Product Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for Technical Support?

Technical Support is available to all customers with have a current customer contract International support is available through your local ProModel distributor.

How can Technical Support help me?

Our technical support team is ready to answer your questions regarding: installation, licensing, modeling, and error troubleshooting. We have experts on staff to handle the entire family of ProModel products.

How do I log on to the Solutions Café?

Click here to log on with your Username and password. Need a password? Please send a password request with your name, company, and software license number to [email protected]

More FAQs?

We have over 600 Answers to FAQ’s available within our Solutions Café. After logging on to the Solutions Café, select Knowledge Base and then Find Answers to search our knowledge base of technical support issues.

What does a customer contract include?

Our comprehensive customer contract includes:

• Regular hours, in-office support: 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MST.
• Access to the ProModel “Solutions Café” a constantly growing, members only, knowledge base of solutions and techniques.
• Software upgrades and product enhancements for one year.

What Does Technical Support Provide?

We provide full technical support for all ProModel products. We can answer your questions concerning installation, troubleshoot modeling functionality, we even provide technique suggestions for modeling tricky situations. Our technical support team is made up of highly qualified and experienced simulation experts. We also provide support for ProModel’s ActiveX functionality, with limited programming assistance available.

Beyond Technical Support?

We have an excellent team of consulting professionals available to assist you. ProModel consultants can help you build custom solutions, including powerful applications linked to ERP and other data systems. Please contact us for more information.

Maintenance FAQ

What is software maintenance?

ProModel Software maintenance is a 12-month contract which includes access to technical support and any software upgrades, patches and bug fixes that may become available for your licensed software during the active term of your maintenance agreement.

What is meant by support expiration?

Your initial ProModel Software includes 12 months of software maintenance that is paid at the time of purchase. Once this initial maintenance period comes to an end on the anniversary of your software license purchase, software maintenance services are no longer available unless renewed.

When will I receive a notification that my maintenance will be expiring?

We send our renewal notices out 60-90 days prior to the expiration of maintenance, to ensure appropriate time is given to validate the use of licenses, seek the necessary purchase approvals and to complete the procurement process.

Why is it important to renew before my maintenance expires?

A renewal prior to expiration ensures continuous maintenance services and avoidance of the additional costs related to lapsing on support.

What happens if I don’t want to renew my maintenance?

If your maintenance lapses, you will not have access to technical support or software upgrades, patches and bug fixes, you will not be able to engage our training staff or consulting staff on projects without having updated software or technical support.

Why do I have to pay back maintenance fees if I lapse on support?

During any period of maintenance lapse, we continue to invest in R&D related to the product to provide upgrades/newer versions. When you reinstate your maintenance you receive the benefit of these developments that took place during the lapsed period.

What is the reinstatement fee?

This is a late fee for contracts that were not renewed prior to their expiration date. This is calculated based on the number of months for which you were out of maintenance.

I didn’t use technical support last year. Do I need to pay for service this year?

Customer’s support needs vary from year to year. There may be one year where they need little support, and another where they need more than their annual fee may cover. In either case, we are available and support them for their annual maintenance fee.

Why is it important to stay current on support?

You can never predict when you will need support. ProModel products are often used to solve time-critical process issues. As such, a current maintenance contract ensures that support services are available when a customer needs time-sensitive support. Also, a support contract not only provides you with technical modeling help, but you continue to receive all patches/fixes, updates and new versions of your software product that are designed and tested to work with the latest version of the Microsoft Windows operating systems. If your support lapses and you do not have a current contract, you may find that your old ProModel software no longer works as expected with newer versions of Windows. ProModel performs extensive testing to ensure that our products are fully functional on the latest version of Windows.

Can’t I just pay as needed for technical support?

No, ProModel does not offer “incident-based” or “pay-as-you-go” support. Our customers have specifically told us via surveys that they do not desire this type of support plan. It also requires extra overhead to provide incident-based support which, in turn, makes it more expensive to provide the high-quality, US-based technical support that has been a hallmark of ProModel’s success from the start of our business. When you call our support team, a highly-qualified support team member will stay with you until your issue is resolved.

Can I renew just the maintenance and not support?

No. Your maintenance and support are combined under your contract.

Why does support start at the time of invoicing and not at the time of installation?

As soon as you are invoiced you are eligible to begin use of your product. We do not know when actual implementation will occur, and we ensure your services are available at the point in time that we sell you the product.

What happens if I don’t renew?

Can I still use my license? Perpetual license customers will continue to be able to use the then current version of their licensed software, however without a current maintenance contract in place, you will not have access to technical support, you will not have the opportunity to download the latest version of patches and fixes, you will not be able to transfer the license to another host/machine, you will not be able to download for reinstall purposes and you will not be able to request new product keys. Should you need support moving forward, you will need to contact us to reinstate your support maintenance contract and will incur the associated reinstatement fees.

Solutions Café

The ProModel Solutions Café serves up information, tools and services to ensure your project is a success and provides:

• Knowledge Base – Tools, technical information and downloadable files that provide valuable assistance for your productivity projects.
• Tips and Techniques – Hone your skills
• Resource Library – Download training materials, graphics libraries and sample models.

Access to the ProModel Solutions Café is one benefit of current ProModel Annual Maintenence and Support contract and is password protected. If you own a ProModel software package and have a current contract, please send a password request with your name, company and software license number to [email protected].

Annual Customer Contract

Enhance the value of your ProModel investment by maintaining your annual customer contract

Benefits

ProModel/MedModel Annual Customer Support Contract

ProModel/MedModel Licenses:

• Automatic software upgrades and product enhancements for duration of membership.
• Access to ProModel Technical Support.  We offer extended technical support hours, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MST
• Application specific strategy review with a Senior Application Specialist (appointment based) – Coordinated with Key Account Manager and limited to Application Specialist Availability.
• Exclusive membership access to the Member Support area of ProModel’s website where you can find the latest software updates, Tips & Techniques, search our knowledge base, and download example models and graphic libraries.
• Subscription to the ProModel’s quarterly electronic newsletter.
• Access to our library of Training Webinars.
• Eligibility for promotional discounts on class room training taught in UT & PA.  (1st year excluded)
• Lunch & Learn – One hour session on-site to discuss how ProModel technology can add value to your organization.

Process Simulator Customer Support Contract

Process Simulator Licenses:

• Automatic software upgrades and product enhancements for duration of membership.Ï
• Access to ProModel Technical Support.  We offer extended technical support hours, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. MST
• Exclusive customer access to the Customer Support area of ProModel’s website where you can find the latest software updates, Tips & Techniques, search our knowledge base, and download example models and graphic libraries.
• Subscription to the ProModel’s quarterly electronic newsletter.
• Access to our library of Training Webinars.
• Eligibility for promotional discounts for the ProModel University online Process Simulator training (1st year excluded).

Technical Support vs. Consulting

Technical support is designed to help our customers understand the proper use of our software. Support resources are available from 6 AM to 6 PM Mountain time Mon-Fri. We are respected in the simulation industry for providing the highest level of customer support available. However, sometimes, there are situations in which we must make a distinction between what is technical support and what is rightfully consulting.

Technical Support Includes:

1. Helping a customer understand how a software feature works or is intended to be used. This may be done by providing a small model that isolates a specific concept, syntax or piece of logic.
2. Helping a customer to debug a model. This includes explaining the tools that are available to find problems in model logic/structure and/or looking at the customer’s model to help them locate the problem.
3. Modeling methodology and technique recommendations. Suggested methods are not guaranteed and may not include implementation into the customer’s model.
4. Help from support resources based at ProModel’s headquarters in Orem, Utah. No on-site technical support services are provided.
5. Help that is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. When a support issue is resolved, that ticket is closed out. If a follow up question arises, it does not take priority over other issues in the support queue.
6. Access to our Solutions Café online Knowledgebase, which is available 24/7.

Technical Support Excludes:

1. Building models for customers. This includes requests to implement customized logic or error checking routines in multiple places throughout a customer model. Once the source of a problem has been determined and the solution has been tested, the customer is expected to implement recurring instances of the solution.
2. Access to a specific support resource. A particular resource may be requested because of familiarity with the customer’s support issue. However, each support resource addresses issues in their queue on first-come, first-served basis.

Response Time Goal:

ProModel’s standard response time goal is 6 business hours when a request is received through e-mail to [email protected] or via our toll-free support line at 888-PROMODEL. Requests sent directly to a personal e-mail or voicemail account may not be answered in as timely a manner due to personnel schedules, vacations, etc.

Consulting Services Include:

1. Dedicated use of a ProModel technical resource to develop a turnkey solution to a customer’s specific application.
2. Dedicated use of a ProModel technical resource to provide on-going assistance with a customer who is developing their own complex model(s).
3. Periodic or scheduled reviews of long-term customer projects. This is normally done through a retainer agreement or Technical Service Agreement between ProModel and the customer.
4. On-site training (basic, advanced, or customized) for a large number of trainees.