DASH support services consist of the following:

Each new release of DASH is available to licenced users who have remained current with their support payments. Major updates generally occur about once a year. Minor updates and bug fixes are provided on request and are delivered by email. The availability of all updates is posted on the DASH web site under the News heading.

Major software changes, such as the current transition from DASH 2 to DASH 3, are not treated any differently than updates. All DASH 2 licence-holders covered by support receive the full DASH 3 package, at no additional charge. However, the web survey licence option is an additional charge item.

A toll-free line, 1-800-887-4288, is attended by one of the company principals during weekday business hours. During evenings and weekends, calls are taken on an as-available basis and voice mail is monitored for urgent messages.

Interviewing/entry forms and variable libraries with problems that cannot be easily diagnosed in a telephone call can be emailed using a simple DASH-specific procedure. One of the company principals will investigate the reported problem and respond by email or telephone with the solution.

DASH support services are included for 3 months as part of each licence purchased. After this 90-day period, DASH support continues as an optional extra cost.

The annual cost is calculated at 15% of the licence price for the current number of users in that company. This annual cost is divided into 4 equal payments, with invoices issued on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 for the annual quarter that begins on that day.

GST is applied as an extra cost on all Canadian invoices. HST is applied in the Maritime provinces and PST is added in British Columbia. Elsewhere, companies are responsible for local sales taxes.

If a licence is expanded part way through an invoiced quarter, the support charges for the expanded portion of the licence in that quarter is assessed retroactively in the next quarterly invoice.

All users within a company are included in a single licence, no matter how many different sites there are for these users. As a result, support is also company-wide rather than site-specific.

However, support services are provided only to the site designated as the primary site. It is the responsibility of this site to distribute software updates as they are received and to handle all requests for technical assistance from other sites.

Reducing the number of users covered by support requires that only the newly-licenced level of users can be active. Any reduction cannot be reinstated at a later date; the lost users must be repurchased.

Support may be discontinued only by providing written notice. Any invoices already issued remain payable, and no further invoices will be issued. Such a company may continue to use indefinitely their last version of DASH.