Escalating a Case

PTC Technical Support provides customers with multiple mechanisms for escalating technical issues.  The increased Severity of a case or the Escalation of a case reflects the urgency of a particular issue. Technical Support uses this following information to understand the impact of a particular issue for each customer:

• Change case Severity - Alerts the Technical Support Engineer to the change in Severity
  • Understanding Case Severities
  • Change your Case Severity
• Escalate this case - Involves the Technical Support Engineer’s manager
  • Understanding Escalation Levels
  • Escalate Your Case to Technical Support Management

Change Your Case Severity

The severity of a case is set initially when you open the case.  The engineer will set the severity on live calls.  Customers can set the severity when they log a new case via the Case Logger.  As your business needs change, you can modify the severity or escalate the case using Case Tracker or using the phone:

• Case Tracker - Use your PTC Account with Customer Support for interactive technical support using Web tools.
  • Click Change case Severity and update the Severity. The support engineer assigned to your case is notified.
  • Click Escalate this case. The technical support engineer’s manager is notified.
• Use the Technical Support toll-free phone numbers in the (see the Contact tab) - Inform the Technical Support Engineer of the new severity or escalation. Your case will be updated appropriately.

Process for the Enterprise Down Severity Level

Use the Enterprise Down (E-Down) Severity level with care so that valid situations get the necessary resources.  The Enterprise Down case severity is reserved for PTC Active Support Enterprise customers with PTC software in a production environment.  When all production work has stopped and cannot reasonably continue, the situation qualifies as a business emergency. E-Down categories for this severity level follow:

• A majority of end users cannot access PTC server software.
• The Enterprise Server remains unresponsive or exits repeatedly causing unacceptable or indefinite delays.
• Suppliers cannot access PTC software for sustained periods.
• End user activities result in a productivity drop of 80% or greater.
• Server performance for the Enterprise results in a productivity drop of 80 percent or greater.

Protocol in Business Emergencies

In a business emergency, PTC encourages you to immediately call the Support Line and speak with a Technical Support representative.  Request Enterprise Down (E-Down) attention.  PTC Technical Support will work 24x7 until they can start a working system or as long as they continue making useful progress.

During this emergency period, you must provide a contact, either on site or by pager, to assist with data gathering, testing, and applying fixes.  This technical contact must speak English and must be knowledgeable with PTC software and the production environment to help resolve system issues.

Information Required for the Enterprise Down Severity Level

Whether you speak immediately with a Technical Support representative or use Case Tracker, you are asked the following questions for Enterprise Down (E-Down) severity level:

• What is the business justification? Choose one of the E-Down categories from the list of above.
• How many total users are on this production system?
• How many of those users are impacted by this problem?
• What actions have been taken to bring the system back online?  Include any new or changed contact information since the opening of the case.
• How long has the system been down?

Calling Technical Support immediately is the preferred approach to an E-Down condition. You can use Case Tracker to set the E-Down severity level after you open the case via the Case Logger but not while you initially log the case.

Understanding Escalation Levels

A case can be escalated to Technical Support Management if necessary.  See the next section for details on how to escalate a case. You are encouraged to escalate your issue to ensure the proper level of attention and resources. There are two levels of escalation within Technical Support.

Escalation Level 1 (M1)

• The case is escalated to the Technical Support Engineer’s direct supervisor.
• The Technical Support Manager will ensure that proper resources are applied to the case. By escalating a case, you are indicating that the case requires Technical Support management attention. A Technical Support Manager will ensure that you are contacted about the escalation.

Escalation Level 2 (M2)

• If you are not satisfied with the response for an issue, escalate your case a second time. The case is escalated to a second level of Technical Support management.
• The Technical Support Manager will work with the Technical Support Engineer and the Engineer’s supervisor to ensure that proper resources are applied to case.
• If necessary, a Software Performance Report will be escalated.

Escalate Your Case to Technical Support Management

A case can be escalated to a Technical Support Manager if necessary. A manager will become directly involved in ensuring that the appropriate resources are working towards issue resolution. This may include the escalation of a Software Performance Report. A case can be escalated by phone or Web through one of the following methods:

• Web-based Case Tracker - The direct manager of the Technical Support Engineer assigned to your case is notified automatically when the case is escalated in Case Tracker.  You cannot set the escalation status while opening the case via Case Logger, however, you can update the status in Case Tracker once you have logged the case by clicking Escalate this case. For any subsequent escalation request, you must contact Technical Support by one of the remaining escalation methods.
• Technical Support toll-free numbers
  • Americas
  • Europe and Africa
  • Asia and Pacific Rim
• Technical Support Feedback Form

In each case, reference your Technical Support case number and you will be directed to the appropriate Technical Support Manager.

If calling the Technical Support toll-free phone numbers, use the following procedure:

• Upon entering the automated phone tree, select 0 (zero) to speak to a Technical Support Operator.
• Inform the Technical Support Operator that you want to escalate a technical issue and provide the associated Technical Support case number. The Technical Support Operator will transfer you to the appropriate manager.
• If the manager is unavailable, the Technical Support Operator will seek out a Technical Support Manager to address your escalation.