GCI Channel Client Support Plan 1
Quick Contact Reference: We want to make contacting GCI as easy as possible for our customers therefore you may get your message across via a-few different platforms: Email: Service.desk@gcicom.net Service Desk: 0844 443 3538 General Enquiries: 0844 443 3537 Lync Support: Lync.support@gcicom.net Cloud Support: Cloud.support@gcicom.net When calling the Service Desk on 0844 443 3538 you can select option 1 which will direct you through to our Cloud and Lync Engineers. Autotask Self-Service Interface http://www.gcicom.net/login.html You can request a client login from our Technical Support Desk via emailing Service.desk@gcicom.net Contacting by Telephone GCI operates a dedicated Technical Support Desk. This function can be contacted by dialing 0844 443 3538 for technical faults. With regards to commercial queries, (i.e. projects in flight, sales quotes, customer feedback etc) you should continue to liaise with your dedicated Account Manager and Project Team whose Welcome Pack you should have received. 2
Table of Contents Introduction 4 Incident/Problem Management 5 Process Overview 5 Logging an Incident 6 Incident Severity Management 7 NOC & Incident Progression 8 Incident Closure 9 Major Incident Reports 9 Escalations 10 Change Management 11 Planned Maintenance 12 Notifications 12 Cease Request Process 13 Complaints Procedure 14 Customer Satisfaction Survey 14 Customer Thermometer 14 3
Introduction Business As Usual (BAU) is the phrase used to describe the next stage in our customer service lifecycle after a project is completed. The principle aim of this document is to introduce you to our Technical Support Desk, the teams that will support you in BAU and act as a one-stop shop guide for all scenarios that you might encounter with GCI, from logging an incident through to Change Management. 4
Incident/Problem Management Incidents can be any failure or interruption to an ICT service or a configuration of an item/asset. GCI s Incident Management processes are based around the ITIL best-practice. ITIL s main objective is to align business and Information Technology by working to best practices when managing IT operations and services. Process Overview GCI believe that clear communication is crucial to a successful working relationship. Our Technical Support Desk use Autotask as a platform that is accessible at any time to update the customer, progress faults and to centrally manage and store all information on each reported incident. During the life cycle of a ticket our Engineers will manually update all incidents on Autotask to ensure that the customer has full visibility of the progress of the incident. Autotask creates an environment where Problem Management can be implemented by our Engineers. The data provided in Autotask becomes invaluable information for Problem Management as this helps to provide trend analysis where our Engineers investigate the root cause of any incidents and identify areas for Service Improvement Plans, where necessary. Each incident will go through the following stages: Closure Incident logged via call to Service Desk, Email or AutoTask Triage (Review and analyse the report fault) Investigation and detailed diagnosis Resolution 5
Logging an Incident Logging an incident is the first step in the lifecycle of a ticket. The Autotask Self-Service Client Portal is the recommended method for you to request support and track your open tickets. It is also possible to log any incidents via service.desk@gcicom.net or 0844 443 3538. When an incident is created, it has to be analysed and the full symptoms have to be captured. GCI rely on you to supply as much information as you can provide in the first instance (i.e. start time of the fault, how many sites are affected, has anything changed that may have resulted in an issue etc.). This will help in identifying where the issue is and how to correct it. The Service Level Agreement attached to the service will also affect the prioritisation of an incident (please refer to your contract for SLA s). After identifying an issue, GCI ask that you carry out some simple internal checks to ensure that the incident cannot be resolved on site; for example electrical maintenance, building work or loose cable etc. It is also recommended that all high severity requests are also followed up with a telephone call quoting your ticket number. The Autotask reference number is important and should be quoted in all communication regarding the incident. Logging an Incident? How will you log your incident? Telephone call to the Network Operations Centre 0844 443 3538 Email to our Network Operations Centre Service.desk@gcicom.net Autotask Client Portal Ensure all information is provided to the Network Operations Centre Ticket has been raised and the customer will receive a ticket number 6
Incident Severity Management For incidents which are logged by telephone the initial triage stage is performed by the 1st Line Diagnostics team who receive the call. For self-service-derived incidents, triage is performed from the Autotask ticketing system. Incident Management Incident priority will be affected by the category of incident: 1 2 3 4 Priority High, Any fault which results in a total loss of Site and / or Internet Bandwidth Availability. Priority Medium, Any problem which does not result in a total loss of Site and / or Internet Service Availability but which is Service affecting and having a major effect on multiple users or the Customer s business. Priority Low, Any problem which does not result in a total loss of Site and / or Internet Service Availability but which affects a single user or results in diminished response or performance of the Service. Informational, Any request for information pertaining to a non-service relating issue. 5 7
Technical Support Desk Runs 24/7 Managed customers WAN nodes are monitored though our Solarwinds monitoring platform Shift handover reporting which is sent through to Director level in order to monitor ticket progress, escalations and longer term issues. Incident Progression GCI understand that regular communication is key to a good relationship therefore our Engineers will keep you fully informed along the way. Below you find an example of how often we aim to update your Autotask tickets with communications in order to keep you informed, where applicable. Severity High Medium Low Informational Target GCI Communications During an Incident Every Two Hours Every Four Hours Every Eight Hours Every Twenty Four Hours 8
Incident Closure Our Engineers will actively contact you either by telephone or email where necessary when resolving a ticket. All communications will be documented within the ticket. If our Engineers do not get a response from you after three attempts at contact, across three separate days, we will set the ticket status to Resolved and you will receive an email notification via Autotask (to the designated email address or distribution group) advising of the resolution notes for that particular incident. Please note that these tickets can be re-opened if your testing proves the issue has not been rectified to your satisfaction. Major Incident Reports Incident reports will be completed and sent out for any major incidents, typically within 10 working days of the incident being resolved. This can be extended depending on the requirement of the reports from our 3rd Party Providers. 9
Escalations GCI appreciate that sometimes you may need to escalate if you require urgent attention to an issue, therefore below we have provided the contact details when escalating a project in fight or require BAU technical support. Project in Flight. BAU Technical Support Project Team Leader Tom Littlewood NOC Team Leader Thomas.littlewood@gcicom.net 0844 443 3538 Rachael Allen Head of Service Delivery Rachael.allen@gcicom.net 07779 120 345 Kevin Eaves Head of Operational Services Kevin.Eaves@gcicom.net 0795 765 0695 Sean Cowan Operations Director Sean.Cowan@gcicom.net 07767 843 749 10
Change Management GCI understand that changes which may impact your business need to be actioned quickly and effectively. The whole purpose of Change Management is to make sure that the change is conducted as a low risk and is executed with minimal impact. In order to be eligible to request any changes, you are required to let GCI know who has permission to raise requests on the behalf of your business. An I.T. Manager (or a position of authority above) will be required to fill out an Authorisation Form. The Authorisation Form will be sent to you from your projects team when your project has completed. The Authorisation Form details which members of your business will receive change notifications from GCI for Outages and Planned Maintenance (partner or GCI). Alternatively you may request an Authorisation Form/Change Request Form from the Technical Support Desk. The Authorisation Form needs to be returned to us via Change.managemen@gcicom.net. To raise a Request for Change (RFC) a RFC Form should be completed and submitted to service.desk@gcicom.net or using the Autotask Self Service Web-Interface. GCI will then assess the change in terms of risk, timescales and to determine any commercial implications of changes which may fall outside the scope of the current service. Following this assessment our Engineers will confirm the planned implementation date. 11
Planned Maintenance GCI aim to deliver a reliable and high performance service at all times. With this objective in mind it is necessary to perform both routine and emergency maintenance on our core infrastructure, as and when necessary. Notifications GCI will aim to notify you of any planned maintenance via email to your nominated email address. If you wish to change the email addresses please resubmit an updated authorisation form to Change.management@gcicom.net. All nominated email addresses will then receive notifications from GCI s Change Management Team. Should you have any questions regarding a specific maintenance activity please direct these via email to Change.management@gcicom.net. GCI aim to provide 5 working days notice for any planned maintenance or changes to your individual circuits on the GCI network that could directly affect you. In some instances GCI cannot pass on 5 working days notice due to emergency engineering works. In these instances GCI will aim to provide as much notice as possible on a best endeavours basis. 12
Cease Request Process When requesting for a site to be ceased GCI need to ensure that all information is captured correctly as this will ensure that the site is successfully removed from all our systems and your billing is amended accordingly. In order to achieve this, please find below the Cease Request Process that you are required to follow. A Cease Request Form may be requested from your Account Manager or Project Team. Documentation Process Comments / Notes Responsibility Cease Request Form Customer to complete the cease request form Customer to complete the cease request form and ensure that all information is captured. Customer Customer to email the cease request form to GCI. Cease@gcicom.net Customer to email the completed request for cease form to GCI. Cease@gcicom.net. Customer The Order Compliance Team receive the request for cease and generate the appropriate information The Order compliance Team receive the request for cease form and generate a cease reference number and assign the cease request to the relevant project team. The Order Compliance Team The Order Compliance Team send the customer an acknowledgement email for each site The Order Compliance Team send out an acknowledgment email advising the customer of their cease reference number and that this has been assigned to a project team who will advise the customer of the next steps within 48 hours. The Order Compliance Team Projects to respond to the customer within 48 hours Projects to respond to the customer with an update on the next steps. Projects Projects to email the customer advising that the cease has been completed Projects to email the customer and confirm that the site has been successfully Ceased by the carrier, from Solarwinds, Autotask and Billing. Projects End 13
Complaints Procedure Whilst we pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional service to our customers, occasionally we may fall short of the high standards we wish to attain. If in any instance you need to make a complaint we want to make it as painless as possible therefore we can accept your feedback by all forms of communication. GCI s Customer Relations Team will respond to your complaint within 24 hours of it being received. A holding letter will be sent through to you and the intention is to resolve your complaint within ten working days of its receipt. If you d prefer to put your feedback in writing please see below our address: Customer Relations GCI Cedar Court Office Park Denby Dale Road Calder Grove Wakefield WF4 3DB Email: customer.relations@gcicom.net Telephone Number: 01924 641 299 Customer Satisfaction Survey As part of our commitment to continuous service improvement we regularly distribute customer satisfaction surveys. This survey supports GCI when improving the overall service that you receive. The survey allows you to feedback on your likes and dislikes of our service delivery and allows GCI to learn where we are exceeding or falling short of your expectations and needs. To measure your feedback with a consistent approach, GCI send out the Customer Satisfaction Survey each quarter. Customer Thermometer As tickets are resolved the Customer Thermometer generates a resolved notification which has an established feedback function allowing you to grade the incident rectification and provide a feedback comment. This allows our Technical Support Desk to monitor and improve service. We respectfully request you take the time to provide this valuable feedback. 14