Escaux UCS Support Services & SLA Options

Introduction

This document identifies the conditions under which the timely and correct service delivery and service assurance are possible. It sets out the service levels and compensation schemes. It sets out the complete service levels available in respect of these services and is to the exclusion of any other SLA you have with Escaux for any element of these services. The SLA contains a series of measurable criteria that allow the resellers and end-users ('Clients'), to understand, measure and impose a quality level on all interactions between himself and its solution provider.

Escaux shall provide the support services purchased, provided the Client remains a compliant subscriber and has paid all due Escaux invoices.

The Escaux SLA offers the Client a series of service levels applicable to each of the business processes governing the interaction between the Client and Escaux.

The following interactions are of great importance to the Client:

  • 'Service Delivery Process', where the following elements are covered in the Escaux SLA:
    • Project management;
    • Respect of installation deadlines;
    • Quality of the supplied installation;
  • 'Service Assurance & Change Process', where the following elements are covered in the Escaux SLA :
    • Correct and timely handling of software or hardware problems;
    • Penalty system;
    • Online follow up of repair status;
    • Correct and timely handling of change requests;
    • Online follow up of change request status;

Service Delivery Process

Project Service Delivery

This part applied for all orders, except if the 'do it yourself'; is chosen whereby the Client will be responsible for the installation himself. The other cases the installation will be guided by an Escaux Project Manager. A number of project management and configuration hours are foreseen on the order form to implement the agreed configuration.

By default, the Escaux solution will be pre-configured with the Fusion Product. The Escaux Fusion feature pack is tailored to the needs of the enterprise market, offering all standard and advanced telephony features like IP Telephony, VOIP/SIP trunking, Voice mail, Conference calling, Inbound Call Center, Call Back and much more. You can find here the description of the Fusion product. The project manager will install the last validated release of the Fusion Product. All additional call flows or adaptation of the standard call flows won't be realised unless a written agreement exists on the extra project time that is required for the implementation and also on the extra processing power that could be required to handle those extra callflows; included in the order form, those requests will be considered as change request.

Project Management

After reception of a signed order form, the Escaux Project Manager will contact the customer to plan the kick-off of the project (C.R.S. meeting). The goals of this meeting are: * Explanation of the installation process & define an agreed planning
    • When placing an order, an expected installation date will be communicated to the Client by the Escaux Project Manager. This date is referred to as the Escaux Expected Installation Date (EID). It is the responsibility of the Escaux Project Manager to clearly indicate the EID in the above mentioned project planning. * Explanation of the web interfaces that you will use to manage your new net.PBX. This also to introduce the users, the telephone numbers, the callflows, ...
  • Review of the needed informations (CRS file) & the prerequisites
    • IP addresses that we can use, ...
    • Name of the users, extensions, ...
    • Firewall rules, DNS, SMTP,… During the whole project, the project manager will be your single point of contact.

Quality of the supplied installation

  • A commissioning test will be executed in the presence of the Client, during which all major features, ordered by the Client will be tested.

Responsibilities

The prices for delivery and rates for installation of the Escaux UCS shall be determined in the Order Form. The delivery and installation procedures shall be determined on the Order Form. If no specific procedure is given, installation shall be limited to:
  • The installation of the Escaux UCS-SOP;
  • Connection of the Escaux UCS-SOP to the Client LAN network; Escaux is not responsible for faults finding on the in-house cabling nor to assess the LAN network.
  • The configuration and activation of the Escaux UCS and the peripheral equipment, according to such equipment 'Service Description', referenced in the Order Form.
  • The cost of internal cabling and patching is not included and will be separately billed to the Client at the hourly rates in effect together with cost of cable and transportation costs.
  • The services provided shall relate solely to the installation described in the Order Form and product descriptions. Any element not explicitly mentioned therein can lead to other prices.
  • Additional work, on-site intervention(s), technical consultancy or later changes performed by Escaux or its subcontractor will be billed to the Client at the hourly rate then in effect together with cost of extra equipment and transportation costs.
  • During on site installation, data integration and application integration, the Client's network administrator and/or any other competent Client's personnel shall be present during installation to assist the Escaux engineer or its subcontractor. Loss of time for Escaux or its subcontractors due to connectivity, hardware or software problems or misconfigurations of elements at the Client side under the control of the Client or any of the Client's subcontractors (power supply, cabling, firewall, routing, LAN or WAN misconfigurations, ...), can be billed to the Client at the hourly rate.
  • Installation work will be carried out during regular working hours. The Client may ask for a quote for any services he/she wants to be performed outside these hours. The Client shall guarantee access to the Escaux UCS at all times to Escaux and/or its subcontractor.
  • The hourly rate during business hours in effect for labor work at the date of contracting the services is 92 EUR/hour. The hourly rate for project management is 135 EUR/hour and consultancy (API, design,...) is 160¤/hour at the date of contracting the service. These rates are subject to the Belgian AGORIA-index. Escaux reserves the right to change those rates.
  • If the work takes place on another place than the Escaux office, the hourly rate is applicable from the moment the Escaux office has been left till the Escaux or subcontracted employee is returned.
  • All shipments shall be F.O.B. Escaux offices and the Client bears the cost of delivery and handling. Risk of loss shall transfer to the Client upon delivery of goods.

Planning

The timely and correct service delivery, as specified by the Expected Installation Date (EID), of our services to the Client is only possible under the following cumulative conditions, where the Client shall:
  • provide Escaux (email : "project@escaux.com" ), with all the information necessary to install and provide the service, as detailed in the 'Customer Requirement Survey'; ("CRS").
  • warrant to Escaux that the information given in the "CRS" is complete and correct (In order to allow the Client to fill out the "CRS" in a correct way, the Escaux Project Manager will explain the content of the "CRS" after receipt of a signed order form, as referred to in the General Conditions Support Services ('Order Form'));
  • return the "CRS", complete and correct, at the latest 15 working days prior to the installation. Any delay in returning the "CRS", later than 15 working days prior to the installation entitles Escaux to delay the installation date;
  • upload the following configuration information into the SMP not later than 10 working days before the Project Installation Date (PID) : definition of users, extensions and external number mapping.
  • provide the necessary software, computer hardware connections and telecom infrastructure (availability of a connection point to the customer LAN, a fixed IP address, Internet connectivity for management purpose, ISDN, analog, internal CAT 5 ethernet cabling, etc.) not ordered via Escaux and required for the Escaux UCS and its applications. It needs to be installed and fully operational minimum 5 working days before the EID;
  • enable the remote management access to the Escaux UCS Service Operations Points (SOPs) 5 working days before the EID.
  • to have an UPS installed and activated for the SOPs otherwise SLA isn't applicable

Any delay due to non-respect of the overall project planning, as set out by the Escaux Project Manager entitles Escaux to delay the EID.

Any modification of the information provided in the "CRS" entitles Escaux to delay the installation date.

Any delay due to non respect of the advanced invoice payments entitles Escaux to delay the installation date.

The minimum installation delay that will be applied is 5 working days.

End of project

  • The installation is considered as finalized after the signature of the handover form by the Client or when the Client uses the installed service on a regular basis. The Service Assurance start only as from the hand-over form is signed

Hardware Service Delivery

For Escaux servers, the hardware delivery consists of the staging, the pre-configuration and the physical installation. For all other hardware's, it consists only of the delivery to the Customer warehouse. The expected delivery date depends on the type of order (new project, additional hardware) and on the type of equipment (IP phone, Server, ...).

For hardware that has been ordered by Customer Purchase Order as part of a new project implementation, the maximum lead-time between receipt of an Custome Purchase Order (relating to a project implementation and the delivery/installation of the hardware in the Custome warehouse: Expected Delivery Date (EDD) is 10 weeks. In case a hardware is ordered without the right license and SLA, the Hardware will be delivered only after validation by the Escaux Account Manager.

In case the equipement delivered by Escaux is defect ("Dead on arrival"), Escaux must provide the same equipment within one week. This only applies during the first week after the delivery date. After, the standard RMA procedure will be applied (see General Terms and Conditions for the Purchase of Equipment).

Service Assurance & Change SLA

Support Services are paid by means of Support Credits.

Support Services include, but are not limited to:

  1. incident & problem
  2. training services
  3. change request support services
  4. installation (phone guidance or remote access) support services.

Escaux reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions of its Support Services from time to time and upon reasonable notice, provided that any such modification will not substantially diminish the level of Support Services that the Client is then currently receiving. Different levels of SLA options are available as explained below. An SLA option is always selected per Client (in a direct sales model) or per contract (in an indirect sales model), not per server.

Following SLA Options are available :

SLA Option Entry SLA (0) Standard SLA Advanced SLA Premium SLA
Access & Use of SMP choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Corrective software maintenance choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Software updates within a release choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
SMP Service Availability Guarantee choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Automatic Backup choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Proactive Monitoring choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Disaster Recovery choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Free Support Credits(1) choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Additional Support Credits led-box-red led-box-red led-box-red led-box-red
48h Standard Response Queue led-box-red choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
30 Minutes Fast Response Queue choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
Call back Phone Support choice-no choice-yes choice-yes choice-yes
2h Guaranteed Service Repair (3) choice-no choice-no choice-yes choice-yes
Instant Phone Support choice-no choice-no choice-no choice-yes
Client Owned Server (2) choice-yes choice-no choice-no choice-no
Support Window Office Hours, CE(S)T Office Hours, CE(S)T (4) Office Hours, CE(S)T (4) Office Hours, CE(S)T (4)

choice-yes Possible -led-box-red To purchase by 10h - choice-no Not Available

  • (0) Support only possible through purchase of additional support credits
  • (1) See order form for the included amount of Free Support Credits if applicable
  • (2) No guarantees can be given on the compatibility between the Escaux UCS software and the Client's Server Hardware
  • (3) This requires at any time a redundant Escaux UCS solution located in the LAN network where the Critical Service Affecting Fault (CSAF) is occuring.
  • (4) Upgrades to other Support Window options are possible at additional charges.

Access & Updates of Escaux managed SMP

Access to Service Management Platform and regular software updates within the same SMP release are included in the SMP service charges. Only if the extra Premium Software Upgrades option is ordered, explicitely mentionned on the orderform, also cross release SMP software upgrades are included.

Availability Guarantee of Escaux managed SMP

An uptime guarantee of 99,99% for Service Management Platform as installed in the Escaux datacentre is guaranteed for the Entry SLA, Standard SLA, Advanced SLA and Premium SLA.

Client responsibility

The Service Assurance of Escaux Services to the Client is only possible under the following cumulative conditions, where the Client shall :
  • report all technical problems and change requests to the Escaux support team, via the SMP interface or by sending an email only to support.png (Standard Response Queue). The ticket number you receive in return will stand as proof for the successful submission of your request. To benefit from the Fast Response , the Client shall, after having received its ticket number, call a special Fast Repsonse Queue number and leave a message with the ticket number and a description of the problem. The Client can request to be called back urgently. Via the "myservice.escaux.com" Client portal the Client can track the status of all current tickets, review past cases and communications with the Escaux support team. In case of instant phone support, the Client can call a special number whereby first a password will be request to pass through.
  • perform the necessary pre-analysis of end-user reported problems and aggregate issues reported by different end-users into one or several support requests (i.e. 1 request per unique issue)
  • reply to the Escaux support team within 48 hours as of submission of the request. Failing to do so entitles Escaux to close support tickets without prior notice to the Client.
  • provide all necessary support, information and access to all hardware and software elements covered by the Escaux service contract and this at least during the Office Hours.
  • ensure that at least one Escaux UCS server, located in the LAN network where the problem is occurring, is connected to the Escaux SMP with the original software/hardware as shipped by Escaux.

Failing to meet the above requirements results in a suspension of the repair or response timers until the necessary conditions are again fulfilled. In case of a disagreement after a ticket that has been closed, to react immediately and the latest within 3 working days after closing

If the customer decides to move the Escaux products to another location, he must in all situations communicate this to Escaux at the latest 8 weeks before the move. If the customer fails to respect this minimum notice period, Escaux is not responsible for any problem that may arise.

If the customer decides to change the internal IP addressing range used for the Escaux products, he must in all situations communicate the new IP addressing plan to Escaux at the latest 4 weeks before it needs to be changed. If the customer fails to respect this minimum notice period, Escaux is not responsible for any problem that may arise.

Different Response Queues, Support Credits timer and Project Credits timer used during Service Delivery & Service Assurance

Support by Escaux can be given only if a request for Support Service has been submitted by the Client according to the above guidelines. The time to response to a ticket depends on the queue in which the ticket has been opened. It is up to the Client to decide about the priority of a ticket.

  • 'Standard Response Queue': the target time to response is next business day;
  • 'Fast Response Queue': Escaux guarantees to call back within maximum 30 minutes

A Support Credits timer is kept per customer. The value of this timer, together with the total Support Credits consumption, can be consulted online via the "myservice.escaux.com" portal. Every time support is requested the timer will be deducted by the time that has been spent to delivery of the support. The timer will be deducted with 2 times the time spent for all requests opened in the Fast Response queue. If no time is left , i.e. all Support Credits have been consumed, and the Client wants to get additional support, new Support Credits need to be purchased before support will be given. Escaux will stop providing Support Services is the Support Credits timer falls below zero. A disagreement on the counted time for a specific ticket need to happen not later than 2 weeks after closing the ticket. In all other cases it is considered to be accepted.

The possibility to open tickets in the Standard Response Queue is included in the Entry SLA, Standard SLA, Advanced SLA and Premium SLA, provided however that the Support Credits timer is not zero or below. The possibility to open tickets in the Fast Response Queue and have access to 30 minutes urgency recall is only included in the Standard SLA, Advanced SLA and Premium SLA, provided however that the Support Credits timer is not zero or below.

The same is valid for the project credits. In other words whenever a project manager is involved, like during the installation, migration, upgrades,... a project credit counter is kept per project.The value of this timer, together with the total Project Credits consumption, can be consulted online via the "myservice.escaux.com" portal. Every time project management time is requested the timer will be deducted by the time that has been spent to delivery of the project management.

The same is valide for the business application integration credits. In other words whenever a software engineer or developer is involved, like during application integration a business integration credit counter is kept per project. Every time development time is requested the timer will be deducted by the time that has been spent to delivery of the development.

If no time is left , i.e. all Support Credits have been consumed, and the Client wants to get additional support, project or business integration, Credits need to be purchased before support, project management, development time can be provided by Escaux. Escaux will stop providing any of those Services if the particular service Credits timer falls below zero.

During extended hours the deducted amount of credits are equal to the number of credits consumpted multiplied with a multiplicator of 1.5. During Sundays and official holidays this multiplicator is equal to 2.

Free Support Credits

An amount of Free Support Credits may be included in the Standard SLA, Advanced SLA and Premium SLA, in accordance with the provisions of the Order Form. These Support Credits have a lifetime of one year and can not be transferred to the next yearly support period. Free Support Credits may only be obtained by end-users, excluding resellers, which have to pay Support Services with Support Credits at any time.

Corrective Software Maintenance

Each support request sent to Escaux will result in Support Credits being deducted from the Client's Support Credit counter. Only in the exceptional occasion of corrective software maintenance support be given without charging Support Credits. Corrective software maintenance concerns only support given in case of a software bug.
  • Software bug. A problem is considered as a software bug under the following cumulative conditions :
    • 1. the Escaux UCS is not behaving according to the technical specifications;
    • 2. the behavior can not be corrected by using the SMP web interfaces;
    • 3. the behavior occurs on the Escaux UCS of another Client running the exact same software and configuration.
In the case of problems with communication lines (Internet or ISDN) only purchased through Escaux no Support Credits are charged as well. In all other cases, Support Credits will be charged. Following list contains examples that are included but the list is not limited to these examples:

  • Hardware failure of Escaux UCS server or peripheral material. If the material is covered by a Hardware Maintenance contract, the hardware itself is covered by such maintenance contract, but the time spent on reconfiguration, installation etc... is deducted from the Support Credits counter;
  • All change requests;
  • All requests for information;
  • All requests concerning analysis, detection and correction of Quality problems on LAN and VPN networks;
  • All requests concerning analysis of callflows;
  • All requests concerning configuration help, assistance to find configuration faults;
  • ...

Guaranteed Repair time

In case of an Advanced or Premium SLA, Escaux guarantees a Time To Repair (TTR) of 2 hours for Critical Service Affecting Faults (CSAF) on redundant solutions. This guarantee is only provided on services delivered on equipment bought from Escaux and requires that the Client has purchased a redundant solution located in each LAN network where the Guaranteed Repair time should be met. LAN networks without redundant solution are excluded from the 2h Time To Repair guarantee.

Penalty System

The Penalty System only applies to the Advanced SLA and Premium SLA options.

  • If Escaux is at fault to meet the above targets, the Client can claim a set compensation. This set compensation:
  • is equal 1% of the monthly recurring service fee which relates to the site where the failure has occurred, if the TTR is exceeded by more than 1 working hour;
  • is increased by 2%, on top of the 1%, of the monthly recurring service fee which relates to the site where the failure has occurred, if the TTR is exceeded by more than 2 working hours;
  • is increased by 3%, on top of the 1% and 2%, of the monthly recurring service fee which relates to the site where the failure has occurred, if the TTR is exceeded by more than 3 working hours;
  • ...
  • As a result of the above compensation schema, the set compensation is equal to n*(n+1)/2 percent of the monthly recurring Weighted Service Fee, where n is the number of hours past the TTR.
  • The set compensation is paid in new Support Credits.
  • It is expressively agreed that the amounts that are a result of the formula mentioned above are a set compensation that will cover every damage that would occur in the event mentioned above.
  • Compensations are subject to an upper limit of 75% of the monthly recurring service fee which relates to the site where the failure has occurred, for all claims submitted during this month.

Limitations of responsibility

  • A failure is for account and at the risk of the Client if it is established that a failure affecting either or not a service can be attributed to the equipment, network, external telephone lines falling within the Client's responsibility, the Client's energy supply, the environmental conditions in the Client's equipment room or actions by the Client's staff or can be attributed to the Client otherwise.
  • In the event a problem occurs between two Escaux UCS systems covered by different Service Level Agreements, the weakest Service Level Agreement applies. Hereby the "Entry SLA" is the weakest and the "Premium SLA" is the strongest Service Level Agreement.
  • IP phones or all other communication devices not having a VOIP Compliant Connection with at least one Escaux UCS server located in the LAN network where the problem is occurring are excluded from this SLA.
  • Software telephones (soft phones) running on the Client's hardware (personal computers) are always excluded from this SLA.
  • In the event the UPS for the SOP(s) isn't working or not connected.
  • Usage of resources (net.Phone licenses, net.Desktop licenses, queues, ...) are limited according to the order form. The usage of extensions that are linked to call flows is limited to a maximum equal to the number of resources. Excessive usage of resources or extensions linked to call flows can result in suspension of the SLA. Excessive use of other features that is clearly beyond the normal needs of a user group sized according to the order form, may also result in suspension of the SLA. The SLA will stay suspended until the increased capacity has been ordered from Escaux.

Failures Caused by Third Parties

If it is established that a failure or the continuation of a failure affecting either or not a service can be attributed to a third party (neither the Client, nor Escaux, nor a supplier of Escaux) solving the failure will be at the Client's costs. Failures and configuration errors on telecommunication lines or networks fall outside the control and responsibility of Escaux.

Submitting claims

All claims must be submitted to Escaux Client Support within 10 office days by filling out a claim form available on simple demand. The different guarantees and service credits available under this SLA are not cumulative. If you are entitled to claim under more than one guarantee schemes set out in this SLA for service credits you may choose which scheme you wish to claim under. You may not make double claims for the same service failure under this SLA and any other SLA you have with Escaux.

Definition of Terms

Critical Service Affecting Fault (CSAF)

  • A telephone set is identified by the device ID that has been assigned to it by Escaux;
  • 'X' is the number of telephone sets, located in the same LAN network, supposed to be able to establish a voice communication to the PSTN network;
  • 'Y' is the number of telephone sets, located in the same LAN network, supposed to be able to receive a voice communication from the PSTN network

A fault is considered as a Critical Service Affecting Fault if less than 80% of 'X' telephone sets actually succeed in establishing a voice communication to the PSTN network or if less than 80% of 'Y' telephone sets actually succeed in receiving a voice communication from the PSTN network. Critical Service Affecting Faults are always measured per LAN network, never globally across a VPN network. CSAF aren't applicable on applications such as net.Console, net.Desktop.

Availability Guarantee

This is the measured availability averaged over a one year period.

VOIP Compliant Connection

A VOIP compliant connection is a full duplex IP connection which can reliably carry Voice traffic over IP. This IP connection must comply with the following criteria:
  • Jitter: Jitter refers to the mis-spacing of the arrival of packets at the called party telephone end point. Excessive jitter will cause frying sounds to be heard on the call, and should therefore note exceed 15 milliseconds.
  • Delay: The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) defines a standard for one-way delay as being a maximum of 150 milliseconds before the user starts to perceive the delay.
  • Packet loss: The IP Telephony industry usually recommends maximum packet loss figures of around 0.25% as being the most that the average human hear can tolerate without losing sense of a conversation.

Support Window

By default the 'Office Hours Support Window' is applicable. The Client can at an additional cost upgrade this Support Window to 'Extended Support Window ' or a '24*7 Support Window' Only one type of Support Window can be applicable in one particular project or network whether this is a single, multiple and consolidated multiple site. In case of doubt, such as inconsistent orders belonging to the same project and/or network, only the lowest ordered Support Window shall be applied.

Possible Support Windows :
  • 'Office Hours Support Window' : CE(S)T, from 08:00 to 18:00, Monday till Friday, official Belgian holidays excluded
  • 'Extended Support Window' : CE(S)T, working hours from 07:30 to 21:00, Monday till Friday, 09:00-18:00 on Saterday, official Belgian holidays excluded
  • '24*7 Support Window' : Support can be requested 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

LAN Network

A LAN network is a combination of network elements forming a single Ethernet broadcast domain.

Standard Call Flows

The Escaux solution will be pre-configured with the Fusion Product. The Escaux Fusion feature pack is tailored to the needs of the enterprise market, offering all standard and advanced telephony features like IP Telephony, VOIP/SIP trunking, Voice mail, Conference calling, Inbound Call Center, Call Back and much more. You can find here the description of the Fusion product.
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