Core Advantages of Cisco SMARTnet – Part 1

Cisco SMARTnet is a novel method of treating technical support with a big targeted emphasis on proactivity.  While it provides typical hardware and software support whenever required, it also equips your IT staff with numerous new tools which can avert unnecessary network issues before they happen.

Cisco SMARTnet isn’t just an ornamental product warranty.  It assists you in managing your Cisco network in a completely new way by removing most or nearly all of the drains off your local IT teams and associated staff.

Cisco Smart Call Home

Cisco Smart Call Home is a groundbreaking new solution which fashions a corporate network which is able to virtually run by itself on auto pilot.  Your Cisco hardware equipment is constantly self-monitoring for any irregular behaviors, forwarding highly-encrypted statistics and updates to Cisco’s data centers.  The system proactively looks for corrections which can speed up the performance, or prevent intrusion and malicious activities.

In case something untoward does occur on your corporate network or with your deployed hardware, then as per the on standards you’ve provided, Smart Call Home will notify members of your IT teams and associated staff as to what it has identified.  If the state of affairs is grave enough, it can even alert Cisco’s Technical Assistance Center (Cisco TAC) directly for instant attention.

Cisco Smart Call Home can radically minimize your corporate network downtimes, as well as reducing the man hours required to remediate any corporate network downtime which does occur.

Continuous Operating System (OS) Updates

Cisco is constantly updating their software sets to provide their valued clientele with improved services and more robust security and protection of their corporate networks.  Keeping up with all the latest software patches can be a huge inconvenience for most IT departments and members of staff who are doing it by hand.  Nevertheless, via Cisco SMARTnet, you get every Operating System (OS) update installed as soon as it is ready.

Please click here to speak with our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists today.

Core Advantages of Cisco SMARTnet – Part 2

Swift Faulty Parts Replacement

Cisco recognizes that you cannot meet the expense of any further corporate network downtimes than is avoidable, and that swift parts procurement is a necessary requirement in the event of hardware failure or issues.  Contingent on the level of Cisco SMARTnet support service you choose, you could get your replacement parts on the next day, or inside as little as two hours.  

In some instances, you can also place an order for replacements in advance, to make sure that they are on-hand the minute you require them.

They are delivered by a specialized Cisco representative and deployed instantaneously (supplementary option), then corroborated to make sure no additional damage has taken place.  Cisco SMARTnet can shave off hours or even days for defective parts replacement time frames and ETAs.

Cisco Live Online Customer Support

Cisco provides a variety of methods to reach out to them online, only available to Cisco SMARTnet subscribers.  They host frequent online web seminars and Question & Answer (Q&A) sessions with their own engineers, to assist your IT staff extract the most from their corporate networks. These take account of comprehensive video-based how-to’s that can walk your staff through complicated configurations, installations, deployments and trouble shooting.

In fact, in a worst-case situation, Cisco support can even be contacted via your Twitter account, or via numerous other social media websites and platforms.

Cisco SMARTnet Safeguards You At All Times

Cisco SMARTnet services go way beyond just regular cosmetic warranty support.  They look to head off issues whenever and wherever possible, and to constantly provide your IT support teams and staff members with new tools and information. As per Cisco’s own internal surveys and case studies, those enterprises which had implemented Cisco SMARTnet saw a three-year Return On Investment (ROI) jump of 192%, all thanks to the continuous and constant cost-savings provided by Cisco SMARTnet.

Whether you’re ready to migrate your corporate network to Cisco, or you have purchased Cisco equipment in the past, we can assist you in building a state of the art, top-tier Cisco corporate network replete with all the Cisco SMARTnet services your organization needs.

Please click here to speak with our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists today.

Cisco SMARTNet Versus Small Business Support Service – Part 1

The two chief choices available for this are between Cisco SMARTnet or the Cisco Small Business Support Service (SBSS). The latter is much more reasonably priced for smaller operations, but fetches a condensed set of services.

Given below is a quick summary of the key differences between Cisco SMARTnet support services and Cisco Small Business Support Service (SBSS).

Selecting Amongst Cisco SMARTnet or Small Business Support Service (SBSS)

Cisco Small Business Support Service (SBSS) is just available for specific Cisco products.

For starters, the Cisco Small Business Support Service (SBSS) is only an available choicce if you have products in Cisco’s Small Business range. This page on Cisco’s site lists all the supported hardware.

If your Cisco product is not hailing from the Small Business range, it’s just a choice amongst Cisco SMARTnet or the standard warranty which comes with all Cisco products out of the box. If it is from Cisco’s Small Business line of products, you have got your options of either Cisco SBSS or Cisco SMARTnet (in particular scenarios).

Cisco SMARTnet gives you quicker parts replacement

One of the principal restrictions on Cisco SBSS is that the majority of the parts replacement occurs on a next-day or two-day basis, while Cisco SMARTnet provides for a 4-hour or even 2-hour replacement time, for an added cost of course.

That being said, in case you are a small or medium sized enterprise or business that still imagines that you would have a requirement for 4-hour replacement times, you also possess the choice to upgrade to the Cisco Small Business Support Rapid Response Service (SBSRRS), which is otherwise indistinguishable from the regular Cisco Small Business Support Service(SBSS).

We would recommend having a cost to benefit analysis done to identify precisely how much you would lose per hour/day in case your corporate network went down due to any possible outages. The quicker parts choices are primarily insurance against such a scenario.

Please click here to speak with our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists today.

Cisco SMARTNet Versus Small Business Support Service – Part 2

Cisco SMARTnet has the Smart Call Home feature for specific products

In case your Cisco hardware is listed on this page, Cisco SMARTnet brings you even more benefits over Cisco Small Business Support Service(SBSS). Cisco Smart Call Home is a groundbreaking new method of proactive technical support and assistance. When subscribed, your vital network appliances and devices constantly ‘phone home’ to Cisco with statistics for tracking, analyzing, and proactive corporate network optimization and enhancment.

This permits Cisco’s smart systems -or their support engineers and technicians- to identify issues with an absolute smallest of delays. Many a time, they identify issues before they become problems for your corporate network. If not, the Cisco Smart Call Home system can be sanctioned to spontaneously alert a Cisco engineer at the same time that it alerts you about the problem or network fault/s.

Cisco SMARTnet brings you a Dedicated Case Manager

Unlike Cisco Small Business Support Service(SBSS), which just grants you 24/7/365 access to support services, Cisco SMARTnet users get a dedicated case manager, as well as greater access to online web based tools connected to their service problems.

Cisco SMARTnet can give you On-site Assistance

At the ultimate level, Cisco SMARTnet can give you direct dispatch of certified Cisco engineers to deploy, install and verify your hardware/equipment, including any replacements which may have to be done. This kind of support is not available via Cisco Small Business Support Service(SBSS). This can also be pooled with the Cisco Advanced Replacement Parts system to ensure you keep spare parts on-site, waiting for an engineer or technician to deploy and install them.

Most smaller companies perhaps don’t need the hands-on support, unless you are concentrating on high-end equipment or cloud services.

Cisco Gives You Really Top-Notch Support

While there is a plethora of other brands with more inexpensive support service products, Cisco is still the leading name in networking because they utilize many of the best technicians/engineers in the industry. Via Cisco Small Business Support Services (SBSS), they can now provide top-notch support to even smaller sized organizations.

Or, Cisco SMARTnet can take you from your very initial stages all the way to an international-scale corporate network, with service offerings which are able to scale upward to meet your requirements as you continue to grow and evolve your business.

Need more guidance? Just contact us today. We are a 100% Cisco-Certified partner and can assist you with all of your Cisco support questions.

How Cisco SMARTnet Beats Warranties Every time – Part 1

This is the reason why Cisco’s SMARTnet is a much more beneficial choice for your enterprises and small to medium sized businesses, rather than simple product warranties which will only safeguard you against manufacturing faults. With the deployment of Cisco SMARTnet, enterprises and businesses can guarantee defense from a diverse variety of problems and gain the peace of mind that they are covered long after warranty periods have expired. For the intelligent business owner, getting Cisco SMARTnet is the best decision he will make after buying Cisco products.

Cisco SMARTnet is not just simply smart for the end user, but are also “smart” in themselves as well. Automated software-empowered abilities gather network and device analytical information, examine it, and relate it to Cisco’s profound knowledge base to provide actionable understanding and perception of the network. This can be anything from evaluating the condition of the corporate network and connected devices, enhancing corporate network performance, enhancing working productivity, and streamlining and automating continuing processes.

Cisco SMARTnet Allows You to Always Be Prepared

The regular product warranties for Cisco products normally will expire after a limited time period of 60-90 days and provide you with coverage for manufacturing defects and hardware failures. While these warranties are sufficient for this type of protection, they are present to promise the user that the Cisco product which a person or business has purchased will work as advertised. After that, it’s completely up to the end user to sort out all of his/her requirements from upkeep and repairs to assimilation with current systems infrastructure.

This can be very tough for enterprises that utilize information technology to assist in their business, but are not really technology gurus themselves. There is a reason why most of the trouble calls to the Cisco technical assistance center (TAC) are related to people issues. It is hard fact of life that in any situation of this sort, people will always be prone to make errors and will not have the requisite know how to fix them. Via the use of Cisco SMARTnet, you can resolve these problems whenever and wherever they happen, but also take solid steps to preempt them from happening in the first place. This is where Cisco SMARTnet will be an awesome value addition for your enterprise.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

How Cisco SMARTnet Beats Warranties Every time – Part 2

Instead, Cisco SMARTnet is a huge value addition to the utilization of Cisco products. With the correct support and supplementary know-how, users can now obtain the full advantages of Cisco products, leading them to obtain the value they bring and make them want to buy more Cisco products as they know that they are getting the most out of all their hardware via Cisco SMARTnet.

Coverage with Cisco SMARTnet includes always on, 24-hours access to Cisco-qualified engineers who can walk them through any technical problems, along with consistent feature upgrades and security software patches for Cisco’s hardware operating system(OS), which is regularly upgraded to supply new features and security software patches.

Cisco SMARTnet services also supplies enterprises with access to Cisco’s humongous user networks. As so many individuals use Cisco hardware products, the capability to learn from their collective know how is a huge benefit. In case a business owner is faced with any problem, it is highly probable that someone else already faced it in the past and has identified the best solution for resolving it. This knowledge base is a huge asset and can put end users at ease whenever any issue happens. Rapidly remediating issues can enhance user satisfaction with the product and Cisco as a company or brand in general.

All of this is to help your customers avoid downtime, which can cost the average company 1 percent of its annual revenue. When a network goes down, not only is the company unavailable to customers looking to do business, but employees are still being paid while unable to work.

By avoiding an hour or less of corporate network downtime the Cisco SMARTnet services contract will more than pay for itself.

Cisco SMARTnet empowers enterprises to become more proactive with their technology to preempt network issues before they commence. This is the smartest method to run a business, particularly for a constituent that is of critical importance for the business to function in an efficient and productive manner.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Four Valued Business Outcomes of Using Cisco SMARTnet

Having such a great return on your investment, there are clearly a number of important areas that will enable end users to get the most value out of their Cisco hardware and products investment. Given here are a few of the top advantages of Cisco SMARTnet services:

1. Minimizing downtime. There is possibly no greater value driver for companies than Cisco SMARTnet’s capability to reduce or even eradicate possible downtimes. Corporate network outages cost enterprises at least 1 percent of their yearly revenue—money lost that can be avoided with the use of SMARtnet services.

With access to Cisco-qualified engineers and the latest in software developments, Cisco SMARTnet services are targeted at assisting companies resolve corporate network issues when they happen or by proactively circumventing them. For example, the upgrades and updates to Cisco’s operating system (OS) that Cisco SMARTnet services provide will make sure that whenever a new piece of hardware is incorporated into the corporate assets system, your legacy technology will be aligned to work with it.

For the typical Fortune 500 enterprise, one hour of outages is equivalent to more than $200,000 going down the drain in lost annual revenues. Even if your company isn’t a member of our great nation’s elite, dodging an hour of downtime annually is more than enough to cover the cost of a Cisco SMARTnet contract.

2. Staff Productivity. Your staff are your most valuable resource, and any efforts to eradicate added tasks from their amount of work will be an enormous money and time saver.

Resolving technology issues, particularly for those not precisely trained with those technologies, can be a time-wasting process. With Cisco SMARTnet, your IT staff can be concentrated on projects vital to you and leave resolving errors and reacting to network downtimes to Cisco-qualified engineers who will be available to you on call 24 hours a day.

3. Safeguarding against human error. Nearly 80% of the calls made to the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) have nothing to do with Cisco hardware issues. They are issues initiated by the people working with the equipment, either by configuration mistakes, incorrect deployments, or other human-associated errors.

Enterprises with Cisco SMARTnet Services contracts can get assistance with these errors round the clock; whereas companies having only product warranties will not get this advantage. If the enterprise does not have access to Cisco SMARTnet Services, it would be charged for calling the Technical Assistance Center (Cisco TAC) to get assistance in resolving their issue.

4. Cisco SMARTnet Smart Call Home Feature. A wide range of Cisco products include Smart Call Home, a feature which is available with Cisco SMARTnet Services. Smart Call Home-empowered hardware performs proactive diagnostics on internal components to supply IT teams with real-time warnings and remedial advice whenever a fault is detected.

The value addition of Cisco SMARTnet service is self-explanatory for your enterprise. With products which proactively search for errors, the risk of the product not working or your corporate network going down is vastly decreased. As already deliberated upon above, corporate network downtime is a big cost center for enterprises, so anything that can be done to maintain and keep your corporate network running in optimal shape will be invaluable for your company in the long run.

To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Cisco SMARTnet is an Automatic Solution for Network Visibility – Part 2

Automation Enlarges a Small Team’s Performance

Having in excess of 1,000 devices accessing their corporate network, they were challenged by an absence of visibility into device susceptibility and support, a long and tedious contract renewal procedure and lean IT team resources to administer their corporate network inventory. In addition to administering their own network, the IT team was also accountable for network services for many of the organization’s independent franchises. The extent and complication of their corporate network operations needed a system to augment their limited IT personnel – and a system that allowed them automated access to true installed base device lifecycle management facilities, particularly corporate network hardware relating to security. In short, they required a comprehensive corporate network inventory management and support system which would allow their IT staff to run small – but, most critically, act big.  Automating their network operations made this possible. The below mentioned four guidelines outlined their path forward.

1. Single Source Access
A platform that unites assets information into one simple-to-access, secure user interface and set of classes for comprehensive identification of network devices, components and their details.

2. Dynamic Acumen
Having algorithms which find and identify the “truth” of each device’s location and current status, enterprises get quick and precise feedback of where their inventory is currently residing.

3. Information Delivery Automation
Information, like system upgrades, service and support contracts needing renewal and the level of service coverage are shown for viewing, changing, and downloading.

4. Alerts and Escalations Connected Support
Warnings and alerts for particular devices are instantly communicated, which makes it simpler for the IT staff to assess susceptibilities, take remedial action and escalate straightaway when required.

Since implementing automation empowered by Cisco Smart Net Total Care to administer their corporate network assets, the organization in this example have minimized network risks, obtained immediate visibility into the accurate details of their inventory, and empowered their IT staff to enhance their service delivery. Hence we see can safely conclude that Smart Net Total Care is a lifeguard when it comes to administering the development of corporate network hardware.

 To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

How a SMARTnet Contract Can Help Minimize Network Downtime

A few of the factors which are driving the dependence of small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) on their corporate networks to have 24/7 access to corporate data and information resources include new product launches and technologies, the ever increasing requirement to have flexibility among staff and finally the need to have round-the-clock accessibility to corporate data and resources. This unfortunately means that any network downtime will be extremely costly for a small or medium sized business. It has been seen that unexpected network outages cost enterprises an average of 3.6% loss of revenue every year. And this does not include the untold costs of injury to your business standing caused by the network outages.

Therefore, it is an essential component of the modern data center and network support staff to reduce network outages and resultant downtime as much as humanly possible and make sure that your network is always available for staff to connect, work together, and interconnect with clienteles and associates along with each other, you might need to consider buying a Cisco support contract. A service contract will not only assist in safeguarding your company’s technology assets, but will also help you to minimize lost revenues, profits and ultimately customers.

Make the most out of your Network Infrastructure Investments

If you’re just starting to build a small or medium size corporate network or accumulating solutions to safeguard your data and improve staff productivity, you need to ensure your network is functioning at the optimum level. A support contract can help make sure that your corporate network functions smoothly and at top performance while also enabling your business and making it more effectual.

A service plan like Cisco Small Business Support Service provides vital support so you can get the most out of all of your technology investments. Small Business Support Service supplies you with quick resolution to common network issues with features like next-business-day hardware replacement and access to Cisco’s technical proficiency via the phone and online. Also, the Cisco support contracts include software upgrades, which make sure of maintaining the functional health of your corporate network.

Supplement your Internal IT Teams with Cisco SMARTnet

In case you depend on your corporate network to run your business round the clock and a network outage affects critical business systems, you have to fix the issue—and you need to fix it yesterday! A support contract like Cisco SMARTnet Service, can supplement your internal company technical staff to fix complex issues quickly and get your business up and running again in the minimum possible time frame and minimum losses.

Cisco’s award winning SMARTnet Service gives you quick access to Cisco’s trained and highly experienced network experts who have the requisite know-how in identifying the most difficult and complex issues. Cisco SMARTnet Service Contracts also give you access to the latest software updates as well as a plethora of flexible hardware replacement choices, like 2-hour, 4-hour, and next business day, contingent on your corporate business model and the requisite requirements. You will also gain access to an online knowledgebase, Cisco specialist communities, and a wide range of tools for troubleshooting support.

It is a fact that modern day business networks are of the utmost importance for connecting your enterprise to its valued clienteles and those clienteles to your company’s range of products and services. A technical fault which ultimately results in network outages and downtimes will definitely cost your business a large amount of precious revenues, profits and in the end the very customers your company has invested so much time, effort and money to build. A Cisco SMARTnet Support plan can assist you in minimizing all unforeseen downtimes which in turn will surely assist your enterprise in saving money and serving your customers in much better manner.

To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.

Safeguarding Your Business via Cisco SMARTnet Service Contracts

These are perplexing financial times for small and some medium sized businesses. You require the newest technology to expand your business. But you also require complete peace of mind being aware that you’ll obtain the most ROIs from your corporate technology investments.

You perhaps are under the impression that a simple product warranty will give that defense in case anything goes wrong with your network hardware, maybe a switch or a router. Not necessarily!

A product warranty is not the same as or equivalent to technical support. Most warranties only promise against a faulty product and will give you very limited support.

If you would like to better safeguard your enterprise against losses caused by network outages and to enhance your business efficiency and raise staff output, you must consider purchasing a Cisco SMARTnet service contract. A service plan gives you three important benefits as compared to a regular product warranty—advanced hardware replacement, software updates, and Cisco technical support via Cisco’s TAC (Techincal Assistance Center).

Certain service plans, like Cisco Small Business Support Service, provide you with next-business-day hardware replacement. This makes sure that your company stays up and running with a minimum possible amount of corporate network downtime. In contrast, warranties normally necessitate you to first return the defective pieces of hardware to the manufacturer prior to you receiving any replacement products.

With a Cisco service contract, you get ongoing major/minor release upgrades, making sure that your device is always having the latest Cisco software. This assist you to safeguard the functional health of your corporate network.

A service plan also gives you more widespread support. Most warranties don’t give you support and some will only give you very limited support for a very limited period of time. A service plan on the other hand will give you support for an extended period of time and comprises a support level which goes way beyond basic installation, analysis, and troubleshooting. The Cisco Small Business Support Service gives you 3 years of support and access to technical experts highly trained by Cisco on resolving small and medium size business network problems and device-level issues.

An extra advantage to buying a SMARTnet service contract is the human element. Via Small Business Support Service, you get access to a local Cisco reseller who is sponsored by Cisco employed on your behalf as a reliable consultant. This provides you a single point of contact (POC) for execution and problem resolution.

If you believe that a Cisco SMARTnet service contract is not appropriate for your small business budget, please consider this: A squandered client call or buying activity could cost you nearly as much—or even more—than a Cisco SMARTnet service plan. Also keep in mind that every hour of network outages and downtime will surely cost your business much needed additional profits and revenue and hurt your company’s reputation.

A Cisco SMARTnet service contract can safeguard both your company and your technology investment. Now that is what I call complete peace of mind!

To speak to our Cisco SMARTnet Specialists, please click here.