SoftPage Support

Illustrated Support Guide

One of the features that sets SoftPage apart from other CMS solutions is that we do provide support for the clients and resellers. There are truly hundreds of clients using SoftPage and some are more active than others, so the support system is based on a very strict system. If you don't follow the protocols you will not get the support you need.

Support and development for anything from email newsletters, updates, changes etc follows this basic structure:

1. First step, the ticket is raised
   Simply log into your control panel, go to the Web Site support link and complete the on-line ticket. We do allow customers to call in or email directly but either way the ticket is raised. There must be enough information in this ticket in order to continue, so you must provide all the materials and information before the ticket goes to the next step.
    
2. Confirmation and Hours Estimation/Quote
   A support person will then open you ticket and assign him/her self to the ticket and estimate the number of hours. If you don't have enough hours credits you will be required to order enough hours to complete the estimated hours. We don't quote in money, only hours. Our support staff don't deal with payment information, the hours ordering is done on-line int he same control panel.
    
3. Approval
   If the estimation is OK (it usually is!), you must accept the estimated hours. Then work can commence.
    
4. Completion
   The work is complete as described in the ticket. and a reply is sent to the client. At this point the work will be completed as per the instructions in the ticket. You may not call in or email any changes to the original ticket that would effect the duration of the work. (You can point out mistakes and corrections until you are happy that the work is done according to the way you requested it)
    
5. Closed
   Upon your approval of the completed work the ticket is then closed.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Do I qualify for support?
Other than having a support add-on attached to your site, there is not qualifying factors for getting support. Anyone can get support, book in work, get designs does, changes etc.

To add a support add-on simply go to the Web Site Manager within your account of the SoftPage Control Panel, then select the site you want the work done or support on. On the Web Site Management page you will see all the current support add-ons, if there is not any add-on already, click the "Add Service" button. Tab over to Hosting Support. select the time in months and add the service. The system will then invoice you from that day on, so if you started on the 12th, next month on the 12th there will be another invoice. You can now navigate over to the Support section and add the support ticket.

SoftPage publishes a and maintains a full help and learning section at http://help.softpagecms.com to assist with maintaining your own site. Feel free to learn more and save your self some money!

Do I need to buy support hours?
Support hours are more like "development" hours - they allow us to work on your site and account. Certain things, questions and advice will not use up hours, and you can raise a support ticket to ask questions. However when the ticket requires actual work to be done, then the hours are needed. In order to by support hours, simply click the "Buy Support Hours" link from the navigation on the right. This will allow you to select the number of hours and order the hours. The hours are pre-ordered. Amounts under 5,000 can be paid at the end of the month, amounts over 5000 will need to be paid for upfront. These hours must be ordered first in order for us to start working on your account. If the hours are not order first, our support staff have been instructed not to start.

Support hours don't expire and are valid for any type of development, design, HTML, ASP and SQL.

If you need advice as to how many support hours you will need, simply ask in the ticket. If you have 5 hours and the task only uses 4, then the remaining hours stay in the account. Is much like pre-paid air time.

How do I open a support ticket?
From the navigation on the right of the Control Panel, click the Support Home section. This has some basic summary information, and then it has the current support queue. If you have no tickets - there will be no entires. Click Web Site Support, and complete the ticket form. We will then attend to your ticket. If the system does not allow you to add support it may be because either management has blocked the account or the balance is over the default credit amount. In this case you will need to make a payment on the outstanding amount.

If the system has greyed out the site you need the support on, then you don't have an active support contact for that site, and you should see the topic above.

Whats the turnaround time?
The supports tickets are all global and our entire team tackles the list at once - there is no priority and the tickets are attended to on a first-come-first-serve basis. Our support staff are working as fast as they can and as accurately as they can - however as is the nature of web development and design, there can sometimes be hiccups and things that take a little longer that expected. Things can also take less time then expected too!

As work is done and hours are deducted automatically (per minute). If a job only takes 30min and you had 1 hour at the start, you are left with 30 min to use at another time. The hours you buy never expire!

Can I see a report?
For each ticket, a Task is raised in the Task Manager - this allows you to view a full report on all the activity during the task. This means you can see exactly where and when the hours or minutes where use. This report is printable and contains very detailed information. 

How much do Support Hours Cost?
The support hours table is as follows: