Support
(587) 745-0366
Business Cyber security
SUPPORT POLICY
1. DEFINITIONS & INTERPRETATIONS
Any capitalized terms are set forth in the Agreement, or are defined below in this Policy:
“Agreement” means the Managed Services Agreement between us and you.
“Rate Schedule” means the schedule of rates, charges, and conditions for the services of ours as set, and as may be varied, by us from time to time in our absolute discretion.
“Response Time” Response Time is measured as the difference between the time We are first notified of a New Service Request and the time that we start providing Service on the Service Request. We do not count any triage, scheduling or dispatch work when calculating Response Times.
“Services” means the provision of any support services by us including work, advice, and recommendations.
“Service Request” means any request for work that either you ask us to perform, or we perform proactively on your behalf.
“Software” includes software and any installation, update, associated software, and any services provided in connection with any of these things.
2. OUR RESPONSE TIME OBJECTIVE
We agree to respond to your Service Requests within the maximum time frames set out in this Policy.
If the response time to an incident exceeds the times set out in this Policy and provided that you reported the incident to us via the mandated methods, then our internal tools will indicate an SLA timer breach and escalation will be triggered internally.
If the support request is lodged outside our business hours, then our Response Time Objective does not apply. We will still work on your Service Request as fast as possible, however it will be on the basis of our commercially reasonable efforts.
Response Times are calculated as per the definition in this Policy. Response Times are objectives based on maximum times to respond to a Service Request.
Please see below for a list of the types of Service Requests that our Response Time commitments do not apply to.
3. SERVICE REQUEST PRIORITIES
We classify Service Request priorities as shown below. These priorities tie directly in with our Response Time Objective to provide you with information about how quickly we will respond to your issues.
If you require a Service Request that would normally be classed as a High, Medium, or Low priority to be escalated and remediated as a Critical Priority – then You can request for an “Emergency Upgrade.” Please see our Rate Schedule for more information on “Emergency Upgrades.”
The final decision on classifying the priority of an issue will be made by our responding technician or our technical service dispatcher.
4. WHAT’S COVERED
As part of this Policy, we endeavour to include the day-to-day IT support items that are typically required to run a typical business technology baseline infrastructure.
You can see a list of all the items we will cover below. It is important to note that anything not included in the support list is explicitly excluded from this Policy, and will be billed at our normal rates as found on our Rate Schedule. From time to time, we may provide support for items not explicitly included the support list without charge – however we will do this at our sole discretion.
5. WHAT’S NOT COVERED
Issues or requests that produce a significant change to your systems, network or physical setup are not included. These are considered projects and are outside the scope of the ‘Desktop Managed’ agreement. We will notify You if a project is out of Alt-Tech’s scope of work. If a project is out of scope, We will provide you with a detailed scope of work and a quote for estimated cost to see it completed. Timelines for our projects are determined by Us. Given the nature of our work, we may recommend a project to you. If your organization decides against one of our recommendations – your primary contact will be required to acknowledge any risks that may be associated by not completing the project and Alt-Tech will not be held responsible for on-going issues or security risks. Please see “Your Responsibilities.”
Examples of services that are not included:
- Physically moving equipment
- For example: if you determine to move locations, we will ask that you move all hardware. ALT-Tech can assist with the re-install of the network stack as required.
- Net New software installation
- For example: new Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) or Enterprise Health Records Software (EHR).
- Major hardware repair (unless covered by warranty)
- For example: motherboard, power supply and graphics cards
- Major software installation or upgrades for more than 5 workstations
- Major data restoration
- For example: complete server restores or multiple folder recoveries due to client error
- Disaster recovery due to hardware failure, water/fire damage or theft
- Office365 Migrations
- Offboarding Documentation & Collaboration
6. ABOUT TIERED SUPPORT
To understand how we respond to your support requests, it is important to know how our support team is structured. Our technicians fall under one of four tiers:
TIER 1 – Desktop support technicians are the first level of support. These team members answer all initial requests for support and assist with troubleshooting and resolve approximately 85% of your requests. All end users will work with our Tier 1 technicians for at least 1 hour unless the technician or Alt-Tech’s management team determine otherwise.
TIER 2 – Our tier 2 technicians handle support requests that have taken our Tier 1 technicians more than one hour to resolve. They deal with tickets on a first in, first out basis that is determined by urgency. Upon request, our tier 2 technicians are also able to schedule calls at a time that is convenient for the end user to resolve on-going issues.
TIER 3 – Server and network support engineers work in our Network Operations Center (NOC) and spend most of their time proactively monitoring and resolving backend issues on your network. They support tier 1 and 2 technicians as needed.
TIER 4 – The final point of escalation is to the field engineers. These individuals have the highest level of training and most refined skill set. They handle all requests that the first three tiers of support are unable to resolve in addition to all requests involving onsite work.
*Bypassing these support methods may cause delays or non-responsiveness to technical issues.
7. AFTER HOURS AND ON-CALL SUPPORT
For all after hours and on-call support, our hourly rate is $120 per hour. We will notify you if this rate changes. This is billed in 15-minute increments and is not part of your desktop managed contract. Our on-call technicians will review your request to determine if it is considered a “critical” request, if they determine that it is critical – they will reach out to you. If not, our first available technician will reach out to you the next business day.
Our technicians on-call hours are as follows:
Friday: 5 pm – 10 pm
Saturday: 8 am – 10 pm
Sunday: 8 am – 10 pm
8. LODGING OF SERVICE REQUESTS
The process for lodging Service Requests is as follows:
- CLIENT PORTAL – The best and fastest way to submit a ticket is via our client portal. This allows us to log information from your device (such as device name and IP address) so our technicians can begin troubleshooting prior to calling an end user.
- EMAIL: SUPPORT@ALT-TECH.CA – Emailing our support team automatically creates a ticket for you in our ticketing system. These are processed in the order they are received and should be limited to low- to medium-priority issues.
- TELEPHONE: 780-800-0046 – Calls are answered in the order in which they are received. We ask that this phone number is used for critical requests only. If our dispatcher is unavailable, please leave a detailed voicemail. Failing to leave a detailed voicemail can result in a delayed response. Your voicemail should include:
-
- Company Name
- Your First and Last Name
- Your Phone Number
- Details on the problem you are experiencing.
Critical Priority Service Requests must be lodged via phone only otherwise our Response Time Guarantee will only be applicable at our High and Medium priority level for these.
It is important you and your team follow this process to ensure you are guaranteed to receive the support at the levels we have promised.
You agree to make sure your team is aware of any restrictions you have in place regarding who is authorised to lodge Service Requests, as all requests received by us will be chargeable and/ or allocated against this Agreement.
9. ANTICIPATED RESPONSE TIMES & PRIORITY LEVELS
The following table shows the Anticipated Response times for each priority level and provides priority level examples.
|
PRIORITY |
EXAMPLES |
ANTICIPATED |
|
Critical |
Your Main Server is offline, and all users are unable to work. |
1 Hour |
|
One of your Network Switches has failed and stopped half the company from working. |
||
|
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) link between 2 x offices is offline causing one office to be unable to work. |
||
|
High |
Your Internet Connection is offline, users can still work locally |
2 Hours |
|
Your CEO’s computer has stopped working |
||
|
Your main Accounting Software has stopped working |
||
|
Medium |
A user’s desktop will not turn on so they cannot work |
4 – 6 Hours |
|
One of the main printers is not working, but users can print to another one |
||
|
A user is having problems connecting to the Wireless network |
||
|
Low |
Printing is slower than normal |
8 Hours |
|
A single user is unable to scan |
||
|
A user needs a program installed on their PC |
||
|
No Priority |
Pro-Active maintenance of systems |
N/A |
RESPONSE TIME ANTICIPATED EXCLUSION LIST
The Response Time commitments and our support obligations do not apply to:
- Additions, moves or changes to users, devices, configurations, or network
- Issues lodged in any other manner than specified in this Policy and our Agreement
- Issues lodged outside our Business Hours
- Items caused by Hardware or Software not meeting our Minimum Standards
- Service Requests related to Software not on our Approved Software List
- Service Requests for issues that have been caused by you not acting on advice or recommendations given by us
- Service Requests for Issues caused by You or third parties modifying any Hardware or Software Configuration
- Service Requests for issues related to user-initiated Virus and Malware Infections
- Service Requests for Issues involving the sourcing of hardware/software
- Service Requests for Hardware and Software issues of items that are not under current warranty or maintenance coverage
- Alt-Tech does not provide training for Supported Software or Supported Hardware.
- Support does not include use case or business process development, test case development, training, application development or system design, implementation, installation or data recovery;
- Support does not include Upgrades. Customer is responsible for obtaining valid paid-up third-party licenses required to access any Upgrades.
- Alt-Tech does not provide technical support for Customer’s clients.
- This Support Policy does not apply to:
- Any problems or issues caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external cause;
- Any problems or issues arising with supported software or supported hardware from service performed by anyone who is not an authorized service provider;
- Any problems or issues that could be resolved by upgrading software to the then current version;
- Installation, removal or disposal of any hardware or equipment, or the provision of replacement hardware or equipment;
- Any “beta” or “prerelease” software;
- Third-party web browsers, email applications, and Internet service provider software
- Recovery and reinstallation of software programs and user data;
This Policy is subject to the Agreement.
End of Terms
1. DEFINITIONS & INTERPRETATIONS
Any capitalized terms are set forth in the Agreement, or are defined below in this Policy:
“Agreement” means the Managed Services Agreement between us and you.
“Rate Schedule” means the schedule of rates, charges, and conditions for the services of ours as set, and as may be varied, by us from time to time in our absolute discretion.
“Response Time” Response Time is measured as the difference between the time We are first notified of a New Service Request and the time that we start providing Service on the Service Request. We do not count any triage, scheduling or dispatch work when calculating Response Times.
“Services” means the provision of any support services by us including work, advice, and recommendations.
“Service Request” means any request for work that either you ask us to perform, or we perform proactively on your behalf.
“Software” includes software and any installation, update, associated software, and any services provided in connection with any of these things.
2. OUR RESPONSE TIME OBJECTIVE
We agree to respond to your Service Requests within the maximum time frames set out in this Policy.
If the response time to an incident exceeds the times set out in this Policy and provided that you reported the incident to us via the mandated methods, then our internal tools will indicate an SLA timer breach and escalation will be triggered internally.
If the support request is lodged outside our business hours, then our Response Time Objective does not apply. We will still work on your Service Request as fast as possible, however it will be on the basis of our commercially reasonable efforts.
Response Times are calculated as per the definition in this Policy. Response Times are objectives based on maximum times to respond to a Service Request.
Please see below for a list of the types of Service Requests that our Response Time commitments do not apply to.
3. SERVICE REQUEST PRIORITIES
We classify Service Request priorities as shown below. These priorities tie directly in with our Response Time Objective to provide you with information about how quickly we will respond to your issues.
If you require a Service Request that would normally be classed as a High, Medium, or Low priority to be escalated and remediated as a Critical Priority – then You can request for an “Emergency Upgrade.” Please see our Rate Schedule for more information on “Emergency Upgrades.”
The final decision on classifying the priority of an issue will be made by our responding technician or our technical service dispatcher.
4. WHAT’S COVERED
As part of this Policy, we endeavour to include the day-to-day IT support items that are typically required to run a typical business technology baseline infrastructure.
You can see a list of all the items we will cover below. It is important to note that anything not included in the support list is explicitly excluded from this Policy, and will be billed at our normal rates as found on our Rate Schedule. From time to time, we may provide support for items not explicitly included the support list without charge – however we will do this at our sole discretion.
5. WHAT’S NOT COVERED
Issues or requests that produce a significant change to your systems, network or physical setup are not included. These are considered projects and are outside the scope of the ‘Desktop Managed’ agreement. We will notify You if a project is out of Alt-Tech’s scope of work. If a project is out of scope, We will provide you with a detailed scope of work and a quote for estimated cost to see it completed. Timelines for our projects are determined by Us. Given the nature of our work, we may recommend a project to you. If your organization decides against one of our recommendations – your primary contact will be required to acknowledge any risks that may be associated by not completing the project and Alt-Tech will not be held responsible for on-going issues or security risks. Please see “Your Responsibilities.”
Examples of services that are not included:
- Physically moving equipment
- For example: if you determine to move locations, we will ask that you move all hardware. ALT-Tech can assist with the re-install of the network stack as required.
- Net New software installation
- For example: new Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP) or Enterprise Health Records Software (EHR).
- Major hardware repair (unless covered by warranty)
- For example: motherboard, power supply and graphics cards
- Major software installation or upgrades for more than 5 workstations
- Major data restoration
- For example: complete server restores or multiple folder recoveries due to client error
- Disaster recovery due to hardware failure, water/fire damage or theft
- Office365 Migrations
- Offboarding Documentation & Collaboration
6. ABOUT TIERED SUPPORT
To understand how we respond to your support requests, it is important to know how our support team is structured. Our technicians fall under one of four tiers:
TIER 1 – Desktop support technicians are the first level of support. These team members answer all initial requests for support and assist with troubleshooting and resolve approximately 85% of your requests. All end users will work with our Tier 1 technicians for at least 1 hour unless the technician or Alt-Tech’s management team determine otherwise.
TIER 2 – Our tier 2 technicians handle support requests that have taken our Tier 1 technicians more than one hour to resolve. They deal with tickets on a first in, first out basis that is determined by urgency. Upon request, our tier 2 technicians are also able to schedule calls at a time that is convenient for the end user to resolve on-going issues.
TIER 3 – Server and network support engineers work in our Network Operations Center (NOC) and spend most of their time proactively monitoring and resolving backend issues on your network. They support tier 1 and 2 technicians as needed.
TIER 4 – The final point of escalation is to the field engineers. These individuals have the highest level of training and most refined skill set. They handle all requests that the first three tiers of support are unable to resolve in addition to all requests involving onsite work.
*Bypassing these support methods may cause delays or non-responsiveness to technical issues.
7. AFTER HOURS AND ON-CALL SUPPORT
For all after hours and on-call support, our hourly rate is $120 per hour. We will notify you if this rate changes. This is billed in 15-minute increments and is not part of your desktop managed contract. Our on-call technicians will review your request to determine if it is considered a “critical” request, if they determine that it is critical – they will reach out to you. If not, our first available technician will reach out to you the next business day.
Our technicians on-call hours are as follows:
Friday: 5 pm – 10 pm
Saturday: 8 am – 10 pm
Sunday: 8 am – 10 pm
8. LODGING OF SERVICE REQUESTS
The process for lodging Service Requests is as follows:
- CLIENT PORTAL – The best and fastest way to submit a ticket is via our client portal. This allows us to log information from your device (such as device name and IP address) so our technicians can begin troubleshooting prior to calling an end user.
- EMAIL: SUPPORT@ALT-TECH.CA – Emailing our support team automatically creates a ticket for you in our ticketing system. These are processed in the order they are received and should be limited to low- to medium-priority issues.
- TELEPHONE: 780-800-0046 – Calls are answered in the order in which they are received. We ask that this phone number is used for critical requests only. If our dispatcher is unavailable, please leave a detailed voicemail. Failing to leave a detailed voicemail can result in a delayed response. Your voicemail should include:
-
- Company Name
- Your First and Last Name
- Your Phone Number
- Details on the problem you are experiencing.
Critical Priority Service Requests must be lodged via phone only otherwise our Response Time Guarantee will only be applicable at our High and Medium priority level for these.
It is important you and your team follow this process to ensure you are guaranteed to receive the support at the levels we have promised.
You agree to make sure your team is aware of any restrictions you have in place regarding who is authorised to lodge Service Requests, as all requests received by us will be chargeable and/ or allocated against this Agreement.
9. ANTICIPATED RESPONSE TIMES & PRIORITY LEVELS
The following table shows the Anticipated Response times for each priority level and provides priority level examples.
|
PRIORITY |
EXAMPLES |
ANTICIPATED |
|
Critical |
Your Main Server is offline, and all users are unable to work. |
1 Hour |
|
One of your Network Switches has failed and stopped half the company from working. |
||
|
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) link between 2 x offices is offline causing one office to be unable to work. |
||
|
High |
Your Internet Connection is offline, users can still work locally |
2 Hours |
|
Your CEO’s computer has stopped working |
||
|
Your main Accounting Software has stopped working |
||
|
Medium |
A user’s desktop will not turn on so they cannot work |
4 – 6 Hours |
|
One of the main printers is not working, but users can print to another one |
||
|
A user is having problems connecting to the Wireless network |
||
|
Low |
Printing is slower than normal |
8 Hours |
|
A single user is unable to scan |
||
|
A user needs a program installed on their PC |
||
|
No Priority |
Pro-Active maintenance of systems |
N/A |
RESPONSE TIME ANTICIPATED EXCLUSION LIST
The Response Time commitments and our support obligations do not apply to:
- Additions, moves or changes to users, devices, configurations, or network
- Issues lodged in any other manner than specified in this Policy and our Agreement
- Issues lodged outside our Business Hours
- Items caused by Hardware or Software not meeting our Minimum Standards
- Service Requests related to Software not on our Approved Software List
- Service Requests for issues that have been caused by you not acting on advice or recommendations given by us
- Service Requests for Issues caused by You or third parties modifying any Hardware or Software Configuration
- Service Requests for issues related to user-initiated Virus and Malware Infections
- Service Requests for Issues involving the sourcing of hardware/software
- Service Requests for Hardware and Software issues of items that are not under current warranty or maintenance coverage
- Alt-Tech does not provide training for Supported Software or Supported Hardware.
- Support does not include use case or business process development, test case development, training, application development or system design, implementation, installation or data recovery;
- Support does not include Upgrades. Customer is responsible for obtaining valid paid-up third-party licenses required to access any Upgrades.
- Alt-Tech does not provide technical support for Customer’s clients.
- This Support Policy does not apply to:
- Any problems or issues caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external cause;
- Any problems or issues arising with supported software or supported hardware from service performed by anyone who is not an authorized service provider;
- Any problems or issues that could be resolved by upgrading software to the then current version;
- Installation, removal or disposal of any hardware or equipment, or the provision of replacement hardware or equipment;
- Any “beta” or “prerelease” software;
- Third-party web browsers, email applications, and Internet service provider software
- Recovery and reinstallation of software programs and user data;
This Policy is subject to the Agreement.
End of Terms