Summary

Chapter 10: Communication Skills 13■■Maintenance windowsResponse time guaranteeFigure 10-3Service Level AgreementAn SLA typically is a legal agreement that describes the responsibilities and liabilities of allparties involved. Some of the contents of an SLA usually include the following:■■■■■■■Response-time guarantees (often based on the type of call and the SLA)Equipment and/or software that will be supportedWhere service will be providedPreventive maintenanceDiagnosticsPart availability (equivalent parts)Cost and penalties■ Time of service availability (for example, 24/7; Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 5p.m. EST; and so on)There may be exceptions to the SLA. Be sure to follow your company business rules indetail. Some of the exceptions may include the customer’s ability to upgrade the servicelevel and the ability to escalate to management for review. Escalation to managementshould be reserved for special situations. For example, a long-standing customer or a customerfrom a very large company might have a problem that falls outside the parametersstated in his or her SLA with your service company. In these cases, your management maychoose to support the customer for customer-relations reasons.