FounderPhone
Web and SaaS
customer support inbox
SHOW HN2020
106points
40comments
#615of 3,028 in 2020
Top 21%of 2020 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
4 positive, 10 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 4 critical, out of 22 comments about the project. Thread score -0.02.
Idea: 4 for, 3 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Seems like a solid idea with value for VIP customers
From 3 comments
Hey, man! I run a small web agency, and deal with A LOT of clients texting me and my account managers. Hate on here aside, I think this is a solid idea. Keep up the good fight.
usernamebias on HNI think this is a great idea. It seems like it’s getting a lot of resistance due to the dishonesty. On the website it looks like the message is purposefully withholding the…
anomaloustho on HNThe channel is the value. It's simple and every mobile phone has SMS. No need to keep a browser window open during a chat with support, nor is there a chance you'll miss a chat…
synlatexc on HN
Text channel is simpler than live chat or waiting on hold
From 3 comments
The channel is the value. It's simple and every mobile phone has SMS. No need to keep a browser window open during a chat with support, nor is there a chance you'll miss a chat…
synlatexc on HNThis is precisely where the value is. More companies are allowing to "move" your online chat session to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS.
CleanCoder on HNI use home depot SMS customer service, the response time is typically 1-15 minutes. Works perfect for me to do things async instead of fielding “Are you there?” questions when I…
dkdk8283 on HN
Objections
Feels like a corporate attempt to seem personal; customers will see through it
From 3 comments
I'm a little sorry to rain on your parade, but this seems like you're turning a personal contact back into a normal support system. "Hey, here's my direct contact info" works…
yjftsjthsd-h on HNMy point was that it's not a good product, at least from a customer's perspective. It's the latest in a long line of corporate attempts to convince you that they're totally human…
yjftsjthsd-h on HNThese systems are only as good as your ability to hide them. Recently I did a trial of https://www.diffchecker.com/, and when I didn't buy, got an email from "Nick from…
staticautomatic on HN
Unclear how it differs from existing support platforms
From 2 comments
I still don’t understand the value in this. How is this different from Apple Facebook Zendesk et al. contact platforms which provide certain level of anonymity to the customer ?…
ycombonator on HN> We've built and shipped 7 products recently and if there's one thing we've learned, it's that your personal relationship with your customer is your secret weapon as a startup.…
wtmt on HN
Messaging is inconsistent: email can be personal too and team handling is messy
From 1 comment
> We've built and shipped 7 products recently and if there's one thing we've learned, it's that your personal relationship with your customer is your secret weapon as a startup.…
wtmt on HN
Usage costs of SMS and calls may be hard to sustain at this price
From 1 comment
Neat product, we rolled something similar to this using Slack where we manage the phone system, etc. I especially like how you can reply within Slack and text back the customer.…
Olscore on HN
Requests
Group texting support
From 2 comments
I built something like this for my own texting needs, though it was app-based. The biggest killer is that Twilio doesn't yet support group texting. Unsure how many people will…
mmastrac on HNYup. I ended up blocked in the same way. You might want to reach out to Twilio and get another vote for this feature on their roadmap.
mmastrac on HN
Auto-reminders and autoresponders
From 1 comment
We currently use Front to achieve something very similar: A few questions: - Do you support MMS (photos and videos)? - Do you support creating auto-reminders to follow up with…
sinak on HN
Support for non-US numbers
From 1 comment
I like the idea alot.. but not in the US
nolite on HN
Use own Twilio endpoint instead of company number
From 1 comment
Neat product, we rolled something similar to this using Slack where we manage the phone system, etc. I especially like how you can reply within Slack and text back the customer.…
Olscore on HN
Questions
Does it support MMS photos and videos?
From 2 comments
We currently use Front to achieve something very similar: A few questions: - Do you support MMS (photos and videos)? - Do you support creating auto-reminders to follow up with…
sinak on HNYes on #1. We dont have auto-reminders or an autoresponder, but could certainly build them!
memn0nis on HN
How does it compare to OpenPhone?
From 1 comment
Congrats on launching! How does this compare to something like OpenPhone (https://www.openphone.co/)?
veeralpatel979 on HN
Is RCS support on the roadmap?
From 1 comment
is support for RCS in the roadmap?
yocha on HN
Alternatives named
OpenPhone
From 1 comment
Congrats on launching! How does this compare to something like OpenPhone (https://www.openphone.co/)?
veeralpatel979 on HN
Front
From 1 comment
We currently use Front to achieve something very similar: A few questions: - Do you support MMS (photos and videos)? - Do you support creating auto-reminders to follow up with…
sinak on HN
Switchboard
From 1 comment
Or, if you don't want to use Slack, but still want to use SMS to communicate with your customers, check out https://www.switchboard.chat. This use case really resonated with…
evantahler on HN
SignalWire
From 1 comment
Have you taken a look at SignalWire instead of Twilio? Syntax-compatible XML, less price gouging so might be able to help offset some of the costs to make these products even…
startledmarmot on HN
Talkbin
From 1 comment
This is cool. You may already know this but Talkbin [0] was building this for physical locations back in 2010/2011. I remember them having a "text the owner" sign in Coupa Cafe…
quartz on HN