Services Guide Technical Services Delivery Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Technical Services Delivery Guide for Partners Content 2 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only In This Services Guide… Page Introduction and How to Use this Guide 3 The Cisco Technical Services Organization Customer Interaction Network Planning, Design and Implementation Help Desk Technical Assistance Center Cisco Support Website Service Supply Chain Delivery Customer Assurance Product and Supportability Engineering 4 4 5 6 6 6 7 7 Managing a Service Request from Issue to Close Opening a Service Request Verifying Entitlement Assigning a Severity Level Initial Contact with a Customer Service Request Escalation Customer or Partner Driven Escalation Communicating Updates to the Customer or Partner Closing the Service Request 8 8 8 9 10 11 11 12 12 Deploying Parts and Services as Part of the Service Request The Role of Service Supply Chain Delivery Service Levels Available to the Customer Depot Stocking Process and Parts Fulfilment by Original Equipment Manufacturers Dead on Arrival Process 13 13 14 14 15 15 How Customers and Partners Can Make the Most of the Cisco Support Website for Tools and Resources Download Software Tool Software Advisor Bug Toolkit Output Interpreter Training Communities Cisco Technical Support Newsletter Industry Awards 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 18 19 Further Information 20 Services Guide Introduction and How to Use this Guide This guide has been designed for Cisco® partners to enhance their knowledge about the Technical Services organization and how it delivers support, including what customers can expect when they are sold a Technical Services contract. This guide is divided into four sections: • The Cisco Technical Services Organization • Managing a Service Request from Issue to Close • Deploying Parts and Services as Part of the Service Request • How Customers and Partners Can Make the Most of the Cisco Support Website for Tools and Resources Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 3 The Cisco Technical Services Organization The Technical Services organization is made up of several teams who work transparently together to provide end-to-end support to customers and partners (Figure 1). In this section we will look at the responsibilities of the individual teams and the part they play in the wider process. Legend Blue TS Functions visible to customers and partners Grey TS Functions with which customers and partners do not directly interact PSE TAC Service Request Tool PDI Help Desk Business Units and/or Manufacturing Product Improvement Cisco Support Website Customer Paths Online Technical Resources Cisco Live SSCD (Service Logistics) TAC Toll free numbers Customer Assurance CIN tac@cisco.com Live Customer Contact Figure 1 The Technical Services Delivery Process Live Engineer Support Service Request Closed Parts and Field Services Exception or Critical Account Support Customer Interaction Network The Customer Interaction Network (CIN) is one gateway to Cisco Technical Support. This function helps Technical Services provide a globally consistent interaction experience for Cisco “entitled” customers, partners, and employees with effective firstcontact problem resolution or efficient second-level support. If the issue is administrative in nature, Customer Interaction Network agents will resolve the customer’s issue, or forward the issue to the appropriate Cisco team for resolution. If the issue is technical in nature, agents verify that the customer is entitled (using the correct Service Contract) to technical support, and will forward a service request to the Cisco TAC for resolution. 4 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide The Customer Interaction Network is also responsible for the special handling of customers Cisco has inherited as a result of acquisition. During the acquisition integration period, the agent will work with the customer to assist in continuance of service. In some cases, this will involve granting entitlement to technical support. In addition, the Customer Interaction Network is the first point of customer interaction for customers using Cisco Live, web collaboration, and for calls to Cisco main phone numbers in the US, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. In those locations, agents help callers navigate through Cisco’s website and organizational structure to find the information, people and tools that can best address their needs. Planning Design and Implementation Help Desk The Planning, Design and Implementation (PDI) Help Desk addresses the need for additional support required by Cisco Unified Communications Specialized Partners in the complex tasks of Planning, Design and Implementation of Unified Communications and Unified Contact Center solutions. Qualified Partners have access to a dedicated team of engineers focused on Unified Communications design and deployment principals and best practices. By working with partners to address issues in the early stages of Unified Communications deployments, all parties benefit from a smoother project lifecycle, productivity gains and a reduction of operational issues once the solution is in production. Customers will receive higher-quality solutions and increased satisfaction from their voice implementations and designs. As the program name indicates, the PDI Help Desk should be contacted for preproduction (Planning, Design or Implementation) issues that are not network or business impacting. The service is in place to assist Unified Communications Specialized Partners in bringing customer systems up and into production, so that customer sign-off can occur. Once customer sign-off is obtained, a Cisco service contract should be in place and the TAC can then assist with post-production or operational issues. Since the support offered by Cisco PDI Help Desk is for pre-production issues and not operational network outages, 24 x 7 support is not as critical as it is for the Cisco TAC. PDI Help Desk support is offered during the extended business hours of 7am to 6pm Monday - Friday in any given time-zone worldwide, and can be obtained by opening a case online at www.cisco.com/go/pdihelpdesk or calling the CIN. The PDI Help Desk is a service offering specifically for Cisco’s Partners holding a qualifying Unified Communications or related ‘Technology Specialization’. Support from the PDI Help Desk requires that partners hold one or more of the following specializations: • Advanced Unified Communications • Express Unified Communications • SMB Specialization • ATP CVP • ATP Unified Contact Center Enterprise • ATP Rich Media • ATP Telepresence Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 5 Technical Assistance Center Spotlight on TAC Engineers The Cisco TAC provides customers with access to 24x7 technical expertise by worldwide teams of highly trained Cisco customer support engineers. • Located globally, of which 450+ are CCIE® professionals The main responsibilities for TAC engineers are: • Access to 10,000 field engineers worldwide • Creating diagnostic tools for customer self help and rapid Customer Interaction Network agent reference • Supported by 3000 development engineers • Continuous internal technical training and rotation • Trained in KepnerTregoe analytical troubleshooting methodology • Successful resolution of all customer service requests • Building and distributing content for the knowledge base to share service request solutions • Maintaining state of the art TAC Lab facilities worldwide for testing and replication of issues • Working closely with business unit Design Engineers to resolve product defects (bugs) • Working with Service Supply Chain Delivery (SSCD) on service requests where replacement parts or on-site service is required, capturing and providing service request data to the appropriate Business Unit • Providing technical content for the Cisco Support Website that TAC engineers, and anyone who has access to Cisco.com, use as a resource to resolve issues. Cisco Support Website With a service contract customers and partners are able to use the award-winning tools and technical resources available at the Cisco Support Website. This Website enables customers to resolve their own issues by using some of the same tools and technical resources as Cisco TAC engineers. The self-service option saves time and money, allows faster case resolution, and provides lower administrative costs. It also helps the customer improve productivity by enabling higher network availability and improving staff competency with technical knowledge transfer. TAC engineers provide much of the content and use the Cisco Support Website as a resource when providing phone support. Depending on the severity level assigned, the CIN might refer customers to the Cisco. com knowledge base first. More detail about the Cisco Support Website and how customers can make the most of the available tools and resources is covered in the final section of this guide. Service Supply Chain Delivery Service Supply Chain Delivery (also known as SSCD or service logistics) is responsible for replacing parts and providing onsite field service for Cisco customers, services that continually exceed customer expectations for product replacement and network availability. SSCD oversees the worldwide supply chain for: • Service parts • Field Engineers • Logistics • Inventory planning • Repair 6 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide • Asset recovery • Vendor-supplier relationships • And field engineer training and development This function also supports Shared Support and SMARTspares service contracts as well as SMARTnet and SMARTnet Onsite services. The SSCD delivers flexible, responsive parts replacement and onsite field services that help to enable maximum network uptime and stability for the customer. It has a network of more than 900 service depots worldwide and thousands of Field Engineers on call. Customer Assurance The Customer Assurance team supports a customer’s ability to absorb current products and future technologies; providing services that protect customers’ infrastructure investments while positioning them to leverage future industry trends and direction. The Customer Assurance team helps to ensure that Cisco aims at both customer satisfaction and industry leadership by ensuring executive level attention, especially for critical situations. Customer Assurance’s functions are performed globally and include: • Crisis response management • Supporting customer success • Supporting emerging and advanced technology readiness • Protecting customer infrastructure through actionable security intelligence and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) Signatures In addition, the CA Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) manages the investigation, resolution and public disclosure of security vulnerability information. Product and Supportability Engineering The Product and Support Engineering (PSE) team’s primary areas of responsibility are capturing and analyzing product and customer experience data that is used to continuously improve Cisco products, and participating in establishing the readiness of new products. PSE works with the Business Units using customer experience information from the Cisco TAC, SSCD, and Customer Assurance to enhance Cisco products. PSE is also responsible for approving first customer shipment, coordinating with Customer Assurance on new product special requirements, providing information for SSCD regarding appropriate stocking requirements and shipping estimates and driving the Product Supportability Initiative to facilitate continuous product and solution improvement from symptom to solution. Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 7 Managing a Service Request from Issue to Close Opening a Service Request In order to receive technical support, a customer or partner must first open a service request (Figure 2). Customers or partners registered on the Cisco.com website can open a service request by email, phone, or through the online Cisco TAC Service Request Tool on Cisco.com. Local TAC Access Number Cisco TAC Service Request Tool Routing, Switching & Architecture Wireless Direct Security, Network Management CDN E-mail tac@cisco.com Phone www.cisco.com/warp/ public/687/Directory/ DirTAC.shtml Customer Interaction Network (CIN) • • • • Svc Request Handling Service Level Severity Tech Description Contact Details Live Handoff E-mail Reply or Call Back IP Telephony, Multiservice Voice, Voice - Signalling Development Teams www.cisco.com/ techsupport/ servicerequest BB / Access Optical / ATM IBM / SAN Technologies Figure 2: Opening a Service Request After the service request has been opened, the process can begin of engaging the correct teams to push the case toward final resolution. The TAC relies on the CIN team to handle all incoming telephone and e-mail messages and to answer and dispatch calls. When an e-mail or call is received by the CIN, the agent verifies entitlement, opens a service request, then discusses and sets the priority with the customer or partner. When appropriate, the CIN dispatches service requests to a series of technical response teams. Either the CIN transfers the caller live over the phone, or the caller will receive an e-mail reply or a callback. Verifying Entitlement Before the service request is passed on to the TAC, entitlement must be verified. Entitlement is the set of privileges customers and partners receive when purchasing a Cisco product or service agreement. These privileges determine the guidelines and boundaries for the services Cisco will provide, such as: 8 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide • Advanced hardware replacement • Access to the TAC • Cisco Support Website access • Software downloads The Cisco product warranty is standard with product purchase and provides entitlement for hardware parts replacement. The Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) and Field Engineering post notices and information that notify customers of issues that might require some sort of corrective action. To access the PSIRT Website, click here. Verifying entitlement is important because Cisco loses approximately four hundred dollars for every nonentitled service order that is shipped, and premium-level service orders can be double that cost. After entitlement is verified by using the Cisco.com ID or contract number, the customer will be handed to a Cisco support engineer to help resolve the issue. To help ensure entitlement functionality performs correctly when accessing technical services online, it is important each Cisco.com user ID is proactively associated with all of the appropriate service support contracts. Contact your account team to get the full list of appropriate support contracts. Check to see which contracts are associated with your profile or request additional contracts be associated with your profile by clicking here. For Shared Support and Collaborative Service Partners, there should be no more than five contracts associated using the process described above. Select the contracts with the latest expiration date or the contracts that are most likely to be renewed. After associating up to five contracts using the process described above, you will be able to dynamically associate the rest of your contracts by using the My Colleagues Aggregate Tool process. The My Colleagues Aggregate Tool allows your Cisco Account Team to identify a tool Administrator who is granted access to proactively associate contracts to Cisco. com Ids via Bill-To Ids. Instead of associating one contract at a time to a profile, all contracts associated to a single partner Bill-To number are dynamically associated to your profile. This dynamic process allows quick and accurate contract associations to partner Cisco.com user ids. My Colleagues Tool Granular enables direct customers or partners with more than two Cisco.com users to manage their contracts and control service abuse by unauthorized users. This web self help tool provides an interface that lists the users by Cisco.com ID, name, and location that enables administrators to control access to entitled services by assigning privileges to Cisco.com user ID’s to specific contracts. The administrator can add or remove contracts from user profiles of employees at their company. Assigning a Severity Level Before the CIN passes the service request on to the TAC for live support if necessary, the CIN representative will ask the customer to assign a severity level, which will indicate the urgency of the issue the customer is experiencing: Severity 1, is used when the customer’s network is “down” or there is a critical negative effect on their business operations. Because of the serious and urgent nature of a severity 1 issue, Cisco will commit all necessary resources, around the clock, to resolve the situation. Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 9 Severity 2, is used when the operation of an existing network is severely degraded, or significant aspects of the customer’s business operation are negatively affected. In this case, Cisco will commit full-time resources during normal business hours to resolve the situation. Severity 3, is used when operational performance of the customer’s network is impaired while most business operations remain functional. Because the customer’s business operations are still functional, Cisco will commit resources during normal business hours to restore service to satisfactory levels. Severity 4, is used when the customer requires information or assistance with Cisco product capabilities, installation, or configuration. Because there is little or no effect on the customer’s business operations, Cisco will provide assistance as needed. The severity of the case will determine how the request is resolved. For example if a customer only needs troubleshooting information or to download tools, that customer will be directed to the Cisco Support Website, which contains all of the necessary information (this subject is covered in detail in the final section, “How Customers and Partners Can Make the Most of the Cisco Support Website for Tools and Resources”). Initial Contact with a Customer Upon accepting a service request, the TAC engineer will thoroughly read the service request notes to help ensure a clear understanding of the customer’s environment, the nature of the technical issue and the customer’s requested contact method. Each service request will have one owner from issue to resolution, but the TAC engineer will be part of a wider team whose priority is to keep the service request moving through the troubleshooting phase toward final resolution. To make sure the customer’s service expectations are being met, it is important that the TAC engineer notifies the customer of any planned absences and arranges for another TAC engineer to handle the service request in the engineer’s absence. 10 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide Service Request Escalation To help ensure minimal negative effect on the customer’s business operations, the automatic escalation process engages the management hierarchy to help ensure that the appropriate resources are applied to resolve the service request in an accurate and timely manner. The diagram in Figure 3 shows a severity 1 case with network down issues; top priority notification is issued. This starts with the TAC manager within an hour and is escalated to the highest management level within 48 hours. Severity 2 cases are escalated to the TAC manager within four hours and to the highest management level within 96 hours, if necessary. Severity 1 Network Down Severity 2 Severe Impact 1 Hour TAC Manager 4 Hour TAC Director TAC Manager 24 Hour VP TS (Joe Pinto) TAC Director 48 Hour CEO (John Chambers) VP TS (Joe Pinto) 96 Hour CEO (John Chambers) Figure 3: Service Request Escalation – Automatically Driven Customer or Partner Driven Escalation The process outlined in Figure 3 shows the escalation process when it is automatically driven by the severity of the service request. However, customers or partners can also request additional escalation if they feel they are not getting the required level of attention in response to a problem. To escalate an issue, contact the Duty Manager, using the phone number for your region. Specify if you need the TAC Duty Manager or Logistics Duty Manager. The Duty Manager will assess the problem and, if necessary, engage the TAC Manager or the TAC Engineer who owns the Service Request. Additional resources might be assigned, or the Service Request might be reassigned to another engineer if necessary. Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 11 Communicating Updates to the Customer or Partner In addition to top quality Technical Services, customers and partners expect timely communication regarding the progress of their service request. To help ensure each case originator receives periodic updates, a status is assigned to each service request. The status can be updated by the TAC engineer or the originator in response to a change of state or activity. Examples of status include updates to the service request, working with the design engineer on software defects, and closure of the service request pending customer or partner approval. The TAC has improved service request handling and communication by providing periodic service request status updates that are based on the stated severity level of the service request. To help ensure accurate communications with the customer or partner, notes on the service request are necessary, and there are fields to monitor the progress of the service request, such as: • Problem description, which provides initial details of the customer environment and issue • Action plan, which contains state of the service request • Handoff notes, which contain a quick summary of updated problem description, current status, and next steps • Resolution summary Accurate service request notes reduce the frequency of service request escalations as well as provide a consistent framework should escalations or requeues be necessary. They also provide customers with a time frame to resolution so they can plan for downtime if necessary. Closing the Service Request When closing a service request, the TAC engineer must update it in the system and communicate the closure to the case originator. It is updated by entering a clear resolution summary in the service request notes and updating the status to “close pending.” The TAC engineer will contact the case originator to discuss the intention of closing the service request and explain that formal closure requires validation. If the originator agrees that the technical service issues have been resolved and validates closure of the service request, the TAC engineer updates the status to closed using the TAC Service Request Tool. If the TAC engineer is unable to contact the case originator, the engineer attempts to contact the originator with the intention of closing the service request three times over five business days. If there is no response from the case originator, the TAC engineer will change the status to closed. 12 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide Deploying Parts and Services as Part of the Service Request The Role of Service Supply Chain Delivery Technical Support SSCD, or Service Logistics order management helps ensure the deployment of parts and field services within the customer or partner’s contracted terms. The process begins when the customer or partner seeks technical support through the Cisco TAC. In response to parts replacement or field service requirements, the TAC generates a Service Order (formerly known as a RMA) to SSCD requesting deployment of parts replacement or field engineer services to the customer or partner site. Contractual fulfillment for parts and labor begins when the service order is created. These services are managed by the Technical Support SSCD Order Management Team. Their role is to help ensure the request is completed by the appropriate Third-Party Logistics or Third-Party Maintenance vendors and that the services are delivered within the customer or partner’s contracted terms. When onsite services have been completed, the customer or partner returns the defective part to Cisco Asset Recovery team. A service order is required for returning defective or damaged parts. To help ensure parts are returned, the Cisco Asset Recovery team sends an e-mail reminder to the customer or partner three days after the service order is generated, notifying them that the defective or damaged part must be returned to Cisco. If the defective or damaged product is not returned within 10 business days, the customer or partner is required to pay for that product. When requiring SSCD or logistics support, the customer can track a service order using the Status tool and the contact information provided. If it becomes necessary, the customer can contact the global contact center and request to speak to the SSCD or the logistics duty manager. For additional information on how to track your service order, visit the Manage Service Order Page. Service order delivery can be delayed because of customs or shipment of parts into restricted countries. Spotlight on Depot Supply Chain Management • Enables global hardware replacement and onsite field engineer support • Depots are located worldwide in 120+ countries • Provide advance part replacement • 900+ depots worldwide • Deliver 720,000+ parts annually • Manages $6 billion+ of hardware investment Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 13 Service Levels Available to the Customer How quickly a part is dispatched depends on the service levels available from the service logistics depots. The Service Availability Matrix tool can be used to find out what service levels are available locally to the customer (Figure 4). There are seven hardware replacement options from two hour to NBD. Type Service 24x7x2 Highest level of service; 2-hour delivery around the clock 24x7x4 4-hour delivery around the clock 8x5x2 2-hour delivery; hardware request must be submitted during regional normal business hours (09:00-17:00 local time) 8x5x4 4-hour delivery; hardware request must be submitted during regional normal business hours (09:00-17:00 local time) NBD Next Business Day delivery of hardware request submitted before cutoff time SDS Same-Day Ship of hardware request submitted before local cut-off time RTF 10/15 Return to Factory; Cisco ships part to customer 10/15 days after receiving the failed part from the customer Figure 4 Service Level Options Depot Stocking Process and Parts The depot stocking process determines parts allocation required for service replacement part stocking in Cisco depots. All stocking processes are automated and driven systematically by contract and usage data, with information refreshed daily, 365 days a year. In this process, the partner’s equipment listing and site information from their contract is entered in the Cisco contract system. It is important this contract information is entered correctly to help ensure proper stocking. Each night, the logistics system synchronizes with the contract database and analyzes the contract data to determine stocking requirements. Contract management is provided by the Cisco Service Contract Center. Service Plans from Product Data Teams support provision when new products are rolled out or there are service parts issues. The logistics system then generates orders for the depot replenishment. The parts are either pulled from stock or are requested as new buy. Orders generally ship the day following the receipt of the request. Spares are stocked in the depots based on three categories of replacement parts — field replaceable units, expendable field replaceable units, and non-field replaceable units. Field replaceable units, or FRUs, comprise 98% of all replaceable items and refer to any component or sub-assembly listed in the Master Service Agreement. They’re subject to size and weight limitations that determine if they can be reasonably replaced at a customer or partner location. FRUs are replaceable by a single person, require no special tools or test equipment to install, and have a weight limitation that in some countries or situations may be as low as 22 kilograms. 14 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide Expendable FRUs are disposable items such as cables, filters, power cords, mounting and installation hardware, and so on, and these are stocked at the Distribution Centers. Non-field replaceable units are extra large and heavy weight items, such as chassis and card cages. These are generally parts that require more than one person to deliver and replace. Also included in this category are a limited number of rarely requested parts, such as those with long mean time between failure. Fulfilment by Original Equipment Manufacturers Original Equipment Manufacturer (or OEM) Product Support is specific to Media Convergence Servers and IP phones. Cisco works with various OEMs to manufacture and ship Cisco-branded servers and appliances based on the OEM’s standard models. To ensure customer satisfaction, Cisco works with the OEMs to provide hardware technical support and logistics delivery for parts and Field Engineers (or FEs.) When a customer or partner has a technical issue with an OEM part, the Cisco TAC takes the initial call from the partner and contacts the OEM partner once it’s determined there is a hardware problem. The OEM partner works with the TAC and/or the partner to troubleshoot the issue, identify the cause, and determine the appropriate hardware resolution. Based on a partner’s entitlement with Cisco, the OEM partner will provide the same type of support for the defective parts. Once the issue is resolved, the OEM closes the service request with Cisco and the TAC closes the service request with the customer or partner. Cisco’s OEM service providers are available to the TAC 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They provide next business day, four-hour, onsite, and part-only support. OEMs provide service first on products in OEM-supported countries. It is important to note that: • Contracts must be correctly updated with correct install locations and serial numbers. • The OEM TAC provides Level 1 and 2 support. • Countries not supported by OEMs are supported entirely by the Cisco TAC and Cisco logistics. Dead on Arrival Process Dead On Arrival (or DOA) refers to the operational state of a Cisco product at the time it is received by a customer or partner. When a product is received DOA, the customer must contact Cisco or their partner to request shipment of a new part. This is known as the fulfillment process. It is important to note if the product was purchased through a Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 15 distributor or reseller, the DOA must be processed by the partner. Further information on the DOA process is located here. There are two fulfillment processes for DOA products. Dead on Arrival Manufacturing is a Cisco manufacturing fulfillment process for newly purchased equipment that experiences a functional failure during initial power-on, installation, or self-test. DOA-Manufacturing replacement has the following requirements: • A TAC service request must be opened in order to generate and track a DOAManufacturing request. • TAC was able to troubleshoot the issue with the customer or partner, and their diagnosis requires that a part (or parts) needs to be replaced. • TAC must be able to confirm that the functional failure of the hardware occurred during the first power-on, initial use, or boot-up of the equipment. This determines whether or not the unit is a DOA. • The customer or partner must provide the original sales purchase order or serial number of the part (or parts) in question. • If the product was purchased through a distributor or reseller, the DOA must be processed by the distributor or reseller. Dead On Arrival Service is applicable when a service replacement part is sent to a customer or partner via a Return Material Authorization, but that part is not working properly (for example, it will not boot, is missing a heat-sink, etc.) In this case, the part is replaced with another service replacement part. DOA-Service replacement has the following requirements: • Service parts must have recently been shipped and not worked upon install. • A TAC service request must be opened. • If the previous service request number has not been closed, there is no need to open another service request. • TAC diagnosis requires parts replacement. • TAC confirms functional failure occurred during first power-on, initial use, or boot up. • Customer or partner must provide the serial number of the defective part. There are a number of situations that do not qualify for DOA fulfillment. • Items delivered to the customer or partner with damaged packaging • Items that are opened and have visual defects such as scratches, dents, and cracks • Under shipments where a customer or partner received less than the number of products ordered or required • Mis-shipments, where the customer or partner didn’t receive the product they ordered. • Products purchased from a reseller or distributor when the customer or partner expected “New” product must be processed through the distributor or reseller. • Upgrades and trade-ins must be handled through proper channels. • Field notices and recalls have separate processes • Swap outs and exchanges are not replaced with like-for-like parts, and therefore are not DOA issues. 16 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide How Customers and Partners Can Make the Most of the Cisco Support Website for Tools and Resources The Cisco Support Website offers a variety of features and tools that drive problem resolution available to customers with a service contract. The knowledge library and technical documentation offer over 90,000 documents and 13 core tools and utilities to help solve technical problems. Users can navigate by product or they can use advanced search tools to locate the information they need. Users can select and download software, and they can use the available support tools including the Software Advisor, Bug Toolkit, and Output Interpreter, among others. Personalized support is available through My Tech Support, and the Small Medium Business Support Assistant. Users can even open and track the status of service requests using the Service Request Tool. The Cisco Support Website also provides access to online communities and training 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Download Software Tool Customers or partners can search to find the exact software update, patch or fix based on their system specifications. After they locate the correct software, they can download and install it on their system using detailed instructions provided by the Download Software tool. Entitlement to the Download Software tool is determined through the contracts that are associated to the customer’s Cisco.com ID. (See User Access to Cisco Services section above for more information.) Software Advisor The Software Advisor determines compatibility and feature information for Cisco IOS® Software and Cisco Catalyst® operating system software to help customers and partners determine which software is right for their Cisco hardware. Given a hardware platform, the Software Advisor can help you identify compatible operating system software that offers the functionality you need. You can also match your hardware with the available Cisco software and compare releases to help you select the right operating system software. After you identify compatible software, you can compare releases and determine the amount of memory required for the download. Spotlight on Cisco Support Website • 80 percent of all customer issues are solved online • 226,000 customer issues solved online every month • 2+ million unique visitors per month • 24 million page views per month • 2.8 million software downloads per month Bug Toolkit The Bug Toolkit helps customers and partners troubleshoot a problem or review known bugs in a software release. The customers or partners can search for bugs when they know the bug ID, by Cisco IOS Software release version, or for bugs in other Cisco hardware and software. Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 17 Output Interpreter The Output Interpreter is a useful tool to help analyze the output from commands to determine what to do next. They can analyze output from show commands, errors, warnings, and status information. The Output Interpreter includes helpful references to other sources of information. It analyzes Cisco IOS Software and Cisco Catalyst switch and secure PIX® firewall software error messages and provides explanations, recommended actions, and related resources. Training Through the Cisco Support Website customers can access training materials including Technical Support Training Resources and Cisco career certifications and paths. With the Technical Support Training Resources, customers and partners can learn how to use the Cisco Support Website to find critical technical documentation and online tools to help troubleshoot issues, enhance networking skills and support their networks. By following the Cisco career certifications and paths, customers and partners will learn how the widely-respected Cisco career certifications can bring valuable, measurable rewards to network professionals, their managers, and the organizations that employ them. Communities The Networking Professionals Connection (or NetPro) allows customers and partners to share questions, suggestions and information about networking solutions, products and technologies in discussion forums, tech talks and “ask-the-expert” forums. Cisco Technical Support Newsletter By subscribing to the Cisco Technical Services Newsletter, see figure 5, customers and partners receive the latest technical information and tool updates. Subscribe at: www.cisco.com/techsupport/newsletter Figure 5: Cisco Technical Services Newsletter (April 2007 Edition) 18 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only Services Guide Industry Awards Cisco has won a number of industry awards for excellence and best practice in the delivery of technical services to our customers. Here are some of the recent awards: Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only 19 Further Information For further information about any of the topics covered in this guide please visit Technical Services on the Cisco Support Website . There is also a Technical Services Delivery Quick Reference Guide and E-Learning Program to accompany this guide, which can be accessed through the Partner Education Connection (PEC). Americas Headquarters Cisco Systems, Inc. 170 West Tasman Drive San Jose, CA 95134-1706 USA www.cisco.com Tel: 408 526-4000 800 553-NETS (6387) Fax: 408 527-0883 Asia Pacific Headquarters Cisco Systems, Inc. 168 Robinson Road #28-01 Capital Tower Singapore 068912 www.cisco.com Tel: +65 6317 7777 Fax: +65 6317 7799 Europe Headquarters Cisco Systems International BV Haarlerbergpark Haarlerbergweg 13-19 1101 CH Amsterdam The Netherlands www-europe.cisco.com Tel: +31 0 800 020 0791 Fax: +31 0 20 357 1100 Cisco has more than 200 offices worldwide. Addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers are listed on the Cisco Website at www.cisco.com/go/offices. ©2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. 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All other trademarks mentioned in this document or Website are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (0609R) 20 Cisco Confidential - For Cisco Internal and Partner Use Only TSDguide/ROTL/6446/03.08