[ic] how "user friendly" is authorize.net for non-tech merchants?

[cfm@maine.com]

Can anyone share with me experience regarding how "user-friendly"
the authorize.net system will be for a non-technical merchant?

All of our existing merchants have over time abandoned the online 
processing (cybercash) in favor of local batch processing; it seems 
they get too many exceptions and it takes too long to settle them 
online.  We write and read that batch file for them as part of order 
transmission typically over a full-time connection.

But for a low-volume store run by a non-technical merchant on a
part time dialup would authorize.net make sense?  (Or maybe I 
should revisit cybercash if they are still standing, hmmm, another 
verisigh company....)

These non-tech users are going to have their hands full booting 
their machines and keeping them virus free; it seems like a 
disservice to put them on a batch system where we will have
no reliable way to read and write the batch files.  They don't need
real time processing; it's the everything in one place, simple, secure
administration with lots of help files and tech support that they want.

Seems like the right way would be to set up something like ccvs here
and provide that as a service; we're not prepared to staff a help desk
for that.  :-)

cfm

-- 

Christopher F. Miller, Publisher                             cfm@maine.com
MaineStreet Communications, Inc         208 Portland Road, Gray, ME  04039
1.207.657.5078                                       http://www.maine.com/
Content management, electronic commerce, internet integration, Debian linux