The hardest part of switching IT providers is the awkward phone call. We’re happy to make it.
Most businesses don’t stay with their IT company because it’s good. They stay because leaving feels like admin, plus one uncomfortable conversation. It’s the same reason people keep paying for a gym they haven’t seen since Easter.
So the real obstacle usually isn’t the switch. It’s the dread of the switch. That part, we can take off your hands.
We look after businesses across Townsville, from Bushland Beach to Alligator Creek, and out to Ayr, Ingham and Charters Towers. If you’re putting up with IT that isn’t working, here’s what changing over to us actually involves. It’s less than you’d think, and most of it is ours to do.
Putting up with it has a cost. It’s just a quiet one.
Nothing breaks on the day you decide to stay. That’s what makes staying feel free. But you probably recognise a few of these:
You chase them more than they chase problems.
The same fault gets “fixed” every few weeks.
Every call starts with explaining who you are.
Nobody can tell you, in one sentence, where your backup goes.
The main email password lives in somebody’s head. Possibly somebody who’s left.
The invoice arrives and you’re not quite sure what it’s for.
None of these is a disaster. Together, they’re a small tax on your patience, paid monthly.
The four worries, and what actually happens
“I’ll have to have the awkward conversation.”
Only if you want to. Giving notice under any agreement you have is yours to do. After that, if you’d like us to, we’ll contact your current IT company or person ourselves and ask for what’s needed. If they’re slow, we’ll keep asking, politely, so you don’t have to.
And you can ring us first without telling anyone. Nobody needs to know you’re looking.
“Nobody knows the passwords.”
More common than you’d think, and fixable. If you want us to, we’ll collect the logins for your email, website, internet, phones and software, and write down where each one lives. No more passwords on a sticky note under the keyboard. Or in one person’s memory.
“Something will break and we’ll lose a week.”
A handover is mostly logins, paperwork and finding out what’s there, and much of it happens remotely, behind the scenes. Your staff should notice very little. We try not to change anything big until we know your setup. Nobody likes a new broom on day one. And you can ring us for help from the day you say yes, even while the handover’s still going.
“What if the backups don’t actually work?”
A good question, and most people only think to ask it on the worst possible day. With us, backup alert emails come straight to you. If a backup fails, you hear about it directly, not third-hand weeks later. Or, if you’d rather not think about backups at all, we can manage them fully. Either way, you’re not relying on someone remembering to mention it.
How long does it take?
Honestly, it depends on two things we don’t control: whether you’re under contract with your old provider (and what the notice period says), and how quickly they hand things over. Some providers are quick and gracious about it. Some find it harder to let go.
So there’s no fixed timeline, and we’d rather tell you that than make one up.
What does it cost?
The handover itself costs nothing. If your setup needs work to get it right, we’ll tell you what and why before we start, so the bill doesn’t come as a surprise.
How a switch to us goes
You ring Kelly or Carisa. Tell us what’s bugging you about your current IT. Usually one of us answers straight away. If we’re driving or on a job, we’ll call or text you back, usually within the hour.
You choose how much we do. Make the call to your old provider, collect the logins, take over the backups, or all three. Some people like to do parts themselves. That’s fine too.
We find out what you’ve got, and write it down. Computers, email, internet, phones, software and who supplies what. That becomes the record of your setup, and we keep it up to date.
Your IT starts being looked after. For managed IT clients: monitoring, updates, drive health and disk space checks, and ransomware protection that watches what programs actually do, rather than shop antivirus, which only looks for threats it already knows. Plus a plain-English monthly report of what we fixed or blocked.
We fix what’s been bugging you. The first few weeks are about the problems that made you ring in the first place. Then we improve the rest, one thing at a time, and tell you what can wait.
If you ever leave us, you take the map with you
Here’s an odd thing to put on a page that’s trying to win your business. We keep a record of how your IT is set up. If you ever decide to leave us, we give you the copy. Your next IT company starts with a map instead of a treasure hunt.
Why mention it now, before you’ve even rung? Because an IT company that makes leaving easy can only keep you one way: by being good. It’s the same reason we don’t do lock-in contracts. If you’d like a set term, for example to lock in one fixed price, we can agree one together. Some supplier licences, like annual Microsoft 365 plans, come with their own terms, and we’ll tell you before you sign up.
Phones and internet can come too
If the phones or the internet are part of the mess, bring them along. In most cases you can keep your existing phone numbers, and we handle the transfer. Our internet plans have no minimum term. Our cloud phone plans don’t either, unless you choose to rent new phone equipment, which comes with its own term, and we’ll tell you before you sign. Either way, you’re not escaping one contract just to walk into another.
“But there are only two of you.”
Yes. That’s rather the point. With a bigger company, you get whoever’s free. With us, it’s Kelly or Carisa, every time, so the person who did your handover is the person who answers in month six, and they already know where everything is.
Kelly Hunn has been fixing IT for more than 30 years, and Kelly and Carisa have run their own business since 2006. Their own mobiles are on this page. Managed IT clients get 24/7 support at no extra charge. See managed IT, the industries we work with or more about Kelly and Carisa.
What we can’t do is hurry your old provider, or make them cheerful about it. If they drag their feet, some steps take longer than any of us would like.
Questions people ask before switching
Do I have to tell my current IT company before I talk to you?
No. You can ring us first and ask whatever you like. When you decide to switch, check your current agreement for any notice period and give notice the way it asks.
Will you deal with my old IT provider for me?
Yes, if you’d like us to. Giving notice under your agreement is yours to do. After that, we can contact your old provider ourselves, ask for the logins and details we need, and follow up if they’re slow.
How long does switching take?
There’s no fixed timeline. It depends on whether you’re under contract with your old provider, what the notice period is, and how quickly they hand things over. We’ll talk you through what to expect for your situation. In the meantime, you can ring us for help from the day you say yes.
Who keeps the passwords and the setup details?
Your business. If you’d like, we collect the logins for you. We keep a record of how your IT is set up, and if you ever leave us, we give you the copy.
Are we locked in if we switch to you?
No. There are no lock-in contracts by default on any of our pricing options. If you’d like a set term, for example to lock in one fixed price, we can agree one together. Some supplier licences, like annual Microsoft 365 plans, come with their own terms. Our internet plans have no minimum term or payout, and neither do our cloud phone plans, unless you choose to rent new phone equipment, which has its own term.
Do you charge for the handover?
The handover itself costs nothing. If your setup needs work to get it right, we’ll tell you what and why before we start, so the bill doesn’t come as a surprise.
The faces on this page are the people who answer the phone. Odd thing to have to point out, really.
Unhappy with your current IT? Tell one of us what's going on. You don't have to decide anything on the call, and nobody needs to know you rang.
Carisa
The calm voice on the other end when things go wrong.
Kelly
30+ years fixing IT. Has seen most problems before, some of them twice.
Usually one of us answers straight away. If we're driving or on a job, we'll call or text you back, usually within the hour.
Managed IT clients get 24/7 support at no extra charge.
We put our own mobiles on the website. Most IT companies would rather not. That's sort of the point.
Tell us what's bugging you.
Ring Kelly or Carisa and tell us what’s wrong with your current IT. If switching isn’t worth the bother for you, we’ll say so.
No lock-in contracts. If we stop being good, you're free to go. We'd rather you didn't.
We usually call back within the hour, and within one business day at the latest.
Busy? We'll ring you.
Leave your number and tell us what's not working. We'll take it from there.