When a critical incident strikes outside of business hours, every minute matters. The quality of support a customer receives in those moments isn’t just a technical consideration — it’s a direct reflection of the trust and partnership we’ve built with them.
That’s why we’ve made a significant investment in how we handle out-of-hours support.
The Problem With the Old Approach
Until now, our out-of-hours call handling relied on a third-party service. While functional, this introduced limitations that weren’t always visible — but were always felt. Delays in escalation, inconsistencies in how incidents were captured, and a lack of direct integration with our internal workflows meant that urgent issues didn’t always receive the seamless, rapid response our customers deserve.
We knew we could do better. So we built something ourselves.
Introducing SmartSupport AfterHours
SmartSupport AfterHours is our newly developed, in-house out-of-hours call handling system — built from the ground up by our team to serve our customers more intelligently, more reliably, and entirely on our own terms.
This isn’t an off-the-shelf solution or a patched workaround. It’s a purpose-built system, designed specifically around the way our customers raise urgent incidents and the way our engineers respond to them.
What This Means for Our Customers
Replacing a third-party handler with an in-house system brings meaningful, practical benefits:
- Faster escalation — Incidents are automatically routed directly to the on-call engineer the moment they’re raised, with no third-party intermediary slowing the process down
- Greater consistency — Every urgent issue is captured and handled through a structured, repeatable process that we own and control end-to-end
- More flexibility — Because the system is ours, we can adapt, improve, and extend it as our customers’ needs evolve — without being constrained by external providers
- Better integration — SmartSupport AfterHours connects directly with our internal systems, ensuring on-call engineers have full incident context before they even pick up the phone
- Improved accountability — Full visibility over every out-of-hours interaction means we can continuously refine our response quality
Key Considerations
SmartSupport AfterHours is designed for urgent incidents that require immediate attention outside of normal business hours. It is not intended to replace standard daytime support channels, which remain the right route for general queries and non-time-critical requests.
Out-of-hours coverage is available Monday to Friday from 17:00 to 09:00 (UK time), and around the clock on weekends and UK public holidays — ensuring that when something critical happens, there is always a clear, reliable path to support.
The system supports multiple methods of contact, giving customers the flexibility to raise an incident in the way that suits them best in the moment.
What Happens When You Raise an Incident
Once an out-of-hours incident is submitted, the process is immediate and structured:
1. The system automatically alerts the on-call engineer by both phone and SMS, with full incident details
2. The engineer contacts the customer directly to assess and begin resolving the issue
3. The entire interaction is logged and tracked within our internal systems
No delays. No ambiguity. No reliance on a third party to get the right message to the right person.
A Stronger Foundation for Customer Support
SmartSupport AfterHours represents more than a technical upgrade — it reflects our commitment to building support infrastructure that genuinely serves our customers when it matters most. By taking ownership of this critical process, we’ve created a more responsive, more transparent, and more adaptable out-of-hours experience.
We’re proud of what our team has built, and we’re confident our customers will feel the difference.
Want to learn more or see SmartSupport AfterHours in action? Reach out to your account representative or get in touch with our team directly — we’d be happy to walk you through it.