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Printed
in the Sun Sentinel January 23, 2006
Firm
provides fast tech support for small
businesses
Marilyn
DeMartini thought she had bought some
peace of mind when she purchased a technical
support contract for her new laptop
back in September. But when the laptop
soon began sending multiple copies of
her outbound e-mails, DeMartini's calls
for help resulted in help-desk run-around,
hundreds of dollars in charges and no
solution.
So
a friend gave DeMartini the number for
a local tech support company specializing
in home and very small businesses. Three
hours and less than $150 later, her
laptop was fixed and DeMartini was sold
on where to turn for her future tech
support needs.
"Knowing
I could take the computer in to the
retailer's tech support desk and get
it fixed was a comforting myth,"
recalled DeMartini, an independent writer
and publicist in Fort Lauderdale. "The
first time I had to call on them, I
didn't have the computer for a week."
Many
businesses have tech support on call
or on staff. But micro-entrepreneurs
-- those working from home or in businesses
with just a few employees -- often don't
have the skills to troubleshoot tech
issues, or the ongoing needs or finances
to keep tech support on the payroll.
Some find themselves in the niche of
being too small for corporate support,
and too busy to do IT support themselves.
Enter
the small technical support provider.
Often sole practitioners working from
home or small storefronts, these IT
providers are skilled enough to troubleshoot
small business problems, but small enough
to be priced right for other small businesses.
"You
can use a national company like Geek
Squad, but they don't know you from
Adam," said Eric Reivik, owner
of PCLauderdale.com, which specializes
in computer installations, upgrades
and support for businesses with fewer
than eight users. "There's not
a lot of support for that audience from
a provider that knows your needs, habits,
trends and tendencies."
Often
a technician's first step when signing
on a new customer is to audit all the
hardware and software running on the
user's PC. A tech also might inquire
as to whether the PC is for personal
or business use, and what applications
are used most. This snapshot can help
diagnose a problem, assist with new
installations and build customer trust,
said Gary Herbstman, president of Byte
Solutions Inc., a Boca Raton IT firm.
"You
have to earn their trust for someone
to let you into their systems,"
he said. "No manufacturer or national
tech support firm can know a customer's
system inside and out."
Looking
for a tech support person or provider?
Ask clients, peers or fellow small business
owners, or visit the local chamber of
commerce for a list of companies. Ask
for references and pricing. Reivik charges
around $75 for the first hour for a
visit anywhere in Broward County, and
$100 for Palm Beach or Miami-Dade. The
second hour is $49.
In
less than two hours, Reivik discovered
the 40,000 e-mails DeMartini had imported
to her new laptop had caused her Outlook
Express to malfunction. One hour and
$173 later, the problem was fixed.
"My
learned lesson was, forget the tech
support phone people," DeMartini
said. "I'd rather pay for help
from a pro who knows what he's doing.
It's like having a good doctor on call."
Jeff
Zbar is a free-lance writer. Reach him
at jeff@jeffzbar.com
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