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Internet SLA
Why is Birch offering a Service
Level Agreement (SLA)?
Birch’s
customers are primarily small to mid-size businesses.
Our mission is to provide each and every one
of our customers the highest quality of service.
The SLA essentially puts our money where our
collective mouth is. Many small and medium businesses
don’t have the resources to constantly maintain
and monitor their data networks. Regardless
of the size of the network, a small/medium size
business generally relies just as heavily on
their data network as the big guys. Unfortunately,
not many providers servicing big companies offer
the products or the time to small and medium
size businesses.
The
SLA Birch offers is a definitive document offering
our customers guarantees that reflect our confidence
in our own network and our ability to deliver
to our customers the promise of a fast, always
available network.
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What is the SLA?
Birch’s
Service Level Agreement (SLA) provides for 4
measurable guarantees to our customers: Installation
Time, Uptime, Network Latency & Packet Delivery.
Together, these guarantees comprise an addendum
to the terms & condition contract all Birch
dedicated Internet customers are required to
sign for service. DSL, T-1, ISDN and Integrator
customers can expect all or most of the SLA’s
listed below.
- Installation-
Birch guarantees an installation
time of no more than 45 days for DSL services.
In
the event your service DSL installation exceeds
45 days, Birch will credit your invoice based
on the following:
| Installation
Time |
Credit* |
| More
Than 45 Days |
100%
of Non-Recurring Charges (Installation Fees) |
| *See
Service
Level Agreement for specific
conditions |
- Uptime
(Data)- Birch guarantees no more
than 5 minutes of Network Outage.
In
the event your service is down for more than
5 minutes, Birch will credit your next invoice
based on the following:
| Downtime |
Credit* |
| Up
to 2 Hrs |
1
Day of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| 2
Hours (Up to 8 Hours) |
1
Day of Monthly Recurring Charges/2 Hours
of Outage |
| 8
Hours (Up to 32 Hours) |
1
Week of Monthly Recurring Charges/8 Hours
of Outage |
| 32
Hours |
1
Month of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| *See
Service
Level Agreement for specific
conditions |
- Uptime
(Dedicated Voice)- Birch guarantees
no more than 8 hours of Network Outage.
In
the event your service is down for more than
8 hours, Birch will credit your next invoice
based on the following:
| Downtime |
Credit* |
| 8
Hours to 24 Hours |
1
Day of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| 24
Hours + |
1
Day of Monthly Recurring Charges per 24
Hours of Outage |
| *See
Service
Level Agreement for specific
conditions |
- Latency-
Birch guarantees average monthly
market latency will not exceed 55 ms.
In
the event your average monthly market latency
is greater than 55 ms, Birch will credit your
next invoice based on the following.
| Monthly
Latency |
Credit* |
| 55.1
ms - 60.0 ms |
10%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| 60.1
ms - 80.0 ms |
30%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| 80.1
ms + |
50%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| *See
Service
Level Agreement for specific
conditions |
- Packet
Delivery- Birch guarantees average
monthly market packet delivery of 99.7%
In
the event your average monthly market packet
delivery is less than 99.7%, Birch will
credit your next invoice based on the following:
| Packet
Delivery |
Credit* |
| 99.01%
- 99.69% |
10%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| 90.00%
- 99.00% |
30%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| Less
Than 90.00% |
50%
of Monthly Recurring Charges |
| *See
Service
Level Agreement for specific
conditions |
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How are latency and packet delivery
measured?
Birch
measures latency and packet delivery by pinging
between specific market "hubs" and
their corresponding Internet drain. The time
and quality of the transmission determines the
exact latency and packet loss between markets
and Birch’s Internet drains. These measurements,
taken every 5 minutes, are used to calculate
monthly averages. See the Service Level Agreement
for additional details.
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What services are eligible for
the SLA?
Following
is a table reflecting Birch dedicated Internet
services and which SLA’s they are eligible for:
| - |
Installation
|
Uptime
|
Latency
|
Packet
Delivery
|
|
DSL
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
T-1
|
NA |
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
ISDN
|
NA |
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
Integrator
|
NA |
X
|
X
|
X
|
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Where can I find monthly latency/packet
delivery statistics?
Monthly
latency
and packet delivery statistics for each
market are listed on this site for your review.
These statistics are updated before 10 a.m. CST
on the first business day of each month.
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How do I apply for a SLA credit?
The
simplest way to apply for a Service Level Agreement
(SLA) credit is to fill out and submit the SLA
credit request form located on this site.
Your request will be sent directly to billing
for verification and invoice crediting.
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Is there a limit to the amount of
SLA credits I can receive?
The
maximum amount of SLA credits that will be invoiced
is 100% of your monthly recurring charges. This
maximum applies to the sum of all SLA credits,
in the event more than one type of SLA threshold
is not met.
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How is downtime calculated?
Downtime
is measured from the time a trouble ticket is
opened in the Birch NOC (Network Operations Center)
to the time that ticket is cleared based on the
time indicated by Birch’s "fix agents".
Downtime does not include outage due to network
maintenance, force majuere, etc. See the Service
Level Agreement for details.
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When should I see the credit on
my invoice?
Generally,
credits will be added and displayed on your next
monthly invoice following the SLA Credited event.
In some cases, depending on your billing cycle,
the credit may not appear on your invoice until
the following month.
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Is there a time limit to request
SLA credits?
Yes.
You have 10 business days from the last day
of the month to request SLA credits for the
newly finished month. No SLA credit requests
will be administered to after 10 business days
from the last day of the month.
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