363-206-305
About This Document
lxvi
Issue 3 June 2000
Customer Technical Support (CTS)
CTS is available through a toll-free technical assistance number. Lucent maintains
a highly-skilled, multi-tier support structure consisting of regional engineers,
product specialists, and system designers to support your network equipment. All
levels of technical expertise may be called upon to solve the customer problem
(refer to Figure 3).
The CTS organization provides remote, diagnostic support. On-site assistance is
available on a billable contract or time and material basis. Support services may
include the following activities:
â–
Responding to all requests for assistance
â–
Tracking and maintaining visible ownership of all reported problems, from
inception through resolution
â–
Analyzing and diagnosing reported problems
â–
Providing restoration and recovery service
â–
Providing preventive and/or circumvention measures
â–
Communicating the actions, plans, and problem status to the reporting
customer
â–
Initiating action to establish Modification Requests (MRs) for design issues
â–
Writing and distributing technical bulletins (Urgent Problem Notification).
CTS services are available on a contract basis in three levels to meet varying
customer needs: Preferred, Standard, and Basic Agreements. The Preferred level
of support guarantees 24 x 7 (24 hour, 7 day-a-week) coverage of the customer’s
network. Guaranteed performance commitments for response, service
restoration, and problem resolution times are validated by published Service
Performance Reports. The Standard level of support guarantees 8 x 5 (8 hour, 5
day-a-week) coverage. Performance commitments are also validated by Service
Performance Reports. Out-of-hours support is available for an additional fee. The
Basic level of support guarantees 8 x 5 coverage with hourly billing for each
support call. Out-of-hours coverage is available with additional fees.
When the customer experiences a problem, the initial point of contact within
Lucent is the Regional Technical Assistance Center (RTAC). RTAC is divided into
three regions covering North America: region East (includes Canada), region
South, and region West. They can be reached by calling 1-800-CAL-RTAC (1-800-
225-7822). Lucent works with the customer to define the problem and determine
its severity. Problems are worked during the customer’s contracted coverage
period. By prior agreement, service-affecting problems are worked immediately
regardless of contracted coverage with billing reconciliation if required. Acting as a
single point of contact with the customer, the RTAC engineer will involve all
necessary tiers of support to solve the customer problem.