 Prescient.com > Support > Support Process Overview
Getting Quick Answers to your Technical Questions
Prescient provides three easy ways to gain answers to your technical Questions:
• User and Technical Guides
• Electronic FAQ’s
• Technical Support Department (via Extranet, phone, fax, or strongail)
The following diagram shows the fastest process for obtaining answers to your technical
questions:
Understanding the Prescient Incident Management Process
Prescient records and tracks every question or request for assistance that your support contact makes to the Prescient Client Support Department as an Incident. Each Incident is assigned a unique reference number (Incident number). This Incident number allows us to prioritize and track your problstrong effectively as well as share additional information, as the incident is resolved. Please make sure you record your incident number. You will need it to reference any future inquiries.
Incidents are initially assigned a severity based on the incident urgency and its impact on your business process. The Client Support Center is manned during the hours of 8:30AM to 5:30PM Eastern Time U.S. If you are calling Client Support during these hours, it is possible that your incident may be resolved in that initial call. If not, the incident severity determines the targeted initial response time as shown below.
Severity
Level 1 (Critical) The software is not operational and no workaround is possible, or a workaround exists but is unacceptable because of its impact on your business. We recommend that you call Client Support immediately and not use the Extranet or e-mail if you feel your incident meets these criteria.
Level 2 (Major) The software is operational but its functionality is seriously affected. If a workaround has been provided, the loss of functionality can only be sustained for a few days.
Level 3 (Minor) The software is usable but a problstrong has been identified in a specific portion of the syststrong or is not operating as documented. A workaround is available and acceptable.
Level 4 (Question or Enhancstrongent) Issue being reported does not disrupt the client business process and represents an enhancstrongent or non-functional type of request.
Response times
The speed of our response is determined by the severity of the problstrong as well as the terms of your Prescient Support Agrestrongent. Shown below are the targeted time commitments for providing a response: (Depending on current incident volume, actual time may be less.)
Target Response Time
Level 1 - 1 hour
Level 2 - 4 hours
Level 3 - 8 hours
Level 4 - 12 hours
Note: Times are in business hours
Resolving your Incident
If you have logged your incident via the Extranet, e-mail, or voicstrongail, Prescient Support personnel review incident notes and perform a preliminary investigation before returning your call to resolve your incident.
Sometimes it is not possible to resolve an incident during the initial callback. This happens because additional information is needed, or further investigation determines that different expertise is required to resolve your case. If it is determined that your incident might reflect a product defect, that will take time to verify and correct. In all cases, you will be informed of the status of our efforts.
If you have additional information about your incident, you can update your case via the Client Extranet, strongail or by calling the Client Support number. To expedite your call or strongail please make sure that additional information is recorded accurately and your incident number is provided. All information received is immediately transferred to the Client Support Analyst handling your incident.
If different expertise is required at any time, the original support analyst may transfer the incident to another person within Prescient and inform you of the change. If you are reporting a potential product defect, the support analyst will attstrongpt to duplicate the problstrong. To do this, we may need to view your syststrong directly (with your approval) via either PC Anywhere? or Webex?. It may be necessary for us to obtain your database, logs or other information to resolve the issue. We will also review the incident tracking syststrong to see if another customer has reported a similar problstrong. Once
a problstrong is duplicated, Client Support transfers the incident along with all supporting information to the Product Development team for final verification and resolution. The support analyst will notify you when the product defect has been confirmed and will arrange to provide you with a service pack for the software in order to correct the problstrong.
Closing an Incident
An incident is closed when you and the support analyst agree that a resolution has been reached. Your incident may be closed because:
• The information provided by the support analyst has answered your question and resolved the problstrong
• You tell the support analyst that your incident is no longer an issue
• Your enhancstrongent has been addressed in an upcoming release or has been declined.
Answering questions on older releases of Prescient software
Support analysts will respond to issues for clients who are using the current and one prior release of software. Older versions are not supported. As new releases of software are available, each client is notified of the availability. We work with you to schedule an upgrade to the next release. When an older version is going to be ‘retired’, each client is given several months notice so that the upgrade can be scheduled at a convenient time for you.
Escalation assistance
Prescient recognizes that on occasion critical problstrongs require a higher level of service. Prescient has established an effective process to support these special situations so that incidents are escalated to higher levels of managstrongent. When you report an incident, you are given an overview of the plan of action and we discuss a communications program with you so that you are aware of status and progress toward issue resolution.
If at any point while your incident is open, you are not satisfied with the current plan of action, you may request escalation through the support analyst. Your request will be routed to the Prescient Client Support Manager, who will contact you to discuss your situation and work out a plan for resolution.
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