To all of the library staff:
We are delighted to be serving you!
The purpose of this email is to let you know a bit about us, how to contact us, and what we will be doing in the coming weeks and months to maintain your information technology.
Feel Free to Contact Us!
Our team’s passion is taking away all of our clients’ technology stress. We have many happy clients who trust us to take care of their network so that they can focus on running their businesses. We are committed to offering you the same level of quick response and excellent service which earned us their accolades, some of which are quoted here.
We want you to contact us right away if anything is awry with your computers or other information technology. There are a couple of ways to contact us; following are instructions.
Look at the lower right corner of your screen. Click on the little arrow to reveal your hidden icons. Like this:
You will see a little red H. Click on that, and you will see several options. The first two are ways to contact us:
1. Submit a request via an online portal. You are welcome to do this right now as a test.
2. Call us with your request at the number listed there. (423) 534-3418.
The third option is:
3. Save a screenshot.
Saving a screenshot is valuable if you want to be able to show one of our technicians exactly what your screen looked like when you were having a particular problem.
We’re working on your network, behind the scenes
As an IT service provider, we have access to a wealth of tools which increase the efficiency of our services. Some of those tools enable us to provide remote support. Just a few years ago, a technician needed to be physically present at the computer or network or server in order to complete all critical maintenance tasks. Today, we can perform many of those tasks remotely.
This remote support is a huge benefit to you: it minimizes the times we need to disrupt your work to perform maintenance, and it maximizes your uptime. Some of the many tasks which we will perform remotely and on a regular schedule include:
· Analyze all server and computer reports generated by our 24/7 monitoring software. Fix any agents that are not reporting properly.
· Clean virus quarantine section for each server/computer as necessary.
· Address errors that are reported by the software agents.
· Make sure backup jobs have run successfully and fix/adjust them as necessary. Monitor critical windows events for serious errors and problems.
· Monitor computers for issues with performance and resource shortages such as low disk space.
· Monitor the network for network problems such as internet outages.
· Log into the server and inspect the server event logs for errors. Identify the errors and resolutions. Fix what needs to be fixed.
· Inspect server performance for bottlenecks. Make any necessary adjustments.
· Review network performance for any signs of performance degradation and take action as needed.
We’re serving you onsite
Of course there all still some tasks which will need to be done onsite by one of our technicians. Tim, Andy, Logan, and David have each been to at least one of the two library branches since our service to you began on Tuesday the 20th. It won’t be long until all of you have met all of them. We are committed to serving you promptly whenever you have a need.
We do distinguish between urgent and non-urgent needs. For critical issues (we define critical as a problem which is preventing someone from working), we will have a technician onsite as soon as possible but absolutely no later than four business hours after you contact us. Other issues will be addressed the next time one of our technicians is onsite, which will be soon but no longer than 3 business days after you alert us to the request.
Remember to use that icon, the red H which I mentioned earlier, to send in your requests. You’ll find it at the lower right-hand corner of your screen; see instructions above.
An introduction to Holston IT
Finally, I wanted to introduce you to our company and tell you a bit about our history and our vision. Fifteen years ago, Tim and I lived in Boston. He worked for Razorfish as a Computer Engineer while I stayed home with our firstborn. We spent most of one summer in Amsterdam while he was managing the Windows deployments for their European offices. It was exciting, but when an opportunity emerged for us to move back to the southeast, we took it. Tim is from central Virginia and I am from Kingsport. We wanted to raise our family here.
In 2008, Tim said that he wanted to start a small business providing IT support to other small and medium sized businesses. He said that he wanted to give to these hard-working people the same level of great IT support that he had provided for much larger corporations. And so we founded Holston Information Technology Company, commonly known as “Holston IT.”
Nearly seven years later, we now have two senior technicians working alongside Tim, as well as several junior technicians, an administrative assistant, and myself. Tim recruited me to join the team because he felt that all these geeks needed a translator—someone to manage our communications with our clients. I very much enjoy working with our clients and look forward to meeting each of you.
We realize it is a big step of trust which you have taken to hire us. Christian did great work for you; he is certainly a difficult act to follow. But we have worked hard to build our reputation as a company with high integrity, quick response time, and expertise in all things IT. We intend to continue that hard work as we serve you. We are confident that we can give you all of the IT support that you need. Please be patient with us during these first few weeks as our team acclimates to the needs of your network, and please be quick to contact us if you have any concerns or questions.
You can see pictures and read about each of our team members by clicking here. You can read our recently posted technology tips by clicking here.
Finally, I want to say, personally, that I appreciate the work you are doing to serve our community. Our family is a big fan of both the Avoca and Main Library branches. I have met many of you as I make our semi-monthly trek to fill up a couple of laundry baskets of books, to satiate our book-loving kids. Jefferson and others of our founders had a great vision when they promoted the idea of a library free to the public. I am passionate about that vision and confident that your work is of immeasurable benefit to our community. I am delighted that the Holston IT team is now working alongside you to accomplish that vision.
Kind Regards,
Alison Meredith
Marketing Director
Holston IT
(423) 914-2987 cell
