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Technical Support
Our Technical Support department manages the receipt of Service Requests and works with our customers to resolve their issues.
Eligibility for Technical Support
You are entitled to receive support for all products and subscriptions for which you:
- Have a current maintenance contract as outlined in your Group 1 License Agreement.
- Have completed the required training.
NOTE: In general, subcontractors to Group 1 customers are not entitled to support. Technical Support is granted only to the primary licensee of a Group 1 Product.
Scope of Technical Support
The goal of Technical Support is to assist Group 1 customers with the use of our software by answering questions and resolving problems specifically related to the software. The underlying assumption is that the customer is generally knowledgeable (i.e., taken an education class or equivalent) about the product but has additional questions or problems not answered in the documentation or on the Web site.
There are several situations, however, that are beyond the scope of Technical Support. For example:
- The need for customer education
- Customer-written/customer-modified code
- Fixes to prior releases of software
- Regulatory and postal issues
- Errors and omissions on the databases
- User computing environments.
In a few of these cases, support may be discontinued and you will be referred to the Director of Technical Support or the Professional Services department.
Premium Support
If you require extended-hours support — after 8:00 pm EST (Eastern Standard Time) or weekend hours -- you may want to consider purchasing the Group 1 Premium Support Plan. Premium Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. As a Premium Support Customer, you can call toll-free (877-365-24x7) using your assigned access code. You also receive priority in the call queue during normal business hours. For additional information, please visit the Premium Support Plan page in this Service Source or contact the Director of Technical Support for details and pricing for the Premium Support Plan. You may also download a Premium Support information sheet.
Hours of Operation
Standard Technical Support is staffed to provide product support from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST), Monday through Friday. At any time during the day, you can leave a message on the support line.
Group 1 provides most technical support via toll-free services, email, self-help via our Support Site, and postal correspondence. In the event that all specialists are busy, you may leave a voice message and your call will be returned as soon as a TSR becomes available.
For standard technical support after 8:00 pm and on weekends, Group 1 maintains a Web site that is available 24x7x365 for self-help services (please see the Internet Support section later in this document for further information). Group 1 does provide after-hours support under the Premium Support Plan mentioned above.
US Holiday Schedule
On the following U.S. holidays standard support is not available:
- New Year's Day
- Martin Luther King's Birthday
- President's Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving
- Christmas Day
Canadian Holiday Schedule
On the following Canadian holidays standard support is not available:
- New Year's Day
- Easter Monday
- Victoria Day
- Canada Day
- Civic Day
- Labour Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
NOTE: Please refer to the Group 1 holiday schedule for a current listing of the actual observed holiday dates.
Also under standard support, we offer limited service during Group 1 company events (Company Dinner, Tech Forum, Annual User's Conference).
Your Personal Contact Profile
It is a good idea to verify your personal contact profile while you are on the phone with a TSR to ensure that they can keep in touch with you regarding your support request. There are various types of contacts maintained in our database. Each contact is assigned a personal contact ID, which can be referred to at any time you call the Technical Support Department. TSRs can also provide you with the names listed in our database as primary contacts at your company. Some changes TSRs can make themselves (such as changes to your personal profile), while others (such as changes to the primary contacts or company level information) require written approval for modifications.
Note: If you wish to update your personal contact record (name, phone number, email address, etc.), please use our eService/Knowledge Base option available from the Group 1 Support Site. Simply click on the eService/Knowledge Base link from the main Group 1 Technical Services page (once you are logged on).
For further information about the four types of contacts maintained in our Siebel Service customer database, please see Keeping Our Customer Database Current under the Customer Information Management section of this Service Source.
Keeping your Account Record Current
If you are calling to update your Account record, ask to speak to the Records Administrator. However, it is a good idea to verify your Account record while you are on the line with a TSR.
Remember that the information we maintain about your company, your software, and your operating environment allows us to provide the best possible service and is the basis of our product fulfillment system. Please make sure this information is kept up-to-date. If you need to notify us about a change to your contact information or to notify us that you have a new CPU, please use our eService option on the Group 1 Support site and submit a Service Request with all the necessary information. Some changes, such as company name, require additional approvals, but most changes can be made immediately.
NOTE: Group 1 Software understands the importance of using your company information only in appropriate ways. We will use your business information only in the manner set out in our Privacy Policy. Please visit our Privacy Policy for more information.
In certain cases and with certain systems, before you can change your CPU, an unlocking serial number or registration key is required. Please notify and coordinate this change with us at least five business days before the CPU change.
Also, be certain to read about the different types of contacts that we maintain in our database and routinely send correspondence to. This information is found in Keeping Our Customer Database Current under the Customer Information Management section of this Service Source.
Opening a Group 1 Service Request
A Service Request can be defined as a single support issue that cannot be broken down into smaller support issues. Each Service Request is assigned a unique number that is used to reference and track Service Requests through the resolution process.
There are several ways you can open a Service Request: the Technical Support hotline, eService, or email.
Technical Support Hotline
If you choose to use the Technical Support hotline, please have the following items handy when you call:
- Your company name, as stated on your Group 1 contract, or your Account number
- Your customer call Service Request number (if you are working on an open call)
- Program names and release version of the software
- Associated license files, configuration files (.ini, job, and format files, QMI files, etc.)
- Error messages, execution logs, and dumps
- Output reports and statistics
- Date of the databases being used (if applicable)
- Operating system version information
- Compiler version information
- Assemblies, compiles, link edits, and/or file definitions, if applicable
- Exact wording of any error messages.
- Programming language and/or API being used.
eService
If you choose to use the eService option, please log in to the Customer Services area of the Group 1 Web site and select the link for eService / Knowledge Base.
If you choose to use the email option, please provide us with same requested information as listed in the Technical Support hotline section above.
Please have your Group 1 manuals available and be prepared to provide any other items that may help us assist you. We suggest that you designate a single technical contact, by product group, to communicate with Technical Support. It is also a good idea to have any other information on hand -- such as system messages -- that will help to resolve your product issues.
If you are at any time unhappy with the support provided by Group 1, please call the Technical Support hotline at (800) 367-6950 and ask for one of the Support Managers. If, after speaking with a Support Manager, you continue to feel that your call was not handled to your satisfaction, please ask for the Director of Technical Support.
Support of Product Releases
Group 1 Software continues to modify and enhance its products to meet the changing demands and requirements of the markets it serves. Group 1 usually provides product releases at least once a year and sometimes more frequently.
We provide full technical support for the current release of all of our software products. This includes providing software updates as necessary. Group 1 will also provide full technical support for one release back however; we will only provide product updates to reported software problems for the most current release.
In the event that Group 1 completely rewrites a software product, support for the old product continues for a period to allow you to upgrade your production environments. You will be notified several months before the product is replaced.
Group 1's coding and postal discounting products are subject to USPS®, Canada Post, UPU and the 'WorldWide Guide to Postal Code and Address Formats' regulatory requirements. If you do not install current software releases, you may be out of compliance. You may also be subject to penalties for which Group 1 cannot assume responsibility. The release schedule for any regulatory product falls outside of the control of Group 1. If you have any questions about postal issues and regulations, please call the USPS, Canada Post or UPU as required.
Support of Sagent DataFlow Product Releases
Our DataFlow products are maintained on a two year development cycle. Group 1 provides full technical support for the most current two releases of our Data Flow products. Product Updates will be delivered on a quarterly basis.
Education and Group 1 Support
Group 1 University offers training at regional educational centers or at your site. Customers who are unfamiliar with basic product concepts and need product education will be referred to the Group 1 University (Education) Manager. Group 1 reserves the right to suspend technical support until education is completed.
Technical Support does not provide training over the phone. It's neither effective nor efficient to train this way. We make every effort to devote Support Line time to the exclusive purpose of addressing problem issues and answering specific application questions. Technical Support is not a substitute for product training.
Please refer to the Group 1 University section of the Service Source for further information on the services provided by that department.
Support for Exit Routines/Callable Modules
Most Group 1 products provide the capability to invoke user-written code or to call a Group 1 subroutine from user-written code. Technical Support will confirm the contents and structure of the documented interfaces for a given product. Troubleshooting or debugging customers written programs can be done through our Professional Services department.
Please refer to the Professional Services section of the Service Source for further information on the services provided by that department.
Updates to Prior Releases of Software
Customers reporting problems in prior releases of software that require code changes are asked to install the latest release of software before continuing to receive technical support. Software updates are made only to the most current release of software.
Note: DataFlow Product Updates are made for the current release as well as the previous release. DataFlow Product Updates are handled through a quarterly product update process.
Support of User-Modified Code
Group 1 programs and/or subroutines that a user has modified are not supported except for the following:
- Internal tables (such as gender tables and professional suffixes)
- Internal allocations (such as table sizes or buffer sizes)
Group 1 Professional Services Source Code Modifications
Support of these source code modifications is provided only as specified in the Professional Services contract and does not fall under the scope of the Technical Support department. Custom development and support provided by the Professional Services department will be outlined within their specific Statement of Work agreement.
Please refer to the Professional Services section of the Service Source for further information on the services provided by that department.
Debugging Environmental Issues
In most cases, bugs can be reported and researched through standard Technical Support. It is possible for the Technical Support and Product Development departments to determine that a problem is caused by conditions at your site rather than by a defect in the Group 1 product; for example, the product is operational at other sites and the error is not reproducible at Group 1. In this case, Group 1 will suggest continued support through Professional Services on a fee basis. The Professional Services department will develop a Statement of Work, outlining the tasks that will be involved in the determination of the existing problem. The Statement of Work will be forwarded to you for acceptance, and a date for the engagement will be determined. If Professional Services determines that the problem is caused by a Group 1 software deficiency in a supported release of code, you will not be charged for these services.
Please refer to the Professional Services section of the Service Source for further information on the services provided by that department.
Addressing Your Regulatory/Postal Issues
Information relating to postal issues/regulations that are not directly related to the use of Group 1 software is beyond the scope of the Technical Support Department. Our Postal Affairs Department works closely with the USPS and Canada Post Corporation (CPC) to represent Group 1 and its customers. The Vice President of Postal Affairs regularly corresponds with our customers to outline changes in postal regulations and related issues; however, we cannot help with all of your important issues and specific needs. There are numerous publications and advisory councils, as well as postal officials, to provide you with pertinent information. For a list, see Industry News and Updates in the Technical Services section.
Errors/Omissions on Postal Databases
Group 1 incorporates data from a wide variety of street data vendors (e.g. USPS, CPC, UPU, GDT, TIGER, NAVTEQ, and TeleAtlas) as input to its products. Unfortunately, Group 1 has no way to validate the accuracy of the data supplied by these vendors. Errors or omissions on these databases can only be resolved by the appropriate vendor. If you confirm that there are indeed errors in a database (which Group 1 will assist you in verifying), you may be referred to the appropriate data provider for assistance.
Computing Environment
Group 1 products are warranted to perform as documented on hardware platforms running versions/releases of operating systems, subsystems, compilers, and facilities that are currently supported by their manufacturers. We do not assign Technical Support resources to correct technical problems for systems that Group 1 does not currently support. In these cases, we refer you to Professional Services.
You can get a list of the minimum operating system and compiler run-time libraries by visiting the Enterprise Solutions Supported Platforms document on our Support site. Centrus customers, please visit the Centrus Products Supported Platforms document.
Operating System, Compiler, and Media Support Policy
Group 1 supports its software on the hardware, operating systems, and compilers listed on the Enterprise Solutions Supported Platforms list available on our Support site. Centrus customers, please visit the Centrus Products Supported Platforms document. Group 1 makes every effort to stay as current as possible and encourages customers to do the same with their operating environment.
In the event that one of these vendors discontinues support of an operating system, compiler, or hardware platform, Group 1 will evaluate the impact and determine whether to discontinue support. Group 1 may also discontinue support when a change to a Group 1 product requires features, functions, or capabilities that do not exist in an out-of-date operating system or compiler.
In either case, Group 1 will notify the customers affected before discontinuing support. It may also be necessary for Group 1 to eliminate certain distribution media due to the lack of demand for a specific type of media. If this situation occurs, Group 1 will notify the customers who will be affected by the elimination of the specific media.
Answering Technical Support Calls
TSRs strive to answer all incoming calls promptly. Requests for support are processed on a first-in/first-out basis, relative to available representatives for any given product line and the severity of the request. We date/time stamp all calls as they are received and logged in our tracking system. When you leave a voice mail message, our phone system automatically prompts the next available representative to return the call. We enter your calls into our call tracking system, Siebel Service, and we issue a customer Service Request number. When leaving a message, please indicate the severity of your call and your Service Request number, if you have one.
Determining Service Request Severity
The severity of you Service Request is defined as follows:
- Production Emergency - Reserve this status for an immediate production run that does not produce usable output or where a new installation is unsuccessful. If you believe that you have a valid Production Emergency issue, we suggest you contact Technical Support by telephone.
- Critical - Specify this severity status for time-sensitive issues that require a quick response. If you believe that you have a valid Critical issue, we suggest you contact Technical Support by telephone.
- Standard Support - Specify this status for general issues that are not impacting an immediate production run.
- No Rush - Tell us if you have a non-urgent situation that we can handle on a "next day" or "when available" basis.
When you call the Support Line, please let us know what you feel is the severity of your call. If you specify no call severity, we assign your Service Request a Standard status.
Determining Service Request Response Time
Response time and problem resolution time are two completely different items. Response time is the amount of time it takes a TSR to contact you after your initial request for support by voice mail, email or via Service Requests entered through eService. Problem resolution time refers to the amount of time between when we receive your initial request for support and when we resolve the problem to your satisfaction. Please refer to the following sections for additional information regarding problem resolutions.
Response Time
If Group 1 needs to call you back, we:
- Contact you twice within four business hours, depending on the severity you specify.
- Contact you a third time on the following business day.
- Close the call after three tries if we cannot reach you. At the time your call is closed, we send a Call Closure Notice via email requesting a response or additional contact information. If you respond to this call closure notice, we can re-open the call using the same Service Request number.
Once we receive your email, voice message, or Service Request entered via eService, we strive to deliver the following targets:
| Production Emergency | Critical | Standard Support | No Rush | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice Message | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| * | * | 4 | 8 | |
| eService | * | * | 4 | 8 |
* - Production Emergencies and Critical issues must be reported to Group 1 by telephone.
Problem Resolution
Technical Support strives to resolve your Service Requst within eight business hours. The details of all contact are recorded in our call tracking system, Siebel Service, as part of your assigned Service Request number. For calls that require extensive research, we queue these Service Requests for courtesy callbacks every three days. During a peak in call volume (in the event of a regulatory change, for example), we will attempt to make a courtesy call to tell you how long it will be before a TSR contacts you.
While our intent is to resolve calls as quickly as possible, we cannot project an exact resolution time for each call. Resolution times depend on many factors including the following:
- The complexity of the problem
- The speed with which we receive any requested documentation needed to replicate and research some problems
- The number of calls being received by Technical Support.
If Technical Support determines that a reported problem is software-related (for example, a potential bug) and additional resources are needed to resolve it, a Change Request is created and a tracking number and technical severity code are assigned. The technical severity, as determined by the TSR after conferring with you, determines the action required (see guidelines in next section).
NOTE: Service Request numbers are linked to the Problem Report in our tracking system, Siebel Service, and the Service Request is then closed. You will be notified of the Problem Report number by the TSR for your reference. At this point, Problem Reports are handled according to the guidelines below.
Determining Technical Severity for Change Requests
Your TSR assigns a Technical Severity Code to all Problem Reports before they are turned over to a Product Manager. If a workaround is provided to allow you to continue processing, we will confer with you about lowering the severity code from a "production emergency" or "critical" status to a "moderate/low" severity code.
The following chart describes the Problem Report technical severities and Group 1's required actions.
| Severity Codes | Description | Group 1 Action Required |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Production Emergency | Does not produce usable output or new installation of product is unsuccessful; no workaround available. | Immediate and continued support until the problem is resolved with a fix or workaround. The fix (or workaround if one is found) will be distributed to all affected customers.* |
| 2) Serious | Results show that a feature does not function as documented; user is able to continue processing or workaround is available. | Immediate resolution is not guaranteed, but the situation is prioritized and the user is notified within three business days of the intended action. The fix (or workaround if one is found) will be distributed to all affected customers.* |
| 3) Moderate/Low | Non-critical problem; workaround is available. | Immediate resolution is not guaranteed, but the workaround (if one is found) is made available to all affected customers.* |
| 4) Cosmetic | Error in, or information missing from, the documentation. | Depends on the severity of the problem - high impact problems are distributed via the Support site or email; all others are fixed and distributed with the next release of software or documentation. |
* - Please refer to Distribution of Software, Databases and Product Updates in the Product Distribution Services (PDS) section for information regarding the fulfillment of fixes (product updates) and software releases.
Customer Escalation and Notification Procedure
Sometimes it is necessary for a Technical Support Representative to escalate your call, Service Request and/or Change Request. The diagram below illustrates Group 1's procedures for escalation.
If at any time, you want to find out where your call, Service Request and/or Change Request is in the escalation process, refer to the escalation levels noted below. Customers can request escalation to the next level by calling the support hotline and making an escalation request.
How to Request Product Enhancements
With your help and suggestions, we can continue to provide the industry's finest software. To request an enhancement, simply complete an Enhancement Request form on our Support site. Please make only one request per form. You will receive an acknowledgement of your submission.
The following is the procedure by which Group 1 handles product enhancement requests:
- Group 1 receives enhancement requests and assigns each one a Service Request number. You will be notified via email.
- A team of individuals at Group 1 compares these requests to current product functionality.
- Group 1 then notifies you of the disposition (whether accepted or rejected) via email.
- Accepted requests enter into the product planning process shown below.
Enhancement Definition and Review Process:
The product planning team:
- Reviews all enhancement requests on a periodic basis to evaluate them and assign a general level of effort.
- Prioritizes feasible enhancements and problem reports and assigns them to a subsequent release.
- Notifies all customers of modifications and enhancements that are incorporated and tested in the next release of the product, through the pre-release announcements.