• Read at the earliest opportunity
• Forwarded to the appropriate specialist to answer, as necessary.
• Replied to as soon as possible

We don't normally provide support by telephone as an online helpdesk system works better for all involved. For the overwhelming majority of users, that we don't provide support via phone is normal and logical, as they realize that we can offer better and more timely support via this helpdesk than we could via phone. However, for a small percentage of people, the concept of an online helpdesk may still seem a bit unusual.

Occasionally (though thankfully very, very rarely), we get an angry message complaining about the lack of immediate phone support. Please bear in mind that for most technical issues, most other "small" companies, including Microsoft and Google, have similar setups for similar reasons. Our competitors who claim to have phone support basically universally either have a non-skilled person basically acting as a message service and perhaps for common issues reading from prepared scripts basically no different (but a lot less useful) than the automated and illustrated help available here in our helpdesk.

We understand that if you're having a problem, your first instinct may be get the phone number of somebody that you can call immediately to help you.

However, staffing a full-time phone number with competent professionals would add significantly to the price that we'd have to charge for our products. Since the helpdesk has worked so well for the vast majority of our users, it doesn't make sense to burden our customers with such an unnecessary cost.

Please look at it from another angle: we take pride in not just having the best software in its class, but also providing it at a reasonable price.

However, matters of cost aside, there's the reality that this helpdesk just works better. By using the helpdesk, we can:

• Keep a good record of what has been communicated to and from you, including what has been tried, and so forth.
• For technical matters, provide you with EXACT information, such as web addresses, codes, and multi-step things to try that are extremely difficult and time-consuming to communicate via telephone.
• Provide you with quick help more hours of the week. Not only is quick-reference help available 24/7 such as via our knowledgebase (FAQs) and self-help guides , but often our helpdesk staff tends to respond more often than a standard workday would normally allow. For example, when a message is forwarded internally to one of our specialists, this goes to their mobile devices from which they can directly reply - you'd be surprised at how many messages have been replied to by one of our pilot specialists who get a message from our system immediately after landing or by one of our programmers who is away from the office when a message comes in.
• Connect you with the exact person that can help you. When necessary, this means the exact programmer who coded the software that you are having issues with, or a content expert with a very narrow field of expertise about which you have a question - like our resident Glider CFI, who spends most of his time teaching and soaring with students, but takes some time most days to see if a helpdesk question has been directed to him/her.

Many of Dauntless's experts are professional pilots who often find themselves in strange and exciting hotel rooms or on irregular schedules. Through this system, you can get help from the appropriate expert, but still allow them to keep their professional schedules which help them become and stay experts in the first place.

Additionally, our helpdesk allows you to access many self-help tools that can often provide more immediate assistance than even a person on the telephone could.

For example, a common problem that people have is that they have lost or misplaced their unlock keycodes. Over the telephone, security would be at issue, since in theory anybody could call up claiming to be anybody. Our software unlock help wizard, on the other hand, faithfully solves most unlock code related issues 24/7 and does so securely so that your information is kept safe. Additionally, in this helpdesk, you will find Frequently Asked Questions documents and other useful tools.

For the vast majority of people, our helpdesk system works very well. While we understand that some of you may be used to phone support, please give the helpdesk a try nevertheless. We think you'll agree that it really does work quite well and ultimately will allow us to provide you with the best service possible.

Would You Like us to call you? If you really really really really really want to speak with somebody on the telephone, in fact, we can do our best to give you a phone call to discuss the issue or question you have. Please submit a ticket via this helpdesk requesting a phone call (provide your telephone number - we will call most countries worldwide, your real name, your location (so we don't call you at 5AM your time), and a good time to call (though it may end up that we call you at some other time where we might be able to reach you). However, please bear the following in mind: You will almost certainly get your answer faster - much faster, even - if you just spend a few moments letting us know what your question or issue is in your helpdesk ticket and letting the appropriate expert write back to you. We almost always respond promptly. We actually do call customers and non-customers several times per year for those special cases where we have tried to help somebody via our helpdesk but for whatever reason that person needs a bit of extra, personalized help. We find that this is the best system for all involved - if the online conversation gets to a stage where a phone call becomes necessary, then we certainly can and call you. We really strongly recommend that you try submitting a ticket first and let's have the conversation go to phone only if it's an extreme case. This is really and truly better for all involved. While we are able to call the vast majority of people who ask for a telephone consultation, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we can return a phone call to all who ask. Though we will try, often the reality is that if your issue really is better handled via the helpdesk or the relevant expert's travel schedule (remember, many of our staff are professional pilots) does not coincide with your availability, we might not always be able to. If you do request and receive a phone call, let's be sure that it is conducted in a spirit of mutual respect. Impolitic and/or abusive telephone behavior will not be tolerated. Please also understand that we are not interested in discussing theories of how you personally might think that every company must have 24/7 phone support. Clearly, we disagree as does the vast vast vast majority of our customers which appreciates the accuracy and speed of the helpdesk system. About once a year we receive a long-winded message from somebody via our helpdesk expounding on their views on telephone support--such messages are as a rule typically much longer than the actual question the person had that they could have asked in the space space. So it goes.

Our sincere thanks for your understanding and your patience in giving the online helpdesk/ticket a try if at all possible.