APEX Support Contract

1. Obtaining Technical Support
The following Technical Support options are available for your PBXtra System:

1.1 Telephone: 978-824-1888

Telephone support is only available during our normal hours of operations (M-F 8am – 5pm EDT). For after-hours system down emergencies, please refer to our response times below.

1.2 E-Mail: support@apexphones.com

To gain support from APEX via Email, simply send an Email to support@apexphones.com that includes your contact information as well as a description of the symptoms of the problem(s) you require support on.

1.3 General Knowledge Base: http://help.fonality.com

The knowledge base provided by Fonality contains a wide range of information pertaining to installation, configuration, usage and maintenance of your PBXtra system. For frequently asked questions, customers are highly encouraged to see if their technical support issues are addressed in the knowledge base.

2. Scope of Service

2.1 Reliability/Performance Troubleshooting

Identification and reasonable efforts to correct the occurrence of the following:

o Echo and/or degraded audio quality.
o Slow system response.
o System availability problems.

2.2 General Technical Support Issues and Guidance

o Guidance on configurations or applications of the PBXtra product for solutions the product was designed to address.
o Suggestions for maximum performance, flexibility, and security as per standard APEX PBXtra installation, and suited to Customer requirements if possible.

2.3 Hardware Troubleshooting and RMA

o Except as outlined in the Agreement and immediately below, replacement of APEX supplied equipment will be coordinated between the parties under the terms of the manufacturer’s warranty and utilizing an RMA.
o Some third-party provided hardware (including, but not limited to, products supplied by Dell and Hewlett-Packard) is covered by manufacturer’s warranty. While the Customer is the owner of this warranty, APEX will provide support in the process of providing a fix or replacement of the hardware defects in these products. APEX will coordinate directly with the manufacturer.
o All Dell Servers are covered under a Dell 2-year next-day warranty starting from the date of purchase
o All Polycom Phones are covered under a 1-year warranty starting from the date of purchase

3. Response Time

o APEX will use reasonable efforts to respond to support inquiries, under normal business conditions, in accordance with the response time chart below. Severity will be assigned in good faith by APEX.
o Response times apply between 9AM and 5PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. Emergency support is available during other times only for critical, system-down issues. Response times apply within published APEX Business Hours for all non-critical issues. Response times for critical issues outside of published business hours only apply to emergency hotline calls.
o “Response” is defined as acknowledgement of the support request, either via e-mail or telephone, assignment of the request to an appropriate resource and, in the case of after-hours Critical issues, provision of an expected timeframe for further communication.

Severity Description Response Time
Critical Business totally unable to function, multiple employees impacted. 1 Hour
Serious Single employee unable to function, serious impact to business. 2 Hours
Normal All installation concerns, Problems that hinder productivity, adverse impact to business 4 Hours
Low Questions or concerns that are an inconvenience or do not adversely impact Customer’s ability to conduct business 24 Hours

4. Specific Exclusions
o Manual customization of the system software or system configurations. All configuration changes must be made via the Fonality administrative web interface.
o Customization of IP Phone configurations or functionality (button programming, logos, etc.).
o Application of the system for any purpose that it was not designed for or intended to address.
o Software Phone or “Softphone” configuration or troubleshooting for softphones not provided through APEX with Fonality.
o Configuration or troubleshooting for any IP or Analog phone not provided by APEX with Fonality, or configured remotely by APEX with Fonality, as part of the original system purchase.
o Configuration or troubleshooting of Customer supplied equipment, including, but not limited to: channel banks, switches, firewalls or routers.
o Troubleshooting of remote telecommuter configurations that use unsupported networking hardware, firewalls, or connectivity equipment (hotel based shared DSL or internet connections, low bandwidth DSL-modems, shared cable-TV or satellite based internet connections).
o Troubleshooting of unsupported network hardware or firewalls, or configurations that deviate from the supported examples provided by APEX with Fonality.
o Troubleshooting or resolution of issues related to Internet access quality, bandwidth, or other issues related to Customer’s internet service providers.
o Troubleshooting or resolution of issues related to local telephone service configuration or termination, and associated Customer premise wiring and data / network cabling.

5. Additional Terms and Conditions

5.1 Access Protection

Customer is responsible for protecting all account passwords and for any use, authorized or unauthorized, made of Customer’s account. Customer agrees to comply with the rules appropriate to any network to which Customer may gain access via the services of APEX and/or Fonality. Customer acknowledges the risks associated with transmitting or making available any proprietary, confidential, or otherwise valuable information that Customer desires to keep confidential over any part of the Internet without encryption, nor reside without firewall protection on computers connected to the Internet.

5.2 Term, Automatic Renewal and Payments

o The term of this SSA is one year, beginning from the date of purchase or your system is provisioned by Fonality, whichever is later; or other pro-rated term as separately agreed upon and identified in your invoice. This term shall be subject to automatic renewal periods, each one (1) year in duration, unless (a) a notice of an intent not to renew the SSA is provided by either party more than fifteen (15) days prior to the expiration of the then-current term; or (b) this SSA is terminated for cause as described below.

5.3 Grounds for Contract Termination by APEX and/or Fonality

In addition to any breach of the terms and conditions of this SSA, APEX and/or Fonality reserves the right to terminate the SSA on the following grounds:

o If the Customer makes modifications to the system that compromises APEX and/or Fonality’s ability to support the system.
o If the Customer uses tools, commands or other methods of system configuration not specifically provided by APEX and/or Fonality and as directed by APEX and/or Fonality Technical Support.
o If the VPN connection to the Fonality web system is closed down.
o If the Customer makes changes to any software included with the system, including, but not limited to altering the versions of Linux, Asterisk, Apache, Perl or any other supporting libraries or packages
o If the Customer has intentionally attempted to add devices to the system without using the PBXtra admin web interface.
o Modification of the ssh configuration of the PBXtra system. RSA key files and authorization rules must remain unchanged.
o Addition of additional kernel modules or alternations to the operating system.
o Installation of other custom applications, third-party products, or utilities upon the APEX and Fonality supported Hardware for any reason unless explicitly directed to do so by APEX and/or Fonality Technical Support.
o At APEX and Fonality’s discretion, if the Customer or their representative(s) act in an abusive or otherwise un-businesslike manner, or if the Customer’s technical environment is considered otherwise unsupportive.

5.4 Remedies for Breach

o By APEX or Fonality: If APEX or Fonality shall be in breach of this SSA, Buyer may cancel the undelivered portion of purchase orders upon thirty (30) days written notice unless APEX or Fonality cures such breach within such notice period. Any money paid in advance by Buyer to APEX for goods not shipped or services not rendered will be promptly reimbursed. The foregoing shall be the exclusive remedy of Buyer for any APEX or Fonality breach of this SSA.

o By Buyer: If Buyer shall be in material breach of this SSA and fails to cure said breach within thirty (30) days of written notice thereof from APEX, APEX shall thereupon have the right without further notice to (1) bill and declare due and payable the aggregate purchase price for all undelivered products under this SSA, (2) defer shipment hereunder until such default, breach or repudiation is removed, and/or (3) cancel the undelivered portion of this SSA in whole or in part, with Buyer remaining liable for damages. Further, if Buyer fails to pay any amount hereunder as it becomes due or wrongfully rejects goods hereunder, in addition to any other remedies it may have in law or equity or hereunder, APEX shall have the right to recover, in addition to the purchase price of such goods, all costs incurred by APEX to collect the same.

6. Modifications
APEX RESERVES THE RIGHT, AT APEX’S SOLE DISCRETION, TO CHANGE, MODIFY OR OTHERWISE ALTER THIS SSA AT ANY TIME. YOU CAN FIND THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THIS SSA AT WWW.APEXPHONES.COM/SUPPORT (THE “WEBSITE”). SUCH MODIFICATIONS SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON POSTING SUCH TO THE WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF SUPPORT SERVICES FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF MODIFICATIONS WILL CONSTITUTE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE REVISED SSA TERMS.