Customer service – framework and terms of access

Customer service – framework and terms of access

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1. Purpose of the customer service

AREAL’s customer service, hereinafter referred to as ‘AREAL Support’, aims to assist its customers with the use and configuration of the TOPKAPI software.
Under the terms of the warranty and/or the telephone support and update contract taken out by the customer, AREAL Support responds to requests for assistance and intervenes in the event of specific difficulties encountered whilst using TOPKAPI.
It may be contacted by individuals, hereinafter referred to as ‘qualified users’, who have been trained in configuring the TOPKAPI software and who have sufficient knowledge of the technical environment in which it is operated.
AREAL Support is available under the terms set out below.


2. Contact details

AREAL Support can be contacted via the following channels:

  • Email: enquiries may be sent to the dedicated support email address support@areal.fr 
  • Telephone: AREAL Support can be reached on +33 1 60 63 07 52

To ensure requests are dealt with efficiently, customers are asked to provide, with each enquiry, the relevant licence number and any information helpful for understanding and diagnosing the issue, including the context of the problem, any error messages and, where relevant, screenshots.


3. Support hours

AREAL Support is available on working days at the following times:

  • Morning: 9.00 am to 12.30 pm
  • Afternoon: from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm

AREAL Support is not available at weekends, on public holidays and, where applicable, during periods of exceptional closure announced by AREAL on its website.


4. Handling of enquiries

Enquiries are processed during AREAL Support’s opening hours, depending on their nature, level of complexity and the resources required to analyse them.
AREAL endeavours to process requests as promptly as possible. However, no contractual timeframe for handling, responding to or resolving requests is guaranteed, unless a specific commitment has been agreed contractually between AREAL and the customer.
Where necessary, AREAL Support may ask the customer for further information, checks or actions in order to continue analysing the request.
Handling a request requires the active cooperation of a qualified user with sufficient knowledge of the TOPKAPI application and its technical environment.
In particular, the qualified user carries out the checks and actions requested by AREAL Support and, where the situation requires it and subject to the applicable security conditions, provides the remote access facilities necessary for the analysis.
Where the available documentation provides a solution to a request, AREAL Support may direct the customer to it.


5. Scope of AREAL Support’s intervention

AREAL Support operates within the scope of the TOPKAPI software.
It assists qualified users with the use and configuration of the software and helps to carry out a preliminary diagnosis of any difficulties that may be encountered within this scope.
The operation, administration and maintenance of the installation and its technical environment remain the responsibility of the customer, unless otherwise specified in the contract.
Where the analysis of a request requires in-depth investigation of the application or its environment, or where an intervention falls outside the scope of AREAL Support, the latter may:

  • Offer the customer an additional service;
  • Advise the customer to contact their system integrator;
  • Refer the customer to a competent service provider.


6. Versions of TOPKAPI covered by Support

AREAL Support will only handle requests if the customer is using a version of TOPKAPI that is one of the versions ‘covered’ by AREAL.
AREAL Support covers the current version on the market (version N) as well as the previous version (version N-1).
With each new version, support coverage changes accordingly: the new version becomes version N and the version previously covered as N becomes version N-1.
Versions prior to N-1 are therefore not covered by standard support, unless otherwise specified in a specific contractual or commercial agreement with AREAL.


7. Services falling within the scope of additional support


Certain requests require an analysis, intervention or support that goes beyond the scope of AREAL Support. These requests may be subject to an additional service, subject to the client’s agreement, or may be handled by the integrator or a competent service provider.
The following, in particular, may fall within the scope of additional support:
a. TOPKAPI application

  • In-depth investigation of a malfunction requiring a detailed analysis of the application or its environment 
  • Configuration or performance audit 
  • Analysis of requirements to define the functions to be implemented and the architecture of a TOPKAPI application, particularly with regard to data acquisition, data processing, alarms or control interfaces
  • Implementation of modifications or corrections to an application’s configuration 
  • Development or modification of specific scripts

b. Technical environment and third-party systems

  • Deployment or maintenance of a database management system (DBMS) 
  • Adaptation of standard interface SQL queries 
  • Configuring or maintaining the environment hosting TOPKAPI, in particular the operating system, antivirus software, authentication systems and LDAP directories 
  • Configuration or maintenance of the network and hardware infrastructure into which TOPKAPI is integrated, including routers, PLCs, data acquisition front-ends and associated equipment 
  • Configuration or maintenance of third-party applications or systems, including dashboarding software, CMMS or other applications interfaced with TOPKAPI

c. Deployment and support services

  • Installation by AREAL of a release or new version of TOPKAPI on the client’s infrastructure 
  • Support for the virtualisation of applications 
  • Analysis, consultancy or support for the deployment of a cyber-secure SCADA architecture 
  • Training on the basic principles of TOPKAPI or on the use of a specific module 
  • Any study, consultancy, training, development, configuration or support service requiring dedicated intervention by AREAL


8. Scope of services

AREAL Support is not intended to replace the client’s own teams, their systems integrator or the service providers responsible for the operation and maintenance of their infrastructure.
Within the scope of standard support, AREAL Support is limited to the interventions defined in this document. Administration, maintenance, configuration or modification tasks requiring intervention on the client’s technical environment or on third-party systems shall, unless otherwise stipulated in the contract, be subject to an additional service or require the intervention of the system integrator or a competent service provider.
Where a fault originates from a component or environment external to TOPKAPI, AREAL Support may assist with the preliminary diagnosis of the fault, in particular by analysing the available information and helping to identify the probable cause of the problem.
Resolving the malfunction, where this requires intervention on a component or environment external to TOPKAPI, is the responsibility of the client or the service provider in charge of that component or environment. Where relevant, AREAL may advise the client on the checks or actions to be carried out with that service provider.
AREAL Support’s involvement in the preliminary diagnosis does not imply that AREAL is responsible for the administration, maintenance, configuration or rectification of the component or environment in question.


9. General terms and conditions of collaboration

The effective operation of AREAL Support relies on active collaboration between AREAL and the client.
The client undertakes, in particular, to:

  • Appointing contact persons with the necessary skills to use and configure TOPKAPI 
  • Provide the information required to analyse requests 
  • Carry out the checks and procedures requested by AREAL Support 
  • Maintain its technical environment in a condition compatible with the operation of TOPKAPI 
  • Make available, where necessary and possible, the technical resources enabling AREAL Support to carry out the required checks

AREAL may suspend or defer the analysis of a request where the information or access required to process it is not available.


10. Additional services


Where a request falls outside the scope of AREAL Support, AREAL may offer the customer an additional service tailored to the nature of the intervention required.
The provision of such a service is subject to the client’s prior agreement and, where applicable, to the commercial and contractual terms and conditions applicable to that service.
The fact that a request was initially submitted to AREAL Support does not imply that all the operations necessary to resolve it are included within the scope of the support service.