I'm on the SAS Technical Support list serve, so I get some very interesting information to pass along to you guys. Sometimes, I put the information in the SAS Tech Report -  Hot Fix and product roadmap information, executive briefings and maintanence releases - but sometimes the information needs a little broader distribution. This is one of those times. Today's email was about the holiday time change for the US Tech Support Division and Customer Service.

Normal business operations will be suspended for the US SAS  Technical Support Division and Customer Service Department beginning 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 21.  A limited number of Technical Support consultants will be available Monday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Dec. 28, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (US).

Don't worry. During this time, critical problems will be handled as usual and in accordance with Technical Support policies.

SAS Technical Support consultants will monitor and respond to:

• Email requests sent via support@sas.com.
• Web form submissions from support.sas.com.
• Phone voice mail messages called in to the Cary office 919-677-8008.

On these days, critical issues will take priority over non-critical issues.

Normal business hours for the US SAS Technical Support Division and Customer Service Department will resume on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2012 at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (US).

Offices outside the US will operate according to the country schedules and holiday policies. Contact your local SAS Office for hours or more information.

What to do before calling or emailing?

Try self help. You may find that the answer you're seeking has already been found and published. I know ... self help can seem overwhelming when you're looking at support.sas.com as a whole, so let me break it down for you a bit. Here are a few links to get you started:

• Go to Our Knowledge Base
• Engage Your On-site SAS Support Personnel
• Download Files and Hot Fixes
• Manage Your Accounts
• Get Assistance with License Issues
• Visit Communities.sas.com to Converse with SAS Users
• Subscribe to
  • TSNEWS-L for hot fix announcements and important news from Technical Support
  • e-Newsletters
  • RSS feeds, blogs, and listservs

One last thing to do before contacting SAS Technical Support.  Gather this information to speed resolution of your problem:

• Your site or customer number
• Product name
• SAS software release
• Operating system
• Description of your problem

These tips should help you even if you won't be on holiday!!