TNS is committed in exceeding our customer's expectations for service and support through cost effective solutions

TNS System Maintenance Policy

As telecommunications services at Penn State continue to evolve and expand, is it critical that the best and most efficient maintenance services are provided. In order to accomplish this task, the following TNS maintenance philosophy has been outlined:

  1. TNS will only maintain systems that it has installed and will only install systems that it has designed.
    • Any change to an existing TNS-maintained system requires a design prepared by TNS.
    • A system certified by TNS is considered to be designed and installed by TNS.
  2. A TNS maintained system is one in which TNS provides all maintenance and system modification.
    • A TNS maintained system has a contracted service agreement (known as a Telecommunications Service Requisition - TSR) between the system owner and TNS for exclusive TNS maintenance on that system.
    • A system that is not under TNS maintenance may be put under TNS maintenance only after that system has been brought to TNS standards through a certification process. The certification process begins with a TSR for a design.
    • Modifications to a TNS maintained system may be made by the system owner only if the modifications are documented as allowed in an TNS service agreement (TSR). The applicable TNS departments (TNS Design and TNS Operations groups) must approve this agreement. All modifications that are made by the system owner must be documented and the documentation provided to TNS within one working day.
    • TNS maintenance may be provided through a third party that is controlled and managed by TNS.
  3. TNS only offers design of upgrades and modifications to systems that it maintains.
    • TNS must provide exclusive maintenance for the system that is to be modified.
    • TNS will not design a system that it can not maintain.
  4. TNS will only design campus, college, or department-owned systems that connect directly to another TNS maintained system or a system provided by a licensed public carrier.
    • A non-TNS owned system only connects to an TNS defined demarcation point.
    • All public carrier contracts must be established and maintained through TNS.
  5. The TNS demarcation point (demarc) is the point at which the TNS service terminates and the customer owned and maintained equipment begins. It separates TNS facilities from the user equipment and identifies the boundary of responsibility for the provision and maintenance of service. The demarcation points used in defining TNS' system service responsibilities are identified in the following policies:
  6. Maintenance fees cover maintenance costs only and do not include life cycle funding. Campuses, colleges, and departments should budget appropriately for replacement/upgrade of equipment.
  7. TNS will continue to maintain equipment meeting the criteria described in this document until it has been determined to have reached the end of its supportable life. If continued TNS support of the impacted service is desired, it will be the responsibility of customer to submit a request to TNS for the design and installation of services using supported equipment. The customer will be responsible for the costs involved in the replacement of the equipment. Under normal circumstances, TNS will provide sufficient notice (at least 6 months, but usually 1 year) before discontinuing support for systems or system components.

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