QfanatiQ Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Autodesk forums are brilliant and rarely does anything go unanswered. Working in tandem between VW and three Autodesk products, I can safely say, thanks to the wealth of expertise on the Autodesk forums I can find answers and on the few occasions I need to post, I typically get a reply back with an hour. VW could really do with getting a a seat of a few to organise and be a voice of support on these forums. Lack of information means people move away. Quote Link to comment
Christiaan Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It's a numbers game, pure and simple. I doubt there's much that can be done but to gain more customers. Quote Link to comment
Chris D Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I doubt there's much that can be done but to gain more customers. Except turn all of those small offices that adopted Vectorworks into large offices with more seats, through the competitive advantage of good software..? Quote Link to comment
Christiaan Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Except turn all of those small offices that adopted Vectorworks into large offices with more seats, through the competitive advantage of good software..? That would be great but apparently VW is the poor man's BIM and we should never expect it to compete with the likes of ArchiCAD. Or so I'm told. Quote Link to comment
Chris D Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) I read the other day that ArchiCAD has 65,000 users which doesn't sound many. Haven't seen the figures for Revit (was over 500k 3 years ago), or how many of the 300k VW users have the Architect licence. Seems like NV Inc have a decent installed base to work from and add value. Edited March 21, 2012 by Chris D Quote Link to comment
VincentCuclair Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Figures I've heard: ArchiCAD = 100 000 VWs = 400 000 Quote Link to comment
QfanatiQ Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Very true, but I have noticed there are a wealth of forums that appear to have company working professionals ready to answer questions. This in turn helps them moniter issues, gather repeating issues, share and spread the fix to these if and where required. My experience of Nemetschek has been rather lack luster and unwilling. I visited them at Ecobuild last year as I heard they were there and was continuously fobbed of. We got so called expert training into our offices that simply turned into generic here is line, here is tables etc etc and when we actually got feedback on projects we were trying to use VW for in the office, we were answered with, package not designed to handle such large size projects. You wont get honesty or then further development from Nemetschek, understandably because they need more seats. But please offer realistic honest support. There are many feature I like in VW and certain things are quicker and easier. But for me, I now simply like ot use it as a presentation/planning tool, not a technical tool in any way. As a result, the more I find other packages can do what VW does and also offers the decent technical ability, I and the office will soon be moving over (ext 2 year change and training plan staggered). 1 Quote Link to comment
Christiaan Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Nemetschek doesn't do training in the UK. That was more likely the distributor, Computers Unlimited. Quote Link to comment
AndiACD Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 One should never be "Fobbed off" regardless of how "BIG" or "small" a software company is and a more directly involved customer support system helps sell licenses. If, as Vincent suggests, their really is 400,000 of us out here, that sounds like a pretty substantial amount to be able to invest in producing a great CAD product . . . . . . doesn't it? :confused: Quote Link to comment
QfanatiQ Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Really, 400,000 seats, then yes, support should be more than outhere. Does anyone from VW office sit here? Q 1 Quote Link to comment
Chris D Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Does anyone from VW office sit here? Q Intermittently. A few years back there was 'Katie' who used to respond to almost everything, but there is less in the way of direct support on here now. You'll usually get a community answer to most queries though so stick around. Quote Link to comment
QfanatiQ Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 So is this a VW official supported board or an independent board? I will certainly stick around for as long as I am using this program. Meanwhile, for who ever does do teh running, setup/configuration of these forums, they should dip into the Autodesk and see the folder structure. Or even independent set up CAD forums that address a whole host (bar VW it seems) of CAD software. Typically, I am one of the many asking, hopefully be able to start to offer answers sooner rather than later. . 1 Quote Link to comment
Christiaan Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 So is this a VW official supported board or an independent board? Official forum, but run by users mostly. Quote Link to comment
Pat Stanford Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 From the Community Guidelines Description of Service Nemetschek North America provides this web-based service as a user community peer-support resource. The forums are for free discussion and exchange of information, experiences and expertise with other users of NNA products. Membership has its privileges. Registration (via provision of a valid name, location, email address, username and password) and login are required in order to post to the forums, use the built-in search and adjust user settings. Users are free to exchange advice amongst themselves, but should use discretion when receiving information from sources that are not formally sanctioned by NNA. This service is NOT a replacement for formal channels of technical support. While NNA staff are encouraged to participate in discussions, it may be necessary to direct issues to the Technical Support team. Users who desire Technical Support should contact the NNA User Success team from links in the ?Important Information? forum or via email, Tech@vectorworks.net, via web, http://www.nemetschek.net/support/help.php or via telephone, (410) 290-5114. International users may contact their local distributor which can be located at via the web, http://www.nemetschek.net/international/index.php. NNA staff will monitor and moderate the forums to ensure the Terms of Service and Use Guidelines are maintained. NNA reserves the right to remove, with or without notification, any messaging (also referred to as ?Content?) that does not fall within the outlined criteria or which, in NNA?s sole discretion, is not appropriate for message postings within these forums. In some cases, it may be necessary to ask a User to take a break for a while, leave voluntarily or terminate their membership. We hope it never really comes down to this. While NV staff will speak up occasionally, the forum is intended to be a user to user support mechanism. Quote Link to comment
QfanatiQ Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Not doing themselves many favors. Surely it is/would be good for them to invest in a seated person firing back and reporting back to their R&D. Not looking for a VW company reply to every question. It is a good thing we have the forum in such a guise that I or anyone can reply and give an answer where known. It is just my experience that VW is hard (for me anyway) and whiel there are many workarounds, it is good to have a source of a real answer. I am not sure I am explaining myself well. In short, not looking for a closed VW employee answer only, but them showing an interest, actively. VW has left me often feeling a bit of a burden when I have followed their official routes, to the point where I do not. I am very grateful of this forum and do hope I will be able to contribute as much or more than I gain. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Neil Barman Posted September 24, 2016 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted September 24, 2016 It's good to see that this thread has been moved to Wishes Granted, because the new Forum is indeed great... and seem to be getting even better as more and more people bring their energy, enthusiasm and cooperation to it. -Neil Quote Link to comment
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