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 How do I ensure that the ESC have the right experience and skills? |
Nottingham Trent University were chosen for their experience and skills in Microsoft technology.
Personnel have been recruited with a broad range of skills and experience and they are supported by training and resources.
The ESC also has access to Microsoft’s pool of global technical engineers should this be required. |
| Do you have any references for the ESC? |
References for the ESC are available on request. |
| What language is support provided in? |
Support is provided in English. The ESC is part of a larger network. Please enquire about other languages you may require support in. |
| I have other questions about ESC, who can I contact? |
If you require further assistance please email us at info@escuk.net or call us on 0870 012 0122. |
| When is the ESC Open? |
The Education Support Centre may be accessed on 0870 012 0122 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday excluding English bank holidays and university closure days.
The ESC will be closed on the following dates in 2008.
New Year
Tuesday 1 January 2008
Bank Holiday
Easter
Friday 21 March 2008
Bank Holiday
Monday 24 March 2008
Bank Holiday
Tuesday 25 March 2008
University Closure Day
May Day
Monday 5 May 2008
Bank Holiday
Spring Bank Holiday
Monday 26 May 2008
Bank Holiday
Tuesday 27 May 2008
University Closure Day
Summer Bank Holiday
Monday 25 August 2008
Bank Holiday
Christmas/New Year
Thursday 25 December 2008
Bank Holiday
Friday 26 December 2008
Bank Holiday
Monday 29 December 2008
University Closure Day
Tuesday 30 December 2008
University Closure Day
Wednesday 31 December 2008
University Closure Day
Thursday 1 January 2009
Bank Holiday
Friday 2 January 2009
University Closure Day
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| How much does an ESC contract cost? |
The annual cost for registering with ESC UK is calculated on the size of your organisation in relation to full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, and the number of named contacts you want to register.
Incidents must be logged by a registered contact, once logged the call can be passed to a more appropriate liaison.
Band - A
Number of FTE staff: 1,500+
Number of Named Contacts: 4
Fair Use Indicator: 21*
Cost of Trial Call: £220.00 +VAT
Cost of full ESC contract: £4,950.00 +VAT
Band - B
Number of FTE staff: 500 to 1,499
Number of Named Contacts: 3
Fair Use Indicator: 18*
Cost of Trial Call: £220.00 +VAT
Cost of full ESC contract: £4,100.00 +VAT
Band - C
Number of FTE staff: 0 to 499
Number of Named Contacts: 2
Fair Use Indicator: 15*
Cost of Trial Call: £220.00 +VAT
Cost of full ESC contract: £3,250.00 +VAT
* Indicates a notional call limit, providing an indication of fair use of the ESC Service over a 12 month period
Band - D
Definition: 12 Incident Pack
Number of Named Contacts: 2
Fixed Calls: 12
Cost of Trial Call: £220.00 +VAT
Cost of full ESC contract: £2,638.00 +VAT
Calls are to be taken within a twelve month period.
Band - E
Definition: 6 Incident Pack
Number of Named Contacts: 1
Fixed Calls: 6
Cost of Trial Call: £220.00 +VAT
Cost of full ESC contract: £1,319.00 +VAT
Calls are to be taken within a twelve month period.
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Additional contacts may provide larger institutions with greater flexibility and control, you are able to buy additional contacts at the cost of £660 per extra contact,
All contracts are subscribed to on an annual basis.
Non-PC users such as such as maintenance, cleaning, and catering staff etc, may be excluded from the FTE number.
NB: The ESC institutes an annual price rise effective from the 1st of January. |
| Why is the pricing tiered? |
We believe the size of the institution affects the number and the complexity of calls.
We have therefore priced accordingly in order to cover our costs. |
| How did you arrive at the pricing levels? |
The pricing covers the ongoing operational costs of the ESC at a price that is competitive within the marketplace. |
| Can I get a free incident to test the technical support? |
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The ESC offer the opportunity to trial our service without signing up for a full support contract.
For a fixed fee, £220.00+Vat, you may open a support call with the ESC at any point over the next six months.
After this trial, you will be under no obligation to sign up with the ESC. If, however, you do wish to sign up for our service after the trial, the ESC will deduct this charge from the cost of a support contract (offer valid for twelve months from the start of the trial support call).
Terms of trial
- Trial is limited to one trial per institution per twelve month period.
- Offer to deduct charge for trial from a full contract available for twelve months following commencement of support call.
- Support subject to terms and conditions outlined in ESC support contract.
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| How can I pay for a contract? |
We will invoice you following submission of an official purchase order. We regret we are not able to take credit card numbers over the phone. |
| Why is the technical support contract so cost effective? |
The ESC has been set up within a university to keep costs lower. Both the Nottingham Trent University and Microsoft have made substantial investments in the ESC and this enables costs to be lower to customers. We also utilise students where possible to assist with research and data collection. |
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| How can you guarantee support? |
The ESC has been developed with the assistance of many technical support and education experts within both Nottingham Trent and Microsoft Europe. Best practices have been used where possible. We have a rigorous recruitment and training process to ensure we employ experts into the ESC and we support these experts with documented operational processes, clean escalations paths and access to resources. |
| What if you can’t fix my problem? |
If the ESC is unable to fix the technical issue with their own internal escalation teams, the issue will be escalated to Microsoft. It should be noted that there may not always be a resolution available, and workarounds may be developed. The ESC have access to Microsoft’s best product experts to resolve the query where possible. |
| What products can I get support on? |
All Microsoft products covered by Campus and Select Agreements are eligible for support
Note that products no longer within the Microsoft support cycle may only be supported on a reasonable efforts basis.
Support excludes games and hardware.
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| What services are included? |
The ESC generally covers all technical issue resolution, the provision of advice and the building of a technical education community.
On-site support, design, consultation, deployment and debugging support may be available by arrangement. These services may incur an additional cost
We will offer additional services in line with customer demand and changing technology.
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| When are you open? How can I submit an incident? |
The Education Support Centre may be accessed on 0870 012 0122 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday excluding English bank holidays and university closure days.
Support may be offered on University closure days by prior arrangement, possibly at extra cost.
The ESC is only able to work on technical incidents within the above opening hours.
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| When can I expect a response from the ESC? |
The standard service level for an initial response to your technical query is four (4) hours.
A response within two (2) hours is available for high impact technical issues.
General queries will be responded to within one working day.
The service level will be set by agreement between the technician and the customer in all instances.
Depending on the complexity of your issue, the ESC consultant may need to communicate on multiple occasions with you so that they may continue to work to resolve your issue. How promptly you answer these follow-up questions, will naturally have an impact on the time taken to close the support incident. |
| How can I submit an incident? |
The Education Support Centre may be accessed on 0870 012 0122 between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday excluding English bank holidays and university closure days.
Support may be offered on University closure days by prior arrangement, possibly at extra cost.
Alternatively, email submission is available via support@escuk.net. Web support may be accessed via the support template on www.escuk.net. Note that the ESC is only able to work on technical incidents within the above opening hours. |
| Can I submit my incident 24x7? |
Yes, through the web template or email, but the ESC can only work on your incident during operational hours which are Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm (excluding English bank holidays and University closure days). |
| How can I check the status of my incident? |
You will be able to check your case history on the website. You will be forwarded personal log-in details to enable your access to this information. |
| Can I submit several problems at one time? |
Each individual question/problem needs to be considered as a separate incident.
You may log several problems as separate incidents but should note that we will expect you to be available to assist with the resolution therefore we would advise against submitting a large number of incidents at one time. |
| What if the same issue occurs, can I reopen the case? |
Yes, each case will be looked into on an individual basis taking all the circumstances into account. |
| What if I have forgotten my login details or contract number? |
User name and password are re-issued following a verification process.
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| What are the benefits of an ESC contract? |
- Cost effective means of support
- Predictable costs which assist with the budgeting
- Community based support so you can learn from your peers and keep in touch with ‘real’ technical issues within education
- Set service levels so you have a guaranteed response time
- Access to consistent technical resources with experience in a range of Microsoft products
- Access to the best level of Microsoft support if required |
| I have an existing support contract with Microsoft. Can I purchase an ESC contract? |
The ESC contract is offered separately to Microsoft contracts. You are welcome to purchase an ESC contract. For details on how to terminate an existing support contract you should contact your technical support provider. |
| Can I cancel my contract once it has been purchased? |
Customers should be aware of the terms and conditions of the contract prior to purchase.
The ESC is unable to refund contracts due to non-usage or a change in customer requirements. |
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| How do you protect my Privacy? |
All data supplied to the ESC will be treated as confidential. A variety of security technologies and procedures are used to help protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure.
Any data that is put onto the website for the purposes of knowledge sharing will be stripped of information enabling it to be linked back to any individual customer. |
| What quality assurance measures are in place for the ESC? |
The ESC has defined and documented operational processes, competency based recruitment and training approach and integrated systems in place to ensure a great customer experience.
The results of the ESC are continually monitored by both the NTU and Microsoft. If customers are not satisfied with the resolution of a technical support incident, then a complaints process is in place. |
| Who do I contact if I have a complaint? |
All feedback on the ESC or its services should be sent to info@escuk.net
Alternatively customers are able to call the ESC on 0870 012 0122 and speak with the team manager.
The ESC will respond to all complaints. |
| May I visit the ESC? |
Visitors to the ESC are welcome by prior arrangement. |
| What if you decide to discontinue the service? |
If it was decided that the ESC would not continue the service we would provide pro-rata monthly refunds to customers.
Alternative support mechanisms would be suggested where feasible. |
| Can I work for the ESC? |
Jobs within the ESC are advertised on the esc website (www.escuk.net).
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| I’m interested in purchasing Microsoft technology. How can I do this? |
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Alternatively you can send us an email at info@escuk.net and we will assist with your query.
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