Remote IT Support
Secure remote sessions that start in minutes, not days. Most IT problems never need someone on site — and remote support is not limited to a 20-mile radius.
Most IT problems do not need hands in the room. They need someone competent looking at the screen within the hour — not a same-day window, not a ticket in a queue, and not a promise to call back.
Remote support is where we start, for one practical reason: it is the difference between a problem that costs you twenty minutes and one that costs you a day.
What gets solved remotely
- Software that will not launch, update or activate
- Email: Outlook, Microsoft 365, shared mailboxes, signatures, calendar permissions
- Printers, drivers and scan-to-email — see printer support
- Wi-Fi and router configuration, channel planning, firmware
- New user setup, offboarding, permissions and file access
- Backup verification and restoring a file someone deleted
- Malware cleanup and post-incident checks
- VPN and remote access for staff working from home
- Anything where the answer is “why is this doing that?”
That covers the large majority of what a small office actually calls about.
What needs someone there
We will tell you this early rather than burning your time:
- Hardware that has failed and needs replacing
- Cabling, patch panels, switches, physical network work
- Wi-Fi coverage problems, which require measuring the space — see Wi-Fi support
- A machine that will not power on or boot
- New office builds and moves
For all of these, we come to you. Boston and everything within 20 miles.
How it works
1. You text or email. One sentence about what is wrong. contact@althora.com or a text to (617) 991-4427 — both reach us, and both get answered.
2. We send a link. You click it, you approve the connection, and the session opens. Nothing is installed permanently.
3. You watch. The whole session is on your screen. Ask what we are doing at any point — we would rather explain than have you wonder.
4. You get a summary. What was wrong, what we changed, and what will keep it from coming back. In plain English, because you should not need us to interpret our own notes.
Why remote-first is better for you, not just cheaper for us
The MSPs around Boston advertise “same business day” on-site response as a feature. It is worth asking what that means when your accounting system is down at 10am on the last day of the quarter. Same business day is not the same as now.
A remote session that starts in ten minutes beats an excellent technician arriving at four in the afternoon. When the problem genuinely needs hands, we drive out. But trying remote first is almost always faster for the person with the broken thing.
It also means you are not paying for travel time on a problem that took eight minutes to solve.
Related
- Managed IT support — when the one-off calls start adding up
- Cybersecurity — backup, MFA and the basics that prevent the worst calls
Frequently asked questions
- How fast can a session start?
- Usually within minutes of your text or email during business hours. You get a link, you approve the connection, and we are looking at the same screen you are. There is nothing to install permanently and nothing to configure in advance.
- Is remote access safe?
- The connection is encrypted, you approve it each time, you watch everything that happens, and you can end it instantly. We do not leave a standing agent on your machines unless you are on a managed plan and have asked for it — and in that case it is documented, and you can revoke it.
- What cannot be done remotely?
- Anything physical. A failed drive, a dead switch, cabling, a Wi-Fi coverage survey, or a machine that will not boot. We are honest about the line: if remote will not solve it, we say so in the first few minutes rather than billing you for an hour of trying.
- Do you support people outside Greater Boston?
- For remote work, yes — geography is irrelevant once the session is open. Our 20-mile radius applies to on-site visits. If your team is distributed, or someone works from home in another state, we can still help them.
- Do I need a contract?
- No. The first time you contact us, you get help. Managed plans exist for businesses that want a fixed monthly cost and proactive monitoring, but nothing about getting a problem fixed requires signing anything.
Tell us what stopped working
Text or email is usually faster than a call. We serve Boston and everything within 20 miles — and remote support has no radius.