About Our Consulting Services
The challenge of the residential market
It is natural that the residential market views the computer technician as a kind of Maytag repairman. This plays into the strong desire for the homeowner to view the computer as an appliance.
There is much noise in the forums nowadays about computer as appliance. At the moment the concept of the PC as appliance has not yet been realized. One of the rivulets that plays into this ocean of misconception is the salesman at the computer store. We have admittedly eavesdropped on one or two occasions and have heard phrases such as "oh yeah, if you plug it in it will do all the configuring for you" and "it should work -- let me check the back of the box".
It is great that computers are now entertainment devices for the home but they haven't always played that role.
At Orange Crystal Consulting we require a $65 initial consultation for new customers in which we offer one hour of infrastructure planning, computer diagnostic services and general help. We feel this is a great value.
Nevertheless, there are voices who express that they just want us to buckle down and get to work. This approach had its place in history in the form of managers who didn't believe a programmer was working unless the fingers were hitting the keys.
Changes to computer infrastructure, as changes to software programs, requires planning. For this reason, we feel that the $65 initial consultation is really a bargain. The other aspect of this is that the customer, after hearing all of our recommendations, can decide to take his business to the local guy on the corner.
Given our decades of experience in the field, we do not feel that giving out computer advice parallels giving out advice on which toaster to buy.
Pricing
Residential consulting is generally billed out at $70/hr. Business consulting is billed out at $85/hr. The minimum time one may purchase is one hour. Often this includes a visit to your home or office. You are never billed for travel time.
Our residential and business consulting services run the gamut of all computer services we offer. We urge you to pick our brains and take advantage. One area we know you will find useful is computer security. The impact of not learning about computer security will cause your machines to continually be virus and spyware ridden. We don't feel that PC owners can afford not to know anymore.
Other areas of consulting include networking and programming. These disciplines have their counterpart in network troubleshooting and program debugging. We encourage you to talk to us to find out if our skillsets match your needs. Most likely they will.