Call priority assignment:

The Mangosat/NWNS ticketing system uses “Priority” to establish timescales and effort to respond to – and resolve an issue (aka ticket, incident, or service request). Priority is derived from an internally defined impact and urgency priority matrix:

• Impact: measures the effect of an incident/service request (ex: number of customers affected/influenced by the incident).
• Urgency: measures how long it will be until the incident has significant impact on the business continuity.

It’s important to understand that impact and urgency are not the same thing. Every customer deserves the same amount of attention. The point here is, however, that some requests just can’t wait.

The initial prioritisation is set by the customer (or more general, the request creator). Because we do not expect our customers to know all the definitions and attributes required to objectively determine priority levels, final prioritisation confirmation is done by the Mangosat/NWNS operator. And this is done after working with the customer to better understand the exact situation.

It is possible that the initially set priority needs to be updated while it is being handled. The Mangosat/NWNS operator working on the ticket, can choose to adjust the prioritisation if needed, as needed.

A little bit more background:

The ticket creator classifies the ticket through the service category options, as well as setting the priority. The creator will have the option to nominate the ticket as a major incident if they believe this is a priority 1 incident. A major incident represents the most significant type of service disruption that merits specific communications, coordination and handling protocol to ensure focus on fast restoration of service.

• Priority 1 – Impact high | Urgency high – high priority person(s) service request or activity with a strict deadline.
• Priority 2 – Impact medium | Urgency high – core service desk request for information for upcoming (but not as strict) deadline.
• Priority 3 – Impact low | Urgency high – request for service desk operator to complete job tasks in myNWNS.
• Priority 4 – Impact medium | Urgency low – service / activity planning with an agreed date in the future.
• Priority 5 – Impact low | Urgency low – information request regarding a new service / activity with no urgency associated.

Less abstract but for indication / reference purposes only:

• High – first update to customer within 30 min, whenever possible. Further updates at regular intervals. If ticket not closed by the end of the day, escalation to Mangosat/NWNS Service Desk manager.
• Medium – service affected but workarounds available. First update to customer within 2 hours. Further updates as required.
• Low – respond to customer within one day or as soon as reasonably possible.

After priority assignment is set, “respond by” and “resolve by” target times are calculated based on the defined priority target times in the invoked SLA. The customer is then updated accordingly. Regular updates are our way to communicate about the Mangosat/NWNS actions and progress towards ticket closure.

Please note: how the ticket will be processed exactly including its timeline and (field) actions depends on the SLA between customer and Mangosat or NWNS. Some problems however may take longer to diagnose and resolve.

Service Desk support charges:

Typically Mangosat/NWNS standard terms and conditions and the appropriate service fee applies. Other terms and conditions may apply if the customer has a valid maintenance – or retainer agreement with Mangosat or NWNS . If this is the case, the content of the agreement prevails.

Occasionally, the customer may require services that are not covered under a maintenance agreement and therefore, considered billable (extra). Examples include:

• System or network recovery and cleanup resulting from an error on the part of the (end) customer.
• Network degradation because of local interference, equipment or satellite failure (if applicable).
• Network degradation because of local power issues that fall under the responsibility of the customer.
• Support for hardware, operating systems, networks and troubleshooting other vendors’ services unless agreed differently.

When a request is deemed to be billable, the customer is informed immediately so that written approval to authorise the work can be organised and shared. Unless agreed differently, customer will be charged the current Mangosat/NWNS service rates plus any incidental expenses. The Mangosat/NWNS Service Desk will inform its customers of the current rate and, if possible, an estimate for the total amount to be billed.