With an installed base which will surpass 3,000 platforms by the end of 2004, it is hardly surprising that ASTi has found that we have asked our engineers to pack up their little red-spotted handkerchiefs and hit the road ever more often (over 100 times) this year. Additionally, we have given 23 training courses (six of them free) for 45 different customers, and paid visits to more than 25 different installations.

It is not that our equipment is getting less reliable with age. It is because the sheer number of ASTi installations means that every week, someone somewhere is trying to upgrade an old platform, or install a new one. Or, perhaps in some "Maytag repair man" cases, the current generation of maintenance techs on site have had so little interaction with the system that they are totally unfamiliar with it.

For example, we recently had to go on-site to investigate strange reports of aural cue being "all messed up". When we got there, we found a strange assortment of problems: engines and runway rumble were coming from the cockpit ceiling, aero hiss was almost exclusively located at the aft of the cockpit, etc. Swapping the two 8-channel output cables back to the proper slots fixed the problem in no time!

The word seems to be getting out that it is in each project's best interest to have a support contract (ASC) with ASTi. People are understandably hesitant at first, seeing this as some kind of blank check: "You mean I pay you for 30 hours in advance and then you tell me how much I've spent?"

But, engineers and program managers are realizing that we do not take this as a license to pillage. In fact, it's quite the opposite; our engineers are often reluctant to charge to an ASC if they feel that any of the problem(s) being resolved could be ascribed to their omission or miscommunication with the customer.

Meanwhile, the ASC gives you a great hourly rate ($135/hr) compared with our standard engineering rates ($185/hr) since it is essentially provided at cost with no administrative overhead or profit. We do this because we don't have a "Marketing Department"—our customers are our salesmen—so we see it in our best interest to be readily available to resolve customer issues at the earliest opportunity, rather than let them fester.

When the customer realizes that the ASC can also be used to purchase spares, pay for repairs, purchase extra credits, fund travel or buy ancillary equipment—in addition to paying for support hours—then he sees it as a tool that gives him a much needed extra level of flexibility. And, on our side, the administration is so simple that we can provide support very efficiently: each engineer records time spent/contact person/issue in a simple log that can be made available to the customer at any time.

No invoicing, no DD250, no task spec. or SoW, and no acceptance process. And, we have NEVER yet had a dispute over charges with a customer! Try it you'll like it!