| Support Policy |
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This document contains details about Rice Studios support operations that apply to all Rice Studios support customers, and are incorporated in and made part of the Rice Studios Support Agreement (the "Support Agreement").
About the Rice Studios Customer Support Centre
Q. What is the Rice Studios Customer Support Centre? The Rice Studios Customer Support Centre (CSC) is a web application used by Rice Studios support engineers to communicate with out customers.
Q. How does the CSC benefit customers? The CSC lets you easily keep track of all your support related issues. It keeps all related messages, files, and other details grouped together on an issue-by-issue basis. The CSC has built-in features to help you receive timely replies from support engineers. It facilitates sharing your issue among different technical specialists.
Q. Must I use the CSC when requesting support? Yes. When you purchase a support contract, you must provide us with the name of your Technical Contact Person(s). A separate CSC account is created for each Technical Contact Person. The number of contacts you are permitted depends upon which support offering you purchase. If that offering also includes telephone support, you may of course request support by phone without first opening a CSC issue.
Q. How do I obtain a CSC account? When you purchase a support option, an account will be created for you. An email will be sent to you with your login details. Your account will be valid for the period of time your support option allows.
Q. May I share my CSC account with others? No, unless done temporarily due to your absence for vacation, illness, or similar reasons. Email addresses must be for individual persons, not groups such as ' '.
About Telephone Support
Q. How does phone support work? You place a call to our head office located in Australia. Operators will locate a support specialist to personally return your call within the response times specified by your support offering. The support number is the same as our main business office number.
Q. How does phone support work for Basic or Premium customers? Basic phone support is intended to give you the benefit of personal consultations, not 24x7 emergency troubleshooting. Your call is returned within 24 hours during Rice Studios business hours: Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 5.00pm, Australian Standard Time (except public holidays).
Q. Are there any other restrictions on telephone support? No. We just ask for good manners and common courtesy. Telephone support works best when it is reserved for serious or complicated issues. Simple or routine questions should be handled first in writing via the CSC or emailing
About ‘Single Incident' Support
Q. What are the benefits of ‘Single Incident' Support? ‘Single Incident' Support is an affordable way for you to leverage the expertise of the Rice Studios Support Team. It is designed to meet the ad-hoc and occasional support needs of individuals and small business.
Q. What is the definition of an Incident? An Incident is a single, discrete technical problem which cannot be reasonably subdivided, and also which is not overly broad in scope.
Q. How are Incidents resolved? Each Incident typically involves a series of exchanges between the customer and Rice Studios support engineers via the CSC web tool. Resolution Time depends upon the complexity of the Incident.
Q. Can I open an Incident for any Mambo feature, function, or capability? ‘Single Incident' provides support for all Mambo functionality except for Mambo components, modules and templates.
Q. Are there any other limitations on Incidents? Telephone support, remote (login) troubleshooting, personalized code and content review, custom performance tuning and customer-written code are all available only under Premium contracts. These are not covered under Single Incident or Basic levels.
Q. Can I use an Incident to resolve multiple unrelated issues? No. Multiple unrelated issues cannot be stacked into an Incident. Each unrelated issue must be treated as a separate Incident. The Support Team will use its reasonable judgement to decide what constitutes "multiple unrelated issues" or Incidents that are "overly broad in scope".
Q. Do ‘Single Incidents' include phone support? No. All ‘Single Incident' support is provided only via our web-based Customer Support Centre (CSC) tool.
Q. How do I get telephone access to support engineers? Telephone access is included in the Basic and Premium Service Level Agreements.
Q. Do ‘Single Incidents' include "Hands-On Analysis" help? No. If you need Hands-On Analysis help, see our Premium Support offering on our website, or arrange for expert individualized consulting by contacting your Rice Studios sales representative.
About ‘Single Incident' Time Restrictions
Q. Must I use my ‘Single Incident' within 30 days of purchase? Yes. ‘Single Incidents' are valid for 30 days from date of purchase, and MUST be used (opened) within that time period. If an Incident remains unused for 30 days, it shall EXPIRE and can no longer be used.
Q. What is an example of this 30 day limit? You buy a ‘Single Incident' on December 1. You can then open (or report, or submit) the Incident up until December 30, but not later. Once an Incident is opened, Resolution Time depends on the complexity of the Incident. The Incident does not need to be resolved within 30 days, only opened within 30 days.
Q. Should I buy several ‘Single Incidents' in advance to stockpile for future use? No. Since you must begin using a ‘Single Incident' within 30 days of purchase, you should only buy Incidents that you intend to use immediately.
Q. What is the expected Response Time for Incidents (Minimum / Maximum)? Response Time is the time within which the Support Team will acknowledge your opened Incident and begin problem resolution. Minimum Response Time is two (2) hours and Maximum Response Time is two (2) business days for the Basic Incident Support and one (1) business day for the Premium Incident Support.
Q. May the three-day rule ever be waived, to begin work on my ‘Single Incident' more quickly? No. This is not allowed under any circumstances.
Q. Are there time limits on how long a ‘Single Incident' may remain open? Yes. All Incidents expire 90 days after purchase.
Q. What is an example of this 90 day limit? You buy a ‘Single Incident' on December 1 and open the incident on December 30. The incident will be considered resolved and closed on March 1 (December 1 + 90 days), if it is not finished earlier.
About Remote Troubleshooting Logins
Q. Are all servers eligible for login support? No. We provide login support only for those operating systems named on our list of supported operating system platforms. This list covers most, but not all, major operating system and hardware platforms in use today. In addition, in order to obtain remote login support, your servers must be readily accessible to our support engineers via remote Internet login at the operating system level.
Q. What tools are needed for Rice Studios login support to Unix servers? All Unix system-based derivative operating system servers (including Mac OSX) can be readily accessible to our support engineers via the Internet if the "sshd" secure shell server is present. You can download an open source version of the "sshd" server at www.openssh.org. Although there are other utilities for remote Internet logins, we have standardized on secure shell as a commonly available and highly regarded utility; therefore, we require its use by all of our Unix system-based login customers.
Note that "ssh" and "sshd" are tightly related, but are not the same program. The "ssh" is the client that lets you create outbound connections from your machine, and the "sshd" is the server that listens on your machine for inbound "ssh" connections. The "sshd" server component is what must be running in order for our support engineers to login to your server. If you are in doubt about your servers, please contact a Rice Studios sales representative.
Q. What platforms and tools are needed for Rice Studios login support to Windows servers? Rice Studios cannot provide login assistance for any of the Windows platforms.
Q. Are there any special risks for login support? There is always the possibility that security and control risks may arise when logging in over the Internet. These risks are beyond the control of Rice Studios, and therefore, Rice Studios cannot be held liable for them.
About Support for Customers of OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), VARs (Value Added Resellers), SIS (System Integrators), and Consultants
Q. Does support cover only my own servers? Yes. Support contracts are written to support your company's own enterprise. This means contracts are intended to support the servers your company owns or controls, and not the servers of third parties. Any exceptions to this policy must be agreed to in writing by Rice Studios at the time your support contract is purchased.
Q. On what basis does Rice Studios consider modifying this policy? Rice Studios will consider modifications on a case-by-case basis. Please contact your Rice Studios sales representative.
Q. I work on behalf of third-party customers. How do I obtain Rice Studios support for them? For each customer that requires Rice Studios support, you must buy a separate Rice Studios contract.
Q. I work on behalf of third-party customers. Can I use my Rice Studios support contract to open issues on their behalf? No. If your customers require Rice Studios support, they should buy their own support contract, and you should then open issues against that contract.
Q. I am an OEM or VAR, and I distribute a Rice Studios product to my customers. Are they entitled to support direct from Rice Studios? No. If your customers require support from Rice Studios, they must purchase their own support contract.
Q. I am an OEM or VAR, and I distribute a Rice Studios product to my customers. Can I use my Rice Studios support contract to provide support to them? Your Rice Studios support contract is for your internal use only, unless a written agreement provides otherwise. For example, an agreement could provide for you as the OEM to provide front line support to your users on routine issues, with Rice Studios providing back end support on more difficult issues.
Other Common Support Questions
Q. What is an issue's expected Resolution Time? Resolution Time is the time within which support engineers will endeavour to resolve your issue. There are no guarantees about Resolution Times. Typically, depending on the complexity of the incident, resolution may take a few hours to a few days. In some cases, successful resolution or a work-around may not be possible.
Q. What documents will I receive after ordering support? When you purchase a support option, an account will be created for you. An email will be sent to you with your login details. If you do not receive an email shortly after ordering, write to for assistance.
Q. Does support cover non-Rice Studios software products?
No.
Although we try to take a broad and inclusive view of technical support, our
support formally covers only authorized, unmodified versions of the products
mentioned at the beginning of this document. We do not provide support for the
underlying operating system, hardware, applications,
Q. Must I be Rice Studios-certified to buy support for Rice Studios or Mambo products? No. Our customers are not required to have passed any Rice Studios certification exams in order to buy technical support.
Q. Is technical support included when purchasing software licenses? Yes, but it is limited. Purchase of Rice Studios Commercial Software Products includes 30 days installation support. In addition, Support options are for one product only. If you purchase 2 products, you cannot use the same contract for both. You must purchase a separate Support option for each product.
Q. Does support contracts automatically renew? No. You are responsible for ensuring your contract is up to date.
Q. Where should I send notices required under the support agreement?
Rice Studios Pty Ltd. 15B Stephenson Street Richmond, Victoria 3121 Australia
Definitions of Support Components
Technical Contact Person An individual person authorized to open support issues with Rice Studios and communicate with the Rice Studios Support Team.
Incident An Incident is a single, discrete technical problem which cannot be reasonably subdivided, and also which is not overly broad in scope. Each Incident typically involves a series of exchanges between the User and Rice Studios Support Staff.
Telephone Access The right to phone the Rice Studios Dispatch Centre and receive a return call direct from a Rice Studios support engineer.
Minimum / Maximum First Response Times The minimum and maximum amount of time we allow between when you open a new support issue via our Web tool, and when you receive an initial response from a Rice Studios support engineer.
Definitions of Severity Levels
The technical support team will endeavour to respond to incidents according to the severity of the issue, always as determined by the customer. Rice Studios recognizes four severity levels:
Severity 1: Represents a complete loss of service, a significant
functionality is missing,
Severity 2: Represents a severe loss of service,
significant functionality is missing;
Severity 3: Represents a minor loss of service, inconvenient usage; but a
workaround
Severity 4: There is no loss in service; a cosmetic or enhancement request.
Definitions for Hands-On Analysis Support (Premium Support only)
Remote Troubleshooting This service includes remote Internet login to your machines in order for Rice Studios support engineers to work on support-related problems, give advice, or install and configure Rice Studios software. (Note: Not all servers are eligible for Remote Troubleshooting, and some technical requirements must be met).
Rice Studios Support Policy Version 1.0 Released 18 October 2006 |