The Knowledge Base
Outage Communication Plan
All information contained in this article may also be found in the document Communication Plan – ePAY.
Messaging via StatusCast
What is StatusCast?
StatusCast is a tool utilized to broadcast information via email to a list of Participant contacts within the ePAY program, IL State Treasury Office or internal contacts from NCR.
Who is Responsible for StatusCast?
NCR is responsible for any information broadcasted via StatusCast. ePAY may be consulted regarding content or formatting included in any communication to ePAY Participants however, NCR is ultimately responsible for sending any StatusCast broadcast messages.
What Information is sent from StatusCast?
StatusCast may be used to convey information regarding:
- Release Notes – Notes on the release of updates to system entities or applications.
- Announcements – Any announcements deemed pertinent.
- Card Brand – Any pertinent card brand announcements.
- Security Alerts – Alerts for security incidents.
- System Maintenance – Information (date of occurrence, expected duration, impacted entities) regarding maintenance/updates to system entities.
- Service Interruption – Normal functionality is interrupted within the ePAY Portal, Dashboard, or processing.
Who Receives StatusCast Notifications?
Aside from NCR and ePAY internal employees, a Participant may setup a User within the ePAY Portal. The role(s) assigned to the User determine what types of notifications they will receive. Once a user is established within the ePAY Portal, they should receive an email notification alerting them that they are now enrolled in StatusCast notifications and how to establish their StatusCast login credentials within 7 business days.
Notification Types
Service Interruption
A service interruption is the most important notification type sent since it means that there is a prevalent issue affecting multiple, if not all, Participants. This could mean that a single feature within a system entity is experiencing an error or there is a complete service outage, but it ultimately means that normal system functionality is unavailable for Participants.
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Criteria
One or more of the following criteria must be met prior to an issue being escalated to Service Interruption level.
• NCR’s Support team receives three or more reports (incoming calls, ePAY Portal ticket) of a service interruption.
• NCR’s Support team receives a report of a service interruption and it is verified that the issue affects more than one Participant.
• ePAY PSS team reports complaints from multiple Participants to NCR management.
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Notification Requirements
• Notification should be sent as quickly as possible after service interruption has been verified, which should include the system/functionality affected. Must occur within 12 hours of service interruption verification.
• If issue persists, update notifications should be sent out every 30 minutes after initial notification has been sent until resolved.
• Notification should be sent once the issue is resolved and should occur within 24 hours of initial notification deployment.
• If an issue persists longer than 24 hours, then update notifications should continue to be sent every 30 minutes until issue is resolved.
• If root cause is not available for resolution notification, subsequent notification including service interruption details (duration, root cause) is to be sent within 48 hours of resolution notification.
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Additional Notes
Since these types of notifications demand a collaborative communication effort with Participants, the following are to be notified immediately upon the verification of a service interruption:
System Maintenance
This is the most common type of notification sent as the varying systems utilized by ePAY Participants are consistently being updated.
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Criteria
A planned occurrence of maintenance is being performed on a system applicable to ePAY Participant use.
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Notification Requirements
• Notification stating date/time, expected duration, and affected systems should be sent 72 hours prior to occurrence.
• Notification sent after maintenance is completed.
• If maintenance occurrence duration is extended and resulting in an interruption in service for ePAY Participants, then Service Interruption protocol should be initiated.
Release Notes
Notifications regarding release notes should follow the notification of system maintenance completion.
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Criteria
System maintenance has been completed and notification of completion has been deployed.
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Notification Requirements
Notification should include any updates or enhancements made to system entity during maintenance period.
Security Alerts
These types of notifications are sent when there are any concerns regarding vulnerabilities within a system entity.
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Criteria
NCR Executive Management will determine when a notification of this type is warranted.
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Notification Requirements
Notification should include affected systems and scope of impact to Participants.
Card Brand
Card brands will release updates or new requirements for processing credit cards in the US, which could impact Participants.
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Criteria
NCR Executive Management will determine when a notification of this type is warranted.
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Notification Requirements
• Notification should include changes or updates from card brands.
• If applicable due to updates being implemented from card brands, include how this affects processing for Participants and contact information in the event a Participant has further questions or concerns.
Announcements
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Criteria
NCR Management in conjunction with ePAY Management will make the determination as to if an item warrants an announcement via StatusCast.
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Notification Requirements
Since the contents of this type of notification can vary, the requirements can also vary depending on the nature of the announcement but the message should be succinct regardless of contents.