I used to run #helpdesks and support centres for regional and international organisations. Maintaining staffing levels was always a juggling act and fighting for right-sized FTE headcount was a constant battle. So I absolutely get the concept and realities of the cost-to-serve.
This afternoon, after a 50-minute wait whilst listening to some dire hold music, I got through to #Microsoft Support NZ. I spoke with a friendly person offshore regarding an issue I am having with their appalling 2FA authenticator which is seriously impacting my ability to communicate with my customers in a timely fashion (search "microsoft authenticator loop issue" if you're interested).
Towards the end of the call, having told me a technician will need to 'recover' my account, the support person re-emptively apologised and (lowering their voice to sotto voce) regretfully told me that they are no longer providing estimated times for hearing back from a technician. and to brace myself for a long wait. I pressed gently and asked for a rough guess and they replied 'We used to say 24-72 hours...(pause)...but we don't anymore.'
Microsoft's annual gross profit for 2025 was approximately $193.893 billion, a 13.38% increase from 2024. I wonder how much of that trickles down to the charming Filipino taxpayer I spoke to today.
