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TeraRecon
Known Participant
May 26, 2015
Answered

The "contact customer support" pages go around in circles

  • May 26, 2015
  • 1 reply
  • 475 views

Hello,

My company is preparing to buy FrameMaker 12, and I would simply like to get a comparison of plans and their prices, such as what is shown on this page for Acrobat: Plans and pricing | Adobe Acrobat DC. I'd like to see the same info for FrameMaker 12, but I can not find it.

I started on the Contact Customer Support page, which asked me first to select a product (FrameMaker). This loaded a page where I select the issue I want to discuss. I clicked "Deciding what to buy". That loaded the "Upgrade Guide" page, which describes the features available in the past several versions of FrameMaker (including version 12), but does not list any prices.

So I went back to the previous page and clicked the "Still need help?" blue button at the bottom of the page, and it brought be back to the first page (Contact Customer Support)! I went around again, found myself back at the beginning, and I realized that this would just take me around and around in circles.

There's also a page that describes what type of support is available for Basic Support and for Premium. That page says that I can use the chat feature, but I have not been able to access the chat page. There's no link to chat on any of the pages around the "circle." The only thing that was suggested was that I ask about this on the forums. So here I am. I apologize, since this is not a technical question, but I'm not sure where to look next. Could someone please direct me to either: (1) a page that compares the per-license cost for purchasing FrameMaker 12 vs. a monthly subscription, or (2) how I can access the chat feature for customer support so I can ask there?

Thank you,

Joyce Wermont

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Mike Wickham

First off, note that this is a user forum, and not official Adobe

customer service. Someone else will have to help you with issues

regarding accessing Adobe customer support.

The two basic purchase options for FrameMaker 12 are:

Perpetual license:

Full Version $999

Upgrades $399 from previous version

(Upgrades are typically released every 18 months-- so ~$266/yr. maximum

if you buy every upgrade)

Subscriptions:

$29.99/mo. or ~ $360/yr

(Though charged monthly, contracts are yearly. )

I believe there is also a volume licensing model available, but I am

unfamiliar with it. Someone else will have to speak to prices and

differences.

The perpetual license version of FrameMaker lets you install on both a

desktop and laptop computer. You just aren't allowed to use both at

once. I assume the same is true for subscription version.

Personally, I will never go with a subscription model. No matter how

long you subscribe, once you stop paying, the software stops working,

and it won't matter how many hundreds or thousands you spent to use it

previously. Your files will probably not be usable by other programs, so

they will become useless.

The perpetual license version of FM will work as long as you have a

computer and operating system that can operate it. Further, if your

company ever stops using FM, a perpetual license is an asset that can

increase the selling price of the business or be sold off separately. A

subscription, on the other hand, is a liability that could reduce the price.

If you buy upgrades to the perpetual license, you are permitted to keep

the older versions installed on the same computer. So you have the added

advantage of being able to work with clients who have older versions of

FrameMaker and need their files to be completely compatible without

going through extra steps to do so. I do not know if it is the same for

the subscription version.

To me, there is really only one reason to consider a subscription model

and that's if the company can't afford to buy FrameMaker or optional

future upgrades outright.

By the way, Adobe really prefers to sell the subscription license

because it makes them a lot more money. I've noticed that going to the

home page for the FrameMaker product immediately pops up buying options

for subscriptions, but that the perpetual licensing options may take

nearly a minute to show up on screen!

1 reply

M
Mike WickhamCorrect answer
Inspiring
May 27, 2015

First off, note that this is a user forum, and not official Adobe

customer service. Someone else will have to help you with issues

regarding accessing Adobe customer support.

The two basic purchase options for FrameMaker 12 are:

Perpetual license:

Full Version $999

Upgrades $399 from previous version

(Upgrades are typically released every 18 months-- so ~$266/yr. maximum

if you buy every upgrade)

Subscriptions:

$29.99/mo. or ~ $360/yr

(Though charged monthly, contracts are yearly. )

I believe there is also a volume licensing model available, but I am

unfamiliar with it. Someone else will have to speak to prices and

differences.

The perpetual license version of FrameMaker lets you install on both a

desktop and laptop computer. You just aren't allowed to use both at

once. I assume the same is true for subscription version.

Personally, I will never go with a subscription model. No matter how

long you subscribe, once you stop paying, the software stops working,

and it won't matter how many hundreds or thousands you spent to use it

previously. Your files will probably not be usable by other programs, so

they will become useless.

The perpetual license version of FM will work as long as you have a

computer and operating system that can operate it. Further, if your

company ever stops using FM, a perpetual license is an asset that can

increase the selling price of the business or be sold off separately. A

subscription, on the other hand, is a liability that could reduce the price.

If you buy upgrades to the perpetual license, you are permitted to keep

the older versions installed on the same computer. So you have the added

advantage of being able to work with clients who have older versions of

FrameMaker and need their files to be completely compatible without

going through extra steps to do so. I do not know if it is the same for

the subscription version.

To me, there is really only one reason to consider a subscription model

and that's if the company can't afford to buy FrameMaker or optional

future upgrades outright.

By the way, Adobe really prefers to sell the subscription license

because it makes them a lot more money. I've noticed that going to the

home page for the FrameMaker product immediately pops up buying options

for subscriptions, but that the perpetual licensing options may take

nearly a minute to show up on screen!

T
TeraReconAuthor
Known Participant
May 27, 2015

Hi Mike, thank you for your response. I was aware that this is not customer service, so thanks for answering my questions anyway. I have already spoken to customer service, and I looked around on your website for more information, but the end result was that I should go to the user forums with my questions.

You've made some very good points about perpetual vs. subscription licenses. It turns out that you can NOT use two different computers on one subscription license, but you can with perpetual.

I also found out (you probably already know this), that Adobe is moving away from perpetual licenses and they will be discontinued. After discussing this at length with the sales dept, I'm convinced that we should get a perpetual license. I've used FM 8 for seven years, so obviously we don't require the latest version each time it's released. The main reason we're upgrading now is because FM 8 is not completely compatible with Windows 8. I don't make the purchasing decisions, but I'm going to argue for perpetual licenses for FM and Acrobat.

Thanks again!

Joyce Wermont

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