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Microsoft Volume License Service Center (VLSC) Update and Partner FAQ

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In a continuing effort to keep you updated on the VLSC updates and help address questions you may have and may be receiving from your clients, here is an updated VLSC status update and a list of FAQs for you.

Here are some changes your customers may experience:

  • Secure permissions: Microsoft implemented increased security permissions that require a valid email address tied to a Volume Licensing agreement. Some customers may be asked to provide a valid business email that can be authenticated prior to accessing agreement information or given administrator privileges. Microsoft is working with each customer or partner to restore permissions if they can’t be resolved online.
  • Viewing licensing IDs: Customers may need to request administrator privileges within their organization before they can view agreements. Please guide customers to log in to VLSC, click on settings, and request permissions. The customer can select the program, enter the licensing ID, and submit a permission request.
  • Product licensing keys: If a customer has an issue accessing the VLSC site due to registration or permission, you can help them obtain their product licensing keys by visiting explore.MS, if you have access to explore.MS.
  • Add or view a new agreement on behalf of your customer: As part of the system upgrade, both the customer email address and partner email address must be included on the order when it is submitted. To view or add an agreement, the customer can add the partner as an administrator or the partner can request access to the agreement by logging in to VLSC, click on settings, and request permissions.

Below is an FAQ that may help you answer inquiries from your customers. If you require additional support, please contact your Microsoft Partner Account Manager or call your local regional service center. We anticipate that we will have higher than normal volumes at our contact centers as customers and partners become familiar with the new site experience.

We apologize for any inconvenience the recent upgrade may have caused and we take your feedback seriously and are taking action to resolve any outstanding issues as quickly as possible.

We value your partnership and continued support of our customers!

Partner FAQs:

Availability and Access

1. I need product licensing keys and can’t access the site for some reason. How can I get these faster?

Answer: Your local reseller has access to your Volume Licensing Keys so we can easily help you with this request. If needed, we can also call or email the local Microsoft regional service center.

2. Can I access and activate my Software Assurance benefits?

Answer: Yes, you can access and activate your Software Assurance benefits in VLSC.

3. My Software Assurance benefits expire soon and I haven’t been able to access them in VLSC.

Answer: If you are one of the few customers that this affects, Microsoft is working on resolving the issue so you have access shortly. If you continue to experience issues, please contact your local Volume Licensing service center.

4. I am unable to log-in to VLSC and receive an error message.

Answer: With the recent updates to the Volume Licensing Services Centre (VLSC), some users may need to confirm their permissions via the site. If you are logged in to the VLSC and do not see the Licensing IDs which you are entitled to, please follow these steps to request access:

The scheduled site maintenance is complete and now available. Please update your bookmark to https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter

  1. Log onto VLSC at:  https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/home.aspx
  2. Go to “Settings > “Request Permissions”
  3. Select appropriate “Program”, enter “Licensing ID”, select permissions required and provide optional comment before clicking on “submit”. A request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (i.e. Licensing ID) who should approve/reject as appropriate.

For Open License customers only

If “Request Permission Failure Notification” is received, this means that there is currently no administrator for the license, or Microsoft doesn’t have a business email recorded aligned with the purchased license. Microsoft requires a valid business email address as part of increased security to protect our customers.

  • Customer should contact regional customer support to verify their entitlement to the license. 
  • Please be ready to provide information such as License and Authorization numbers, end customer company name and address to the customer service representative. 
  • If you don’t have this information, please contact your reseller to request this information.
  • A Microsoft customer service representative will grant access by adding an administrator.

If you continue to experience this issue, please contact:

In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center.

5. I am a new customer and when I try to register, VLSC does not recognize my business email address.

Answer: Please ensure the business email address entered on your Volume Licensing Agreement exactly matches the email address being used to register. If the email addresses do match and permissions are still not present, please contact your regional support center.

In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center.

6. Does my Windows Live ID and business email link by design in VLSC? The email address appearing on the VLSC is just my business email.

Answer: Yes. During the registration process, the customer’s Windows Live ID and business email are linked together. The “My Permissions” page on VLSC will display a user’s valid business email address.

7. I am an Administrator, but I can’t access my agreements and receive an error message that tells me the business email address is invalid and that no permissions were assigned.

Answer: First, please verify that the business email address entered on your signed Volume Licensing Agreement matches the email address being used to register on the site. If the email address is accurate and you still don’t have permission, then please contact your regional service center.

In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center

8. I am waiting for access to the VLSC. When can I expect access?

Answer: It may take up to 48 hours for access to be granted. If you have registered and received a message that no permissions are associated with your account, please do not re-register. Keep the validation email and click the link in the validation email again after a 48 hour period.

9. I’m logged into VLSC but I don’t see all of my Licensing IDs.

Answer: Some users may need to confirm their permission settings as part of the process.

If you are logged in to the VLSC and do not see your organization’s Licensing IDs, please follow these steps to request access:

  1. Log onto VLSC
  2. Go to “Settings > Request Permissions”
  3. Select appropriate “Program”, enter “Licensing ID”, select permissions required and provide optional comment before clicking on “submit”.
  4. Request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (i.e. Licensing ID) who should approve/reject as appropriate.

For Open License customers only

If “Request Permission Failure Notification” is received, this means that there is currently no administrator for the license, or Microsoft doesn’t have a business email recorded aligned with the purchased license. Microsoft requires a valid business email address as part of increased security to protect our customers.

  • Contact regional customer support to verify the entitlement to the license. 
  • Please be ready to provide information such as License and Authorization numbers, end customer company name and address to the customer service representative. 
  • If you don’t have this information, please contact your reseller to request this information.
  • A Microsoft customer service representative will grant access by adding an administrator.

If you continue to experience this issue, please contact:

In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center.

10. What new data will I be able to see in the Volume Licensing Service Center compared to my previous experience?

Answer: The only new data an Administrator will see is a comprehensive list of users who have access to their License IDs. While a similar view existed in MVLS, this was not available in eOpen. Administrators may see a large list of users who previously had access to their License IDs without their knowledge. Administrators will be able to manage permissions for each user.

11. Why can’t I add Agreements any longer?

Answer: This is by design and provides greater security for each Microsoft Volume Licensing customer.

12. How can I add an Administrator for an agreement when there is no current Administrator assigned?

Answer:

For Open customers, please follow these steps:

  1. Log in to VLSC.
  2. Go to Settings> Request Permissions.
  3. Select the appropriate Program.
  4. Enter the Licensing ID.
  5. Select the appropriate permissions.
  6. Add additional comments (optional).
  7. Click Submit.
  8. A request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (e.g., Licensing ID) who will approve/reject, as appropriate.

For customers with any other Volume Licensing agreement, guidelines and policies are region-specific. In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center. Please contact your regional service center at:

13. How can I see a list of each agreement associated with my organization?

Answer: The list of agreements is not available to users who do not have an administrative role assigned as part of the MBSA or MST Agreement, due to security protection. If you are an administrator, you can opt-in to automatically receive the administrator role on all Master Agreements or Enrollments by selecting administrative inheritance.

How to select administrative inheritance:

When an administrator signs-in to VLSC, the Administrator Inheritance Option page is displayed.

  • If opt-in is selected, the user will automatically become an Administrator on all child agreements associated with the parent agreement, which allows all agreements to be viewed.
  • If opt-out is selected, then the child agreements will not be displayed. This is a different view then what was previously shown in MVLS.

How to view the administrative inheritance after registration:

The Administrator Inheritance Option page is presented only once, immediately after initial registration.

To review or edit this option at a later time:

  1. Click Settings
  2. Click Preferences
  3. Click Save before navigating away from this page to save any updates

14. I haven’t accessed my licensing information in some time and now I try to access the site and can’t log in. Why?

Answer: As part of a recent site upgrade, Microsoft added security permissions which require a valid business email. First, we recommend you contact your organization administrator and request permissions.

If you are a customer with an Open License, then please follow these steps:

  1. Log in to VLSC.
  2. Go to Settings> Request Permissions.
  3. Select the appropriate Program.
  4. Enter the Licensing ID.
  5. Select the appropriate permissions.
  6. Add additional comments (optional).
  7. Click Submit.
  8. A request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (e.g., Licensing ID) who will approve/reject, as appropriate.

For customers with any other Volume Licensing agreement, guidelines and policies are region-specific. In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center. Please contact your regional service center at:

15. My organization has multiple contacts registered under one email and now we are having difficulty accessing the site. What should we do?

Answer: As part of a recent site upgrade, Microsoft added security permissions which require a valid business email. First, we recommend you contact your organization administrator and request permissions.

If you are a customer with an Open License, then please follow these steps:

  1. Log in to VLSC.
  2. Go to Settings> Request Permissions.
  3. Select the appropriate Program.
  4. Enter the Licensing ID.
  5. Select the appropriate permissions.
  6. Add additional comments (optional).
  7. Click Submit.
  8. A request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (e.g., Licensing ID) who will approve/reject, as appropriate.

For customers with any other Volume Licensing agreement, guidelines and policies are region-specific. In VLSC, go to Help and then Contact Us to access contact details for your regional support center. Please contact your regional service center at:

16. What if I need additional support?

Answer: If you require additional support with VLSC, please go to the Help and then Contact Us tab, or https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter/Help/Contact.aspx.

For general inquires, comments or questions, you can also contact the following regional support centers:

Customers may encounter longer than normal response times due to high volume. Microsoft appreciates your patience as we service partner or customer inquiries.

17. Why were the sites unavailable?

Answer: Microsoft upgraded the online experience based on partner and customer feedback, creating a single portal to manage all Volume Licensing agreements and IDs, download product keys, and access to Software Assurance benefits. This experience will also improve administrative management and offer greater flexibility with streamlined registration and permission management.

18. Was any data been lost?

Answer: No. Data wasn’t lost during the site maintenance.

19. Is there a reason Microsoft was doing site maintenance in December during a critical business month?

Answer: Microsoft has been working on bringing one web site experience to customers and partners for over a year. An upgrade was scheduled as part this release cycle. In standard systems testing, they encountered an issue with the registration system, which has since been resolved. The sites are online as of December 18, 2009 Pacific Time and Microsoft apologizes for any inconvenience.

20. I used to be able to add my partner in eOpen. How do I add my partner so they can view or add a new agreement on behalf of my organization in VLSC?

Answer: Microsoft added an additional validation requirement in order to provide greater security of each customer’s Microsoft Volume Licensing data. The customer’s email address and partner’s email address must be included on the order when it is submitted to Microsoft in order to automatically grant administrative access to both the customer and partner. To associate a customer agreement, you can add your partner as an administrator or we can request permissions directly on VLSC.

  1. Before you start, please update your bookmark and refresh the site at https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/servicecenter
  2. Log onto VLSC
  3. Go to “Settings > Request Permissions”
  4. Select appropriate “Program”, enter “Licensing ID”, select permissions required and provide optional comment before clicking on “submit”.
  5. Request will be sent to the administrator of the Agreement (i.e. Licensing ID) who should approve/reject as appropriate.

21. Are call centers resourced to manage our calls?

Answer: Microsoft is resourced to support partner and customer inquiries. Call volumes may be higher than normal as more customers that are migrating to the new experience have questions so Microsoft appreciates your patience as they serve each request.

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Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman – Follow me on TWITTER clip_image001and RSS clip_image002
Global Partner Experience Lead
Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 13, 2010
    I can login and finally have my email registered, but none of my Open License or Volume License Agreements show up. I'd contact the agreement administrator, but I am the agreement administrator. Gave up after a morning on hold. No reply to my emails. Partner vendor and Sales Rep tried to help but couldn't. Waiting for me refund now.

  • Anonymous
    January 13, 2010
    @ Laura - Can you please send through the contact and agreement information requested above so we can look into this specific incident? Thank you - Eric Ligman

  • Anonymous
    January 28, 2010
    I work for a reseller. Resellers do not have direct access to our customer's volume license key codes.

  • Anonymous
    January 28, 2010
    @Rick Marshbanks - As a reseller, you can request access to the license agreement and be given those rights to manage a license agreement on behalf of your client.  I have the steps to do this in the following blog post: http://bit.ly/8kTmpa