Support Types and Terms
Updated 2024-01-01
At TheWebMachine Networks, we strive to provide industry-leading support for our products and services. This is why we provide every subscriber of AWS FreePBX free email/ticket based support included as part of the Hourly or Annual price you pay for your instance(s) on AWS. We also make available an additional upper tier of paid support for those customers needing extra help with their systems. This page will define the types of support we offer and the terms under which we offer such services.
We reserve the right to amend and update these terms as deemed necessary to provide a consistent and fair system of support for our ever-growing customer base. We reserve the right to refuse support services to any customer who has demonstrated a clear violation of our support terms, especially in cases where these violations are intended to usurp our attempts to provide fair and equal support to all of our customers. This mostly relates to abuses of our paid support options and will be outlined in detail below.
NOTE: You should add awsfpbx@thewebmachine.net to your spam filter exemption list or, in the case of GMail/GSuite, keep an eye on your Spam folder so that you ensure you receive Support Ticket correspondence from our Technicians. If you are subscribed to our Updates Mailing List, you'll also want to add no-reply@thewebmachine.net to your filters to ensure those important alerts are received.
Free Support
includes:
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Ticket-based Support - Submitted via our site and subject to Standard Priority response times ranging from 2-24 hours, but often replied to in less than 1 hour
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Email-based Support - Emails submitted to awsfpbx@thewebmachine.net will create a Ticket in our system the same as if you submitted via our site and is subject to the same Standard Priority response times
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Standard Priority Ticket and Email support is unlimited and given to all AWS FreePBX Subscribers
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Not a Subscriber yet? Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have about our products and services. We'll be happy to help you determine if AWS FreePBX is a good fit for your company!
Paid Support
includes:
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Ticket-based Support - Submitted via our site and subject to High Priority response times ranging from 0-4 hours, but often replied to within mere minutes
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Email-based Support - Emails submitted to awsfpbx@thewebmachine.net will create a Ticket in our system the same as if you submitted via our site and is subject to the same High Priority response times
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High Priority Live Chat, Ticket, and Email support is unlimited and given to all Paid Support customers with at least one (1) Credit on their account but does NOT consume Credits when utilized
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Telephone Support - Reach us in an emergency and get a Technician on your issue immediately! So long as you have at least one (1) Credit on your account, you can give us a call day or night, 365 days a year
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Remote Screen Share Support - Having a problem you can't solve on your own or with our other support options? Let one of our Technicians remotely connect to your workstation and work WITH you to resolve your issues directly!
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Online Support Scheduler - Need to work with a tech for a planned event, such as an upgrade or migration? Use our online scheduler to choose your preferred day/time, and reserve it with ease. You also can quickly see your remaining Paid Support Credit balance at any time.
Support Terms, Conditions, and Disclaimers
DEFINITION OF PRIORITY: While we make every attempt to meet the definitions outlined above for Standard Priority and High Priority, we make NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE, expressed or implied, of timeliness of services provided and may exceed the stated times during periods of unusually high demand or other unforeseen circumstances.
ALL PAID SUPPORT IS PREPAID: No Paid Support services will be rendered on a post-billed basis. All customers, regardless of Subscription Type (Hourly or Annual), will be required to prepay for all Paid Support Credits to be applied to their account and Paid Support Credits will not be added to an account until payment is received in full. Paid Support Plans are also available, which include a monthly allotment of Paid Support Credits and require a 6- or 12-month non-cancelable term commitment in exchange for a special discount on all Credit purchases during the term. Included Plan credits are not added to your account balance until payment has been processed on your monthly Plan Cycle Date.
DEFINITION OF CREDITS: A Paid Support Credit is equal to one (1) Hour of service provided by a Technician in any case where Credits are consumed for such service. At this time, only Telephone and Remote Screen Share Session support utilize Paid Support Credits. There are no partial Credits or fractions of a Credit and the aforementioned support services utilize Paid Support Credits in FULL CREDIT/HOUR INCREMENTS. Any overage will be rounded up to the next full hour. If a Customer is utilizing both Telephone and Remote Screen Share Session support simultaneously, only one (1) Credit will be used per real Hour of support provided, beginning with the start time of the early-most service utilized and ending with the stop time of the last-most service utilized. Example: If you call us at 9:00AM and we engage in a Remote Screen Share Session at 9:15AM, then end the phone call at 10:30AM and conclude the Remote Screen Share Session at 11:00AM, you will utilize two (2) Credits of Paid Support in total from 9:00AM until 11:00AM.
CREDIT EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL: With exception to Paid Support Plans, all Credits purchased are valid for one (1) calendar year from date of purchase. At least 30 days before any Credits are due to expire, we will attempt to contact you to let you know. You will have the opportunity to pay a Maintenance Fee equal to 20% of the total then-current "a la carte" value of your remaining Credits to renew them for an additional one (1) calendar year. If this Maintenance Fee is not paid, the credits will expire on their anniversary date. In the case of Paid Support Plans, Credits expire based on the roll-over schedule of your selected Plan.
NO REFUNDS AND NO TRANSFERS: All Credits purchased are attached to the AWS Subscriber ID # of the original purchaser and cannot be transferred to another Customer. No refunds of Paid Support Credits will be given under any circumstances. You are strongly advised to speak to a Technician BEFORE you purchase Paid Support Credits to ensure that Paid Support is even necessary. Many common issues can easily be resolved with Live Chat or Ticket/Email guidance from our highly knowledgeable Technicians at no extra charge to you!
NO ABUSE OR MISUSE OF PAID SUPPORT SERVICES OR PRIORITY: In order to provide a fair support experience for all of our Customers, at both Free and Paid Support levels, we have implemented several policies and functions into our support systems to prevent misuse and abuse. These features include an intentional delay in the processing of Priority Status elevation in the Ticket system. When you currently have zero (0) Paid Support Credits on your account and purchase one or more, there is a delay before your account is given High Priority support status and any Live Chat Requests or Ticket/Emails submitted in the meantime remain at Standard Priority. This is to prevent abuse/misuse by customers whereby they attempt to "skip the line" by purchasing a support credit at the last moment they need assistance. The only way to get around this delay in status elevation on initial purchase is to already be talking to a Technician at the time you purchase your Credits, as the Technician can then expedite the elevation of your account and get right to work for you. The premise behind prepaying for elevated support status is to ensure we plan the necessary staffing and resources to help all of our Customers when they need us and these policies are in place to further that mission.
SCOPE OF WORK AND DISCLAIMER OF SUITABILITY: While there are an infinite number of ways you can utilize the vast power of the FreePBX ecosystem, we must deliberately limit the scope of work we are willing to perform for our Customers, regardless of Support level. This is to ensure we maintain sufficient resources to help all of our Customers and not "spread ourselves too thin" trying to support every known and unknown 3rd party app and integration. As is such, we can only provide assistance to Customers with their AWS FreePBX instances with general configuration and troubleshooting. We CANNOT provide general troubleshooting and support for non-AWS FreePBX servers, except where possible to assist Customers who wish to migrate from these non-AWS systems to AWS FreePBX. We CANNOT provide general troubleshooting for 3rd party applications and features not provided by the AWS FreePBX AMI at launch time. We will make our best effort to assist you in ensuring that your AWS FreePBX server is prepared to interact with your desired 3rd party integrations, but we make NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE, expressed or implied, that AWS FreePBX will be suitable for any particular environment or purpose; or that AWS FreePBX will work with any particular existing technology you might be using on your network. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to refuse to provide technical support for your systems or environment, up to and including your AWS FreePBX Instance(s), as all software supplied on Amazon Web Services is provided AS-IS and without warranty. We will only exercise this option in cases where the support demands placed upon us exceed the letter and spirit of our terms for providing you with support.
APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS: If you schedule a Paid Support appointment in advance and then fail to engage with the Technician at the specified appointment time, without canceling at least two (2) hours in advance, you may, at our sole discretion, be assessed a penalty equal to one (1) Paid Support Credit for the cancellation. "No Call/No Show" appointments will always be assessed this penalty, allowing for a 15 minute grace period from the scheduled start time. If you start your session more than 15 minutes late, but less than 30 minutes late, you will still be assessed a penalty from your appointment start time but will be permitted to finish out the credit-hour with your technician. After 30 minutes, you are assessed the full one (1) Credit penalty, your appointment is cancelled, and you must reschedule it.
PAID SUPPORT PLANS: These special pricing plans require a term commitment! You will be automatically billed each month for the duration of the term. You will receive the Plan-prescribed Paid Support Credit(s) on your billing date each month once your payment has posted. These credits are valid for two (2) billing cycles, with a maximum of two times (2x) the prescribed credits available at the start of your billing cycle. Once you have exhausted these credits on Phone or Screen Share Support Sessions, you have the option to purchase additional credits at the discounted rates prescribed by the Plan, regardless of quantity. These additional credits will be subject to the same roll-over limits. You must have at least one (1) Paid Support Credit on your account at any given time in order to access the Emergency Phone Support Hotline, as merely having an active plan does not entitle you to unlimited access to these resources. If you cancel your Paid Support Plan, or any other term-based Support Agreement with us, prior to the Renewal Period (up to twenty-eight days before your Plan ends), you immediately forfeit any Paid Support Credits provided as part of the Plan and become ineligible to participate in future term-based Support Plans or Agreements as penalty for early cancelation. No additional cancelation fees will be assessed.
INDEMNIFICATION: Customer shall indemnify and hold harmless TheWebMachine Networks, Rebar IT Outsourcing, and its directors, officers, employees, agents, affiliates, subcontractors and customers from and against all allegations, claims, actions, suits, demands, damages, liabilities, obligations, losses, settlements, judgments, costs and expenses (including without limitation attorneys’ fees and costs) which arise out of, relate to or result from any act or omission of TheWebMachine Networks or the AWS FreePBX software to which you subscribe.
FORCE MAJEURE: We will not be liable for any delay or failure to perform any obligation under these terms where the delay or failure results from any cause beyond our reasonable control, including labor disputes or other industrial disturbances, electrical or power outages, utilities or other telecommunications failures, earthquake, storms or other elements of nature, blockages, embargoes, riots, acts or orders of government, acts of terrorism, or war.
PRIVACY POLICY: Our Technical Support Services for AWS FreePBX are covered by the same Total Privacy Policy as the rest of our products, sites, and services. More information on our Privacy Policy can be found at this page and will be maintained separately from these terms.
a division of Rebar IT Outsourcing