TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: What is not mandated is forbidden From:Marguerite <mkrupp128 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> Date:Fri, 20 Jun 2014 09:52:09 -0400
Could be an appendix in a manual or, probably preferably, a separate customer information technical note. People tend to read short documents (if they know they exist) and ignore appendixes. Your company's customer support organization would probably love to have the short piece in PDF form so they can send it out to answer customer queries.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jun 19, 2014, at 1:14 PM, "McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Does everyone subscribe to the notion that customer docs should contain only what is necessary?
>
> Is there a place for material that is good to know, or that might reduce customer inquiries, but is not necessarily critical to performing a task?
>
>
> The most recent example that prompted this thought was a statement in an e-mail thread (internal) where a PLM stated clearly and succinctly how 'discovered vulnerabilities' are handled for our products. I know that the question comes up, in different forms, with some regularity, so I asked if it would be good to include the two-sentence statement in the main customer docs. The answer was that it wasn't really necessary in the docs, as it was "marketing-speak to show how secure our stuff is". In a sense, that's true, but it was also a quick, clear description of the procedure we go through, and what the three possible outcomes are.
>
> I didn't push, because it wasn't terrifically important, and not every battle is worth fighting. But, as it stands, that statement exists only as guidance for techs and sales engineers to respond to customers who ask. So, by that point, there's already a call in progress. If they had seen the info in the docs, the call might never have been made.
>
> The information contained in this electronic mail transmission
> may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected
> from disclosure. If you have received this communication in
> error, please notify us immediately by replying to this
> message and deleting it from your computer without copying
> or disclosing it.
>
>
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Doc-To-Help 2014 v1 now available. SharePoint 2013 support, NetHelp enhancements, and more. Read all about it.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/NNcWqS
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as mkrupp128 -at- yahoo -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help 2014 v1 now available. SharePoint 2013 support, NetHelp enhancements, and more. Read all about it.