Computer Repair and Sales Blog

Why choose a brick and mortar computer repair shop in Barrie?

In a previous post I’ve talked about some criteria to choose a company to repair your computer.  In this post I’d like to talk about the advantages of choosing a brick and mortar computer repair shop in Barrie.

One factor often overlooked is that you’re going to be dealing with professionals that are authorized to sell many (if not all) the products that they sell.  This assures you knowledge of the products and also the likelihood that the manufacturer (such as HP and Asus) will give you warranty, technical support and access to special promotions such as free extended warranties (particularly the case with Fujitsu).

Another key factor is that they’re easy to find if there’s a concern.  They’re more likely to protect your privacy and confidentiality because it doesn’t serve them as a business or you as a client to let your information get into the wrong hands.  They can’t simply not answer the door or phone, change their name or pitch their tent on a different corner.  There’s a greater sense of accountability to you as their client.

Brick and mortar shops can’t make a habit of selling sub-standard products or services either.  Barrie is growing quickly, but it still has a small-town essence to it.  Word travels quickly.  Barrie very much functions on word-of-mouth referrals.  Brick and mortar shops that take advantage of people by delivering poor quality products and services won’t survive long.

The reality is that a company that has had a physical location offering computer repair in Barrie for a number of years offers more credibility than someone stating they’ve been in business from their home for the same (or greater) number of years. Credibility is usually a good deciding factor when you’re choosing someone to provide you a service. For example, About.com published a blog article a while back entitled “Computer Repair Barrie – Where can I Take My Computer for Repair in Barrie, ON?” I’m grateful that the readers responded “Northern Protocol!”

Check the company’s page and see if they’ve published testimonials.  Be wary of testimonials that use initials instead of real names as they just scream “phony”.  We’ve also published a testimonials section on our site where clients have written testimonials to share with others. Do we always get it right ourselves? Not a chance. But what we do is work diligently and relentlessly to resolve any problems. Let’s be honest here. I have a 15 year lease and 6 employees. We’re not going to make it to 15 years if we don’t give our best or if I don’t focus on delivering the best experience and value I possibly can.

Is it necessary to bring your computer to a brick and mortar computer repair shop in Barrie to get value and results? No, not necessarily…but how well do you play the odds and do you want to play them with your computer, confidential data and hard earned money? If you have any questions, contact us. We’re here to help.

Northern Protocol goes to the Middle East.

For the past two weeks I’ve been in Doha, Qatar doing an overhaul of two networks.  We were commissioned to fly out there, move all the computers, servers, etc to a new office and revamp their network infrastructure.  At the same time I was to review their printing facilities and make sure they had a functioning network there as well.

My primary responsibility during the move was to coordinate the operation to ensure it went smoothly.  Along the way I found a redundant server, horribly outdated network equipment and even some consumer grade equipment that was failing intermittently, but daily.  I worked with local man power and computer shops to get the right equipment brought in which is a challenge in itself. In Qatar people think a lot differently.  They’re in no hurry to do anything, they may or may not get back to you and chances are better than average that routine parts, such as DSL modems, are not available.  I worked tirelessly with their in house IT to secure the product we needed, shipped a couple of products in from Canada, ensured a smooth transition, upgraded core network backbone components (like switches, routers, etc), replaced tired equipment and streamlined their entire operation.

Finally, after that was completed the stay was extended as a quick assessment of the printing facility revealed that there was no network to speak of, that several operators couldn’t even print, thus requiring new switches, router, printers and the deployment of a server.  This greatly improved efficiency and saved them hours a day in wasted man power manually moving files around on USB keys, relocating to differernt computers to print, etc.  Finally we devised a simple system whereby they could post printing schedules up on large screens so the staff could see at a glance what jobs were queued and their status.

The point to this story is this.  It doesn’t matter if you’re around the globe or around the corner.  If you need computer sales and repair in Barrie or in the Middle East, project coordination or even network overhauls, call us.  We can help you.  For more information call 705.739.2.FIX today!

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