Get Azure help through Priority Community Support (PCS)

Some Azure support plans include Priority Community Support (PCS) for eligible Azure technical questions. PCS helps customers get expert answers through Microsoft Q&A, where Azure engineers, Community Experts, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) help answer technical questions.

When you create an eligible support request, the Azure portal creates a support ticket and guides you through AI-assisted troubleshooting. If you still need help, the portal offers Priority Community Support. Information collected during troubleshooting is used to prepare a Microsoft Q&A post for your review, so you don't have to describe the issue again.

What is Priority Community Support (PCS)?

If your support plan includes Priority Community Support, PCS is available for your Azure technical questions. Through PCS, you connect with Azure engineers, Community Experts, and Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) on Microsoft Q&A. These contributors answer Azure technical questions and provide troubleshooting guidance.

For eligible questions, you can expect an initial response within eight business hours, based on the service hours described in PCS availability and global coverage.

Your support ticket remains open and is linked to the Microsoft Q&A thread. If your issue requires sensitive information or deeper investigation, a Microsoft engineer can continue the conversation privately through Microsoft Q&A or email conversation associated with your support ticket.

Key benefits

• Continuous troubleshooting context, so you don't have to describe your issue again when moving to Microsoft Q&A.
• End-to-end tracking through a support ticket created at the beginning of the support journey.
• Access to Azure expertise from Azure engineers, Community Experts, and Microsoft MVPs.
• Private follow-up options when an issue requires sensitive information or deeper investigation.
• Shared solutions that can help other Azure customers with similar questions.

How the experience works

1. Create a support request through the Azure portal.
2. The portal creates a support ticket for your request.
3. An AI-powered support agent helps you understand the issue and recommends possible solutions.
4. The portal prepares a Microsoft Q&A draft using the troubleshooting context it already collected.
5. Review the draft and remove any sensitive information. When you're ready, publish the question.
6. Azure engineers, Community Experts, and Microsoft MVPs can answer the question and provide guidance.
7. Provide requested sensitive information only through a private message in Microsoft Q&A or the email conversation associated with your support ticket.

Customer-specific data and privacy

Customer data, security, and privacy remain a core part of the Priority Community Support experience. Automated checks attempt to identify and remove personally identifiable information (PII) and other sensitive information from the proposed Microsoft Q&A post. Before you publish the post, review and edit the content to make sure that it doesn't contain sensitive information.

If a Microsoft engineer needs sensitive information to investigate your issue, provide it through a private message in Microsoft Q&A or through the email conversation associated with your support ticket. Don't include sensitive information in the public Q&A thread.

To help protect your information:

• Review and edit the proposed Q&A content before you publish it.
• Don't include passwords, secrets, access keys, personal information, company-specific information, or confidential diagnostic data.
• Provide requested sensitive information only through the available private support channels.

PCS availability and global coverage

The eight-business-hour initial response commitment is measured during the following service hours:

• Business hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM local time, Monday through Friday.
• North America extended hours: 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.
• Global coverage: The Azure expert team operates worldwide, ensuring timely responses across different time zones.