When looking for service provider to manage the technology needs for your business, you may find inexpensive options that promise great service from remote locales. But why should you look for a local service provider instead of a strictly remote-support company?

1. Remote IT support companies are only useful if your business has solid Internet access. But what if you need to troubleshoot issues related to your Internet access or if your internet is down? They will attempt to help you, but their job would be done a lot quicker and easier if they had a body in that office instead of asking you to be their hands. And with Internet issues potentially causing lost revenue and productivity for your business, you don’t want to be somebody’s hands – you want a trained technician in your office.
2. Sometimes a technology problem needs to be visibly seen in action to accurately troubleshoot. Remote software, while it’s getting better, doesn’t always give you the whole story. A local support company can send a technician onsite to troubleshoot and fix instead of wasting your valuable time.
3. Using a local service provider can be more secure. With support scams on the rise, you want to make sure the person you’re dealing with on the other end of the line is who they say they are. A local company will generally allow you to come by their office and meet the team of technicians working with your company so you can put a face to the voice on the phone and know that they are folks who can legitimately help you.
4. Local service providers will understand the needs of your business in your particular market better than anybody. A nameless technician across the country is not going to understand why you need to run a certain aspect of your business a certain way. They will not understand the community you serve and the other businesses you work with. You will undoubtedly get better service because of that local knowledge.
5. A local service provider cares about your community and its people. They care about their image in the community, much more so than a large company on the other side of the country. By investing in local business, you’re investing in its people. According to The U.S. Small Business Association and the U.S. Department of Labor, for $100 you spend locally, $68 will stay in the community. That money will be spent locally at local businesses as well as given to local charities.

It is our opinion that you should deal with a company that has roots in the area where you are based. Your business will be better for it, as will your community.

With offices in Anchorage, Alaska and Bend, Oregon, Weston Technology believes in their core purpose: “To Better the Lives of Others.” By supporting your local tech support company, you’re helping do that by bettering the lives of our clients, employees or charities that we contribute to.