Escon Software Purchasing FAQ

This page covers the most frequently asked questions related to the licensing of our software. If you have a question that is not answered below, please contact us.

If you are looking for our End User License Agreement (EULA), you can view them here.

Questions

General
- Are your products Open Source software applications?
Purchasing
Upgrading
Software Maintenance (Support and Updates)
Licensing
End User License Agreement
- Our legal department would like to make some changes to your End User License Agreement (EULA). Is that ok?
- Your EULA refers to the grant of publicity rights to Escon. What does that mean? Can we change that?
Customizations and Professional Services
Partner Program
- Does Escon offer reseller discounts?
- Is it possible to establish an OEM or partner relationship with Escon?
More Questions?
- Please contact us.

Answers

1. General

1.1. Are your products Open Source software applications?

No, Escon products are proprietary software applications.

HelpDesk, SupportPortal, and LiveHelp commercial and academic licensees do however receive the full source code to the software (under a developer source license), allowing for in-house customizations and modifications. Escon's software is still very flexible and customizable; source modifications are required only in the most complex setups.

Note: Escon does offer free licenses for community organizations - it's our way of giving something back.

2. Purchasing

2.1. How much do Escon products cost?

Current pricing information is always available online here:

2.3. What is the process for ordering Escon products?

All orders are placed via the secure online ordering form served by our partner's payment processing site.

Once that is done, a Quote/Invoice and licensing agreement will be sent via email. If credit card details are not provided through the secure online form, the Quote/Invoice can be paid by mailed cheque, faxed/phoned credit card or direct bank transfer. License and source downloads will only be made available online when full payment is confirmed.

2.4. Can I request a Quote/Invoice in a currency other than US Dollars?

Yes, you can request Quote/Invoice in your local currency..

2.5. Can I send through a purchase order?

Whilst we are happy to reference your PO number for your internal tracking, please note that we do not accept purchase orders as a form of payment. Escon's payment terms are strictly cash only or 0 day. This means that the license key will only be issued after your payment is received.

Note: if you are renewing or upgrading a license, please include a note in the order form with the email address of the current license holder and the license's creation date..

2.6. Which payment methods are accepted, and what are your payment terms?

Escon accepts the following payment methods:

Credit card (including MasterCard, Visa or American Express) via secure online order forms/phone/fax
PayPal
Mailed cheque
Direct bank transfer

More detailed payment instructions are provided in the Quote/Invoice supplied after an order is received.

Escon's payment terms are strictly cash only or 0 day. This means that the license key will only be issued after your payment is received.

2.7. I am in Europe, will your bank transfer details work?

Only European bank accounts issue IBANs. The number we provide in the Quote/Invoice can be used as the 'IBAN' for your bank transfer. It may also be worthwhile letting your bank know that this is an USD account and that the alpha-numeric number has been supplied and verified by our bank's international payments team.

2.10. Are there any discounts for government organizations?

Discounts are not offered to government organizations (unless you are a provider of primary, secondary or tertiary education — in which case you would qualify for Escon's academic pricing).

Government organizations purchasing Escon software are required to purchase commercial licenses.

2.11. After I purchase a license, do I need to reinstall the software?

There is no need to reinstall your software. Your existing installation can be updated by copying your purchased license key into the 'License Details' page of your product's administration console.

2.13. How is the software distributed? Will I receive a CD-ROM or shrink-wrapped product?

Escon has adopted the Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) model. Consequently software is available only via HTTP download. Escon do not distribute any software on CD, DVD or as a shrink wrapped product.

As all commercial and academic licenses include 12 months of software maintenance (support and updates), the ESD model is the best way to stay up to date with the numerous software releases made available to you. At your discretion, maintenance can also be renewed (as described here).

You can download Escon's complete software packages through Software Center.

2.14. After an order has been placed, how and when can the license key and source be accessed?

Access to your license key(s) and any applicable source code is provided only after the successful receipt and processing of your payment.

Once payment is received, a confirmation email will be sent including instructions on accessing the license key and any applicable source code are provided in the confirmation email.

2.15. Can we get a refund or perhaps have an acceptance period in case we are not happy with the product?

Escon do not offer refunds or acceptance periods.

Escon provide a fully functional version of Escon software for you to evaluate. Evaluations are for at least 30 days, allowing you to see and use Escon software before you proceed with a purchase. What you'll be using during your evaluation is what you'll be getting when you buy. In fact activating the commercial license involves simply updating the license key. Escon can also provide you with an evaluation extension if you need more time to become confident in your decision to move ahead with a purchase (just contact us). So please, take advantage of Escon's liberal evaluation policy and be sure Escon software is right for you and your team before proceeding with a purchase.

3. Upgrading

3.1. What upgrades paths are available and what is the difference between an 'upgrade' and an 'update'?

The difference between an 'upgrade' and an 'update' is best explained through two simple examples:

Upgrade: one can upgrade from HelpDesk to SupportPortal, or upgrade from a LiveHelp user license to a HelpDesk user license. Upgrades are charged as per our current upgrade pricing.
Update: one can update the version of their software from LiveHelp 2.1 to LiveHelp 2.2. Licensees can update to any version of their licensed software released during their active maintenance period, all at no additional cost (see our section on software maintenance).

3.3. How can I order my software upgrade?

You can upgrade between different editions of Escon software at any time. To order an upgrade, you just need to complete the secure online order form.

Please specify the technical contact's (the person whose Escon account holds the license being upgraded) Escon username or email address.

3.4. How difficult is it to upgrade between different editions?

The upgrade process is very simple, and all data is seamlessly transferred between different Escon product editions. All you have to do is to copy the new license key into the 'License Details' page in the product's administration console.

4. Software Maintenance (Support and Updates)

4.1. What is software maintenance?

Software maintenance covers access to any relevant support and software updates for your software license. All commercial and academic licenses include 12 months of free maintenance (commencing from the date of purchase).

4.2. When does my software maintenance start?

New license purchase: Your 12 month software maintenance period will commence from the date of payment confirmation.
Upgrade: Your 12 month software maintenance will commence from the date of payment confirmation and replaces any active software maintenance of the upgraded license.
Software maintenance renewal: Your 12 month software maintenance will commence from the expiration date of the previous maintenance period, regardless of when the maintenance renewal was purchased.

4.3. Can I purchase more than 12 months of software maintenance in advance?

You can hold a maximum of 3 years worth of active software maintenance for any one license.

4.4. What happens after the first 12 months? Can I use the software without active software maintenance?

After the first 12 months, your software maintenance will expire and you will no longer be able to access support or software updates. Renewing your software maintenance is done purely at your discretion and can be renewed in advance of your maintenance expiration to ensure uninterrupted access to the support and software updates.

Yes, you can continue to use your software after the active maintenance period expires. As all commercial and academic licenses are perpetual, you can use your software into perpetuity. Do keep in mind that software maintenance renewals commence from the expiration of the last active software maintenance period.

Note: maintenance renewals commence from the date the previous maintenance period expires, regardless of when the maintenance renewal was purchased.

4.5. Why should I renew my software maintenance?

To understand the benefits from retaining active software maintenance, please read about our support and maintenance program.

5. Licensing

5.1. What are the conditions for an Escon Academic License?

The following organizations are eligible for an Escon Academic License:

Educational Institutions: Public or private K-12, vocational schools, correspondence schools, junior colleges, colleges, universities, or scientific or technical schools that are accredited by a national accrediting agency.
Administrative Offices & Boards of Education: Provincial, district, regional, national and state administrative offices and authorities of the Educational Institutions defined above.
Public Libraries
Public Museums
Home-School Programs
Research Institutes that are affiliated with an accredited university.
Teaching Hospitals that are affiliated with an accredited university.
Training and Teaching Organizations that are accredited by a statutory government qualifications body.

Proof of accreditation or affiliation may be required when ordering an Escon Academic License.

5.3. What are the conditions for an Escon Community License? How can I apply?

Escon Community Licenses are available for all of Escon software applications and are issued at no cost to the qualifying organization.

Community licenses are designed for organizations which are:

non for profit,
non-government,
non-academic,
non-commercial and
non-political affiliation

in nature, that would not otherwise be able to afford our software. If your organization is philanthropic in nature then you probably qualify.

You can apply for an Escon Community License through our contact form here.

5.4. Would additional licenses be required if multiple instances of the software were to be installed on a single server?

Yes, additional licenses would be required. Each license permits only the deployment of a single instance of the software in a commercial environment.

6. End User License Agreement

6.1. Our legal department would like to make some changes to your End User License Agreement (EULA). Is that ok?

Unfortunately, within Escon's current price structure, we're unable to make any changes to our EULA. If you consider our pricing model and the costs of creating and managing individual agreements with each of our customers, you can begin to understand our position. Maintaining a standard EULA with all of our customers allows us to focus our resources on meeting our obligations under these agreements. Do keep in mind of course that our EULAs have been very carefully authored to be fair to both you and us.

There may be some issues that are not covered here or on the rest of this page. If so, please feel free to contact us.

6.2. Your EULA refers to the grant of publicity rights to Escon. What does that mean? Can we change that?

Escon list a small number of our customers on our website as examples of organizations using our software. All other disclosures about our customers (customer testimonials, case studies, etc.) are done so only after collaborating with and obtaining permission from our customers.

If you don't want us to mention your company name at all, just let us know and we'll add you to our list of companies requesting to not be party to any disclosures or forms of publicity (including our customer lists on our website).

7. Customizations and Professional Services

7.1. Do I get access to the source code? What customizations can be made to the code?

The full source code for commercially licensed applications is made freely available to the licensees' nominated technical contact. Community licensees do not receive access to source code.

Under the terms of the license agreement, licensees are permitted to modify the source code to develop bug fixes, customizations or additional features. As Escon software is proprietary, under no circumstance may licensees embed the source code into another application (without a separate OEM license agreement), nor can a licensee copy or in any way use elements of the source code within other applications.

7.3. Does Escon have a professional services team who can assist with on-site training, implementation and/or software customizations?

Escon currently offer partial professional services. Consequently, Escon can not formally engage in or formally assist with on-site customer training, implementations or software customizations. Commercial and academic licensees are of course entitled to support and assistance under the terms of their active software maintenance and Escon will always endeavor to provide support under those terms.

7.4. Can I request a feature?

Certainly! As a customer there are different approaches to influencing the evolution of Escon's products:

Create a new issue: If there are no matching existing issues that reflect your requirements, you can submit a new feature request by creating a new issue, selecting the relevant product, selecting 'Feature Request' or 'Bug' (depending on your issue type) and then completing the relevant details on the subsequent screen.
Customize the source code: commercial license holders are granted access to the full source code as part of the terms of the commercial license. With source access the application can be completely customized to cater for the most complex environments and/or requirements.

8. Partner Program

8.1. Does Escon offer reseller discounts?

Discounts are only offered to official Escon Service Partners.

8.2. Is it possible to establish an OEM or reseller relationship with Escon?

Indeed, Escon is always interested to hear from like minded companies looking for compelling synergies.

The Escon Partner Program was established to provide support and incentives to parties interested in selling Escon products and related services to their current and prospective customers. For more information and to submit your application, please contact us.

9. More Questions?

9.1. Please contact us.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please feel free to contact us.