Distributing Word docs to customers

[Beth Agnew]

Another thing to think about is the customer support liability issue. If a
customer takes information from a document (whether Word or PDF) and makes
their own "cheat sheet" or mini-manual, as some like to do, those documents
do not get updated with the usual manual set. Incorrect information can
creep in when the user copies, adds to, or changes the information during
the course of repurposing it. They may change meaning, and introduce errors.

More importantly, the information produced "officially" has been tested and
approved to work with the product. Not so with whatever shortcuts or
customized procedures a customer may come up with.

Maybe not a problem for a while but if that misinformation results in a
technical support call, it could generate a cost for your company, or the
customer's.

Of course, we can't control what people do in their own companies, but we
can certainly remind them where our responsibility stops and theirs begins.

See also:
<http://lists.techwr-l.com/pipermail/techwr-l/2006-November/011563.html>
--Beth

Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
Toronto, Ontario
416-491-5050 x3133

-----Original Message-----
From: Mary Arrotti
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2007 5:22 PM
To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Distributing Word docs to customers

We're currently debating pros & cons of how we distribute our documents to
our customers. I'm more comfortable with distributing all our docs (other
than Help) to customers in PDF format...

Has anyone had any issues with this? Can anyone else see possible issues?