Our front-line Support Agents are real people who know "church" and are excited to use their background and expertise in MinistryPlatform to help you get ministry done! One of these agents will be the first to respond to your case, and many times will be the one to resolve it. When needed, they will leverage other resources on our teams.

Live Chat

Have a how-to question? Initiate a Live Chat with a support agent by logging into the Support Portal and let's chat! Only SPoCs identified by your organization's management are authorized to use Live Chat, so we'll ask for some contact information and then get started.

• Hours: Available from 9am to 6pm ET, Monday thru Friday during normal support hours. Agent response times will vary, depending on other in-progress chats and the overall case load. See Hours & Holidays below.
• Best For: How-to type questions. Live Chat works a lot like texting, where there is a direct "conversation" between two people. Live Chat can handle sending and receiving screenshots and links, as long as the conversation comes to a quick resolution. Bonus: All conversations will automatically be turned into support cases, so if an issue needs further investigation, the transition to Support will be seamless!
• But Not For: Complex issues like resolving server errors, multi-step scenario reproduction, etc. If the issue turns out to be too big for a chat, the Agent will let you know, convert the chat to a case on the spot, and continue to provide support via email.

Phone Calls

Prefer to talk it out instead of type? Give us a call at 1-800-669-2509, Option 1! Only SPoCs identified by your organization's management are authorized to contact support, so we'll ask for your site number. This can be found in the Support Portal under Account Management > Account Detail.

• Hours: Available from 9am to 5pm ET, Monday thru Friday during normal support hours. Response times will vary depending on other in-progress calls and the overall caseload. See Hours & Holidays below.
• Best For: Simple how-to type questions.
• But Not For: Complex scenarios or issues such as resolving errors, multi-step reproduction, etc. If the issue turns out to be too complex to be resolved via the phone, the Agent will let you know, convert the call to a case on the spot, and continue to provide support via email.

Support Cases

Already know you have a complex issue? Submit a support case via the  Support Portal, and let's uncomplicate things! In the Support Portal, you'll be able to create new cases with more detail and review existing cases. Our goal is to help you get ministry done.

• Hours: Available from 9am to 6pm ET, Monday thru Friday during normal support hours. See Hours & Holidays below.
• Best For: Complex issues like resolving server errors, multi-step scenario reproduction, complex how-to questions, troubleshooting, etc.
• Benefits: In addition to clearer, fuller, and more detailed documentation of the issue at hand, written cases:
  • More efficiency when triaging or escalating your case internally.
  • Provide the ability to engage multiple MinistryPlatform and church personnel for resolution, as needed.
  • Capture information for expanding valuable  resources, like our Knowledge Base.

When you submit a case, we'll work diligently until the issue is resolved. Your Service Level Agreement explains how we determine the severity of a problem and what will happen in those rare cases when we cannot immediately resolve it. When we get your case, we may:

• Create a scenario like yours on our test system to determine if the issue is reproducible.
• Call the SPoC if we need clarification and we believe the best way to do that is live. 
• Access your MinistryPlatform software if we feel doing so will shed light on the issue or allow us to more quickly resolve the issue.
• Access your servers if we feel the problem can best be analyzed by looking at the event viewer, tweaking CSS/HTML, or even running a query.

General Case Tips

Before writing your case, think through the situation, gather all the facts, take screenshots where appropriate, and provide the exact steps for reproducing the issue. Sometimes, simply going through this process reveals the solution. But if it doesn't, we've found that the more time spent writing the case, the less time it will take to resolve.

In order to help us help you efficiently and effectively, please include as many of the following details in your initial support case as apply. Don't know all the details? No problem! Tell us what you can and we'll take it from there.

• Goal: A clear summary of what you're trying to accomplish and the problem you're having.
• User Information: What type of computer are you using? Which browser and operating system/version? Have you tried refreshing your browser or clearing your cache? What about logging out and logging back in?
• Issue Reproduction: What steps did the user (or you trying to reproduce the issue) take before the issue happened. Details are your friend here, so be specific.
• Documentation: A link to any referenced record(s), screenshots of any error messages, a short video showing the steps it took to create the issue, etc.

Common Case Types

• Issue: Is something not working like you expect it to? Running into an error message? Gather your basic details, copy your links, grab those screenshots, and submit your issue via the Support Portal. Be sure to include:
  • Steps take to generate the error
  • A URL link to the record
  • A screenshot of the error
• Question:  Not quite sure how to accomplish a ministry's goal? Looking for the right tool or report to use? Need to combine a bunch of duplicate contact records, but can't find them? If it's a quick how-to start a live chat or submit a case via the Support Portal. Be sure to include: 
  • Context of the scenario
  • Your clear goal
  • What you tried and whether that worked/didn't work

And Remember

• Only SPoCs are allowed to initial Support cases or live chats.
• One issue per case, please. This will make it easier to track what's been resolved and what is outstanding.
• We never reject a case because it is missing information. Give us the information you have and we'll coach you along the way!
• Our Support team works hard to provide the highest level of customer service possible with the best solutions or workarounds available. If the solution provided isn't workable for your needs, please continue to engage with our Support team through the Support case. We're happy to continue working with you and can escalate your case, if needed.

Hours & Holidays

Hours

Support Desk hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern. Service Level Agreements* in place with specific customers may vary. Note: If your servers are managed by a hosting company, their support time frame is independent of ours. Please review your agreement with them for more details.

*Your church’s Service Level Agreement defines two things. First, whether your church is paying for extended Support hours outside our normal Support hours. Second, it defines the hourly rate for any services not covered by the Service Level Agreement. This information is generally found in Appendix C.

Off-Hours Support

We do not monitor the Support Desk case queue outside of normal Support hours. If you submit a case outside our Support Desk hours, including on a holiday, the case will be reviewed at the start of the next business day. If your concern cannot wait until Support reopens, submit a support case then call 843-413-8400 and leave a voicemail message per the on-call instructions. From the voicemail, we are notified and will review the ticket and work to assist you as best as possible. Note: Hourly rates are likely to apply if off-hours assistance is provided, defined by your Service Level Agreement. 

Holidays

Assistance provided on a holiday is considered off-hours support and is subject to hourly rates. If a holiday falls on a Saturday, we observe it on the preceding Friday. If a holiday falls on a Sunday, we observe it on the following Monday. 

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (always a Monday)
• Good Friday (always a Friday)
• Memorial Day (always a Monday)
• Independence Day
• Labor Day (always a Monday)
• Thanksgiving (Thursday and Friday)
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Year's Eve (afternoon)