Questions Getting Started With Small Business Service Contracts

[mallardnathan]

I recently purchased Small Business Service Contracts for my Cisco Small Business networking products. I know that I'm entitled to 24x7 support, plus the ability to open support cases (I've recently tried it and it works great).

I also know I'm entitled to next day hardware replacement, as well as firmware upgrades to my networking products.

Here's my few "Getting Started" questions:

1. In the event I need to perform a next day hardware replacement, how do I go about doing it? Do I open a support case? I saw under support cases there's an option for hardware replacement.

2. Will I automatically be notified of firmware upgrades for my networking products, or will I have to look them up on the Support Center? I do know how to upgrade the firmware of all of my networking products. Is there any way to subscribe to an email list or RSS feed notifying me of firmware upgrades to my networking products?

3. Will I be notified when my service contracts are about to expire so I can renew them, or is it my responsibility to remember to renew them? Do I need to manually put them on my calendar?

Thanks!

[Dirk Dittert]

I would be interested in that topic, too. I recently called Cisco (Germany) about this topic and my last information from their warranty hotline was that Small Business Switches:

• are entitled to NBD hardware replacement
• include 1 year of online/telephone support
• there is no way to extend the support

However, that Cisco representative in the warranty department never expected that someone would call and ask about warranty. Is there any way to get reliable information what services are and are not available?

[mallardnathan]

Hi Dirk,

I'm not sure about Germany, but here's how it is in the US:

1. Your switch comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

2. You get a free year of business hours phone support.

3. You have to send in your switch before they'll replace it, causing you to have to wait for a little bit to receive your switch.

Purchasing a service contract entitles you to:

1. 24x7 phone support in the US (not sure about Germany)

2. Next Business Day Replacement

3. Firmware Upgrades

For the SG200-18 (my switch), I needed CON-SBS-SVC2. I ordered this from B&H (ignore the model numbers on their site, it's generic):

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/815367-REG/Cisco_CON_SBS_SVC2_Small_Business_Pro_Service.html

Here's their four different Service Contracts to choose from:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Cisco+Small+Business+Pro+Service+License&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

If you can tell me your model number and country (Germany?), I can contact Cisco Support and find out what Service Contract you need and what it'll entitle for you in your country. I myself found it very confusing to know what service contract to purchase.

In addition to this forum thread, I put in a service request, and Rick did answer my above questions. Here's his response:

1. In the event I need to perform a next day hardware replacement, how do I go about doing it? Do I open a support case? I saw under support cases there's an option for hardware replacement.  “You can open a support case and an engineer from Cisco Small Business Support Center will be in contact with you regarding your case or you can call directly our Support Center at 1-866-606-1866 and open the case. For hardware replacement, troubleshooting will have to be performed on the device to deem the device defective. After troubleshooting the device, if the device is defective we will create an Advanced Replacement RMA for you. After you receive the replacement device you are required to send back the defective device to our warehouse.
2.  Will I automatically be notified of firmware upgrades for my networking products, or will I have to look them up on the Support Center? I do know how to upgrade the firmware of all of my networking products. Is there any way to subscribe to an email list or RSS feed notifying me of firmware upgrades to my networking products? “You will not be automatically notified of firmware updates for the products. Our Cisco Small Business Support Community has a link to the firmware pages for our products or you can check for firmware updates at the main Cisco website.”        

                Here is the link to the Cisco Small Business Support Community:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/5541/small-business-support-community

3. Will I be notified when my service contracts are about to expire so I can renew them, or is it my responsibility to remember to renew them? Do I need to manually put them on my calendar?  “To my knowledge Cisco does not send out reminders about the contract expiring. After the 3 years has ended the contract will automatically expire. It will be your responsibility to renew the contract.

Hope all this helps!

[ripratt · Accepted solution]

1)    To request an RMA, you must open a case at the SBSC.    You can call 866-606-1866  24x7 to open a case.    If you do not have a support contract,  (under warranty)  you are only entitled to phone support 9am-6pm (your local time) M-F.     You MUST be prepared to troubleshoot the device with the SBSC engineer.     Do not assume you can open a case and receive an RMA without examining the device.     Often, we can rescue the device and save you a lot of time.

2)   You can sign up for automatic alerts on firmware updates by taking this link and selecting the devices you want updates on.    The 2nd link allows you to manually check for updates.

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/support/notifications.html

3)    I checked with the SBSC contracts administrator.       According to her, you should begin receiving alerts beginning 6 months to 90 days in advance of the contract expiring.    You may or may not be able to renew the contract, based on the life cycle of the product.

In answer to Dirk:    You can extend support for the product by purchasing a service contract any time during the 1 year warranty period.     A support contract for your device can be purchased from any local Cisco business partner or any online Cisco business partner.     Here are the main benefits of a contract over the warranty.     They are a great value.

• Phone technical support extended from 1 to 3 years
• Advanced replacement / next business day RMA vs. return to factory RMA
• 24x7 technical support  vs.  9-6 M-F business hour support.
• Firmware upgrades
• Even though your product my have a life time hardware warranty, that does not qualify for technical / troubleshooting / configuration support without a contract.     With the hardware warranty only, the SBSC will troubleshoot your product only enough to determine if it qualifies for a hardware replacement.

[mallardnathan]

Thanks for the info! I did go ahead and signup for the firmware notifications so I'll know when firmware upgrades are available. Very handy!

[mallardnathan]

This might also help:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/12214456/difference-between-con-sbs-svc1-con-sbs-svc2-con-sbs-svc3-and-con-sbs-svc4 

[Dirk Dittert]

Thanks for the explanation. Is there something like a part number (e.g. for a SG300-MPP) so that I know that I get the correct type of warranty extension?

[mallardnathan]

Hi Dirk! What's the model number of your device? Is it the SG300-MPP? I could tweet or Facebook Cisco Small Biz Support and find out for you. Also, are you in Germany? I can see if one of my Cisco Partners delivers contracts to Germany or if you'd have go to a Cisco Partner directly in Germany.