Customer Field Services
This topic describes the customer field service process and how Megaport calculates fees associated with field services.
Megaport field service process
From time to time, Megaport receives requests for a field service technician’s onsite attendance in the data center.
Why are field service technicians necessary?
As part of the troubleshooting process, both Megaport and customers rely on either the data center or third-party technicians to validate that the physical connections are working as expected.
Megaport (at the B-End) opens a ticket and arranges a field service technician to work with a Megaport Customer Support Specialist (CSS) and investigate the root cause of the issue. This includes validating the correct operation of the:
- Physical connections within the Megaport rack.
- Demarcation pointThe physical point at which the Megaport network ends and the customer network begins. Generally, this is a floor/rack/port assignment for an optical port..
- Structured cabling up to the demarcation point.
Customers (at the A-End) arrange a field service technician to validate the physical connections within their rack and the cross-connect running to the Megaport demarcation point.
Physical connections
The two most common scenarios for physical connectivity between the customer rack (A-End) and the Megaport demarcation point (B-End) are:
- Scenario 1: Connection into Megaport rack via a meet-me room
Data center technicians run the customer cross connect to the Megaport demarcation as defined in the Megaport LOALetter of Authorization.
A document that customers present to their data center provider to establish the physical cross-connect from their data center serices to their Port. The LOA is provided via the Megaport Portal when a customer provisions a new Port..
The Megaport demarcation point is generally hosted within a meet-me room (MMR) or interconnect. The customer cross connect is run to the Port within this demarcation as defined in the Megaport LOA.
- Scenario 2: Connection into Megaport rack without a meet-me room
When there is no meet-me room available at the data center and a customer orders a cross connect, the data center runs a patch lead directly from the customer rack to the Megaport patch panel.
When are field service fees passed on to a customer?
Megaport may pass field service fees on to a customer after proving:
- The service is operating within specification up to the Megaport demarcation point, according to the Megaport LOA.
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The fault is beyond the Megaport demarcation and resides within the customer network. A field service technician is dispatched to the data center to investigate.
–or–
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A field service technician is dispatched to assist in a customer project: for example, moving Ports.
Important
Troubleshooting or assistance by a field service technician is a pay-per-use service.
How will I be informed of customer field service fees?
Before dispatching a field technician to the data center, Megaport provides you with this information:
- A confirmation that additional service fees might be passed on to you.
- Complete details of the issue investigation to date.
- A link to the Megaport Rate Card detailing the field service billing fees.
- A request for acknowledgement of the service fees and authorization to proceed.
After you acknowledge the service fees and authorize Megaport to proceed, a technician is dispatched to the data center.
When the field service technician completes the work, Megaport finalizes and closes the customer ticket to resolve the issue. Field service fees are added to your invoice for the next billing cycle. A summary of the work performed appears under the Field Services Description.
How are customer field service fees calculated?
- Services provided by field service technicians are billed hourly with a minimum one-hour charge.
- Fees are incurred at a flat rate according to the rate card.
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The fees are billed in the currency of the customer’s billing market according to the rate card:
Area/Region Business Hours After Hours/Expedited Asia Pacific $250 (AUD) $350 (AUD) Europe €180 (EUR) €280 (EUR) North America $250 (USD) $350 (USD)
How can I prevent customer field service fees?
- Review the Troubleshooting Overview and perform the necessary checks from your side to validate your network.
- Confirm with any other providers that your network connects to that there are no maintenance works, outages, or any other activities that could be impacting your service.
- If you have recently provisioned a service, confirm with the data center that they have completed all physical checks after connection, such as rolling the fiber to confirm polarity.