Service Level Agreement

Service Level Agreement

This Service Level Agreement (SLA) specifies the timeframes in which Start Communications will respond to and resolve issues across our product portfolio.

Start Communications make every effort to ensure that our customers are happy with the level of service, and the products and service they receive from us. Start Communications delivers communications services to business customers throughout the UK. While we may not provide all the component parts of our services ourselves, we do take responsibility for the services delivered to you and will therefore we will liaise with our suppliers to ensure that any problems with their services are resolved promptly.

Service Availability

Start Communications will make every effort to ensure that the service is available 24/7/365 subject to planned carrier outages. Planned carrier outages will be communicated directly to the customer in writing providing relevant notice.

Scope and Responsibilities

Start Communications are available between 09:00 and 17:30, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays, and can be contacted using one of the following:

Telephone: 01444 719300
E-mail: support@startcomms.co.uk
Web: www.startcomms.co.uk
Post: Start Communications, Danworth Farm, Cuckfield Road, Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, BN6 9GL

We will maintain the equipment and services as detailed on the sales order form at the installation address shown on the sales order form.

Under our maintenance agreement, we will cover the following items supplied by Start Communications:

  • Licences and software
  • Handsets and headsets
  • CCTV cameras
  • Access control units
  • Routers and switches
  • Wireless access points and controllers
  • Phone lines
  • Broadband and connectivity services
  • Network services

The following items are not covered under this agreement unless otherwise stated on the sales order form:

  • Cabling
  • Replacement batteries
  • Existing IT infrastructure including both hardware and software
  • Hardware that has not been provided by Start Communications
  • Configuration and management of third-party network services

Once a fault has been received, Start Communications are responsible for the following:

  • Every fault received will be logged with a unique ID within our CRM and assigned to a Start Communications representative.
  • Start Communications will provide support via telephone, email or in person to fix the issue.
  • Regular updates will be provided as per our response times below.
  • Where an engineer is required, the date and times of such visits will be communicated to the customer.
  • Start Communications are responsible for holding carriers and service providers to their SLAs and escalate where required.
  • Once a fault has been resolved, Start Communications will confirm this via telephone, email or in person.
  • Ongoing monitoring post fault resolution will continue for a period of 5 working days.

When logging a fault, the customer is responsible for the following:

  • Notify us immediately of any fault in the equipment and/or any repair necessary to enable us to proceed uninterruptedly with the performance of this agreement.
  • Provide the necessary details to allow us to identify the faulty service such as a telephone number, site name or username.
  • Provide contact name/s and detail/s to allow Start Communications to contact the customer for updates and fault resolution. If a third party has been appointed as the contact, written authorisation is required from the customer to confirm this.
  • Afford our staff and our other authorised personnel full and safe access to the installation address and the equipment to enable us to carry out the repair.
  • Provide us with, and be responsible for, the safety of such adequate free working space and facilities as may be necessary for the performance of this agreement.
  • Comply with all statutory requirements (including those relating to health and safety) which apply to the services at the installation address.
  • Performing first line checks such as checking that the equipment connected and powered correctly, including phones, routers etc.
  • Completing diagnostic checks when requested by our staff and our other authorised personnel.
  • Confirming that the particular fault reported has been resolved.

Service Levels

Start Communications understand that all customers are important and should be treated equally, regardless of size or location. However, to provide the first-class service we strive for, incidents which affect the core service and affect a customer from functioning are assigned a higher priority than routine configuration changes. Therefore, the following priorities are assigned to different requests.

The status of faults and their associated service levels is closely monitored internally with a traffic light system to ensure that SLAs are always kept to.

For clarity, all of the times listed below are applicable from 09:00 to 17:30, Monday to Friday excluding public holidays.

Level 1 (Service Down) – Faults where there is a total failure or a fault which makes the service unusable.

  • Initial response time: 30 minutes
  • Frequency of updates: 2 hours
  • Target fix time: 8 hours

Level 2 (High) – Faults that make the functionality or performance of the service limited.

  • Initial response time: 30 minutes
  • Frequency of updates: 2 hours
  • Target fix time: 2 days

Level 3 (Medium) – Faults that affect the service of a single device or component rather than the whole service.

  • Initial response time: 30 minutes
  • Frequency of updates: 4 hours
  • Target fix time: 3 days

Level 4 (Low) – Requests for configuration changes.

  • Initial response time: 30 minutes
  • Frequency of updates: 5 days
  • Target fix time: 5 days

Escalation

If you are not happy with progress of a fault resolution, you can ask the person to whom you are speaking to escalate the matter to their manager, and ultimately to the Start Communications Board. The escalation process is designed to help customers and should be treated with respect accordingly.

Complaints

For details of our Complaints Procedure please click here.

Out of Hours Support

Faults can be reported out of hours 24/7/365 by using the standard Start Communications contact details support@startcomms.co.uk or 01444 719300. Faults on fixed network and broadband services will be logged with the relevant carrier out of hours. However, some carrier response times are only during working hours. The initial response times are within 4 hours of customers advising of the fault.