Square 9 Support Knowledge Base

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Welcome to Square 9 Support

On behalf of all of us at Square 9 Softworks and our authorized reseller community, we welcome you to the Square 9 customer family.  Whether you are supported by one of our highly skilled resellers or work with Square 9 directly, the mission of our Support team is to ensure an exceptional user experience for all.  

As an end user of Square 9’s GlobalSuite of products with an active support and maintenance contract, you gain access to Square 9’s team of highly specialized product experts Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-7:30PM Eastern time.  During that time we are happy to address general product questions, break/fix scenarios, technical support or route you to the appropriate resource for any other need. If you’re working with one of our resellers, they’ll be your first point of contact and can escalate any issues they’re unable to solve to our team on your behalf.  Either way, we look forward to working with you!

Contacting Support

Many of our customers receive first tier support from a local authorized Square 9 reseller.  If you do, you’ll contact your reseller to initiate a support case. All authorized resellers undergo certification training that prepares them to handle common implementation and support scenarios.  As a local representative, they’re also close to the ground and in many cases equipped to provide onsite assistance where necessary. Should they need our assistance, they are able to escalate the case on your behalf to our Support team.  It’s important to note the services, experience provided and associated cost of a support contract can vary greatly between resellers.

If your support is through Square 9 directly, you can contact our support team by email, phone, or via the ticket creation form on our Support home page at  https://www.square-9.com/resources/support.  There you’ll find a Knowledge Base of trending support topics that allow many users to address their issue themselves and self close their case.  It’s also there that you’ll find our industry first live online support queue showing the number of cases currently in queue along with the average wait.  While the average wait shown is calculated across cases of all types, it serves to provide a general idea of how long you should expect to wait to hear from a member of the team.

Support Contact Points

Ticket Creation

Several options exist to contact our support team and create a ticket.  While we do answer live calls, don’t be alarmed if you’re asked to leave a voicemail when calling into support.  Ticket creation is automated when a voicemail is left at our Support number, just the same as when an email is sent to  support@square-9.com, or when the Support Ticket Creation Form is filled out.  Once received, our case management system will automatically timestamp and assign your case a number.  No matter how you choose to submit your case, it will be triaged in the same way, so you can be confident your place in queue will not be impacted by how you initiate a support ticket.

For cases that originate from email or form, an automated email response will be sent back advising of your case number.  The email subject will also include a unique reference ID in the subject that is used to associate any future correspondence to your case.  It is important that all correspondence with our Support team be funneled through this thread to ensure it is appropriately tracked and responses are timely.  Please be advised, emails that do not contain the proper subject, or are sent to addresses other than  support@square-9.com  will not be subject to the standard service levels set forth below.  Any tickets created outside of normal business hours will be handled the next business day.

Handling Multiple Issues

From time to time we realize that customers may experience more than one issue simultaneously.  For separate issues please submit separate cases with unique email subjects or descriptions. This will ensure each issue is properly tracked and addressed in a timely fashion.

Case Resolution

When a ticket is created, it is immediately added to the queue.  From there, the path to case resolution generally follows these steps:

• Triage Review: The Support Triage Team will review the case and assign priority.

• Case Owner Assigned: Based on priority, the Triage Team will assign a case owner tasked with following up and managing the case.

• In Kind Follow Up: Unless otherwise instructed, the case owner will follow up in kind, meaning they will utilize the same contact method used to log the case.

• Issue Investigation: Once connected, the case owner will review the question or issue and attempt to provide an answer or rectify the situation.

• Scheduling Time to Connect: If our attempts to contact are unsuccessful or result in back and forth attempts, we will offer to schedule a time to connect and attempt to provide an answer or rectify the situation.

• Solution Application: As resolution is uncovered, it will be implemented by the Support technician.  This may include several rounds of testing and the potential for new issues to arise. It may also require involvement from a development or professional services representative.

During the path to resolution, it is often necessary for Support to request additional information not readily available.  At that point the case may be placed on hold awaiting follow up. During this period, our automated system will send a reminder email every two days up to a total of seven days to help ensure resolution remains a priority.  It is also common for a more complex case to be escalated to multiple higher tier resources during the process of issue investigation and rectification.

Case Response

The level of response is directly correlated to the severity of the issue and the resulting case priority assigned by the triage team.  Response time is defined as the length of time it takes Square 9 to initiate contact from the time an issue is logged with our Support Desk.  Cases must be opened by voicemail into the Support hotline, email request to  support@square-9.com  or through our  Support page on our website  to be eligible for the service levels outlined.

All acceptable response times are expected to fall within Square 9’s business hours.  Cases not opened within Square 9’s Support hours of 8:30AM to 7:30PM Eastern will be picked up the following business day.  Cases opened during business hours may be responded to the next business day if the standard response time is greater than the time left in the current business day.

Case Priority Levels

When evaluating cases, the triage team uses the below criteria to assign a case priority level:

Case Priority Examples

Critical

• Complete system failure

• All system processing has halted or is impacted

High

• Majority of the system is failing

• Majority of system processing has halted or is impacted

Medium

• Isolated occurrences with specific system users, majority of the user population unaffected

• A single step in a process is functioning incorrectly but doesn’t impact the overall process

Low

• A how-to question related to future growth of the system

• An issue reported on a test or development server

• Production system operating normally or with virtually no impact

Case Escalation

After a case has been worked on for 30 minutes without progress or resolution, the case will be escalated according to the escalation schedule below.  Please note that Critical and High priority cases automatically start in an escalated state.

Case Closure

Once it has been determined the question is answered or the problem solved, the Support team will mark the case resolved.  When a case is marked as resolved a summary of the case will be sent by email explaining the issue and the steps taken to resolve it.  

The case will automatically be marked as closed seven days after it is marked as resolved unless we are notified the issue persists.  In that case it is reopened, reprioritized if applicable, and picked up by the team. Cases are also automatically marked as closed seven days after being marked awaiting information if there is no follow up or activity.  A reminder email is sent the day before advising that the case will be closed the next day due to inactivity. A closed case can be reopened at any time in the event an issue reoccurs or the recommended solution isn’t permanent.

If a workaround or solution is found independent of working with the Support team, all case emails from our Support team will contain a link to self-close your case.  It is appreciated that self-close is utilized to allow our Support team to focus their efforts on open active cases.

If the case is deemed to be suitable for our Professional Services group, the case will be closed and information transferred to that group for project scoping and the potential quoting of billable hours.

What Does My Software Assurance Contract Cover?

Each Square 9 Support contract comprises two components, maintenance and support.  The distinction of each is important, as is the line that separates a covered support incident from a billable professional services engagement.  Below we have outlined what is included in each portion of your contract. The next section outlines what is not covered and some common scenarios that can result in billable engagements.

Support

Access to our Support team, either directly or through a reseller, Monday-Friday 8:30AM-7:30PM Eastern time, is one of the most important aspects of your contract.  This affords your team or your reseller technical contact the ability to create a case within our case management system that is picked up and worked on by a support team member.  Cases may be as simple as a how-to question or as complex as a system down scenario.

Maintenance

The Maintenance portion of your contract covers access to upgrades and new versions of products you own.  For example, if your current production install is version 4.5, when Square 9 releases version 4.6 or 5.0, provided your contract is active, you will be provided access to the upgrade media.  

On average, Square 9 releases two to three upgrades per year.  We recommend upgrading at least once per year or where necessary based on fixes and new functionality contained in each release.

What Is Not Covered Under My Contract?

When a support request encompasses the need to configure or deploy, that is generally the dividing line between a covered support case and billable professional services.  For example, although access to upgrade media is covered, the services to deploy it are not. Exceptions do occur but below are some common scenarios that can result in billable professional service hours:

• Installation of a new upgrade or service pack

• Configuring a new department or business process

• Creating or modifying any custom scripting.

  • If you change scripting written by Square 9 that scripting is no longer supported. Which may need a professional services engagement. 

• Making changes to an existing configuration unrelated to an issue

• Creating new users and security policies

• Disaster recovery and restoring from a backup

• Deploying a test server

• Migrating test server changes to production

• Migrating your production environment to a new hardware infrastructure

It is important to note that if you are supported through a reseller, they may offer an enhanced program that includes some or all of these services as part of your contract.  Contact them for a complete rundown of what is covered under your contract.

Contract Term and Renewal

The start date for your contract is 30 days after your purchase or the day your implementation begins, whichever is sooner.  Your renewal date is equal to the start date plus your contract term. The default contract term for most customers is one year although many customers do purchase multiple years up front to lock in their rate.  If you have any questions about your term, contact your Square 9 Regional Sales Director or authorized reseller.

Renewing Support

Ninety days prior to the end of your term, notification is sent to you or your reseller advising of the impending renewal along with the date and cost for an additional year of service.  Once payment is received by Square 9, the contract is extended for the term purchased. The contract is not extended when the purchase order is submitted. If payment is not received prior to the renewal date, the contract is considered lapsed.

Lapsed Support 

Contracts are considered lapsed as soon as they expire if payment for the next term has not been received.  In order to reinstate support, payment for the next contract term will need to be received. When a considerable contract lapse occurs, payment for the current period plus all arrears is required to reinstate support. 

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