By Justin Lee, theWHIR.com
October 16, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider Aplus.net (www.aplus.net) announced on Thursday it has launched the Aplus.net Forum (http://forum.aplus.net), a new service that offers blogging, networking and online chat and communication for the company’s customer base.
“Giving our customers every business advantage that technology allows is always a top priority,” says Ryan Elledge, Aplus.net’s chief operations officer. “And the new Aplus.net Forum, with its advanced networking and communications benefits, does that and more.”
The new Aplus.net forum will serve its community of more than 200,000 customers to exchange tips, advice, and insight on a range of topics, as well as act as an official location for customers to find information directly from the company itself.
The new forum joins Aplus.net’s blog and directory as additional channels for customers to network with one another about online business, enabling them to ask questions about web design, content management systems, sales markets or service providers.
The forum will also be the official location for announcements relating to Aplus.net customers. Elledge says he encourage all customers to begin usng the forum for notifications of any service-impacting events.
Other web hosting and Internet solution providers have used their forums as effective communication channel to keep their customers up to date during critical situations. In June, The Planet communicated with its customers through its forum, keeping them in the loop about an explosion that cut off power to 9,000 servers at its H1 data center in Houston.
Similarly, in July, when an underground fire sparked a major outage in downtown Vancouver and subsequently disconnected about 22,000 PEER 1 customers, the web host’s upper management posted notifications on the PEER 1 forum to keep customers informed about any information regarding the outage.
Comodo’s forum, which has grown to 50,000 members, has been a popular resource for users in finding information related to PC security and staying safe online.
Aplus.net offers a range of hosting services for small and medium-sized businesses, including shared hosting, dedicated hosting, web design, online marketing, e-commerce and domain name registration.
The company recently named Phillip Spencer its new chief executive officer, succeeding Gabriel Murphy, who will remain president of Aplus.Net and take on a more tactical oversight role as the company’s new chief strategy officer.
