[bisq-network/growth] [CALL] Addressing the Bisq Support Workflow - Bisq BRIEF for November 21 (#164)

[Steve Jain]

>From my research, it looks like there is no magic bullet solution. I looked at a variety of privacy-focused services, and their support solutions seem to vary quite a bit.

* Some use email, plain and simple. Many times, emails forward to a back-end ticket manager.
* AirVPN appears to use its own forum-like format for tickets, where each ticket is opened with a web form. Tickets are only visible to users who open them.
* ProtonMail uses ZenDesk, where tickets are opened by a web form. ProtonMail is transparent about this and [also gives users the option to email them for support](https://protonmail.com/support-form), which is nifty since all data would then remain in their (presumably) secure email environment.
* [Njalla](https://njal.la/contact/) offers encrypted email and XMPP along with a web form and some kind of "support system" that I cannot see because I don't have an account.

Special requirements for Bisq, as I see it:

* Regardless of how support is "officially" handled, Bisq communication platforms are destined to be disparate, especially as it grows around the world, and people will inevitably reach out on all of them. Therefore any solution will need to handle support requests coming in from a changing array of channels. It seems to me that **a designated group of people following a designated array of channels** (adjusted and adapted as the user base changes) is the only way to conquer this. These people should follow these channels, respond where possible, and redirect any unsolved cases to the ticketing system.

* Security and privacy requirements are high, so plain email won't work. But not all users can be required to set up GPG keys to get support. Maybe we offer Keybase as a more friendly fallback when secure communication is required. Question is if/how Keybase can integrate with a ticketing system...with email it's straightforward, but with Keybase it's not.

Ultimately, I see the solution being a combination of tools:

1. Informal replies/knowledge base. Designated group of 2-3 support agents to watch Twitter, forum, Keybase, etc (exactly which ones need to be discussed) and answer minor questions quickly and decisively. Refer users to knowledge base where appropriate to avoid reinventing the wheel.

2. If support agents cannot resolve the issue in the channel, they should suggest opening a support ticket. Exact flow for this would be determined by ticketing software, but would ideally be through a web form where user can detail problem as well as Keybase identity or GPG key for secure response.

Support agents should correspond monthly to update the knowledge base so it remains current and useful.

DAO elements of roles, bonds, etc would need to be determined too (as Fabio mentioned above) since it seems these support agents would have privileged access to the ticketing software. 

I'm not sure there's a way to avoid that, unless mediators and/or arbitrators were put in charge of handling tickets. Sounds far-fetched at first, but might be doable if we can get on-the-ground support and knowledge base really good...tickets should be relatively rare.

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