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 fees calculated?
- Hourly billing: Smart Hands services are billed by the hour, in 30-minute increments, plus the cost of any parts used.
- After-hours rates: At non-24/7 IBX locations, requests made outside of standard business hours may be billed at a higher rate.
- Flexible scheduling: Choosing flexible time slots can result in discounted hourly rates.
- Fixed-price services: Some tasks, such as report generation, have a set, fixed fee.
- Expedited/urgent requests: Requests marked as urgent may incur additional fixed charges.
- Power services: Tasks like circuit energizing or de-energizing are billed at the hourly rate, plus a fixed fee equal to one-fourth of that rate per circuit.
- Per-cage billing: Charges are applied per cage. If work spans multiple cages, each must be submitted as a separate request.
Can more than one technician be assigned to a Smart Hands request?
- Single technician by default: Most requests are handled by one technician.
- Additional technicians as needed: Complex work may require extra technicians, based on site discretion.
- Labor-based billing: Charges are calculated based on the time recorded by each technician assigned.
- Transparent pricing: Estimated costs are shown before you submit your request.
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.