Frequently Asked Questions

Our Answer: We answer our phones live from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and give all clients an emergency after hours number they may call if a problem arises, including weekends. Why? Because many of the CEOs and executives we support work outside normal hours and find it to be the most productive time they have. If they cannot access their computer network AND can’t get hold of anyone to help them, it’s incredibly frustrating.

Our Answer: We guarantee to have a technician working on a problem within 60 minutes or less of your call. This is written into every service agreement we give to our clients because it’s standard procedure.

Our Answer: Our technicians are trained to have the ‘heart of a teacher’ and will take time to answer your questions and explain everything in simple terms. Just look at what Mr. James Hunter, at NVC Lighting had to say:

“Their Technical Guys Can Explain Complicated Tech Stuff To A Non-Techie Like Me In Words That I Can Understand…”

Our Answer: We conduct quarterly review meetings with our clients to look for new ways to help improve their operations, lower costs, increase efficiencies and resolve any problems that may be arising. Our goal is help our clients be more profitable, efficient and competitive with these meetings.

Our Answer: We provide detailed invoices that show what work was done, why and when so you never have to guess what you are paying for. We also double check our invoices for accuracy before they are sent to you.

Our Answer: Yes, we always sign NDA’s as a standard practice to protect our client’s business data – and don’t be shy about asking to see our NDA policies!

Our Answer: Projects are fixed priced and guaranteed to be completed on time, in writing. This is important because many computer guys will only quote “time and materials,” which gives them free reign to nickel and dime you as well as take as much time as needed on completing a project.

Our Answer: Our remote network monitoring system watches over your network to constantly look for developing problems, security issues and other problems so we can address them BEFORE they turn into bigger problems.

Our Answer: Our clients get a detailed report that shows an overall health score of their network and the updates to their antivirus, security settings, patches and other important network checks (like hard drive space, backups, etc.).

Our Answer: All clients receive this in written and electronic form at no additional cost. We also perform a quarterly update on this material and make sure certain key people from your organization have this information and know how to use it, giving you complete control over your network.

Side Note: You should NEVER allow an IT person to have that much control over you and your company. If you get the sneaking suspicion that your current IT person is keeping this under their control as a means of job security, get rid of them (and we can help to make sure you don’t suffer ANY ill effects). This is downright unethical and dangerous to your organization, so don’t tolerate it!

Our Answer: Yes; and since we keep detailed network documentation (basically a blueprint of your computer network) and updates on every client’s account, any of our technicians can pick up where another one has left off.

Our Answer: Our “all-inclusive” support plan is just that – all inclusive. One of the more popular service plans offered by consulting firms today is an “all-inclusive” or “all-you-can-eat” managed services plan. These are actually a good thing because they’ll save you a lot of money in the long run

HOWEVER, make sure you REALLY understand what is and isn’t included. Some things to consider are:

• Is phone/e-mail help desk included, or extra?
• What about network upgrades, moves, or adding/removing users?
• Is hardware and/or software included?
• What are the costs/consequences of early cancellation?
• What if you aren’t happy with their services? Do they offer a money-back guarantee?
• If the hardware and software is included, what happens if you cancel the contract?
• Is offsite backups included? To what degree?
• If you have a major disaster, is restoring your network included or extra?
• What about onsite support calls? Or support to remote offices?
• Are home PCs used to access the company’s network after hours included or extra?

Our Answer: We do not encourage our clients to use tape backups because they are incredibly unreliable. We recommend our clients have some sort of online backup service.

Our Answer: We perform a monthly “fire drill” and perform a test restore from backup for our clients to make sure their data CAN be recovered in the event of an emergency. After all, the WORST time to “test” a backup is when you desperately need it.

Our Answer: We do; and that’s simply as a precaution in case a hardware failure or software glitch causes a major problem.

Our Answer: We provide our own in-house help desk across two global offices and make sure the folks helping you are friendly and helpful. We consider this one of the most important aspects of customer service, plus we feel it’s important to keeping your data secure.

Our Answer: Our technicians are required to keep the most up-to-date vendor certifications in all the software we support. Plus, our hiring process is so stringent, 99% of the technicians who apply don’t make it through (guess who’s hiring them?)

Our Answer: Our technicians are professionals that you would be proud to have in your office. They dress professionally, show up on time and if they cannot (for some odd, unforeseen reason) we always notify the client immediately. We believe these are minimum requirements for delivering a professional service.

Our Answer: We own the problems with all line of business applications for our clients. That doesn’t mean we can fix faulty software – but we WILL be the liaison between you and your vendor to resolve problems you are having and make sure these applications work smoothly for you.

Our Answer: We feel WE should own the problem for our clients so they don’t have to try and resolve any of these issues on their own – that’s just plain old good service and something many computer guys won’t do.