July 28, 2008 Ottawa, Canada – The Utility Company, a single-source provider of technology, communications and business management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) across North America, today announced the rapid adoption of its 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute Live Helpdesk Service by small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) across North America.
Released on March 17, 2008, 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute forms the entry level service into The Utility Company’s Connected Office Technology-as-a-Service Program - the only single-source solution addressing ALL things technology for SMBs focused on the five main areas of technology for business: IT (network, desktop, security, and storage), business applications, Web/Internet, copier/printer and telecommunications.
Onsite technology support is a multi-billion dollar industry that has grown along-side the increasing complexity and use of technology. Today, a range of options exist for businesses, including: technology resellers, the various geek/nerd onsite service organizations, or a local technician someone may have referred. While each of these options may have a little different marketing message, in all cases they are delivering onsite technology support on an hourly fee basis.
Typically there are three reasons most businesses purchase IT services:
1. Point of sale – you purchase a Blackberry®, go back to your office/home and call for help…
2. Point of pain – come into your office on Monday morning and the internet is down…
3. See the value – technology is critical to your business, so you need proactive support leveraging remote monitoring and management (known as “managed IT services”)
“We introduced 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute to provide customers with an easy way to transition from onsite to remote technology support,” stated Mark Scott, president and founder of The Utility Company. “Simply put, this is a better service for less cost.”
The 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute service includes the following key features:
• 8am-8pm ET access to live helpdesk service and support
• Over 90% remote remediation
• No minimum charges or travel
• Dramatically reduced waiting times and time to resolution
• Universal ID code for corporate use
• Great supplementary support for internal IT departments
• 50-80% savings over typical break/fix support contracts
• Easy sign-up and service activation through www.theutilitycompany.com/perminute
• Environmentally-friendly – no pollution or gas consumption
“I found the 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute service to be very professional, timely and cost-effective. Not to mention environmentally-friendly, as well,” stated Don Powell, District Sales Manager for the Snap Peterborough community newspaper. “The technicians that assisted me were able to solve my problems quickly and offer effective solutions. I am now a satisfied Per Minute customer and am moving to a managed (proactive) solution to avoid future problems before they occur.”
“Because we are a small and mobile organization, constantly out of the office at client sites, having an in-house IT person or even calling a break/fix service provider would make absolutely no sense for us,” stated Craig Elliot, owner of Mechanical Engineering firm CAElliot. “Either our employees can handle the issue themselves when off-site or they need to be able to call and get someone immediately who can walk them through the fix. Per Minute is the perfect solution for us.”
“Trying to convince SMBs to adopt managed IT services is a difficult task mainly because the majority of them are still serviced through the traditional onsite support model – we call this ‘selling to the 10%’,” concluded Scott. “Our goal with Per Minute is to appeal to the majority of businesses so they can easily transition from onsite to remote support – this is ‘selling to the 90%’. Once comfortable with on-demand remote technology support, they can then look at some of our proactive managed IT services options in the future.”
The 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute Live Helpdesk service is available across North America with local onsite service and support provided by our growing network of Utility Service Provider franchises. New customers can activate an account as follows:
1. Register for service at www.theutilitycompany.com/perminute
2. Receive Universal ID code
3. Call 1-866-My-Utility (698-8454) to start receiving support!
To receive a FREE 30-minute trial of 1-866-My-Utility Per Minute please contact Craig Hale at extension 7677 or by email at COsales@theutilitycompany.com.
About The Utility Company
The Utility Company is a single-source provider of technology, communications and business management solutions for small and medium-sized businesses across North America. Our Connected Office Technology-as-a-Service program provides a single point of contact for ALL things technology delivering the required hardware, software and service for a monthly fixed fee per user. Customers are supported by local Utility Service Providers delivering on-site service and business-technology consulting to reduce spending and increase utilization – our Beyond Managed Services franchise opportunity is available by prospectus only. Learn how to make technology work for your business today at www.theutilitycompany.com.
