Service Contracts and Service
Plans 
Purpose
Service contracts
are outline agreements with business partners which define services offered
for a particular period. You support service contracts by processing 
contract-based and
planned
services.
Service contracts represent long-term service agreements with customers in relation to the content and scope of services guaranteed within specific tolerance limits for certain parameters, for example, within a predefined timeframe.
If a technical defect occurs in a customer’s machine, they are assured that a technician will be on-site at the customer’s place of business within 4 hours to correct the fault.
In a service contract, you specify detailed information that has been agreed with the service recipient, such as:
● Routine tasks for devices that you have sold or rented to the customer
● Prices for the routine tasks
● Objects for which services can be claimed
● Conditions under which the contract can be cancelled
During the validity period of the service contract, you can use the service contract for the following:
● To trigger regular automatic billing
● To determine whether a service request made by the customer is covered by the service contract
● To determine whether a cancellation request made by the customer is valid
● To trigger follow-up activities before the validity period of the service contract runs out
You can either create a service contract directly, or as a follow-up document for a service agreement or a service contract quotation.
Integration
Specifics of the Interaction Center WebClient
● If the Interaction Center in the People-Centric UI is used, agents can create and maintain customer service contracts or display them for information purposes.
Specifics of Internet Customer Self-Service
● Internet users can display their service contracts.
● If the Internet user creates a service request or a complaint and several service contracts are considered as a basis, the Internet user can select a suitable contract and link it to the service request. For more information, see Display Service Contracts in ICSS.
Specifics of the Mobile Client
● Service contracts can be downloaded onto a laptop. They can be assigned to a document (for example, a service order) and in this way can influence price determination that takes place on the laptop.
Features
A service contract consists of header and item data. A service product can be stipulated for each service contract item and the customer can claim for this product over a certain period at a specific price.
Different types of services can be stipulated as service products in a service contract item:
● An individual service (for example, hotline)
● A service package in which several services are grouped (for example, car inspection)
● A service limited according to value or quantity (for example, free-of-charge telephone consultation for the first three months after buying software)
● A service plan in which planned services reoccurring at intervals are entered (for example, maintenance of a photocopier every 3 months)
● A usage-based service (such as maintenance of a copier after 100,000 copies)
Agreement of Individual Services in the Service Contract
You stipulate a specific service as a product in a service contract item. If service parts are required, for example, when exchanging a computer hard drive or changing tires on a car, enter these in the product list belonging to the contract item.
Agreement of Service Packages in the Service Contract
In a service contract item, you stipulate a complex service package consisting of several individual services and service parts. All of the services and service parts contained in the service package are entered in the product list belonging to the contract item.
Agreement of Services Limited to Value or Quantity in the Service Contract (Value/Quantity)
In a service contract item, you stipulate services or service packages with a specific target quantity or particular overall value. Contracts including this kind of agreement are described as Service Contracts (Value/Quantity). For more information, see Service Contract (Value/Quantity).
Agreement of Planned Services in the Service Plan
You stipulate service products that can be claimed at specific intervals over a predefined period. These types of planned services appear in a service plan, which you process either as an independent business process or as an integral part of a service contract.
Which services are to be performed and at what service interval are defined in the service plan, although individual customer requirements can also be mapped. For more information, see Service Plan.
Agreement of Usage-Based Services in the Usage-Based Service Contract
You finalize a service contract with your customer that also contains a stipulation of services that are based on the quantity used. In this way, you can create a contract for the maintenance of copiers that should be carried out after 100,000 copies.
The contract defines the services and specific conditions for the usage volume. It is a prerequisite for recording usage, calculating the usage volume, and subsequent billing. The used quantity is entered using counters and readings.
For further
information, see Usage-Based Service
Contract Management.
See also: