Support and service: Two words that can make or break a company.

Ask consumers what they want, and they'll voice opinions similar to Longmont's Shelly Wright, an avid software consumer: "Forget traditional phone support. Just let me get into a company database on the Web, find product information I need, place my orders, get updates. I don't want to waste my time calling some company, only to be put in the queue of customers waiting for the same information."

Companies that heed her requests are saving time, resources and money by using the Internet to distribute information and products directly to their customers. Even Microsoft has a goal of no more shrink-wrapped boxes of specific software -- you'll only be able to order and download their products from the Web by this time next year. With electronic bulletin boards, secure Web pages and Internet phone systems, customers can get what they want as fast as their modem allows.

Don Milani, business line manager at Boulder-based Exabyte (www.exabyte.com), says Web support is the best thing they've done for their clients to date.

"We met with our customers (mostly resellers and original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, of Exabyte's tape drives and storage systems) and asked what they wanted. We also get ideas from a number of different places, including surfing the Web and leveraging what others are doing. Sure, we're following the trends, and it's keeping us competitive."

He adds, "Those who buy products from us can register them on our site and get a password. Using that password, they go through Web pages to get customized information, part numbers, tools, pricing, order status, rebate offers and an interactive newsletter -- all on line. They're basically interacting with our internal corporate database."

Besides, he says, customers can use it any time, day or night, without worrying about hotline hours.

Carol Goetz, web author at Gunbarrel's VeriBest (www.veribest.com), a printed circuit board design solution company, agrees that it's the way to go.

"We needed to find the best way to communicate information about our product, generate leads, make it more effective and easier for those who buy our products. Web customer service was the solution.

Before the advent of this service, VeriBest and Exabyte both had traditional customer support lines and, as in VeriBest's case, "customer requests came through e-mail, from which we logged problems and distributed them to support people. Customers weren't getting their information and answers effectively -- and it took a long time to get the answers."

Constant changes also plagued them. "If the release notes and documentation are distributed in printed form, they're cast in stone until the next release. Things change constantly," Goetz says. "It takes someone to incorporate the updates. But by putting everything on-line, it's a positive tradeoff of resources."

By enabling customers to use their database, "we've recovered time -- people don't have to man a phone, and the requests through the database are routed to the right person automatically."

Louisville-based Internet analyst Rob Shaeffer agrees, offering this analogy: "Electronic delivery cost is one-tenth that of a traditional customer support phone call. If a typical support call answered by a phone engineer costs $20, an electronic answer costs $2. If 100 calls per day are received on a particular product, it would cost $2,000 in support costs if all calls were handled by phone engineers, but only $200 if all were answered electronically."

Additionally, he says, "reduced support costs are advantageous not only to manufacturers but also to customers, because estimates of customer support costs are used to determine production costs."

Goetz also contends that to completely make a secure site user-friendly, companies must offer their customers "the choice of downloading technical documents, participating in newsgroups about specific products, and obtaining new releases or bug fixes. Users should be able to browse through this information or customize new pages so that each time they visit a customer Web site they are told about new information that may be of interest to them."

Another innovative solution for easier Web support comes from Boulder-based Gold Systems' Click-N-Call technology (www.goldsys.com). By installing Intel Internet phone software, customers can go to a Web site, click on a button with their mouse, and the phone automatically starts up, connecting to a call center or Web-based business.

"Most Internet users only have one phone line, and if they're on the Internet, they have to log off to make the call to a help desk," notes Terry Gold, president. "This way, you can page through a Web site while talking to a company's call center."

Although users need a sound card, speakers, microphone and free Internet telephone software you can download from Gold's site, it's still worth the time and effort.

"You can turn your Web site into a help desk, at no phone cost to the consumer. Think of all the possibilities," Gold contends. "For example, if you're looking through travel Web sites and find a flight to book, you can connect to a travel agent within 30 seconds and see the possibilities in front of you. Or you can leaf through an on-line catalog, call an agent right from the Web site, and place an order."

Consumer Health in Boulder is the first customer to actually try Click-N-Call for use with their clients. Paul Orland, vice president of information technology, says, "Gold Systems is developing a product that is revolutionizing the use of the Internet. A PC call to a centralized call center has not been done before."

Consumer Health contracts with hospitals to provide doctor and hospital referrals to corporate clients and individuals. "We want to do that over the Internet to enhance our service," Orland notes. "If a customer has questions when viewing the Web site, he can just click on the call button, and he's connected to a live person. If he wants to make an appointment with a physician he sees listed, he can call direct from that page."

Analyst Schaeffer thinks these companies are moving in the right direction. "Companies should implement Web sites specifically for their customers as soon as possible. They also need to consider longer-term plans to achieve even greater satisfaction. This is not a suggestion; it's imperative. Web applications can save operating costs, improve efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction and retention. Equally important is the likelihood that a more technologically savvy competitor will beat them to market."