1. CSA Introduction

The idea of establishing Customer Service Agreements hit me (Ray) sometime in 1995. I wasn't able to get a start on formalizing the idea until the Fall semester of 1997 though. This is the result of recent efforts by myself, Mike, and the UCs.

These Customer Service Agreements (CSAs) have been created to help us work with people in a consistent manner and reduce the number of misunderstandings which can arise by not having this type of information easily available (or not correctly recalled off the top of one's head).

Each CSA contains the following information:

1. "CSA number", a number to reference the agreement by (like when filing a ticket).
2. "Begin Date", the date the agreement began.
3. "End Date", the date the agreement is finished.
4. "Customer", who the agreement is with (SA, Mining department, ...).
5. "Customer Rep", who is the representative for the customer. Useful for when somebody at the customer end needs to make a decision.
6. "Customer Rep Information", should include:
   1. office phone number,
   2. office location,
   3. email address,
   4. P.O. Box,
   5. typical office hours,
   6. (optional) alternate contact information (person and contact info -- secondary CR and CRI).
7. "Customer Authority", the person who authorized the agreement on behalf of the customer (probably a department head, or professor).
8. "TCC Authority", the person who authorized the agreement on behalf of the TCC.
9. "Terms", a character field large enough to hold the terms of the agreement.
10. "Hourly Rate", this should be our standard hourly rate. (Right now it is $50.00 per hour.)
11. "Hourly Multiplier", would allow us to charge other than the set hourly rate for work done under a specific agreement.
12. "Material Multiplier", applied to the cost of materials used for jobs performed under a specific agreement, would give the cost charged for materials.
13. "Items Covered", a list of items covered under this CSA. Would include a description of the item. For software probably the name of the package, its revision level and other info, and a serial number or activation code to reference it by. For hardware a description of the equipment, a model number, possibly a revision number, and a serial number or date of manufacture to identify it by.

Each CSA must be signed by both parties. Once the agreement exists it should help in managing errant perceptions by both sides and provide an established starting point for adjusting either: the service that needs to be provided, or that can actually be delivered.