Remote IT support for business

What we do

• Windows errors, updates that fail and machines that have gone slow
• Outlook and Microsoft 365 problems, including mail that has stopped
• Printers that have gone offline or lost the network
• Software installs, updates and licence problems
• Shared drives and permissions that have stopped working
• OneDrive and SharePoint sync that has given up
• New computers set up and files moved across
• Virus and malware clean-ups where the machine still boots
• Account lockouts, password resets and MFA re-enrolment
• Showing a staff member how to do something properly, once

How a remote session works

You call or message with the problem. If it is something we can fix remotely, we send you a link or give you a code for our support portal. You run it, read what it says, and approve the connection. Nothing installs permanently unless you ask for it.

From that point we can see the screen and work on the machine while you watch. You are not locked out and you are not in the dark — the screen stays visible, you can see everything being done, and you can end the session at any moment by closing the window.

When we are finished we tell you what was wrong, what was changed, and whether it is likely to come back. If it turns out to need hands on the hardware, we stop and tell you that instead of billing an hour for finding out.

There is no agent quietly sitting on your computers afterwards. Each session is started by you, for that job. Businesses on a managed plan work differently, with monitoring software installed deliberately, and that is managed IT rather than this.

What remote is good at

Anything living in software. Windows faults, Office and Microsoft 365, email that has stopped sending or receiving, applications that will not update, printer queues, permissions on a shared folder, OneDrive that has stopped syncing, a machine that has slowed to a crawl.

It is also good for the jobs that are really about knowledge rather than repair: setting up a mailbox properly, explaining why the shared drive keeps asking for a password, showing someone the correct way to do the thing they have been doing the slow way for two years.

And it is good for speed. There is no travel, no scheduling around a van, and no waiting until tomorrow because today is full. If the machine can reach the internet, we can usually start within minutes of the phone call.

What remote cannot do

Anything physical. A computer that will not power on, a screen that has died, a drive that has failed, a cable that has been kicked out, a switch that has stopped, a printer with a paper path problem. If the machine cannot get to the internet, remote is not an option by definition.

It is also the wrong tool when several things need doing at once across several desks, or when a new person is starting and needs a machine, a phone, a desk and access all at the same time. That is a visit, and it is quicker. See onsite IT support.

We will tell you which of these you have during the first phone call, before anything is billed. Being sent a remote link for a problem that was never going to be fixable that way wastes your money, and it is the fastest way to lose a customer.

Is it safe to let someone onto your computer?

It is a fair question, and it should be asked more often than it is. Fake support calls are one of the most common scams in Australia — someone rings claiming to be from a telco, a bank or Microsoft, asks you to install remote software, and empties an account while you watch.

The rule that protects you is simple: a remote session should only ever happen on a call that you started, to a number you already had. We will never ring you out of the blue and ask for access. If someone does, hang up, even if they know your name and your provider.

During a session you can see the screen the whole time, and you can close it whenever you want. If you would rather we did not open something, say so. And if we ever need to do something that requires a password, we would rather you typed it than told it to us.

If a staff member has already let someone in before realising, that is worth a call the same day, not next week. Disconnect the machine from the network, do not turn it off, and phone us.

Working around people who are still working

Remote support during business hours has an obvious problem: someone needs that computer. Where the job needs a restart or a long update, we would rather book it for the start of the day, the end of the day, or a lunch break than take a desk out of action for an hour.

Tell us how urgent it is and we will fit it accordingly. Some things genuinely cannot wait. Plenty can wait three hours, and that is often the difference between an interrupted afternoon and one nobody noticed.

For work that needs the machine left alone, you can leave it switched on and signed out, and we will do it after hours by arrangement.

What it costs

Remote support is $179 per hour with a minimum charge of one hour. If the job takes twenty minutes, you are charged the hour, and we will usually use the rest of it on whatever else has been annoying you.

That minimum exists because a short job is not really short: it includes working out what is wrong, doing it, testing it, and telling you what happened. Charging in six-minute increments for that produces bills nobody can check.

For businesses with regular small problems, a block of prepaid hours works out better and means you are not approving a job every time something breaks. If the volume is high enough, a monthly managed plan through our MSP division will cost less again — we will say so if that is where you have got to.

Repairs that need the workshop are a separate thing: $274 fixed labour, including the $88 diagnosis, and business machines are welcome to use it.

Remote support for homes as well

The same service works for households, and a lot of home calls suit it perfectly: pop-ups and scam warnings, a printer that stopped after a new modem, email that will not set up on a new phone, a computer that has slowed down, or setting up a machine that arrived in a box.

Nothing has to leave the house and nobody has to be home for a visit. Same rate, same one hour minimum. If it turns out to be hardware, we will tell you and you can deposit it at a locker or book pickup and delivery.

Typical jobs

A typical job: Outlook stops sending for one person in an office, on the morning they need to get quotes out. Session started within ten minutes, the cause found in the account settings, tested by sending a real message, and done inside the hour.

A typical example: a printer that went offline for four of six computers after a modem was replaced. Fixed remotely by giving the printer a fixed address and repointing each computer, without anyone driving out.

Another typical job: a new laptop that arrived in a box. Set up remotely with the right accounts, email, shared drives and printers, and the files brought across from the old machine, with the owner watching the whole time.

A quieter one: half an hour of a prepaid block spent showing a staff member how the shared folders are actually organised, which stopped three calls a month about missing files.

Questions