Introduction

The objective of this Support Manual is to describe the key processes involved in managing, handling, and dealing with incidents (both service impacting and non-service impacting), information requests, the related case journey, and the demarcation between customer responsibilities and those of Expereo for services like Global Internet and SD-WAN. This Support Manual is a dynamic document and may be subject to periodic reviews and adjustments by Expereo. Customers will be informed accordingly. None of the information within this document should be construed as legally binding.

Accuracy of Data

Expereo relies on its customers for the information necessary to provide its services in an accurate and timely manner. As such, the Customer has sole responsibility for ensuring that all information provided to Expereo is accurate. The Customer has the continuing obligation to ensure that all information provided to Expereo is kept up to date on an ongoing basis. Expereo will not be responsible for delays, errors, or omissions when the Customer provides inaccurate or incomplete information.

Support Overview

Support Type & Journey

Expereo provides proactive Ssupport for managing Incidents and Reactive Support for managing incidents as well as Requests/Queries from Customer.

Proactive Support & Case Journey

Expereo offers proactive support for Customer services i.e. an option to monitor the Network device. Expereo has an NMS that automatically creates a Case when it loses contact with the Network Termination Unit (NTU) facilitating Internet access. The benefit of proactive support is that an Expereo team monitors, detects, analyzes and works towards restoring the service, sometimes even without the Customer knowing they have an issue. The following shows the proactive support & case journey:

Detection & Case creation

When the Expereo NMS detects the internet is down for at least 10 minutes, it automatically generates a Case and assigns it to the Expereo Support team for their analysis and action. The actions performed during the next stages of the case handling journey are similar in both proactive and reactive cases. These steps are described in detail below

Reactive Support & Case journey

Customers can connect with Expereo Support when they encounter an Incident (Service impacting), or have a Request/Query. The following shows the Reactive Support & Case Journey:

Report an incident or Raise a query

Customers may report an Incident (Service impacting) or Query/Request (General Request) with regards to Expereo services and a Support team will open a related “Case” for the issue. Customers can report an incident or raise a query via one of the following channels:

1. Email - Customers send an email reporting an incident or asking a query.
2. Support Center - Customers call into one of Expereo’s Support Centers.
3. Portal / Exereo.One - Customers report the Incident or ask a query via the Expereo.One customer portal.

When reporting an incident, the Customer is required to perform some pre-checks and provide as much information as possible. See snapshot below:

You can find information on how to create a case and report an incident in the following article: How can I contact Expereo Support?

Case Creation

After Expereo Support receives the Incident request or query, a Case is created and a unique Case reference is shared with the Customer. The timelines for Case creation and the provision of a Case reference is as follows:

1. Portal / API - Upon the successful submission of the incident information for a particular order in the Expereo.One platform
2. Email - Immediately when the Customer’s email is received
3. Support Center- Upon completion of a customer-initiated call to the Expereo Support team.

Customers will receive the Case reference and updates by email. Customers will also have the possibility to track the progress of the case and its resolution via the Expereo.One portal. Regardless of how a Case is opened, the Customer will receive an initial response within 30 minutes after a Case is created. The Time-to-Repair (TTR) SLA target is listed on the Service Order Form and is unique to the location and type of service offered.

Analyze, Update Customer & Solve incident

After a Case has been created/opened, it will be assigned to a Case Manager (CM) who will analyze the incident (i.e., by using Expereo’s network management tools and interfacing with the LPoC and related Supplier(s) when required).

The assigned support case manager will execute the required actions for resolving the incident. The support case manager will follow up with the Supplier(s) on a regular basis until the incident is solved. Depending on the type of fault, a senior support engineer may also be involved. The support case manager will update the Customer periodically according to the timeline set out when the Case was opened. Customers can, in line with the escalation matrix, escalate issues to a higher-level Expereo contact listed in the Escalation Matrix below. The update frequency is set at the time a Case is opened and will depend on the type of outage and the urgency to the customer. The Support team will engage with relevant contacts (Customer, Supplier, etc.) and work closely with them until the incident is resolved.

Case Closure

Upon incident resolution, the Customer will be informed that their incident is “solved” and the next step will be to monitor the order/circuit for stability and ensure complete restoration of the service (depending on the severity of the incident) before the Case is closed. The monitoring will be done as follows:

• P1 Incident: Monitoring for 24 hours after the case is declared "Solved"
• P2 Incident: Monitoring for 72 hours after the case is declared "Solved"

During the monitoring period, if the issue does not reappear and there are no further Customer concerns, the case will be marked as “Closed”. The customer will also be provided with an RFO (depending on the type of Incident) before Case closure. Once a Case is closed, the Support team will no longer be able to work on, or reopen the Case. Should the issue reappear after a Case is closed, a new Case will be created by the Support team to work on and the Case Reference will be shared with the Customer.

Support Parameters

Below is a summary of the Expereo Support parameters:

Depending on the Case type created and nature/subject of the incident or query, the Expereo Support team will assign a Case priority, as shown in the table below:

Please note:
1) Once a Case is opened, an email from Expereo with the Case reference is sent to the Customer. It is essential to use this particular email string/trail to communicate with Expereo; if this is not done, another case may get opened automatically, which will delay responses to the original Case.
2) For activation requests, an engineer dispatch Expereo team will need prior notification of 24-48 hours to align resources.

Roles and Responsibilities

Escalation Matrix

The Escalation Matrix, Expereo’s escalation process, is somewhat unique. As opposed to simply agreeing to pre-set values, we want to give our customers the ability to escalate issues if the actions and timeline committed to by Expereo when a Case is opened, are not met. An example is that if a Case states, “we will give you an update in 30 minutes” and you do not get an update in that time, you can escalate the case. Another example is “we will have an engineer on site in less than 2 hours”. If it takes longer, you can escalate. Also, as opposed to having multiple email addresses, all escalation emails are to be sent to support@expereo.com.

TIP: The support Escalation Matrix and the relevant phone numbers to call can be found in our expereo.one portal

Announced Maintenance Notice

In case Expereo needs to perform Maintenance across its network or Expereo is notified by a Supplier that they will perform Maintenance activities, Expereo will notify its Customers. Expereo shall endeavor to give Customers at least fourteen (14) days’ notice of any Announced Maintenance event.

Emergency Maintenance

In case Expereo needs to perform Emergency Maintenance across its network, or Expereo is notified by a Supplier that Emergency Maintenance needs to be executed, Expereo will notify its Customer as soon as practically possible.