Public Service Level Agreement (SLA)

On this page
  1. 1. Availability Commitment
  2. 2. Availability Calculation
  3. 3. Downtime Exclusions
  4. 4. Service Credit Table
  5. 5. Credit Rules
  6. 6. Support Levels
  7. 7. Support Channels
  8. 8. Escalation Process
  9. 9. Scheduled Maintenance
  10. 10. Availability Monitoring and Reports
  11. 11. SLA for Enterprise Clients
  12. 12. Limitations and Exclusions
  13. 13. Changes to This SLA
  14. 14. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  15. 15. Contact for SLA Issues
  16. Appendix A: Definitions

Fonema Inc. Last updated: March 30, 2026

1. Availability Commitment

Fonema commits to maintaining 99.5% monthly uptime for the Fonema API, as measured by our monitoring systems.

This SLA applies to all Fonema customers. Enterprise customers may negotiate enhanced SLA terms in their Master Service Agreement (MSA).

2. Availability Calculation

Monthly availability is calculated using the following formula:

Availability (%) = (Total Minutes in Month - Downtime Minutes) / Total Minutes in Month × 100

Where:

  • Total Minutes in Month: 43,200 minutes (or 40,320 minutes in February with 28 days)
  • Downtime Minutes: Duration in minutes during which the service was inaccessible

Example:

  • Month: 43,200 total minutes
  • Downtime: 21.6 minutes (infrastructure error)
  • Availability: (43,200 - 21.6) / 43,200 × 100 = 99.95%

3. Downtime Exclusions

The following events DO NOT count as an SLA breach:

3.1 Scheduled Maintenance

  • Notification: At least 48 hours in advance via email
  • Preferred Windows: 02:00 - 06:00 Central Time (CT)
  • Frequency: Maximum 4 hours of maintenance per month
  • Weekends: Avoided when possible, but not excluded

Scheduled maintenance that does not adhere to the preferred window (02:00-06:00 CT) may be questioned by customers but will still be excluded from the SLA if 48 hours' notice was provided.

3.2 Third-Party Provider Outages

Downtime caused by:

  • Telecom Providers: Twilio, Vonage, or other telecom operators
  • LLM Providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, or their services
  • Cloud Infrastructure Providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, Google Cloud
  • DNS and CDN Services: Cloudflare, Route 53, or others
  • Security Providers: DDoS mitigation services

Fonema will maintain relationships with multiple providers for redundancy, but cannot guarantee 100% third-party availability.

3.3 Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

  • DDoS attacks targeting Fonema's infrastructure
  • DDoS attacks targeting third-party providers (Twilio, AWS, etc.)
  • Even if Fonema implements mitigation, downtime during the attack is excluded

3.4 Client-Side Issues

Not covered by SLA:

  • Misconfiguration: Client incorrectly configured API or agent
  • Expired API key: Client failed to renew valid credentials
  • Rate limiting: Client exceeded request quota (intentional access denied)
  • Client network issues: Poor connectivity from client location
  • Outdated browsers/clients: Client using old library versions

3.5 Force Majeure

  • Natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes)
  • Wars, acts of terrorism
  • Pandemics or public health emergencies
  • Regulatory changes requiring immediate infrastructure modifications
  • Events not reasonably foreseeable

4. Service Credit Table

If Fonema fails to meet the SLA in a given calendar month, the client is eligible for service credits based on actual availability:

Actual Monthly AvailabilityCredit
99.0% - 99.49%5% of affected service consumption
98.0% - 98.99%10% of affected service consumption
95.0% - 97.99%20% of affected service consumption
Below 95.0%30% of affected service consumption

Note: Availability of 99.5% - 99.99% does not generate credit (meets SLA).

5. Credit Rules

5.1 Credit Scope

  • Affected Service Only: Credits apply only to the service component where downtime occurred
  • If the API service was down but WhatsApp functioned normally, only API credit applies
  • If both services were affected, credit is calculated for each
  • Not a Cash Refund: Credits are only applied as future consumption credit
  • No Refunds: Credits DO NOT result in cash refunds

5.2 Maximum Monthly Credit

  • Maximum: 25% of total monthly consumption (even if availability is very low)
  • Example: If monthly payment is $1,000 USD and availability is 90%, credit is min(30%, 25%) = 25% = $250

5.3 Credit Validity

  • Expiration: Credits expire 12 months after issuance
  • Unused credit after 12 months is forfeited
  • Not transferable to other customers or accounts

5.4 Credit Request

To claim SLA credit:

  1. Request period: Within 30 calendar days of the month in which the incident occurred
  2. Provide: incident month/year, downtime description, evidence (error logs, failure timestamps), and business impact (optional)
  3. Send to: billing@fonema.ai or your account manager
  4. Confirmation: Fonema will confirm eligibility within 5 business days

After 30 days: Fonema is not obligated to grant credits; the claim is considered waived.

5.5 Credits Sole Remedy

Service credits are the sole and exclusive remedy for SLA availability breaches.

The customer waives any other rights including:

  • Claims for direct damages
  • Loss of profit or revenue
  • Indirect or consequential damages
  • Specifically excluded: Damages for loss of end-customer data (see section 6.5)

6. Support Levels

Fonema offers technical support based on severity levels. Response and resolution times are:

6.1 Severity N1 Incidents (Critical)

Definition:

  • Service completely down for all customers
  • Loss of critical functionality without a workaround
  • Inability to make/receive calls
  • Ongoing data loss

Response: 30 minutes · Target Resolution: 4 hours · Availability: 24/7

6.2 Severity N2 Incidents (High)

Definition:

  • Degraded but partially functional service
  • Important functionality affected (transcriptions, reports)
  • High latency (>2 seconds per request)
  • Intermittent issues affecting 10-50% of users

Response: 30 minutes · Target Resolution: 12 hours · Availability: 24/7

6.3 Severity N3 Incidents (Normal)

Definition:

  • Minor issue affecting non-critical functionality
  • Workaround available
  • Slow but functional user interface
  • Affects <10% of users

Response: 3 business hours · Target Resolution: 24 business hours · Availability: Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 18:00 CT

6.4 Severity N4 Incidents (Low)

Definition:

  • Feature request or enhancement
  • Feature question
  • Documentation issue
  • Cosmetic issue with no functional impact

Response: 3 business hours · Target Resolution: 24 business hours · Availability: Monday - Friday, 09:00 - 18:00 CT

7. Support Channels

7.1 Support Contact

Email: soporte@fonema.ai · Phone: +1 (XXX) XXX-XXXX (for N1/N2 incidents only) · Portal: https://support.fonema.ai

7.2 Information to Provide

When reporting an incident: clear description of the problem, severity, when it started, who is affected, steps to reproduce, error logs, and previous ticket number if applicable.

8. Escalation Process

8.1 Automatic Escalation

  • N1/N2 without response in 30 minutes: Automatically escalated to Senior Engineer
  • N1/N2 without update every 1 hour: Escalated to Service Manager
  • Any incident unresolved after 24 hours: Escalated to Reliability Director

8.2 Manual Escalation

Customer may request escalation at any time by sending an email to escalacion@fonema.ai, including the ticket number, why the current resolution is unsatisfactory, and the specific request.

9. Scheduled Maintenance

9.1 Regular Maintenance Window

  • Preferred window: Tuesday - Thursday, 02:00 - 06:00 CT
  • Typical frequency: Once per month, maximum 4 hours
  • Notification: 48 hours advance notice via email

9.2 Emergency Maintenance

  • Notification: As soon as possible (may be immediate)
  • Duration: 1-2 hours typically
  • Impact: Services may be intermittent during maintenance

9.3 Maintenance Communications

  • Email to registered technical contacts
  • Notification on the support portal
  • Status page: https://status.fonema.ai

10. Availability Monitoring and Reports

10.1 Status Page

Fonema maintains a public status page at https://status.fonema.ai, which shows current service status, active incidents, history (last 90 days), scheduled maintenance, and monthly availability statistics.

10.2 Monthly Availability Reports

  • Available on the customer portal 5 days after month-end close
  • Shows detailed availability by component
  • Listings of incidents that affected SLA
  • Accrued credits (if applicable)

10.3 Availability Audit

Enterprise clients can request detailed incident logs, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and granular performance metrics. Contact: audit@fonema.ai

11. SLA for Enterprise Clients

11.1 Custom Terms

Enterprise clients can negotiate:

  • Enhanced Availability: 99.9% or 99.95%
  • Accelerated Response Times: 15-minute response for N1/N2
  • Dedicated Team: Assigned Site Reliability Engineer (SRE)
  • 24/7/365 Support: Included for all severity levels
  • SLA for Backup/Disaster Recovery: RTO and RPO

Enhanced SLA terms are set forth in the client's MSA/service agreement.

12. Limitations and Exclusions

12.1 What This SLA Does NOT Cover

  • End-User Data Loss: If an end-user loses data or recordings, Fonema is not responsible (though it strives to prevent this)
  • Client Business Interruption: Loss of revenue, lost opportunities, damage to reputation
  • Regulatory Compliance: If the client fails to comply with regulations such as TCPA, Fonema is not responsible
  • Incorrect Configuration: If the client misconfigured the API and caused failures
  • Competition: Fonema does not guarantee that the service will outperform competitors

12.2 Total Liability

Fonema's maximum liability under this SLA: Service credit, maximum 25% of monthly consumption. Nothing more.

12.3 Waiver of Damages

Customer waives claims for consequential damages, loss of profit or revenue, punitive damages, and any compensation not expressly granted in this SLA.

13. Changes to This SLA

  • Notification: 30 days by email or portal notification
  • Unfavorable Changes: Applicable only to new customers or renewals

Existing customers retain SLA terms until the end of their current contract cycle.

14. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What does 99.5% availability mean?
A: A maximum of 21.6 minutes of downtime allowed per month.

Q: If I experience downtime, do I automatically get credit?
A: No. You must request credit within 30 days by providing incident details.

Q: Can I get a cash refund for downtime?
A: No. Credits only apply to future consumption and are not refundable.

Q: Does scheduled maintenance count against the SLA?
A: No, if 48 hours' notice is provided.

Q: What happens if Twilio/AWS goes down?
A: It is excluded from the SLA, but Fonema works to have redundancy with multiple providers.

Q: Is there a different SLA for enterprise customers?
A: Yes. Enterprise customers can negotiate improved terms in their MSA.

15. Contact for SLA Issues

Email: sla@fonema.ai · Subject: "SLA Question"

Note on Entities: These terms are issued by Fonema Inc. For customers in Mexico contracting through Fonología, S.A. de C.V., the specific conditions set forth in Annex D of the Master Services Agreement apply.

Fonema Inc. Last updated: March 30, 2026

Appendix A: Definitions

TermDefinition
AvailabilityPercentage of time in a month that the service is accessible and functional
DowntimeContinuous period during which a service is completely inaccessible
DegradationFunctional service but with reduced performance
RTOMaximum target time to restore a service after a failure
RPOMaximum point in time to which data can be recovered
RCADetailed root cause investigation of an incident