In the beginning of the Internet, man created E-mail. But Netizens found it was not enough. So E-mail begot the Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP) server, and the NNTP server begot Usenet, and Usenet began to multiply.
Today, more than 20,000 Usenet public newsgroups cover almost every conceivable topic.
Now is the time to start building private news servers and private newsgroups. Every company, not just computer companies, should install and maintain a private news server. Why? Two simple concepts: customer service and marketing.
A private news server does not take feeds from Usenet. Nor does it supply a feed to any other news server. It is located on a company's host computer, same as the company's Web site.
A full Usenet feed can eat up terabytes of storage and several T-1 lines every day. This is, needless to say, quite expensive. However, a private news server can be established within the limits of your company's Internet strategy. In fact, I run a news server on a 486-based PC with 16M bytes of RAM and a 1.6G-byte hard drive, utilizing Linux. Can't get much more inexpensive than that.
Because the news server doesn't accept or send a feed, the only traffic comes from the users. Depending on the types of newsgroups you create, most traffic will be text, which won't eat up bandwidth or terabytes of disk space.
So how can a private news server help your company? Let's look at Microsoft Corp.'s private news server, msnews.microsoft.com, as an example. This server, which is open to the public, has at least one newsgroup, if not more, for each Microsoft product or product line. There are also groups just for developers - again, open to the public.
In Microsoft's newsgroups, you will find discussions of technical issues, gripes, accolades, suggestions for improvements and bug reports - essentially, every item customer service deals with daily.
Recently, I had a problem with Outlook, Microsoft's new E-mail client. I went to the Outlook newsgroup, skimmed through and found my answer. I never had to post a response. I've also gotten some detailed technical support from end users on how to fix a problem with Microsoft's Internet Information Server.
You may be saying, 'This idea seems OK, but it's only for computer companies.' Not so. I'm a boater, and I could use a newsgroup to discuss issues about my boat, its operation and maintenance, among other topics. I also own furniture. I could go to a newsgroup that discusses the table I just bought and how to care for and maintain it so one day it will be considered a valuable antique.
Reading these private newsgroups are individuals such as you and I. We learn from what others have discovered. Also learning from private newsgroups are product managers, who are able to find out what's working, what's not, what's hot and what's not - pretty important stuff.
Then there's the customer service potential of private news servers. Customers of every conceivable class and station in life are brought together to discuss product-centric problems. Customer A discusses his or her problem with Customer B. A dialogue ensues, which may lead to A doing business with B. A and B recognize that they met through your newsgroup, promoting additional goodwill toward your company.
Word starts to spread that your company has a great customer service department, providing user groups and product information without requiring that users wait on a phone for eternity.
In addition, users can get firsthand information about other products your company makes and read testimonials from customers.
Setting up a private news server is not all that difficult. Deciding which newsgroups to offer is not that tough, either. Try it. I think you'll like the results.
Spivak is president and owner of SBA * Consulting, an IT consulting firm, and SBA.NET.WEB, an Internet consulting company. He can be reached at wspivak@sbanetweb.com.