What kinds of Garland businesses I support
Garland is more industrial than most of its neighbors, and that shapes the IT work. A machine shop or distribution warehouse off I-635 has different needs than an insurance agency near the downtown square, and I set each one up differently.
- Manufacturing, warehousing and distribution. Long buildings, metal shelving and forklifts are hard on Wi-Fi. Scanners, label printers and shipping stations need reliable wired drops and access points placed where the signal actually reaches. I run the cable, mount the access points and manage the network afterward.
- Auto shops, trades and service companies. Usually a front-office computer or two, a shop-floor tablet, a printer and a phone line that must not go down. I keep it simple, backed up and patched, and I am on call when the estimating software will not open on a Monday morning.
- Dental, medical and chiropractic offices. Practice management software, imaging, HIPAA duties and a front desk that cannot afford a frozen schedule. See how I handle this on the dental practices page.
- Professional offices around downtown Garland. Insurance agencies, tax preparers, small law offices and real estate teams that live in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and mostly need someone dependable to call.
What these have in common is size. Most have between three and forty people and nobody whose title includes IT. That is the business I am built for.
Remote-first support, with Garland close enough for same-day visits
Remote first means that when you call, I connect to the affected computer or server over a secure remote session and fix it while we talk. Password resets, email problems, printers that vanished, software that will not update, a slow computer, a locked account: all of that is solved faster remotely than by anyone driving to you. You pay for less time and you are back to work sooner.
When remote cannot fix it, I come out. Garland is close to my base in Dallas, so same-day onsite visits are often possible when a switch dies, a workstation will not power on or a cable is physically damaged. For managed IT clients, those onsite visits are included at no extra charge when remote cannot resolve the problem. For hourly clients, onsite time is billed at the published rate with a one-hour minimum.
Because Cross River Tech is a small company, I will always be honest about scheduling. If I am already at another client's building in Frisco when you call, I will tell you when I can realistically be in Garland and, in the meantime, the problem gets worked remotely right away. Nobody at Cross River Tech will ever tell you a technician has been dispatched when one has not.
Cabling, warehouse Wi-Fi and office moves in Garland
A lot of my Garland project work is physical: new suites being finished out, warehouses that outgrew a single consumer router, and businesses moving from an older building to a newer one closer to the Bush Turnpike or the LBJ corridor.
Data cabling for new build-outs and renovations
I run Cat6 cable from the IT room to every workstation, printer, phone, camera and access point location, terminate and test every drop, and build the IT room properly: rack, patch panel, switch, firewall and access points, labeled so the next person can understand it. Details are on the data cabling page. For warehouses, the placement of access points matters more than the count, so I walk the floor before quoting.
Office relocation
Moving a Garland business is mostly a planning problem. I document what you have, order internet for the new address early because carriers take weeks, cable the new space, then disconnect, move and reconnect everything over a night or weekend so your people arrive Monday to a working office. The full process is on the office move page, and my guide to office Wi-Fi access point installation explains why one strong router is rarely the answer.
After-hours support for shifts, weekends and Monday mornings
Many Garland businesses do not keep office hours. Warehouses run second shifts. Shops open early on Saturday. A dental practice sees patients at seven in the morning. So my remote support is available around the clock, every day of the year, including holidays. After-hours rates apply, and you will always know that before I start.
For managed clients, most after-hours work never becomes a phone call at all. Updates, backups and security checks run overnight on a schedule, and I fix what the monitoring flags before you notice. For hourly clients, the published after-hours rates are $150 per hour remote and $225 per hour onsite, with the same one-hour minimum as daytime work. Business-hours rates are $100 remote and $150 onsite. All of it is on the pricing page so there are no surprises.
Managed IT or hourly help: which fits a Garland business?
Two ways to work with me. Managed IT is a flat monthly fee per user or per device that covers updates, antivirus and email security, managed backup, network management and unlimited remote support, with onsite included when remote cannot fix it. It is month to month and you can cancel anytime. I quote it per user or per device after a short conversation about your setup.
Hourly break/fix is for businesses that only need occasional help: a new computer set up, a network that stopped working, a one-time cleanup. No contract, no monthly fee, just the published rate. I wrote about when that makes sense in IT support without a contract in Dallas, and the same logic applies in Garland.
My honest rule of thumb: if you have fewer than five computers and rarely have problems, start hourly. If you have more than that, depend on email and a shared system all day, or handle patient, client or financial data, managed IT is cheaper over a year and far less stressful. Either way, get in touch and I will tell you which one I would pick in your position.
Questions from Garland businesses
Do you come onsite in Garland, or is everything remote?
Both. I solve most problems remotely because it is faster and costs you less, and I visit Garland by appointment when the job needs hands on hardware: a failed switch, a new workstation, cabling, or a move. Garland is close to my Dallas base, so same-day onsite visits are often possible. Managed IT clients pay nothing extra for onsite time when remote cannot fix the problem.
Can I get IT help after hours or on weekends in Garland?
Yes. Remote support is available around the clock every day of the year, including holidays, and after-hours rates apply. For hourly clients that is $150 per hour remote and $225 per hour onsite with a one-hour minimum. Managed IT clients have most routine after-hours work, such as updates and backups, handled automatically overnight so it rarely becomes an emergency call.
Do you support warehouses and shops, not just offices?
Yes, and Garland has plenty of them. I set up wired drops and properly placed Wi-Fi access points for shipping stations, scanners and label printers, keep the front-office computers patched and backed up, and manage the firewall and internet connection. Metal racking and long buildings need a real walk-through before anyone buys equipment, so I look at the floor first.
How much does managed IT cost for a small Garland business?
I quote managed IT per user or per device after a short conversation, and it is month to month with no long contract. As a general reference, small business managed IT in the Dallas market is commonly quoted somewhere around $100 to $175 per user per month depending on what is included. Hourly help with no contract is $100 per hour remote and $150 per hour onsite during business hours.
What happens if you are busy when my Garland office has a problem?
I tell you the truth about timing. Cross River Tech is a small company, so onsite visits are scheduled rather than promised, but remote work on your problem starts right away, my team keeps routine requests moving while I am at another site, and most issues are resolved that way. When an onsite visit is required, I give you a realistic arrival window rather than a vague promise. You always deal with me directly, never a ticket queue.