On Fri, 12 Jan 90 14:44:31 MST Ron Page said:
>I previously posted questions about using LISTSERV as a repository for
>consulting questions which are distributed to consultants on duty.  The only
>people who can subscribe are the consultants which are also owners of the
>list.  They ADD themselves when they are ready to answer questions.  They
>DELete themselves when they are done consulting
>
>The problem is that I always want at least one person subscribed so that
>the questions do not fall on deaf ears (i.e. archived only).  I have a
>front end exec that actually sends LISTSERV the commands, so I could do
>the checking here.  I would prefer not to wait for a mail item to get back
>and have my program read the mail item.
>
>Any solution is acceptable, but I'm wondering if a facility exists to query
>LISTSERV about who is subscribed, or the number of people subscribed.  Does
>anyone have a suggestion?   A trick?  Perhaps coding an exit?
>
>- Ron     5-5312
 
I have set up a list called HELPDESK with a subscription of our consultants'
list.  The Ack= None setting is used so that the user never sees a message
from Listserv.  All consultants see the mail and the first one to see it
types in HELPDESK while reading the mail (this is a little macro used
in Rice Mail to REPLY TEXT, INCLUDE CC: to consultants' list, LOG HELPDESK,
etc.)  So all consultants see the question and the answer.  The only trick
is that you need to impress on the consultants to look for a posted answer
before making his/her own answer to the question.
And, of course, all HELPDESK mail is logged by Listserv. :-)
 
This has worked out really well for us.  If any more details are needed,
I can explain more.
 
Gary
216/375-6200