Descartes Systems Group
Descartes Customer Support & Client Services Portfolio
About Customer Support
Roles & Responsibilities
- Network availability
- Stability with new technology
- Operational efficiency
- Service continuity
- Functional support
Expertise Centers
Expertise centers are the core component of Customer Support. Customer Support representatives in each expertise center are not only subject matter experts for the products associated with their center but are also cross-trained in other product areas to enable us to provide ‘Follow the Sun’ service and redundancy when possible.
Responsibilities include:
- Liaising with Product Management and R&D teams to facilitate user and support friendliness of the solutions
- Meeting regularly with Product Management and R&D teams to identify opportunities
- Escalation, when required, of tickets to Product Management and R&D and Descartes Incident Management Center via Descartes customer portal
- Monitor incidents to identify trends and opportunities, including product enhancements and best practices
- Inform customers about maintenance, outages, and other common information
- Establish and nurture a strong customer relationship
Global Logistics Network (GLN)
The GLN support team is responsible for the Value Added Networks (VANs) within Descartes Global Logistics Network. These internal VANs connect our clients to:
- Their partners, either directly or via another VAN
- Government agencies
- Descartes applications
The GLN support team checks and corrects the issues on these platforms whether reported by our monitoring system or by different parties connected to these platforms.
Client Services
Descartes offers additional client services to proactively conduct regular calls/meetings to review performance and identify areas for service improvements. These services also include interfacing with other Descartes teams to discuss improvements, expedite issue resolution, and product enhancements.
Additional client services include:
- Data analysis to identify ways Descartes may improve services
- Production and distribution of management and performance reports, including KPI reports
- Implementation/migrations support
- Training
Service Desk
- Global support-related communications (outages, change, bulletins, RCAs)
- RCA management and distribution
The Service Desk provides 24/7/365 support to all Expertise Centers globally.
Contacting Customer Support
There are several ways for a customer to raise an incident to Customer Support:
- Apple & Android Apps
- Through Descartes Services
- Email: servicedesk@descartes.com
- Portal: servicedesk.descartes.com
Customer Portal
The Customer Support portal is the first stop for all customers seeking answers to their questions about Descartes products and services. From this single point, customers may open a new ticket and check the status of existing tickets 24/7.
Chat
Available via the Customer Portal, customers can chat directly with their Expertise Center. Once the chat is finished, a ticket will be created with the chat script.
Messages to the Customer Support Mailbox will be recorded by the Customer Support portal and acknowledged with a ticket number.
Mobile
Customers can manage tickets on the go through the Freshservice app for iOS and Android.
Telephone
Customers can call Customer Support at North America: (877) 786-9339 or Outside North America: (+800) 7866-3390 and select the appropriate option.
Customer Support Hours
Incidents can be raised via the Support Portal, email, or phone. The two main support options are:
- Business Hours Support: Available Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
- 24x7 Support: Available for an extra fee for critical incidents.
What a customer should know before contacting support
To enable a timely and complete diagnosis of the problem, customers should have:
- Contact information
- Descartes product being used, including its version
- URL and user name if logging into a Descartes hosted site
- Exact nature of the problem
- Relevant reference data (House Bill, Master Bill, etc.)
- Exact wording of the error message
- Steps taken to encounter the problem
- Steps already taken to resolve the problem
- Any other helpful information
Target Response & Resolution Times
Target Response Times:
- All portal entries and emails responded to within 30 minutes during Business Hours, or 24/7 for Severity Level 1 incidents.
Severity Levels:
| SEVERITY LEVEL | DEFINITION |
|---|---|
| Level 1- Urgent | Complete failure resulting in service unavailability |
| Level 2- High | Partial failure resulting in reduced service availability |
| Level 3- Medium | Requires intervention but can continue operating |
| Level 4- Low | Questions or requests for information |
Target Resolution Times
The commitment for incident management resolution based on Severity Levels:
| SEVERITY LEVEL | RESOLUTION TIME |
|---|---|
| Level 1- Urgent | 12 Hours |
| Level 2- High | 48 Hours |
| Level 3- Medium | 5 Days |
| Level 4- Low | Future Release |
Reporting
Customer Support is equipped to generate reports regarding internal and external KPIs to ensure target service levels are met.
Escalation
An escalation is justified when:
- Descartes has not responded/resolved an incident twice within published times.
- The customer believes the severity levels have not been properly applied.
Steps for escalation:
- Communicate with the Expertise Center Director
- Communicate with the Service Delivery Manager
- Communicate with the Key Account Manager
- Communicate with the Vice President of Customer Support & Client Services
Outage Procedures
Scheduled Maintenance:
During scheduled maintenance, certain services may not be available. Descartes will use commercially reasonable efforts to advise customers prior to any maintenance period.
Un-scheduled Outage & Irregularities:
In case of an irregularity, customers will receive a communication about potential impacts. If a service interruption occurs, an internal investigation may start, and a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) document may be issued as needed.
Critical Incidents Process
For critical incidents, clients should contact the Expertise Center via phone. A critical incident is raised to our Incident Management Center to manage communications and updates."