When you’re dealing with a technical issue, the last thing you need is more complication. That’s why Onfleet is more than a software company – we’re an extension of your team. And when you need help, you can always rely on our customer support team.

This week, we’re highlighting Technical Support Lead, Ethan Hartman.

Meet Ethan

Working in tech support since 2009, Ethan considers himself “in the trenches” since he is the first person our customers connect with if a technical support issue arises. We asked Ethan a few questions about himself to get to know him better. Here’s what he said:

• What’s your favorite hobby? I’m a little bit of a foodie. The cool thing about wine and food is that there are so many different types around the world. I have a soft spot for wine after working for Ravenswood in Sonoma. If I had to recommend one bottle of wine, I’d encourage you to try the Gran Cabernet Franc from Pulenta Winery in Argentina. 
• Do you have any secret talents? I'm an amateur musician. I play the guitar and the mandolin, and I love jamming with friends. Playing mandolin is great when the rest of the group are all guitar players. 
• What did you go to school for? I got my Master's degree from Stanford in computer research and acoustics.
• Acoustics? Yeah, I love music and its intersection with software. The program I was part of was fantastic. It was funded by the patent on FM synthesis, which was licensed by Stanford to Yamaha. That was huge in the early 1980s and created synthesizers like the Yamaha DX7 and basically got rolled into every computer audio interface.

From Makers to Entrepreneurs

Ethan started his career working for MakerBot, a 3D printing company in Brooklyn, NY.  Assembling 3D project kits and instructions, Ethan became very familiar with documentation – a very helpful skill for a Tech Lead. 

Ethan continued to help makers and hobbyists throughout his career. He bridged the gap between hobbyists and entrepreneurs by helping founders with Kickstarter campaigns. 

At Onfleet, he enjoys helping everyone from tech hobbyists to entrepreneurs. Ethan supports Onfleet’s API documentation and takes pride in it. He helps clients from all backgrounds implement Onfleet, from very tech-savvy developers to clients who require a lot more support. He explains, “We do a great job with a public API that’s well-documented where anyone can make those requests.”

Onfleet Support: Building for (and with) the Customer

Ethan and the Onfleet support team regularly collaborate with our customers to build just the right solutions and features for their needs.

Recently, an enterprise customer had an issue with a batch delivery order import. Their import process was synchronous and interrupted the customer’s order retrieval. 

Ethan loves digging into the nitty gritty. After talking to the customer, Ethan worked with Onfleet engineering to develop an asynchronous solution that returned information about a specific order rather than a batch and did that for all orders. The solution was then tested by the Onfleet product team, went through Onfleet’s QA process, and then the technical support team created an endpoint in the API. The solution was then shared with the customer which not only resolved the issue for them, but for all other Onfleet customers facing the same issue. 

Words of Advice

For entrepreneurs and companies out there, Ethan has a word of advice. 

“Relationships with customers can make or break a company. Tech support is a really important job – even though lots of organizations don’t treat it as such. Onfleet has avoided that mistake.”

And for those in the tech support field? Ethan advises people to question their own assumptions and slow down. He says, “when people often come to us, sometimes what they’re experiencing isn’t a bug, but a feature they don’t understand yet. We can often solve the issue by walking them through how to use the workflow.”

Want to Learn More?

Onfleet prides itself on having one of the top courier delivery management software platforms in the industry. Contact us or take the software for a test drive with a free trial. 

Just know that if you have any questions, one of our support team members like Ethan will be happy to help.