The Importance of “Hotline” Support in the Development of Pavement ManagementSystem Software

This paper describes the “hotline” support service for the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Pavement Management System (PMS) and how it has assisted in the transition from a DOS based system to a Windows based system. Due to the growth in the number PMS users to approximately 200, MTC found that it was unable to provide and maintain the quality of PMS support. In 1995, to keep the quality of its support services to the users, MTC decided to use consultant assistance to supplement in-house resources and established a telephone hotline for technical support. Hotline support was designed to provide users with an immediate response to their software problems and questions via telephone and other means. The hotline support has proven to be the most important component in building the confidence of new and existing users in MTC PMS. Hotline calls vary from installation to conceptual questions. Some calls required database repairs, database conversion and site visits. Hotline support has helped to improve the performance of the MTC PMS through feedback and suggestions from users and the hotline consultant. MTC has taken the next step to expand its hotline support via an Internet web site with user login features. The paper describes the process of setting up the hotline, why PMS users need hotline support, the ways in which hotline support improved the MTC PMS software, and a description of the web site that has been developed.