This article outlines the processes and expectations for handling and resolving support incidents.
It includes definitions of ticket statuses, response time expectations, communication protocols based on incident priority, and guidelines for different ticket types.
Response time expectations
Bluecore provides responses based on issue priority.
The Bluecore Product Support team strives to adhere to these expectations whenever possible; however, various circumstances can prevent this.
These targets are subject to change based on revised Customer needs and historical performance.
| Priority
|
Target first response time
|
Target frequency of follow up after initial severity classification
|
Target resolution time
|
|---|---|---|---|
| P0 - Critical | Two hours | Every hour | <12 hours |
| P1 - High | Two hours | Twice a day, at the beginning and end of the day | Three business days |
| P2 - Medium | Two hours | Once a week | 28 calendar days |
| P3 - Low | Two hours | Determined by the customer and Bluecore Product Support | 45 calendar days |
Response time definitions
Response time
The maximum time to acknowledge a service issue to a specific customer or business owner of the service. Bluecore Product Support acknowledges via email that the customer has logged an issue and provides the issue number to the customer.
Resolution time
The maximum time to restore service after a service failure, which is measured from service failure start time until fully restored and delivering normal functionality, assuming timely testing and feedback on provided fixes by the customer.
Bluecore will deliver a fix that resolves the issue within the stated time frame. When the fix is delivered, the customer is expected to test the fix in their environment as soon as possible.
Once the customer has tested and acknowledged that the fix has resolved the issue, the Help Desk case for the issue will be closed.
If the fix does not resolve the issue, the customer should notify Bluecore Product Support immediately. This contact should include detailed test results documenting the fact that the issue has not been resolved. Bluecore Product Support will acknowledge receipt of this issue, investigate, and provide a revised fix (if needed) to the customer in a timely manner.
Frequency of Bluecore Product Support follow-up
When an issue is logged with Bluecore Product Support and further information is requested from Customer, Bluecore requires a timely response. Bluecore Product Support will send a follow-up email to Customer in the defined follow up time
Business day
Defined as 8 AM – 5 PM United States Eastern Time (UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight savings time), Monday through Friday, excluding US holidays.
US holidays
- January 20, 2025: Martin Luther King Jr Day
- March 7, 2025: Employee Appreciation Day
- April 18, 2025: Good Friday
- May 26, 2025: Memorial Day
- June 19, 2025: Juneteenth
- July 4, 2025: Independence Day
- September 1, 2025: Labor Day
- November 27, 2025: Thanksgiving Day
- November 28, 2025: The Day After Thanksgiving
- December 25, 2025-January 2, 2026: Winter break
- January 19, 2026: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Incident/defect priority definitions
The priority assigned to an incident dictates the response and resolution targets and the frequency of communication.
| Priority
|
Priority criteria
|
|---|---|
| P0 - Critical |
|
| P1 - High |
|
| P2 - Medium |
|
| P3 - Low |
|
Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) can be requested when either the customer or Bluecore identifies a deficiency that affects the function and/or the delivery of the service and would include any P0 - Critical and P1 - High incidents.
The RCA will include the following information, as relevant:
- Incident Name
- Date and time of incident
- Date and time restored
- Summary of incident
- Identified root cause
- Corrective action plan
- Mitigation strategy
- Bluecore team
For RCA events, Bluecore will document a project plan to remediate the event or problem with the supplier’s service.
The RCA documentation will be completed and submitted to the customer for review in accordance with the assigned incident priority outlined in the following table.
| Priority
|
Documentation completed and submitted to customer for review
|
|---|---|
| P0 - Critical | Eight business days |
| P1 - High | Eight business days |
Operational support hours
Operational support hours define the expected hours that the supplier will be available to provide support.
| Operational support hours
|
Contact method
|
Availability
|
Recommended rank for quickest response
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-service support portal | help.bluecore.com | 24 hours a day, seven days a week | 1 |
| Chat support | When logged into Bluecore, you can click on the blue chat icon in the lower right corner | 10 AM-5 PM United States Eastern Time (UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight savings time) | 2 |
| Email support | support@bluecore.com | 24 hours a day, seven days a week | 3 |
Bluecore support services
Contact methods:
- Directly email support@bluecore.com
- When logged into Bluecore, you can click on the blue chat icon in the lower right corner
Escalation support process
Escalation path when customer reasonably believes support is at an impasse. Escalations can be requested by either party via the Customer Center. The Bluecore Product Support team’s leadership has visibility to all escalations.
The escalation remains open until it has been resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
Escalations can be done:
- On the initial request, by adding
Urgentto the subject line of the Support request - Anytime after the ticket has been submitted, by going through Bluecore’s support portal and selecting Escalated - Business Critical
Escalations will be reviewed within an hour of submitting the escalation request.