We’ve got your IT covered

At BerkmanTech we have a deep commitment to provide exceptional advice, support, hardware and software to your company.

IT can be complex.  There are many facets from the types of software your business uses, the hardware that your IT systems run on, the network and internet services that you depend on and there are often countless third parties involved from phone system companies to antivirus software to backup and disaster prevention services.

Then there is you! You just want your IT to work and that’s why we are here to help.

As your IT Managed Service Provider, we work behind the scenes to significantly minimise the number of IT issues that occur in your complex IT environment.

We also work in close consultation with management to make sure you are getting the proper advice to keep you ahead of the game.

Although we take considerable steps to prevent IT issues, many new issues arise each day in the I.T world before a solution has been developed or a preventative measure has been installed.  In many instances these support issues are unpreventable and can cause frustration.

That’s why we offer a world class IT support helpdesk that not only solves IT issues 24 hours a day but we also go one step further to analyse the types of issues your business has experienced and look at ways to prevent them altogether through better components, improvements to software, critical hardware upgrades, routine security updates and automation technology.

The aim of this document is to outline how we support the “unpreventable” so that you can be confident that when an issue arises, we are always here to help.

 

Your Virtual IT Department

Just like there are many ways to manage an IT system such as yours, there are also many skill sets needed at different times of day and night to keep your system operating at its best.

BerkmanTech operates a 24×7 helpdesk with all of the necessary skills from customer service representatives to highly skilled “level 3” engineers.  Sitting alongside the helpdesk is our engineering team, who work tirelessly to keep informed about upcoming changes or advancements in technology to help guide you on your I.T decisions and to provide better tools and procedures to the helpdesk to make their support to you efficient.

Here is how our helpdesk team is structured to deliver the best possible outcome whenever you phone or email us:

BerkmanTech Helpdesk Team / Service Team

We also have project planning and consulting and onsite installation and support technicians. Together we work to offer best in class IT solutions and support services around the clock.

 

Support When You Need IT

Business never stops and BerkmanTech operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you can contact us any time if you need assistance.

There are 2 ways to get in touch:

  1. Phone – our number is 914-770-7700 and the phone is best used when your issue is urgent. A little more on that in a moment..
  2. Email – our support email is help@berkmantech.com and all email is treated as important

All issues are tracked in our helpdesk case management software with an ID number.  We continue to track the issue from the time you called/emailed right through to resolution. When it comes to tech support issues, please refrain from contacting any of us directly by text, email or cell phone.

 

Calling for Support

A call for support is treated urgently and we’ll need to ask you specific questions to gather a firm understanding of what has happened or happening right now that has led you to call support.

Please be ready when you call to let us know the following:

  • Your name
  • Company name
  • Nature of the issue
  • Background of the issue for example “it stopped working after we had a power outage last night” or “it has been slow for a few days and now the computer won’t turn on”
  • Whether the issue is impeding your ability to work right now
  • Whether you feel you have a workaround. For example; The printer is not working but you are able to print to another printer in the office
  • Whether the issue is affecting only you, or others in your company
  • When you will be available for a call back if we cannot resolve this over the phone immediately

Our Incident Managers and Helpdesk Analysts are trained to get your issue to the right person to solve this issue.

You will receive a summary via email with a Ticket ID # to track the progress of your request.  You will receive periodic updates by email and potentially by phone depending on the nature/urgency of the issue.

 

Emailing for Support

Our helpdesk case management software uses technology to identify your name, call back number and company automatically.  Once an email is received by our helpdesk a Ticket ID # will be created and you will receive an automatic email letting you know we’ve received your issue.

If you do not receive an automatic email response it may be prudent to call and check as many issues are email related and we may not have received your email.

Once your email is received the Incident Management and Helpdesk Analyst team go to work to determine the nature of the problem, the potential causes of the issue and to assign the ticket to an appropriate member of the team skilled at resolving that specific type of issue.

This is referred to as Triage.

To assist with the Triage process we ask that your email is as descriptive as possible beginning with the subject line.

Example:

Subject: My printer is no longer printing to Tray 3

Hi support

My printer is working except that I am unable to Tray 3.  The other trays are working fine.  It stopped working about a week ago and I’d like someone to fix it.

Thank you.

At a glance our team is able to determine the precise issue you are experiencing, the urgency of the issue and are in a position to assign someone to resolve it.

An unclear subject line or email will often result in several clarifying questions that means the issue will often take longer to resolve.

Example: Fix my printer

In this example a member of our team is likely to phone you or email you asking further questions to pinpoint the problem you are experiencing.

What to Expect From Us

At BerkmanTech we are deeply committed to providing timely and efficient IT support to your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  We believe it’s fundamental that our service is delivered professionally and quickly.

A high level overview of our Incident Management process is as follows:

The more specific you are about the nature of the issue you are experiencing, the more likely the incident will progress quickly to the appropriate support tier.

To share some examples we’ve provided a table below on what to expect when you call or email us for support.

The nature of your issue determines how long it will generally take for us to respond and ultimately resolve your issue:

 

Item

Support Goal
 
Incoming Support Call
 We aim to answer the phone within 3 rings or less.  The phone will be answered by a Helpdesk Analyst who may be able to assist you right away.
Incoming Support Email
 We aim to triage and assign your issue to a technician within 15 minutes
Level 1 Issue 

Examples: 

·        Forgotten password

·        Clarifying if an email is spam or not

·        Clarifying an error message

·        Assisting with tools that are operational but need some minor changes i.e. Outlook

·        Solving a printing issue affecting a single user

·        Solving a login or sign in issue to various software programs online and on the desktop

·        Minor installation of a piece of software on a single desktop e.g. Adobe Reader

 Although these are often simpler issues to resolve we understand how critical these items can be and we work to get them solved very quickly.

 

Our aim is to have level 1 issues responded to and resolved within 4 hours.
Level 2 issue

Level 2 issues can be somewhat more complex involving a server, a network or a 3rd party we need to contact on your behalf.

Examples:

·        Corrupt software application that needs to be reinstalled on a desktop

·        Printer issues affecting an entire team or group of printers in your office or department

·        Reinstallation of a program on a server

·        Changes to folder permissions or security permissions that may require further approvals

·        Slow performing systems that may require an ‘outage’ window while systems are restarted

·        Issues affecting a subset of staff but not the entire organization

 

 Level 2 issues are handled by dedicated System Administrators who are skilled in handling important functions on servers, networks and applications.

 

Our aim is to have Level 2 issues resolved within the ‘half day’.  For example, if your issue arises at 9am we anticipate it to be resolved by midday.  If your issue arises at midday we anticipate it to be resolved by the end of the day.
Level 3 issue

 Level 3 issues are high business impact or may become high business impact if not resolved.   Level 3 issues require a highly skilled set of resources with experience across a broad spectrum of technologies.

 Examples:

·        Failure of critical IT systems such as a server, a network device, an internet service, a critical core business application that is used by all staff

·        A disaster recovery scenario where files or entire systems require restoration

·        A complex application upgrade that will require downtime in your business

·        A myriad of 3rd party vendor issues such as a failure of a network provider, Microsoft and telecommunication companies

·        Physical failures such as power, physical phone lines, physical network lines or critical hardware

 

 Level 3 issues are rare but vary in nature, impact and complexity.

 

A level 3 issue receives the highest priority at our company.

A level 3 resource will be assigned to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

In the event of a critical issue our management team is alerted and communication protocols are in place to keep you informed and notify relevant parties if required.

Often the resolution of a critical issue will depend on the level of support provided by a 3rd party vendor.

We will continue to own and communicate when a Level 3 issue is affecting your organisation.

 

What could possibly go wrong?

Everything we do at BerkmanTech is aimed at preventing as many IT issues as possible and providing support when you need it.  The following can impact our ability to meet the support goals:

  • Difficulty determining the nature of the issue from what you have told us – see email and call examples above
  • Difficulty contacting you after you have logged a support issue – particularly if we need to log in to your machine and need you in attendance so we can view the problem and solve the problem
  • 3rd party vendor service levels – some vendors have a support agreement requiring them to respond and resolve issues within their product or service whereas others are “best effort” or (unfortunately) “no effort”
  • 3rd party vendor reliability. Examples include internet services that cause remote access problems requiring us to attend onsite
  • Systems, devices, applications and services where the recommendation is to replace or upgrade the product
  • Unresponsive or problematic IT systems where the issue should be “simple” but the underlying fault causes the issue to take longer to resolve
  • Additional issues added to the ticket after it has been logged or changes to the scope of the ticket after is has been logged
  • Budget constraints whereby the solution to a specific issue or issue(s) requires a significant investment of time or a significant purchase of technology beyond the capacity of the service agreement we have in place with your company
  • Account or billing issues where your company has been placed on a limited level of service or is on hold

 

Onsite Services

BerkmanTech can deploy a specialist to your location to resolve problems in-person and get your technology running smoothly again.

  • We aim to resolve all issues remotely although some issues will require an on-site technician
  • We use remote control and analysis tools to predict and prevent issues before they become an urgent onsite requirement
  • Onsite service calls are scheduled by availability but also prioritized by issue severity
  • Our onsite team are available between 8:30am and 5:00pm Monday to Friday

 

How we handle changes to your IT environment

  • New User process: Please contact us prior to the new employee start date so that we can have them ready for their first day.
  • Terminated User process: Contact us whenever an employee leaves or is terminated. We will need to disable all user accounts and block all access as well as update our contact lists. Please be sure to let us know if there is a security concern.
  • The above requests can typically be done within 24-48 hours. But changes requiring new computers or hardware will have a longer lead time. Procuring a new computer for a new user would take 3-7 business days depending on schedule availability and shipping time and require and on-site visit
  • Changes to the structure of the IT system e.g. major permission changes, major software updates require additional planning and consultation. These are done on a case-by-case basis

 

Here to help!

We routinely conduct surveys to measure your experience with our support team.  If we send you a survey we’d love to hear your feedback.  It is used to improve processes, to reward our team for exceptional service and to provide insights to our customers with suggestions to improve the IT environment and support process.

At BerkmanTech we are constantly seeking ways to improve our service.   If you have any questions at all please let us know by sending an email to lucas@berkmantech.com

 

Thank you for your business.

 

Lucas Kane

President

BerkmanTech