Technical Support provides support for all current Grafiti LLC products. As a general rule, technical support is helping the customer run the software as documented. This includes installation, printing and operational problems when things may not work as documented. Technical support includes helping a customer use what is in the documentation to get a specific task done by expanding on what is documented and giving an example of how to do it. This does not include major data restructuring or getting Technical Support to do something too complicated that perhaps another module or third party product will do more simply.

Technical Support Representatives attempt to resolve all customer problems while the customer is on the phone. Sometimes a Technical Support Representative will need more time to work on a solution for a customer or will encounter a problem beyond the scope of representative’s knowledge. If your problem cannot be resolved during the call, you have to specify your incident tracking number given by us for future reference on the problem or the service request will be escalated to a Technical Support Representative more knowledgeable about the particular problem.

In the earlier case we will make every attempt to contact you within 3 working days from the moment incident is opened. If you can’t be reached, a telephone message will be left, often with pertinent information and usually asking you to return the call. If the call is not returned, the Support Representative will attempt to contact you at least two or more times, either by phone, fax or email. Sometimes the initial contact will be by fax or email, depending on your preference or if the Support Representative has something substantial to fax or email. If you can’t be reached directly, Technical Support will leave a detailed message or send a fax or email which can directly address your issue.

A very small percentage of these problems will be escalated to our Product Development department, who may work directly with customers or who may confer with Support Representatives about steps to take towards resolution. If a problem is escalated to Product Development, it retains its tracking number and remains open in the Technical Support customer database.

Technical Support does not provide installation documentation, encryption codes or replacement media. Customer Service should be contacted for these at saves.techsupport@grafiti.com

Technical Support will be provided for software, which is the most current release on its particular platform. In the case of software, which is licensed on an annual basis, Technical Support is provided to customers whose software maintenance is valid.

What Does Technical Support offer?

• Installation Assistance
• Interpretation of Error Messages
• Suspected defects
• General Troubleshooting of Printing and Local Issues
• Abnormal Termination
• Assist the customer or technical contact in the installation of SYSTAT products
• Resolve any media or environmental problems that prohibit a successful installation of the software
• Clarify any system requirements necessary
• Verify the software is operational
• In situations in which common trouble shooting techniques have been unsuccessful, “walk through” the installation procedure over the phone with the customer
• Interpret error messages
• Suggest corrective action
• Assess the scope and magnitude of possible defect
• Can the defect be replicated
• Report defect to Product Development
• Determine reasonable workaround for customer if possible
• Verify abnormal operation
• Suggest problem-solving techniques
• Determine workarounds when needed
• Assess source of abnormal termination of job
• Suggest problem-solving strategy to customer
• Suggests ways to avoid problem
• Clarify Grafiti LLC product definitions, assumptions, computational methods and output presentation
• Identify procedures that will produce particular mathematical or statistical analyses
• Clarify documentation examples that may not be clear or may be ambiguous
• Expand on the example or definitions if necessary to comprehensively define a concept
• Guidance in constructing syntax to perform a particular analysis
• Explanation of how the products calculate the required analysis
• Identification of which procedure performs a specified statistical or mathematical analysis
• Explanation of a keyword or option which is under documented

In addition to the above, Technical Support has a fundamental responsibility to the customer to help use what is in the documentation to get a specific task done by expanding on what is documented and giving an example of how to do it. This may not include major data restructuring or getting products to do something in a complicated way that perhaps another module or third party product will do more simply.

It is not the responsibility of Technical Support to show the customer how to manipulate and analyze their data in SSI or go beyond the standard, documented examples to provide sophisticated programming solutions.

• Writing original syntax for a customer using the customer’s data dictionary
• Debugging customer written macros, scripts or input programs
• Writing programs, even if using sample data, that produce results beyond those available through the standard SSI procedures
• Making statistical recommendations for the proper analyses
• Consultation regarding the appropriateness of various statistical procedures
• Explaining basic statistical concepts to a customer because the customer has no statistical training and has not read the manuals

Types of Problems Technical Support will not Address

The list of Technical Support responsibilities above is not exhaustive but is meant to represent examples of the services we provide. If you need the kind of help, which goes beyond the boundaries of Technical Support, please call our sales representative for advice on the available options.

There are a few things that you can do to help so that we can support you better:

• Read the manual. A large number of the questions we receive can be answered by merely reading the manual.
• Check the help files. We have added numerous sections that explain frequently asked questions.
• Double check your syntax or where appropriate, your transformation logic. Frequently a misplaced “/” or “.” can be the root of the problem and can easily be overlooked.
• Investigate your data. Frequently problems with transformations have to do with missing data. A good investigative technique is to list out a subset of cases along with the variables used in a logical expression and the computed variable. Then you can step through the logic checking your results as you go.
• Carefully read the error messages. Most error messages will indicate which command or command lines caused the error. Some will actually point to the offending syntax.

Note: Be prepared to engage in trial and error investigative techniques. Often times we can quickly deduce that your problem could be caused by one of several things, but we’ll need to systematically find the cause.

A Technical Support Representative may need to refer you to a page in a manual, so have available your product manuals near the phone when you call.