a forum thread as Read
Given Announcements and Floated Threads specific icons so they're easier to spot.
made it much easier to see the latest post in a forum thread
Added the ability to filter by Accepted Solutions
Fixed many of the line break, bullets and numbering issues in the text editor
On the blog side, we fixed the Category pages - See the Events category on Direct2Dell (or click the image below) as an example. From the category view page on any blog, you can get an RSS feed and filter it to show content from All Blogs that feature that category.

I hope these visual and functional changes move us closer to what you've wanted. There’s still a lot of things we have to fix: search doesn’t work, we need to improve the single sign on process in a big way, have more work to make blogs look like blogs and we have more to do in forums etc., but we're committed to getting this right.

To customers who contribute to the Dell Community, we appreciate your efforts as well as your feedback. Know that we remain committed to making this work.