Support and maintenance of our software are covered by your IBIS licence fees, either as part of your monthly subscription or via an annual support and maintenance fee.  This article explains what this fee means, what is covered, and what happens if your request falls outside of our standard Support Agreement. We also cover how to contact the helpdesk with your support questions.

Your support and maintenance fees cover:

• Support
• What to check before you contact IBIS 
• Support hours
• Maintenance
• Server hosting
• Software updates
• Remote support - Team Viewer
• Starting a Remote Assistant Connection from within IBIS

What is not covered under support?

• Training
• System configuration
• Data imports/exports
• Standard export for Xero
• Custom development
• We don’t use support – will our fees be reduced?

Your support and maintenance fees cover:

Support

IBIS aim to deliver a consistently high level of customer service and support for all of our customers. To help us achieve this, we use a ticket management system to log and track all requests and enquiries. Each ticket created is allocated a unique tracking number; once the request has been assessed by a support technician, we’ll assign a priority level and send you a response. 

You can email us any time or log in to the support portal to raise a ticket to ask a question or tell us about a problem you have while using IBIS.  As long as the problem is directly IBIS-related (not being caused by other software or hardware) we will place your request in our priority queue and get back to you with help.

If you are having trouble signing in to the Support portal, please let us know and we can send you an activation email to help you get started.

Responses to your emails or tickets will always be sent to you via your email, but you can log in to the Support portal to view the status of your ticket. If you are a Manager, we can also give you visibility over all tickets raised by users in your organisation if requested.

If we cannot reproduce the issue in-house, remote desktop support is available so we can see and operate your computer screen to give you immediate visible assistance. 

Our support team regularly updates the IBIS Knowledgebase, where you can find answers to your training questions and access training videos for free. If you cannot find the help you need, contact our team and we can help direct you to where to find the information.

For critical software issues, you can phone us for immediate help any time between 8.30 and 5.30 pm 7 days a week, and we will do our best to get you back up and running immediately.

A critical software issue is when IBIS is not running on ALL computers, or the issue means you can't complete your daily operations. 

What to check before you contact IBIS 

If you need to contact us about an error or issue, you can help us respond quickly and efficiently by telling us:

• WHAT is happening or what were you trying to do?
• WHEN did the issue start?
• WHICH  computer(s) is it happening on?
• HOW long has the issue been going on?
• WHO does the issue affect? Only one user, everyone?

Before you contact us, perform the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Check our Knowledgebase to diagnose problems without the need to contact the helpdesk.
2. Check your internet connection. Contact your internet provider if you don’t have a connection.
3. Check our current Network Status to see if there are any known outages. A link is accessible from the IBIS login screen.
   
   
   
   
4. Try restarting your computer. This will often resolve your issue quickly and easily!
5. Ask a more experienced user at your organisation if they can help diagnose the issue.

If you contact us with a query that we identify as not being covered under your Support Agreement, we may charge you for our time. You will receive an invoice for Configuration and Training (please see here for our current rates).

Please ensure your team members are aware of this, as we may not mention that you will be charged during our phone or email communication.

Support hours

Standard Support hours: 8:30 am – 5:30 pm, Monday – Friday (excluding NZ & Otago public holidays)
After-hours support:  7 days/week, 8:30 am – 5:30 pm, CRITICAL phone support only.
 

Maintenance

We continually improve IBIS and ensure our software is compatible with current Microsoft Windows operating systems and specified 3^rd party software (e.g. Integrated Eftpos). We also work to improve performance issues and keep in line with industry standards. 

Server hosting

The IBIS server hosting facility is located in Christchurch, NZ. Our servers are monitored daily to ensure all systems are working before you are. Data is backed up regularly on-site, and daily to a separate hosting facility located offshore. Should anything go wrong, you can be sure there is a recent copy of your data we can use to restore your system. We also employ stringent security measures to make sure your data is safe. 

If IBIS does not host your server, there is still plenty of work required by our support team. Deploying updates, communicating with your IT department and consulting on installs or machine changes all take more time than if we were hosting your server within our own facility. There is no financial benefit to be gained by hosting your own IBIS server.

Software updates

We work to improve and develop IBIS to better suit your business needs. We use your feedback and our in-house testing program to improve the IBIS software – and as the improvements are based on input from all our customers, you and your team benefit.  You also get to participate in the development process by giving us your feedback.  

Remote support - Team Viewer

If you run into problems using IBIS or require remote training or assistance, our technicians can connect to your computer remotely to provide remote support using a product called TeamViewer. This is an industry-standard remote support application and in most instances, there should be no configuration of your systems required to use TeamViewer.

• As a user, you make the decision on whether to give an IBIS technician access to your computer or not
• TeamViewer will allow you to share your desktop over any kind of internet-/LAN-connection and over almost any firewall
• No ports have to be opened in order to work with TeamViewer
• TeamViewer is trusted by over 200,000,000 users worldwide

In terms of ease of use and features:

• If you already use TeamViewer in your organisation, we can link to your session easily, using the same method that your IT department use
• File Transfer is available between you and your technician
• You can stop the remote control session at any time

Starting a Remote Assistant Connection from within IBIS

1. Click on the round IBIS icon in the top left of the screen, then select Remote Assistance.
   
   
2. The IBIS Technology Quick Support app will prompt the user to download automatically.  
3. Once the download is complete, run the app.
   
   Note: if you are not prompted to run the TeamViewer application, open your Downloads folder [access via Windows Explorer] and double-click on the TeamViewerQS.exe file to install Team Viewer. Click 'Yes' to allowing the program to make changes to your system.
   
   
   
   
4. The IBIS Quick Support applet will open, click Join session.
   Note if you already have TeamViewer running on your computer, it may prompt you to open your existing copy. Should this happen, just provide the IBIS technician with your Remote control ID and password.
   
   
5. Select Allow to share your desktop.
   
   

What is not covered under support?

Training

When you set up IBIS, you are offered comprehensive training, for a fee, to make the best use of IBIS and all its features. It’s up to you to arrange IBIS training for your new team members – either in-house or by asking us at IBIS to quote for a training session. There are several training options to help you learn how to use IBIS:

• Use the Knowledgebase
  The knowledgebase is a regularly updated and helpful tool that allows you to learn how to use IBIS and find answers to your questions quickly when you are stuck. A search facility, step-by-step instruction articles, and access to videos of common processes will help you learn core system processes.
  
  

• On-site training
  We can visit your company on-site to deliver training to you. This is the recommended option for medium to large-size businesses. Depending on the number of available computers, we generally suggest a 1:4 teacher/student ratio to get the most out of a session. Travel and training costs are extra.
  
  

• Remote training session
  We can provide training over the Internet using remote connection software. This eliminates travel expenses and is often more affordable and convenient for most customers.

Please allow a week for us to schedule training remotely or at our Queenstown office, and 2-3 weeks for on-site training at your business.

To arrange for a remote or on-site training session with an IBIS expert, please submit a ticket to our support centre outlining your requirements and we will be in touch. Our current hourly rate for training is $125 + GST per hour (minimum charge of 15 minutes) for training either at the IBIS offices or remotely via Teamviewer. For on-site training, travel expenses are additional.

System configuration

If you need our assistance making changes to an existing IBIS system (i.e., products or seasonal timetable changes, pricing updates, security settings etc.), this is classified as system configuration and is not covered under your annual Support and Maintenance fees.

Our standard hourly support rate will apply to any configuration changes requested. All system configuration requests should be booked well in advance with the support team and may take up to 4 weeks to deliver depending on the scope of the changes requested. We are happy to estimate any system configuration fees before we start the work.

The current hourly rate for system configuration is $125 + GST per hour (minimum charge of 15 minutes).

Data imports/exports

Our technicians are able to import data into your system in a specified format, as well as create customised data exports for uploading to your bank, or finance system. The hourly rate charged for this service is $125 + GST per hour.  You will be provided with a quote before work commences.

Standard export for Xero

IBIS has a standard data export for Xero and we can implement it in your IBIS system at no cost. If you wish to make any changes to the existing export, including customising the Account code and the Reference fields to meet your requirements, our standard rate of $125 + GST per hour will be charged.

Custom development

We can also provide custom developments in line with our Development Policy.  If you require a new feature we will work to provide it generically so that it is of use to other users.  We will then provide you with a release date which if acceptable will result in the development being supplied at no extra cost.  If the development would not be of use to other users, however, or you would like the development fast-tracked, this would incur a development fee currently set at $200 + GST per hour.

Our custom web development fees are as follows:

• For changes for IBIS products - such as your IBIS E-Commerce web pages, Tablet Check-in, etc:
  • $145 + GST per hour
    
    
• For changes to non-IBIS products - such as GTM set-up, Facebook Pixel tracking via GTM, CSS or JS customisation on your website, and implementing widgets into your own website:
  • $165 + GST per hour within normal business hours 
  • $220 + GST per hour outside of normal business hours (i.e. critical support)

We don’t use support – will our fees be reduced?

Everyone uses IBIS support, even if they are not speaking to IBIS staff directly. If you don’t need to contact us, that means your IBIS system is running smoothly, our upgrades and communication have been effective, and our maintenance program is up to date. Our ongoing development and support resources are funded through maintenance fees. Fees are based on a percentage of the current value of the software.  That way, we can maintain our support and development teams, and keep working to improve your IBIS system and our service to you.