Emergency rate policy

What counts as an emergency

Our emergency rate is triggered by a time-urgent request that requires investigation or intervention within the next six hours, typically for a business-critical need. It is not triggered when we happen to turn a request around quickly — or happen to be immediately available.

How to get in touch in an emergency

The fastest way to get in touch is always email or submitting the contact form on our website. Please include as much detail as possible. To expedite the resolution of the issue, you may agree to the emergency rate charge in your communication - otherwise we will follow up to get your consent. Calls and texts are welcome, but email is the absolute fastest means of getting in touch.

Why this policy exists

There has been a growing number of requests to assist immediately with urgent situations. In some cases these are true emergencies with serious business or personal impact. In others, they result from a gap in planning or an urgency that is felt more than it is real.

The fee compensates for two things. First, these requests are pulling us away from another task. If we are immediately available when your request comes in, there will never be a charge. Second, ensuring we are available for urgent requests means ensuring round-the-clock connectivity (including multiple cellular providers and satellite connectivity as a backup).

You will always be asked first

We will communicate, by phone or in writing, in any situation where our emergency rate will be applied, and get explicit consent before beginning work. Nobody should be surprised by an invoice.

How to make sure it never comes up

Almost every situation that would trigger an emergency can be mitigated in advance:

• Sending requests in writing via email with as much detail as possible. Many times detailed written requests can be resolved quickly without triggering the emergency rate.
• Implementation of best practices and redundancy in your technology environment.
• Requesting a snapshot taken before any major edit or change to your site, so rolling back is trivial. If you host your site with Potomac, you already receive regular backups, but we are happy to take an extra snapshot before you begin work.
• Training on how to resolve common site editing challenges or how to undo an error.

If you host your website with Potomac

A website that has gone down for reasons other than something a client change does not trigger the emergency rate, nor does restoring from a backup to undo a client change (backup will typically reset the site to the previous day). Managing sites and uptime is included in the annual hosting fee you already pay. If a client requests urgent work to undo a change and opts to not allow Potomac to restore from a previous day's backup, the emergency rate may be incurred.