How we work
Every request to the Support Service follows the same procedure, whichever category it is submitted under and whether it arrives through the form or by email. The steps below describe what happens from the moment a request is received until it is closed.
Step 1: Check the FAQ
Most questions about access, outages, membership and standards are answered there. A request that repeats an FAQ answer is closed with a reference to it.
Step 2: Submit a request
Use the form on this site or write by email. Choose the category that fits best; the questions asked depend on the category, and an email that names no category is assigned one on receipt.
Step 3: Registration and acknowledgement
Every request is entered in the register and given a reference number before anything else is done with it, and is acknowledged at the email address given within two working days. The acknowledgement carries the reference number to quote in any further correspondence.
Step 4: Examination
The Support Service reads the request and decides whether it can answer it directly. Access and connectivity requests are normally answered by the Service; standards and membership matters are referred. If the Service needs something from you, it asks, and the clock is paused until you reply.
Step 5: Reply or referral
A request the Service can answer receives a substantive reply within five working days for Access and Connectivity, or ten for Other. A request it cannot answer is passed to the responsible office with the reference number within one working day. You are told which office it has gone to, and that office replies to you directly.
Step 6: Closure
A request is closed when it has been answered or referred, or when a request for information has gone unanswered for twenty working days. It may be reopened at any time by quoting the reference number if the answer did not resolve the matter.
The Service does not operate the shared services, set the standards of the Network, admit organisations to membership or handle security incidents. Its work is to make sure that every request is written down, acknowledged, and either answered or placed with the office that can answer it, within the published number of working days. When you are ready, submit a request.
Who answers what
| Subject | Answered by | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Support Service | Member administrator where one exists; Identity Service where the account is held there |
| Connectivity | Support Service | Status Service for planned maintenance; reports are grouped into incidents |
| Standards | Standards Office | Referred with the reference number within 1 working day |
| Membership | Registry | Applications are not accepted by the Support Service |
| Security incidents | Defence Department | Not handled through this site |
| Complaints about the Service | Support Service | Handled by an officer not involved in the original request |
| Other | Support Service | Referred where another office is responsible |
The four categories of the request form, what each covers and how to choose between them are set out under Request categories. The full routing of every kind of enquiry, including those the Service does not handle, is under Contact Us.
What you receive
Each stage of the procedure produces a message to the email address given on the request. The table below lists every message the Service sends, when to expect it and what it contains. The Service sends nothing else, and it never asks for a password or for access to your account.
| Message | When | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledgement | Within 2 working days of receipt | The reference number, the category, the response time that applies, and the text of your request as registered |
| Request for information | When the Service cannot proceed without it | What is needed and why; the clock is paused until you reply, and the request is closed if no reply is received within 20 working days |
| Notice of referral | Within 1 working day of receipt | The office the request has gone to, the reference number it was sent with, and a statement that the office will reply to you directly |
| Substantive reply | Within 5 working days for Access and Connectivity; 10 for Other | The answer, or what the Service has done and what will happen next and when |
| Incident update | At the frequency for the class of incident | For connectivity reports grouped into an incident: the class, what the operating office has said, and whether the service is restored |
| Notice of closure | On closure | The status at closure and a reminder that the request may be reopened by quoting the reference number |
| Notice of reopening | Within 2 working days of your message | Confirmation that the request is under examination again under the same reference number |
Every message carries the reference number in its subject line. Replying to any of them adds your reply to the same entry in the register; what the register records about a request and how to follow one up are set out under Reference numbers and the register. The times are maxima, measured in working days of the Network from the day the request is received; the rules are under Service standards. For the particular sequence that follows a report of an outage, see Reporting an outage. Questions about the procedure may be sent to contact@support.gov.vin.