Frequently Asked Questions

Outsourced Help Desks

Outsourced Help Desks

How well qualified are your staff?

We are very fussy about who we hire. We insist that all staff have strong English skills, a talent for customer service, strong troubleshooting skills and at least university-level IT qualifications. Some staff have relevant technical qualifications such as RHCE, MSCE, MCSA, RHCT, MCP or CCNA, and years of experience working with Linux and/or Windows and various web hosting control panels.

 

Will my clients know that I have outsourced my support services?

We make every effort to ensure that the transfer of your support services to us is completely transparent. We will respond to your customers' queries just as you would, and give no indication that our responses are coming from anywhere but your own in-house support team. After all, we are your very own support team!

 

What names do you normally use to sign off a support ticket?

We normally use our actual names, or no names, to sign off on tickets. If however you have any special policy or requirements we will be happy to follow that.

 

How do I know that my business and customer details will be safe?

Customer confidentiality is our business. As part of the sign-up process we enter into a legally binding agreement with you which includes relevant non-disclosure clauses. We take all security and privacy issues extremely seriously and stringently insist on utmost professionalism from our staff at all times. Within our company information about you and your service is only provided to staff on a need-to-know basis In addition to this, the questionnaires you complete in "The Hub" (our customer control panel) allow you to outline any issues you consider to be confidential.

 

Do I have to provide you with root access to my servers?

The level of access you give us is entirely up to you. You may, at your discretion, provide us with superuser (root) access to your server(s). Alternatively, you can provide us with access to a restricted set of superuser commands by using a tool such as sudo if you wish. It is possible that in order to perform certain tasks however we may need root access.

 

What ticket systems do you support?

We support third party ticket systems such as PerlDesk, Kayako, TicketSmith and many more.

 

What if I don't have my own ticket system?

If you do not have your own ticket system then we can help you install one. There are a good range of commercial ticket systems available, some at low cost. There are also some free open source ticket systems available.

 

I have designed my own ticketing system, can you support it? What information would you need to know?

You can certainly use your own ticket system. If we are using your ticket system we will need to know the login information for that system. If you are on a shared support plan, your ticket system will also need to send us an email notification when a new message arrives on your ticketing system.

 

What is the time-frame involved for start-up?

Once you have supplied us with you details via our questionnaires in The Hub we generally require two days of "lead time" to organize your support prior to starting full customer support operations. This is to ensure the smoothest possible transition of your support services. If you want your assigned technicians to provide live service immediately rather than having a two-day preparation period, then we can do that but it is not recommended. If you are on a dedicated support plan (as opposed to shared support) you may also wish to provide an extra training period for your team members, depending on the type and complexity of your service.

 

I host some adult websites. Can you take over my tech support?

Our policy on adult-content is that we can provide you with services that do not require us to directly deal with the adult content. For example, we can provide server maintenance, administration and monitoring, but could not provide customer service to your clients.

 

Will you train me so that I can learn more about technical issues?

Sorry, we do not currently offer training as part of any of our packages.

 

Do you have any plans that are not 24-hour plans?

Our 24/7 outsourced support plans (including web hosting support plans) cover 24 hours every day of the year. If you do not need the full 24 hour period covered then you can hire out individual technicians to work 8 hours a day (including meal breaks) under our Full-time System Administrator plan. However, since all staff rotate shifts once per month the work schedule of your assigned Full-time System Administrator would vary from month to month.

 

Will the assigned technicians work exclusively for me?

Yes, when you purchase the 24/7 Web Host Technical Support plan your assigned staff will work exclusively for you (one at a time) around the clock during the week. That is, your assigned staff will not work for any other clients while on duty for you. On weekends, shared support is provided in order to keep our prices as low as possible, and keeping in mind the fact that support volume tends to be lower on the weekend.

 

Can I assign adhoc tasks such as writing or research work to my assigned staff?

Generally only tasks explicitly included in the service plan you have purchased can be undertaken. However, exceptions can sometimes be made (for dedicated service plans only, as opposed to shared support plans) and if you would like more specific advice on this issue please contact us to discuss the matter prior to signing up. For full details of what is covered and what is not covered in each service plan please see the service plan details on this site.

 

I have some Windows and some Linux servers. Can you support both?

Yes, we can. Depending on your circumstances and the volume of tickets for each operating system, we may need for the Windows tickets to be lodged in a different ticket system than the Linux ones, or clearly differentiated in the Subject line of the tickets. If you require both Windows and Linux support, please contact us before placing your order so that we can discuss the matter with you.

 

Facilities

Our first-class premises have a robust and reliable infrastructure including full backup power, uninterruptable power supply, redundant ISP connections and more.