Cisco SMARTnet: The Technical Assistance Center – CISCO TAC

Features of CISCO TAC

• Expert assistance: To supplement your in-house tech resources, the Cisco TAC gives you access to a team of highly trained CISCO engineers who offer you years of networking knowledge, with many customer support engineers having networking and CCIE® certifications as well as CISCO R&D (Research and Development) engineers. Cisco TAC engineers possess in excess of 800 U.S.-issued patents and have published a large volume of industry white papers and reference books.

• Quicker Resolution: The Cisco TAC access included in SMARTnet ensures CISCO is constantly monitoring your satisfaction and ensuring time-to- resolution tracking. This includes an automatic escalation system starting one hour after submittal of severity 1 and severity 2 issues, and ultimately resulting in CEO intervention by John Chambers after 48 hours for any severity 1 problem.

• 24/7 Visibility of your issue status: CISCO TAC access ensures you are kept up-to- date on all the latest developments in your case via email notifications and tailored handoffs between you and Cisco engineers in the event your case merits a move to a new specialization because of the nature of the problem, or a change occurs in the assigned work shift.

• Networking knowhow: The Cisco TAC team gives you 24/7 access to a depth and breadth of knowledge and understanding of Cisco hardware and OS software, along with information at your fingertips regarding a wide variety of networking environments and equipment. All Cisco TAC engineers possess a minimum of 5 years of industry experience, and Cisco ensures continuous training to ensure the TAC engineers stay current with the latest technological advancements.

• 24/7/365 Support in multiple languages: Via the phone, web, or email, the Cisco TAC will always be there whenever you need it!

• Verified and established resolution techniques: Cisco uses a dominant virtual lab as an irreplaceable engineering resource and knowledge base for analysis of network issues and recommended fixes.

For more information on how Cisco SMARTnet can benefit you please speak to our SMARTnet specialists for expert advice.

Cisco SMARTnet – Online Self-help support and Tools

Cisco’s SMARTnet includes a TAC service request tool, MyCisco tailored online assistance, and wide-ranging troubleshooting tools.

SMARTnet Online Support Resources

Software downloads –You get all the latest updates, new patches, and new releases of Cisco software.
Software Advisor – Choose suitable software for your network equipment by matching software features to the Cisco OS software releases, comparing Cisco OS software releases, or finding software releases that are supported by your hardware.
Bug Toolkit – Find software bug fixes quickly based on the version and associated feature sets.
TAC case collection – Interactively identify common issues involving hardware, configuration, and performance issues with resolutions supplied by CISCO TAC engineers.
Error message decoder – Find descriptions of console error messages listed in the Cisco Software System Messages guide.
Command Lookup Tool – Find detailed descriptions of your particular Cisco OS software, Cisco Catalyst, or ASA commands
Output Interpreter – Get prompt troubleshooting analysis and plan your course of action for your router or switch using the collected show command output.
Technical documents – You get access to 90,000+ technical documentation, e.g. product and technology integration documents of Cisco and third-party equipment along with troubleshooting guides and release notes.
TAC Service Request Tool – Via Cisco’s TAC Service Request Tool, you will be able to minimize the time spent in filing and tracking your service requests.
Peer-to-peer online forum – A peer-to-peer online forum will give you the access to share queries, recommendations, and info with other networking professionals.
MyCisco – A tailored web portal, “MyCisco,” will help you find the info you need in one place, tailored to your network, like new software releases, latest bug reports and repairs, and troubleshooting tools.
Cisco Technical Services Newsletter – You will get this newsletter which will alert you to new technical tools, resources, and SMARTnet subscriber exclusive networking tips on a monthly basis.

Please click here to speak to our dedicated SMARTnet specialists today.

Why Cisco Smartnet Service is a Must-Have

1. What is Cisco SMARTnet Service?

Cisco SMARTnet Service gives you direct access at all times to dedicated specialists in the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Wide-ranging self-help support via Cisco’s online knowledge base, communities, resources, and tools.

2. What is included with Cisco SMARTnet Service?

Cisco SMARTnet service gives you the below device-level support:

Immediate access to Cisco experts 24 hours a day and throughout the year via the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC)
Comprehensive self-help support via the Cisco Online Knowledge Base, assorted communities, resources and tools
Intelligent, proactive diagnostics and immediate alerts on devices having the Cisco Smart Call Home feature
Software upgrades for your Operating System (OS) encompassing both minor and major releases covered by your licensed feature set
Expedited hardware replacement options i.e including 2-hour, 4-hour, and next-business-day (NBD) replacement, as well as return for repair (RFR).
You can also get the optional onsite service which will ensure a Cisco field engineer will install the replacement parts at your premises

3. Why should you purchase Cisco SMARTnet Service?

Purchasing a Cisco SMARTnet contract will give you:

Direct access to Cisco networking engineers which will enhance your network availability, reliability, stability, and security
Utilize Cisco’s expertise, knowledge and availability to reduce your network ownership costs
Take advantage of Cisco OS software upgrades to increase your ROI by up to 192 percent
Resolve issues in the minimum timeframe with the right parts at the right time
Reduce the burden on scarce internal IT resources at all sites with access to proactive diagnostics and real-time alerts available with Smart Call Home, on select devices
Enhance self-sufficiency and technical knowledge of your IT staff to maximize employee productivity and revenue generation

Click here for more information on benefits and how to buy a SMARTNET contract today.

4. Is Cisco SMARTnet Service only limited to break/fix insurance?

No, the Cisco SMARTnet service helps in tackling complicated day to day network management i.e.

Advanced software configuration
Interoperability and upgrade questions
Hardware and software information

5. Is support for Cisco application software products, such as security, IP telephony, and network management, included in the Cisco SMARTnet Service?

No, SMARTnet does not include application support. However, Cisco offers these services separately as per the below support offers:

Cisco Software Application Support Service (SAS)— includes maintenance and minor releases
Cisco Software Application Support Service with Upgrades (SASU)—includes all components of SAS plus upgrades
Cisco UC Essential Operate Service (ESW)—includes maintenance and minor releases
Cisco UC Software Subscription Service

For further information on any of the above, please click here to reach out to an account manager.

6. What is included in a Cisco warranty?

Cisco warranties give you only short term limited liability for Cisco to repair or replace defective products. Most warranties also do not include Cisco TAC Support, software upgrades, etc. Cisco warranties only cover the below:

Hardware: This guarantees that the piece of hardware is free of manufacturing/operational defects under standard use, or it will be replaced by Cisco in the designated time period.
Software: This guarantees that the physical media is free from defects or they will be replaced by Cisco. The warranty is explicitly on an “as is,” basis and no new releases are included.

7. My hardware is already covered via the included standard Cisco warranty; why would I need to purchase a Cisco SMARTnet contract during this warranty period?

Cisco SMARTnet service gives you more secure levels of support than the standard Cisco warranty. For example, the standard Cisco warranty is limited in duration, also it does not include the below benefits which you get from a Smartnet contract:

Expedited replacement of hardware in Next Business Day, 4-hours, or 2-hours dispatch
Round the clock tech assistance via Cisco TAC
Latest Operating System upgrades, including small and important upgrades
Access to online self-help resources/tools
Troubleshooting and alerts for Call Home – enabled devices

8. What is Cisco Smart Call Home?

Cisco Smart Call Home is a feature of Cisco SMARTnet which gives you proactive, detailed diagnostics and real-time alerts on many products to identify and fix issues quickly, saving valuable staff time and improving network availability.
It dynamically and securely gathers device data, giving alerts in case any issues are detected. It enables early problem diagnosis and remedies any device issues via proactive, rules based problem solving. This will allow users to hugely streamline device maintenance, accelerate issues resolution and reduce costs of network maintenance.
As soon as an issue is detected, Cisco Smart Call Home enabled devices will immediately generate a Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) service request to resolve the issue. This enables hardware to continuously monitor its own health and automatically alert you of any potential issues using secure communications.
It also gives you access to a web portal which contains personalized Call Home alerts, recommendations, and more for all your Call Home devices.

9. What extra benefits can I get with the Cisco SMARTnet ONSITE service?

Cisco SMARTnet OnSite comes with all the advanced hardware replacement levels and gives you all the benefits of Cisco SMARTnet plus the additional benefit of an onsite Cisco technician for parts replacement/installation.

SMARTnet Onsite Service Levels

SMARTnet Description & Service Levels

10. How do I buy SMARTnet?

The majority of SMARTnets are sold on a 1-year duration contract, however it makes more sense to go with a 3-year contract as this will give you bigger discounts per year. We highly recommend you request an RFQ for a 3-year contract versus a 1-year contract and our sales team will be happy to send you some pricing and provide expert advice to help you maximize your investment and ROI. Please click here for further information.