VoIP Service Level Agreement

Last updated: September 10, 2018

​THIS VOIP SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT (“SLA”) is between Accent Communication Services, Inc. (“Accent”) and Clients who execute a Master Service Agreement (“MSA”) for the purchase of VoIP Service as identified in the MSA, which is incorporated herein by reference.

DESCRIPTION

This SLA, describes Accent’s target service performance and service level metrics for the VoIP Service identified in Client’s MSA.  Where Accent fails to meet a given standard of performance as defined below (“Performance Standard”), Client shall be eligible for a corresponding credit, also defined below (“Service Credit”), subject to the qualifications contained herein.  By executing the MSA, Client agrees and acknowledges that Client has read this SLA as instructed in the MSA, and this SLA constitutes the entire agreement between Accent and Client as to the credits available, except as modified in writing and executed by both Parties.  Neither electronic mail nor instant messaging shall be considered a “writing” sufficient to change, modify or otherwise affect the terms of this SLA.

DEFINITIONS

Affected Service:  An Accent VoIP Service experiencing a Service Outage or a Service Degradation for which a Service Ticket has been opened.

Accent Point of Demarcation or Accent Demarc:  The physical location in Client’s network at which Accent no longer maintains access to and control over the VoIP Services as provided by Accent. The Accent Point of Demarcation will vary depending on the VoIP Service and CPE purchased or used by Client.

Agreement Year:  A calendar year beginning on the VoIP Service activation date.

Customer Premise Equipment or CPE:  Equipment purchased by Client and used to support the VoIP Service on Client’s network.

Mean Time to Repair:  The length of time between Client opening a Service Ticket and Accent resolving the Service Outage; this time is calculated as an average of all repair times for Client’s Service Tickets in the preceding calendar month.

Monthly Recurring Charges or MRC:  The charges billed by Accent to Client each month for provided VoIP Service, exclusive of pre-paid or any usage fees, taxes, and other non-recurring charges.

Performance Standard:  A level of support and regular maintenance provided with the VoIP Service, identified according to common measurement standards; where Accent fails to achieve a Performance Standard, the Client will be eligible for a corresponding Service Credit.

Service Availability:  The amount of time during a calendar month that the VoIP Services will be functional up to the Accent Demarc.

Service Credit: The amount of credit issued by Accent in response to a Client’s Service Outage or Service Degradation, subject to the specifications and qualifications contained herein.

Service Degradation:  An unscheduled period during which the VoIP Service is available but does not perform as defined herein including, but not limited to, call quality issues and dropped calls.

Service Degradation Time:  The length of the Service Degradation, beginning when Client first opens an appropriate Service Ticket and ending when the Service is fully functional; Service Degradation credits will NOT be issued unless and until an appropriate Service Ticket is opened by Client.

Service Outage:  An unscheduled period during which the VoIP Service is interrupted and not usable.

Service Outage Time:  The length of the Service Outage, beginning when the Client first opens an appropriate Service Ticket and ending when the Service is fully functional; Service Outage credits will NOT be issued unless and until an appropriate Service Ticket is opened by the Client.

​VoIP Service: Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) based communication service(s) purchased by Client from Accent, including but not limited to services described as Accent Voice Cloud, VoiceONE, CloudSIP, VoIP, Hosted PBX, and Hosted VoIP.

Tier 1:  The lowest level Service Ticket in this SLA; Tier 1 Service Tickets include bugs or non-conformities where a workaround is possible and other issues that do not require immediate response. Changes to Client preferences and general questions about the Service are considered Tier 0 and are not covered under this SLA.

Tier 2:  A Service Ticket level indicating a less severe Service Degradation than those described as Tier 3; Tier 2 Service Tickets include issues effecting service performance or use, including, but not limited to, call quality issues.

Tier 3:  A Service Ticket level indicating the severity of the Service Outage or Service Degradation; Tier 3 Service Tickets include all Service Outages, also referred to as “system down” and/or “service down” issues, and other severe Service Degradations.

Service Ticket:  A record of a Service Outage or Service Degradation and its subsequent resolution, as recorded by Accent; Trouble Tickets are initiated by Client calling the Customer Service Department at (740) 548-7378, by opening a Service Ticket through the Accent website at http://www.accentservices.com or via e-mailing service@accentservices.com and providing a detailed description of the Service Outage or Degradation. 

 Service Ticket Number:  The unique Accent number assigned to a Service Ticket.

​QUALIFICATIONS

In order to be eligible for a Service Credit as defined herein, Clients must first open a Service Ticket to report the Service Outage or Service Degradation.  Client must contact the Customer Service Department within fifteen (15) days of Service Ticket closing to request a Service Credit.  Clients should provide a short explanation of the credit due and the corresponding Service Ticket Number.

Delinquent Accounts: If Client has a past-due balance on the account, review of any credit requests will be delayed until the past-due amount is resolved.

Finality of Decisions:  Awards or denials of credits under this SLA by Accent will be final and binding; credits will be issued at Accent’s sole discretion.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Accent guarantees Service Availability of ninety-nine and nine-tenths percent (99.9%).

​SLA CREDIT STRUCTURE

Service Credits under this SLA are based on monthly billing intervals and apply to the VoIP Service for which the Service Credit is issued.  The available Service Credits are as follows:

Mean Time to Repair:  The Service Credit available varies according to the time taken to resolve the Service Outage or Service Degradation; Mean Time to Repair Service Credits apply only to Tier 3 Service Tickets: 

  1. If the time to repair is between eight (8) and twelve (12) hours, the available Service Credit is ten percent (10%) of the MRCs for the Affected Service.

  2. If the time to repair is between twelve (12) and fifteen (15) hours, the available Service Credit is twenty percent (20%) of the MRCs for the Affected Service.

  3. If the time to repair is greater than fifteen (15) hours, the available Service Credit is thirty (30%) of the MRCs for the Affected Service.

EXCLUSIONS

Service Outages or Service Degradations DO NOT include outages or degradations resulting from one or more of the following causes: 

  1. Any act or omission on the part of Client, any third-party contractor or vendor, or any other entity over which Client exercises control or has the right to exercise control

  2. Interruptions in VoIP Service relating to third-party internet service providers or other third-party telecommunications providers.

  3. Client’s applications, equipment or facilities.

  4. Accent, its underlying carriers’, or Client’s scheduled maintenance.

  5. Any event or occurrence which results in “No Trouble Found” resolution to Service Tickets.

  6. Any event or outage lasting less than five (5) minutes in duration.

  7. Force majeure events beyond the reasonable control of Accent, including, but not limited to, acts of Nature, natural disasters, cable cuts, government acts and regulation and national emergency.

  8. Service Tickets associated with installations not yet completed and placed in-service.

  9. Interruptions associated with an act or omission on the part of Client or a third party, including, but not limited to, any local access provider, or an interruption where Client elects not to release the Service for testing and repair and continues to use it on an impaired basis.

  10. Interruptions during any period when Accent or its agents are not allowed access to Client premises where affected Service is terminated.

  11. Interruptions associated with a failure of equipment or service not provided by Accent, including, but not limited to, any local access provider, or an interruption where the Client elects not to authorize access to the equipment for testing.

  12. Any failure or issue associated with Client’s underlying network connection or local area network.

  13. Time attributed to Client’s delay in responding to Accent’s requests for assistance to repair an outage or Service Outages or Service Degradation caused by issues beyond the Accent Demarc.

Accent reserves the right to change this SLA at any time. Changes shall become effective within thirty days of publication of the revised version on http://www.accentvoice.com/service-level-agreement. Your continued use of your Services after expiry of the 30-day period shall constitute your acceptance to be bound by the terms and conditions of the revised SLA.