Flexible Service Programs
With Oracle Service you can create, maintain, and administer as many service programs as are necessary to meet the service needs and price expectations of each market segment that you service. The following are some scenarios that describe how service programs can be used to support your customers:
- Provide targeted support based on product characteristics.
For example: to support a low-priced, high-volume product you can define a service program for hotline support. To support a more complex, higher-priced product you can define a service program for on-site support.
- Provide multiple service programs to support the same product.
For example, a customer who uses your product for critical applications can purchase a service program that ensures support 24 hours a day, seven days a week while a customer who uses the product for less critical applications can purchase a service program that limits support to weekdays.
- Allow customers to purchase multiple service programs for the same product.
For example: one service program may not satisfy all of a customer's needs, so a customer can purchase multiple service programs for the same product. If your customer wants both hotline support and regular preventive maintenance, you can define two different service programs that can be attached to the same customer product.
Defining service programs that support each market segment's unique needs lets you meet the expectations of all your customers. For example, in Oracle Order Entry, you can price each service program to achieve the market penetration and volume that you need to sustain and grow your service organization or your business.
Service programs also let you design mass customization solutions. You can provide service solutions that not only satisfy customers but also help you retain and generate additional business. To ensure better administration, you can control the availability of your service programs by product, by customer, or a combination of both. To simplify the management of service programs, you can coterminate a group of service programs at the same time, so that they can be renewed at the same time.
Oracle Service enables you to track the status of each service program purchased by a customer regardless of the time of its purchase. Customers can order service programs at the same time as a product order, or later when the customer requires support. You can also identify expiring service programs and notify your customers, which prevents a break in the support services they receive.