Ascent Technology support services
Two levels of customer support services help you use the resource allocation, workforce optimization, and workforce management solutions productively and worry-free
For the resource allocation, workforce optimization, and workforce management solutions acquired with a traditional software license, Ascent Technology offers two levels of customer support services, Standard Support Services and Premium Support Services.
For resource allocation, workforce optimization, and workforce management solutions acquired through Hosted services subscriptions, Ascent Technology includes Premium Support Services with the subscription.
What Standard Support Services provides
Standard Support Services provides access to the Ascent Technology customer support team for remote assistance by telephone, email, and a password-protected customer-support website.
- Hours of assistance: Monday–Friday, from 09:00–18:00 Cambridge, MA, time, excluding Ascent holidays
- The expected response time for Severity Level 1 problems is two hours from the time Ascent Technology receives the request for support.
What Premium Support Services provides
Premium Support Services provides access to the Ascent Technology customer support team for remote assistance by telephone, email, and a password-protected customer support website around the clock for critical system problems.
- Hours of assistance for Severity Level 1 problems: 24 hours/day, 7 days/week
- Hours of assistance for noncritical problems: Monday–Friday, from 09:00–18:00 Cambridge, MA, time, excluding Ascent holidays
- The expected response time for Severity Level 1 problems is 30 minutes from the time Ascent Technology receives the request for support.
How to report a problem
When you need assistance with one of Ascent Technology's resource allocation, workforce optimization, and workforce management solutions, first speak with your authorized contact person, who is, typically, the person in your organization that is responsible for the Ascent Technology solutions. Your authorized contact person serves as a point of contact for your organization, aggregating problem reports, helping to assign problem-severity levels, and tracking problem-report resolutions.
When your authorized contact person determines that your problem should be reported to Ascent Technology, in general, he or she:
- Sends a problem report via a telephone call, an e-mail message, or the password-protected customer support website to the Ascent Technology customer support team
- Calls the customer support hotline number, if it is an emergency and your organization has a Premium Support Services agreement.
What happens when your authorized contact person reports a problem to Ascent Technology
When your authorized contact person reports a problem, Ascent Technology logs the problem report in an incident-tracking database and assigns a severity level to it. The incident-tracking database contains a history of all problem reports, including the contents of the report, when the report was made, the name of the person who made the report, and information that can be used to reproduce the problem. Each incident report includes a history of steps Ascent Technology follows to resolve the problem.
Ascent Technology tackles more severe problems before working on less severe problems.
Resolving your problem may involve refreshing your memory about how to operate a certain part of the solution. Other times, Ascent Technology may need to install a software patch on your system to resolve the problem. Real-time repair technology generally makes it possible to fix your system while you continue to do your work.
How Ascent Technology classifies problem-severity levels
| Severity level | Description | Explanation | Response time |
| 1 | Critical | A fault that causes all or most of the solution to fail, leading to a loss of service to all or many users | Premium Support: 30 minutes, 24x7x365. Standard Support: 2 hours, during Ascent Technology's regular business hours* |
| 2 | Major | A fault that causes a portion of the solution to fail, leading to a loss of service to some users. Typically there is no workaround, and the problem could lead to a critical failure if not resolved in a reasonable amount of time | Premium and Standard Support: 4 hours, during Ascent Technology’s regular business hours* |
| 3 | Minor | A fault that causes a minor portion of the solution to fail, which may typically have a work-around procedure, and does not impede most users in their ability to perform their jobs | Premium and Standard Support: 24 hours, during Ascent Technology’s regular business hours* |
| 4 | Request | A request for a CD, documentation, or an explanation of product functionality | Premium and Standard Support: confirmation of receipt of your request within one day; delivery of CD, documentation, or explanation of product functionality within two days |
* Ascent Technology's regular business hours are Monday through Friday, 09:00–18:00 Cambridge, MA, USA, time, excluding Ascent holidays.