INTRODUCING THE
PROOFPOINT COMMUNICATION SERVICE (PCS)
Customer Reference Guide
March 2015
Version 2.0
PCS Support Guide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................3
Important Notes ............................................................................................................................................3
Using the Proofpoint Communication Service (PCS) ........................................................................................4
Onboarding ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Contacts ................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Registration ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Updating PCS .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
How PCS Works ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Need Help with PCS?.............................................................................................................................................. 8
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ...................................................................................................................... 8
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: PCS Registration email ................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 2: PCS Sign Up Screen ........................................................................................................................ 5
Figure 3: PCS My Profile Screen .................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 4: My Alert Subscriptions ................................................................................................................... 6
Figure 5: PCS Review Screen ......................................................................................................................... 7
TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1: PCS Production Alerts...................................................................................................................... 8
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©2014 Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint is a trademark of Proofpoint, Inc.
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PCS Support Guide
Introduction
Proofpoint Communication Service
The Proofpoint Communication Service (PCS) is an electronic notification system alerting users to
Proofpoint service events via SMS text, direct dial phone, and or email. This document guides you
through what you need to do to register, configure and edit your preferences for PCS. It also provides
information on how this tool works, and advises best practices for you and your team.
Important Notes
Everbridge Technology
The PCS service is built on the Everbridge platform. Everbridge’s world class communication suite
allows Proofpoint to inform customers of incidents and maintenance events when and how we want to
via automated communications. Everbridge is the market leader in emergency communications for all
major industries and government sectors, connecting over 50 million people around the world.
PCS and the Call Tracking System (CTS)
PCS is both complementary to and separate from CTS. Whereas CTS is the primary interface to
Proofpoint Support, and includes online support services such as case tracking and user forums, PCS is
the notification mechanism we use to notify customers of a high priority event.
CTS contacts are pushed to PCS, and only CTS contacts are qualified for PCS registration.
Support Programs
PCS is available for all support programs. Access to PCS and its notification alerts are provided to all CTS
contacts.
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Using the Proofpoint Communication Service (PCS)
Onboarding
New customers are onboarded into the PCS system within 72 business hours from date of request.
During that time new users will receive a registration email and link to PCS.
Contacts
Default access to PCS is provided to authorized CTS contacts only. If you are a CTS contact, your name
and email has been pushed to PCS.
If you have other staff within your organization who are not in CTS but who would like to receive PCS
notifications, you may create an email distribution list / alias and include those contacts. You need to
then add that alias to your list of delivery methods (see below). Conversely, if you are not a CTS contact,
you may request those with CTS access within your organization to add you to a distribution list / email
alias within their delivery options.
Once you are registered in CTS, the PCS registration link will be sent to you within 72 hours.
Registration
If you are a CTS contact for your organization, your name, corporate email address and company have
been pushed to PCS but you are not automatically registered.
Without registering you will only receive notifications via the corporate email address we have on file
in CTS.
Registration allows you to configure, add, and rank delivery methods.
When your company is onboarded into PCS, you should receive a PCS registration email that looks like
Figure 1 below. If you did not receive a registration email, contact your Proofpoint representative who
will have it sent to you.
Step 1: Once you receive an email notification inviting you to create your Proofpoint Communication
Service account, click the referenced email link.
FIGURE 1: PCS REGISTRATION EMAIL
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Step 2: You should then receive the below Sign up screen. Fill out the required information, accept the
Terms of Use, and click Create Your Account:
FIGURE 2: PCS SIGN UP SCREEN
Step 3: Next you will need to complete My Profile, which will allow you to specify how you want to be
contacted and in what order.
Key considerations when selecting and ordering your delivery methods:
1. The order in which you arrange your delivery methods will be the order in which they are
received; however, once a notification is acknowledged no further alerts will be delivered.
2. If you add an email group alias (with distribution list), you should understand that the
number of recipients expands the possbility the notification will be acknowledged and
therefore stop the alert from cascading through downstream delivery channels.
3. You may want to include yourself within any email group alias in order to better monitor
alerts.
4. Train those within any email group alias not to acknowledge receipt so the alert flows
through to your other delivery channels (for example SMS text).
5. Select the corresponding country for your phone reference and do not include the country
code when adding your phone number(s).
6. There is a three (3) minute delay between each notification delivery channel.
7. Once the alert reaches your last ranked delivery method it terminates and does not re-cycle.
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FIGURE 3: PCS MY PROFILE SCREEN
Step 4: Simply select Save & Continue for the Alert tab.
FIGURE 4: MY ALERT SUBSCRIPTIONS
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Step 5: Review the information you entered into PCS. If you would like to change anything select the
Edit link. If not, click Finish.
FIGURE 5: PCS REVIEW SCREEN
Updating PCS
Open your PCS bookmark or go to  https://member.everbridge.net/index/3531635643384083#/login  .
Select the Edit button at the upper right-hand corner of the My Profile module.
How PCS Works
During an in-scope notification event, the Proofpoint Customer Service team initiates an alert that
cascades through the selected delivery channels you configured until you either acknowledge the alert,
or the alert notifies your last selected delivery channel. Default timing between each alert is set to 3
minutes. Proofpoint will not repeat the same alert unless there is an update or resolution.
This matrix highlights products with corresponding issues for which we currently send PCS alerts.
PCS Production Alerts
Product
Proofpoint Enterprise
(Proofpoint on Demand)
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Issue

PoD datacenter-level and infrastructure issues
affecting mail flow.

Emergency maintenance performed outside of
the standing window.
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
Issues with distributed systems such as spam
definitions, update services, or Proofpoint
Dynamic Reputation Services, affecting mail
flow.

Issues affecting Archiving Search capabilities.

Maintenance extended beyond the standing
maintenance window as well as emergency
maintenance performed outside of the standing
window.
Proofpoint Enterprise
(Proofpoint on Demand as well as On-Premise)
Proofpoint Archiving
TABLE 1: PCS PRODUCTION ALERTS
Need Help with PCS?
If you have a question or need assistance with PCS, please email [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Q: Why are multiple notifications methods needed?
A: PCS offers you multiple channels for receiving the notifications as determined by your own
personal choice, which may be influenced by job role. For example, some job roles which
require quick notification of an outage may select the immediacy of SMS text messaging
because the text can be read at a simple glance. But this is really more a matter of personal
preference.
2. Q: Is it possible to set different alerting methods per incident severity?
A: Not at this time, but we are investigating this idea with our vendor. Currently we use all
delivery channels for high priority incidents; for Update and Closed alerts, however, we do
not use Voice.
3. Q: Do notifications go out simultaneously or are they sequential?
A: Each notification is received sequentially in the order you wish to receive them, with a
prescribed delay of 3 minutes between each. If you acknowledge one notification, then no
further notifications are sent.
4. Q; Will I still get emergency notifications if I don't register?
A: As a Proofpoint customer and a contact in our Customer Tracking System (CTS), you are
automatically enrolled; however, unless you modify your PCS preferences to receive
notifications on your personal email or phone, you will only receive notifications based on
the email address we have on file.
5. Q: What if my phone number or email address changes?
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A: The system is only as good as the information you provide. If your contact information
changes, you can always visit your profile and update your phone information. To update
your work email address (the address we have on file for you), please contact your
Proofpoint representative or contact us at https://support.proofpoint.com.
6. Q: I changed cell phone carriers but not my number and yet I am no longer receiving PCS
alerts, why?
A: All PCS SMS text messages come from the SMS short code number #89361. Please call your
cell phone carrier to confirm that they are not blocking the SMS short code #89361 on their
device. For most major carriers, dialing 611 from the device will get you to their service to
ask about short code blocking.
Additionally, once you receive your first alert, you can add the Alert Sender to your phone
book with a contact of “Proofpoint Alerts” so next time you receive an alert, it is more
apparent where the alert came from.
7. Q: Why isn’t my email alias receiving alerts?
A: If you configured your Delivery Methods with an alias email address, the alias will not
receive a notification if the alert was acknowledged through an upstream method. This is
especially important to understand when an alias is tied to a distribution list. To make sure
the alias receives the alert, either do not acknowledge the notification until you are certain
the alias has received it, or move the alias up in the delivery order.
8. Q: Should I whitelist anything in my environment to make sure I receive the alerts?
A: Yes, please ask your network administrator to whitelist the following:
• Email Domains: everbridge.com, everbridge.net
• Mail domains: mail.everbridge.com, mail.everbridge.net
• IP ranges: 63.236.8.128/26, 63.150.172.128/27
9. Q: Will my contact information be shared with others?
A: The information that you provide will be used only by Proofpoint for notification purposes.
We will not give or sell your contact information to any vendor or other organization. Please
review our Privacy Policy.
10. Q: If I have more questions. Who do I contact?
A: Feel free to email [email protected].
11. Q: How do I unsubscribe from PCS?
A: If you want to unsubscribe from PCS, you will also need to be removed from CTS as a
contact. Please contact your Proofpoint representative or contacts us at
https://support.proofpoint.com.
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©2014 Proofpoint, Inc. Proofpoint is a trademark of Proofpoint, Inc.
PCS Support Guide