Proposed Unsponsored TLD Agreement: Appendix C, Part 10 (.name) (3 July 2001)

Part 10 - Engineering and Customer Service Support

During the Term of this Agreement, Registry Operator shall provide reasonable telephone, fax and e-mail customer service to Registrars, not Registered Item Holders or prospective customers of Registrar, for any issues relating to the Registry System and its operations.

Upon Registrar's request to become an authorized registrar for the Global Name Registry .name TLD, Registry Operator will assign Registrar a dedicated Account Manager. The Account Manager will be the primary contact point for Registrar, to whom queries of any nature may be directed. Registrars will conduct the majority of interactions with the Registry Operator through its Customer Service Department and the dedicated Account Manager, the parties responsible for escalating all queries according to the Escalation Procedures as described this Appendix C, Part 10.

In addition to the assistance of the Customer Service Department and dedicated Account Manager, Registry Operator shall also provide a web-based knowledge base for FAQs and reference materials, as well as a web-based trouble-ticketing system interface. The web interface for the knowledge base will become available after signature of the Registry Operator / ICANN agreement prior to the Sunrise and Landrush launch. The web-based trouble ticketing system will be operational before or concurrent with "Live SRS."

Customer Service System (CSS) and Escalation Procedures

Registry Operator will use an escalation procedure to evaluate the priority of an issue and respond accordingly during the course of the query resolution process. Escalation will be used to ensure that all queries are dealt with in a timely manner using all reasonable commercial and technical means.

The system and procedures the Registry Operator maintains are collectively referred to as the Customer Service System (CSS). The Customer Services System and associated escalation procedures described below will be operational before or concurrent with "Commencement-of-Service." Each telephone call, e-mail, fax, and/or postal mail received from Registrar raising a problem/query will be given a unique reference number, or "ticket," to facilitate ease of tracking and escalation. Support calls or other forms of communication shall be escalated as deemed necessary by support staff who shall be trained in the appropriate procedures. Issues can be escalated manually by the staff, or automatically by the CSS issue ticketing and tracking system.

CSS Security: The Registrar must supply a list of no more than 10 named individuals that are authorized to contact the Registry Operator by phone or email. Each of these individuals will be assigned a unique pass phrase such that the Registry Operator can then authenticate the authorized Registrar representatives. Registrar will also designate the primary and secondary CSS Security List Managers, who are authorized to modify the list of 10 representatives.

Examples of when escalations might occur include:

• Registrar needs an immediate answer to an urgent query that has not been previously resolved.
  
• Registrar is dissatisfied with the product, systems or services provided.
  
• The employee receiving the request does not have the authority or sufficient knowledge to resolve the query.

Escalation Priority Levels

Escalation priority levels are explained below from the highest to the lowest priority:

Priority 1: A "major production system" is down or severely impacted. Priority 1 issues are likely to be categorized as catastrophic outages that affect the overall Registry operations and thereby all Registrars.

Priority 2: Registrar has a serious issue with a "primary feature" necessary for daily operations for which no work-around has been discovered and which completely prevents the feature from being used. Priority 2 issues will likely affect more than one Registrar.

Priority 3: Registrar has an issue with a "non-critical feature" for which a work-around may or may not exist. Priority 3 issues may be unique to one Registrar.

Priority 4: Registrar has a "general enquiry," usage question, or feature enhancement request.

ESCALATION PATHS FOR PRIORITIES	STEPS FOR EACH PRIORITY LEVEL (Escalation paths describe the pre-defined route a query shall take)
Priority 1: “Major Production System”	Step 1: Request is received through a Customer Service Representative (CSR), the dedicated Account Manager, or the emergency line.
	Step 2: Request is escalated immediately to the Operations Manager and/or the appropriate technical operations staff.
	Step 3: If the Operations Manager and/or technical operations staff are unable to resolve the issue in a timely manner it is escalated to the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and/or other members of the Executive Committee.
Priority 2 & 3: Primary Features or Non-Critical Features	Step 1: Request is received through a Customer Service Representative (CSR) or the dedicated Account Manager.
	Step 2: If not resolved the request is escalated to the Customer Service Manager or Operations Manager who ensures that request is resolved, drawing on technical operations staff and/or finance/billing support.
	Step 3: If the Customer Service or Operations Staff are unable to resolve the problem the request is escalated to the CTO and/or other members of the Executive Committee.
Priority 4: General Enquiry	Step 1: Request is received by CSR or dedicated Account Manager.
	Step 2: If not resolved, the request is escalated to the Customer Service Manager or Operations Manager.
	Step 3: If the Customer Service Manager or Operations Manager is unable to resolve the issue it is escalated appropriately.

There are three main channels of communication through which an issue can be brought to the attention of the Registry Operator: the Customer Service Department, the dedicated Account Managers and the emergency line. Escalation paths for these channels are outlined below:

Emergency Line Escalation Path:

Step 1: The customer calls the emergency telephone number, which will be answered by a qualified technical operations engineer on duty 24X7.

Step 2: The engineer discusses problem with the customer and verifies that the problem is a valid Priority 1 issue. If the problem is not deemed to be Priority 1, the engineer will make an entry in the CSS and refer the case to a CSR and the dedicated Account Manager for resolution. If the problem is a Priority 1 issue, the engineer starts resolving the problem immediately. If the issue cannot be resolved satisfactorily within the first 15 minutes, the case will be escalated to field engineers, the Operations Manager, the Chief Technology Officer, and/or other members of the Executive Committee as required to expedite the issue resolution.

Step 3: After resolving the issue the engineer makes an entry in the CSS, changes the request status to "resolved," and then calls or emails the customer back directly (as well as the CSR and/or dedicated Account Manager) to describe how the issue was resolved.

If resolution of the issue takes longer than 15 minutes the Registrar (and dedicated Account Manager) will be given periodic updates (at a minimum - every 30 minutes) via telephone and/or email.

Customer Service Department & Account Manager Escalation Paths:

The Customer Service Department and dedicated Account Manager will, as the Registrar's primary point of contact, deal with all enquiries, with the exception of calls through the emergency line.

Step 1: The Customer Service Department and/or Account Manager receives a request, either by telephone, email, fax, or postal mail.

Step 2: If not able to resolve the issue in a timely manner, the CSR would ensure the Account Manager is notified, evaluate the severity of the request, assign a priority and make an entry into the CSS. The CSR and/or Account Manager would also then assign an owner, for example: the Customer Service Manager, the Operations Manager, technical support staff and/or finance/billing support.

Step 3: If the new owner of the request cannot resolve the issue, the relevant Department Head is notified.

Step 4: If the Department Head cannot resolve the issue it is escalated to the Chief Technology Officer and/or other members of the Executive Committee. The above process creates the ability to track any unresolved issues until a workaround or fix is provided.

Targeted Response Times.

Prior to or concurrent with "Commencement-of-Service" the Registry Operator aims to ensure that 80% of all responses are within the following Targeted Response Times:

Page Updated 03-Jul-2001
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