4. Before Contacting IMS Software Support
To resolve your software support service request in the most expedient way possible, it is important that you take the following steps before you contact a software support center. You will need to gather information about the problem and have it on hand when discussing the situation with the software support specialist. The following steps are an example of what is required:
Define the problem
If you can describe the problem and symptoms before contacting software support, you can expedite the problem solving process. It is very important to be as specific as possible when explaining a problem or question to our software support specialists. Our specialists want to give you the right solution, so, the better they understand your specific problem, the better they are able to resolve it.
Gather background information
To solve problems effectively, the software support specialist needs to have all of the relevant information about the problem. Your ability to answer the following questions will help us to solve your software problem.
- What levels of software were you running when the problem occurred? Please include all relevant products, i.e.: operating system as well as related products.
- Has the problem happened before, or is this an isolated problem?
- What steps led to the failure?
- Can the problem be recreated? If so, what steps are required?
- Have any changes been made to the system? (Hardware, Network, Operating Systems (OS), or software)
- Were any messages or other diagnostic information produced? If yes, what were they?
- Define your technical question in specific terms and provide the version and release level of the product(s) in question.
Gather relevant diagnostic information (if possible)
It is often necessary that our software support specialists analyze specific diagnostic information, such as relevant logs, storage dumps, traces, etc., in order to resolve your problem. Gathering this information is often the most critical step in resolving your problem. Product specific diagnostic documentation can be very helpful in identifying what information is typically required to resolve problems.
Determine the severity level
Severity levels are determined during a mutual discussion by the client and support analyst, based on the business impact of the issue. If a client designated a problem as a Severity 1, IMS will work on it 7 days a week, providing the client is also available to work during those hours. Customers can change the severity level of a problem if circumstances change from when it was first entered to match current business impact conditions.