Apps Documentation & Support
Editions supported: This information applies to Google Apps for Business, Education, and ISPs customers who have additional support options for their technical needs.
When you open a support case with our technical support team, we take a series of steps to address your issue as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
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| You submit your issue, which we track through a support case | We prioritize and work on your case | We may contact you for more information about your case | We resolve and close your case |
Your case
The life of a support case starts when you email us or phone us for help:
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By email: When you send us an email through the Support contact form, we automatically open a case and begin processing your case.
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By phone: When you call us through the phone number listed on the Get Support page, you speak with a support agent about your issue. If we can’t resolve the issue immediately, we open a support case.
Tip: To help resolve your case as quickly as possible, please include the required product information with your online case submission or have this information ready when you call.
Case handling and investigation
All cases are processed and investigated in order of priority and time of submission. After a case has been opened (by email or phone), Google Apps for Business and Education customers can expect a response within 24 to 48 business hours.
| Google Apps Core Services | |
|---|---|
| Gmail | Google Drive |
| Google Calendar | Google Sites |
| Google Groups | Google Contacts |
| Google Talk | Google Apps Vault |
We prioritize cases based on the severity and business impact of the issue:
| Priority level | Type of issue | Example |
|---|---|---|
| P1 - Critical Impact |
Critical service issue affecting all users. Service unavailable or unusable with no workaround. Note: These type of issues tend to be rare. Information about any service disruptions is available through the Apps Status Dashboard. |
Widespread email delays affecting the majority of email being sent and/or received. |
| P2 - High Impact | This issue is critically impacting a single user or critically impacting collaboration among users. Product does not work as expected, with no feasible workaround. | A user is unable to access her email and is receiving a 500 Error page. |
| P3 - Medium Impact | Product does not work as expected but a workaround is easily available. | Unable to delete a group forum post using the Delete button, but the message can be deleted with some URL manipulation. |
| P4 - Low Impact | Product does not work as desired, but functions (a workaround is not necessary). | A user is not able to easily add new words to the spell check dictionary. |
Additional investigation
To resolve cases that involve complex scenarios, we may need to gather more information from you or conduct additional testing. In these cases:
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You may be asked to perform a few steps or a troubleshooting test to help with the investigation of your case.
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You may be asked to collect and send additional information relating to your case such as log trace files or full messages headers (we’ll tell you how to find this information).
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Your case may be sent to a product specialist, such as a Mobile technical specialist or a Calendar technical specialist, for further investigation. The Google Apps support specialist assigned to your case works with you and our technical specialists to bring your case to resolution.
Resolving your case
Our support staff will work to resolve your issue and close the case. Depending on the type of issue, resolution means:
- We fixed your issue, provided a solution, or answered your question
- A feature is now working as expected
- We submitted your feature request to the product team
- We weren't able to reproduce the issue
- A third-party product is involved, so you will need to contact them for further assistance
- We are unable to resolve or currently do not offer support for the item you have contacted us about
You will also receive a quick email survey about how we handled your case. Your satisfaction with the service you received is important to us and we appreciate your feedback.
