As of March 2023, we no longer offer the Pay Per Call alternative for a customer wanting to call the Applications Help Desk without an SMA. This was offered in the past but proved to not work so well. Instead, we should make every attempt to sell an SMA.
Directly from Jeff Penrod:
Confirmed. Unless it is an unavoidable situation our stance is that it is not a service we offer. If absolutely necessary, it can sent to Metrology Services for quoting where they can assess proper support requirements. Met Serv AEs primary role is support/hr and have a quoting process specifically for that.
Please see article on Applications Helpdesk Routing:
Applications Helpdesk Routing
Customers having an active Software Maintenance Agreement enjoy the benefit of speaking with our Applications Helpdesk. Normally, this is initiated by the customer calling the CIC Customer Interaction Center (800) 327-9735 or cic.metrology.us@zeiss.com . The CIC will check the Serial Number provided by the customer for an active SMA (or a pre-determined exception such as Colleges or special Strategic Account (GM or Ford only)). If a “Yes”, they will create a CRM Ticket and route to the Applications Helpdesk. Notes will be included in the Ticket (i.e. email correspondence, description of the problem). This process may also begin by Aftermarket Sales or any other ZEISS employee contacting the CIC on behalf of the customer.
If no SMA is found, the CIC will create a Ticket assigned to Aftermarket Sales. The Aftermarket Salesperson is to then contact the customer and attempt to sell and SMA. Please close the Ticket if you agree that no support should be granted. If you would like for CIC to provide software support this customer, redirect the Ticket to the Applications Helpdesk by editing the Ticket:
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Change Description to one of the following:
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“SMA Verified” if determine there is in fact and Active SMA
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“SMA Grace Period” if within one month of expiration
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“SMA PO Pending” if PO is in process or pending
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“AMS Approved” if AMS requests at discretion
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“SMA Verified” if determine there is in fact and Active SMA
- Change the User Status to “Follow Up Needed”
- Add Internal Note stating “AMS Confirmed - Please provide support”
- Set First Level Support to 4206037 - Applications Helpdesk
If the CIC creates a Ticket but then the Applications Helpdesk determines there is no active SMA, they will redirect the Ticket to Aftermarket 4206051. If you disagree, you can simply pass it back to 4206037 Applications Helpdesk with the steps above.
The Hardware Service Support Team has code 4206039 for customer matters or 4206040 for only internal ZEISS support matters.
There should not normally be a need but if necessary to route back to CIC Customer Interaction Center, their First Level Support is 4206055.
To be clear, we no longer offer “Free Calls” nor do we offer a “Pay Per Incident”.
The overall aim is to provide this service to customers with active SMA. This is only fair to the customers who have maintained their SMA through the years.