24×7 Return to Factory (RTF) is an optional hardware support coverage from Versa Networks that extends beyond the standard two-year limited warranty on Cloud Services Gateway (CSG) appliances. Under RTF, a customer ships defective hardware or field-replaceable units to a regional depot, and Versa repairs or replaces it and returns it to the customer site within four weeks.
Key takeaways
- RTF extends hardware coverage beyond the standard two-year warranty.
- Repaired or replaced hardware returns to the customer within four weeks.
- RTF is one of three standard tiers – alongside NBDAR and SBDAR – plus non-standard NBDAS.
- Coverage is tied to a specific appliance part number and serial number.
- RTF excludes VOS software support and the outbound return shipping cost.
On this page: Why it mattersHow it worksRTF vs other support tiersRTF & the VersaONE platformFAQ
Why is 24×7 Return to Factory important?
Every CSG appliance ships with a two-year limited hardware warranty, but a warranty alone says nothing about how fast a failed unit gets fixed once that window closes, or how a customer wants to handle a failure in the first place. RTF answers both: it is the baseline paid support tier for organizations that can tolerate a multi-week repair cycle in exchange for lower cost than same-day or next-day advance replacement, and it keeps coverage available for the life of the appliance rather than stopping at year two.
It matters most for sites where a spare unit on the shelf isn’t practical and a multi-week outage is an acceptable risk – a branch with backup connectivity, or hardware that isn’t the sole path to a critical service. Because coverage is registered per part number and serial number, it gives Versa’s support organization a clean, auditable record of which units are entitled to what response time – what makes the SLA enforceable across a global reseller and RMA network.
What is 24×7 Return to Factory?
RTF is a purchased hardware support SKU – for example, SUP-247-RTF-CSG750-WLA for a CSG750-WLA appliance – registered against a specific CSG appliance’s part number and serial number at the time of purchase. When a unit is confirmed defective, Versa Networks Customer Support issues a return material authorization (RMA), the customer ships the hardware to the local depot address Support provides, and Versa repairs or replaces it and delivers it back to the customer site – a four-week round trip, available across Africa, APAC, Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, other Europe, and the USA.
RTF coverage includes the cost of delivering the replacement unit back to the customer. It does not include VOS software support, customs, VAT, taxes, or the shipping cost of returning the original defective unit to the depot – those remain the customer’s responsibility, and are handled through the same RMA process as Versa’s other hardware support tiers.
RTF vs other support tiers
RTF is the slowest, lowest-cost of Versa’s three standard hardware support tiers. Next business day advance replacement (NBDAR) ships new hardware the following business day, with onsite delivery by a service technician who also collects the defective unit – no waiting for repair. Same business day advance replacement (SBDAR) does the same on the same business day, for customer requests confirmed before 1 p.m. local time. A fourth, non-standard offering available for specific engagements, next business day advance shipment (NBDAS), ships a replacement unit to the end-user site the next business day without the technician visit. NBDAR, SBDAR, and NBDAS all trade cost for speed by keeping spare parts staged in local warehouses ahead of failures; RTF instead centralizes repair at a regional depot, which is what stretches its turnaround to four weeks. A separate DOA (dead-on-arrival) provision – expedited replacement within the first 90 days – applies independently of which tier a customer has purchased.
RTF & the VersaONE platform
RTF is a support-contract construct layered on top of physical CSG hardware, not a software feature of VOS, Director, or Concerto – it governs what happens when the hardware fails, not how the platform behaves. Versa creates a customer support contract per appliance covering the purchase date, order number, and SKUs; once a customer registers an appliance’s model number, serial number, address, and support SKU, Versa’s RMA partners position inventory at the depots needed to meet that appliance’s committed SLA – RTF’s four-week window included.
Frequently asked questions
How long does 24×7 Return to Factory coverage take?
Four weeks, from the point Versa receives the defective hardware at its regional repair depot to the point the repaired or replaced unit reaches the customer site. That is distinct from the standard warranty’s six-to-eight week replacement timeline for non-DOA defects.
What’s the difference between RTF and NBDAR?
RTF returns repaired or replaced hardware within four weeks via a centralized depot; NBDAR ships new hardware the next business day via locally staged spares and onsite technician delivery. NBDAR costs more and is intended for sites that cannot tolerate an extended outage.
Does RTF cover software issues?
No. RTF coverage is specifically for hardware repair or replacement and the cost of delivering the replacement unit; it explicitly excludes Versa Operating System (VOS) software support, along with customs, VAT, taxes, and the shipping cost of returning the defective unit to the depot.
Is RTF coverage tied to a specific appliance?
Yes. RTF is purchased and registered against a specific CSG appliance’s part number and serial number combination – the same identifiers the customer later provides when opening a support case for that exact unit, not a fleet-wide or organization-wide plan.
Where is RTF coverage available?
RTF, along with NBDAR, SBDAR, and NBDAS, is available across Africa, APAC, Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, other Europe, and the USA, using Versa’s global and regional RMA and logistics partner network to meet the SLA.
More on Versa products
If you want to learn more, these are sources we trust.
| Versa Networks: products | Versa Networks: secure SD-WAN | Versa Academy |
|---|---|---|
| The vendor’s product pages for the CSG hardware that RTF coverage protects. | The SD-WAN service running on the appliance an RTF plan keeps in the field. | Training on the Versa hardware and support ecosystem, including CSG lifecycle topics. |
Related terms
If you’re reading about 24×7 Return to Factory, these are worth looking at next.
| Versa Operating System | Versa Director | Controller |
|---|---|---|
| The software stack running on the CSG hardware RTF covers; RTF itself excludes VOS software support. | The management console used to register and monitor the appliance whose hardware RTF protects. | The control-plane VOS device role that, like any CSG, can be covered under an RTF support plan. |