Smart Hands FAQs
Smart Hands is an on-site tech support service at Equinix data centers. Through Smart Hands, technicians perform tasks on your behalf within your cage or cabinet. Below are answers to frequently asked questions about Smart Hands.
Capabilities
What types of services are offered through Smart Hands?
Smart Hands focuses on small- to medium-sized jobs, including:
- Installations (cabinets, PDUs, ladder racking, interface cards, rack and stack)
- Troubleshooting equipment, testing carrier circuits, performing on-site visual verifications, cycling power
- Cables (assembling/installing/maintaining cabling, structured cabling, extending patch cables from patch panel to equipment)
- Moving, removing, or replacing equipment
- Logistics support (shipping/receiving of equipment, packing/unpacking of equipment, delivering equipment between the cage and loading dock)
- Conducting audits and inventories
- Generating reports
- Recurring Tape Order
What is the turnaround time / Service Level Objective (SLO) for Smart Hands?
The turnaround time for Smart Hands services varies based on the following factors:
- The operating hours of the IBX.
- The current workload and operating status of the IBX.
- Whether you elect to expedite your order.
- The complexity of your order.
For more details, see Turnaround Times.
Can Smart Hands be used for urgent tasks?
Yes. For urgent tasks, use the Expedited option when scheduling your Smart Hands request. Equinix will review your Expedite request and either approve it or propose an alternate time (depending on resource availability). An expedite fee will be added to the standard Smart Hands fees.
For more details, see the FAQ about turnaround times.
What are the most common use cases for Smart Hands?
- Emergency troubleshooting and repair of your equipment.
- Back-up coverage when your IT staff members are on vacation or otherwise unavailable.
- Movement of shipments from the loading dock to your cage.
- Generating reports on your power usage or cage access.
- Scheduled recurring activities at a specific day/time, such as tape swaps and cage clean-ups.
Pricing/Billing
How do I purchase Smart Hands?
Smart Hands is a pay-per-use product. It is already integrated with the Equinix Customer Portal (ECP). Simply request Smart Hands Ordering permissions, then start placing orders for Smart Hands services.
How are Smart Hands services priced?
- Most Smart Hands services are charged at an hourly rate (in 30-minute increments), plus the cost of any parts used. For a non-24x7 IBX, the hourly rate for after-hours work may be higher than the rate during normal business hours.
- If you use the flexible scheduling option, the hourly rate is discounted.
- A few services (such as reports) have a fixed price.
- Expedited/urgent requests incur an additional fixed fee.
- Power Services (to energize or de-energize a circuit) are charged at the standard Smart Hands hourly rate, plus a fixed fee of one-fourth of the standard Smart Hands hourly rate for each circuit.
You are able to view the pricing of your request before you submit it to Equinix.
Smart Hands work is charged per cage. You cannot combine work orders for multiple cages into a single Smart Hands order. This bundling only applies to services within the same cage. You cannot bundle service orders across multiple cages.
How can I get a discount on Smart Hands services?
If you purchase Smart Hands hours in advance, you can receive a discount between 5% and 40%. If you use the flexible scheduling option, you will see a discount on the hourly rate. For details, see Smart Hands Support Plans.
How am I charged for multiple activities within a single Smart Hands order?
For a one-time single Smart Hands order that contains multiple activities, you are charged a minimum charge of 30 minutes for the initial Smart Hands service. As the IBX Operations team completes each activity, they log the actual time spent on the request. You are only charged again when the total time spent exceeds 30 minutes, as shown in the example below:
| Actual Time Logged by Ops | Billed Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Activity 1 | 10 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Activity 2 | 5 minutes | 0 minutes |
| Activity 3 | 15 minutes | 0 minutes |
| Activity 4 | 25 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Totals | 55 minutes | 60 minutes |
How can I get help with billing questions?
- For general information, see Smart Hands Invoices.
- For specific questions about an invoice or your account, email our Billing team.
Usage
What’s the difference between a trouble ticket and a Smart Hands request?
Trouble tickets have a higher priority than all other requests at an IBX, and should only be used in the case of service interruptions. For more information, see Smart Hands Order vs. Trouble Ticket.
Can I use trouble tickets for faster turnaround on Smart Hands requests?
No. Trouble tickets are only accepted for issues related to loss or degradation of services. For faster turnaround on Smart Hands orders, use the Expedited option when you submit your request.
What’s the difference between Smart Hands and Smart Build?
Equinix Smart Build was formerly known as Equinix Infrastructure Services (EIS).
Smart Build requests are used for complex jobs such as new cage builds, migrations/moves, or other complex jobs for which the customer requires a vendor quote prior to ordering.