The importance of uptime in your business is one of the most important requirements for UK businesses. It only usually after a downtime event that many companies realise the importance of having Care Levels applied to their business telephone lines.

Downtime for your internet or phone lines can hinder the daily running of your business, subsequently effecting your efficiency to write more business and support your clients.

Due to the importance of these lines the demand on BT Openreach engineers is rife therefore it is essential to consider your level of service support your business needs.

What is a service care maintenance level?

Openreach is the company who owns and manages the majority of phone lines and connectivity throughout the UK. Every UK based telephone line has a basic level of care as standard with BT Openreach, who maintain the network guarantee should a fault develop.

Each service care level comes with a guaranteed response resolution time. Level 1 or 2 come as the basic standard for the majority of basic lines. This means when an issue occurs, it will be 2 or 3 working days before the fault is attended to and resolved (although sometimes quicker).

If the line is used for internet services, it can result in no connection for 2 working days. If the fault develops on a Friday, it can be Monday or Tuesday before the service is repaired – a bank holiday can result in an even further delay. Its a risk you cannot take!

What is level 4 service care?

Level 4 is the highest level of care and manages repairs within a 6-hour period on each requested phone line, regardless of weekends, bank holidays or working hours. This is a 365-day 24/7 service with the ability to log faults at any time of the day costing just £8.50 per month per line.

Sometimes for matters beyond our control such as poor weather, can have an effect on this time period. However, Rydal Group has the ability to escalate and fast track any fixes for lines in the event of any downtime.

Why upgrade to level 4?

As businesses invest in their communication technology, Openreach engineers are more in demand. It’s important to make sure minimal disruption and as little downtime hits your business as possible.

What’s at risk if your don’t have care level 4:

• Customer satisfaction
• Employee productivity
• Potential employee overtime costs
• Missed business
• Brand reputation

Level 4 service care offers security and peace of mind for all of our customers, with faults being logged and resolved in a short time period. It’s always recommended that you upgrade to level 4 on any lines that you consider essential and in need of a faster level of fix service.

How do I upgrade to a higher level?

If you would like to upgrade your account to care level 4 please send us an email to support@rydalcomms.co.uk stating which lines you would like to add level 4 care to, and we’ll give you a call to organise the rest.

As mandatory care level 4 is applied to ALL lines where a broadband connection is being supplied. Should you wish to opt-out of this service please contact our customer service team who will process this request.

Please bear in mind that if you currently have a fault logged, we will be unable to escalate this fault fix to the new level – this will only take effect for any future faults which are logged.

If you are unsure which care level you currently have on your lines or broadband services please contact your account manager on 01733 511116 and they will be able to assist. Alternatively, please see page 2 of your bill, if no service level is listed here you would be on care level 1 or 2.