FAQ
Questions we get before anyone signs
Straight answers, including to the questions that do not particularly flatter us. If something you need is not here, call and ask directly.
About the company
How long has Ocean Computers been in business?
Since January 2004. The company has been owned and operated by the same family the entire time, from the same city, with the same commitment not to outsource support.
Where are you located?
Our office is in San Diego, California, and our technicians work in the United States. Our clients are located in all fifty states, which is a consequence of the remote model rather than a separate ambition.
Do you outsource or offshore any support?
No, and this is the commitment that makes everything else we claim credible. Every technician who touches your systems is a US-based Ocean Computers employee. No offshore call centers, no overflow vendors, no subcontractors.
How many clients do you take on?
A limited number each year, deliberately. A crew stretched across too many accounts stops being a crew and becomes a queue, which is the thing most of our clients left another provider to escape. If we are at capacity we will tell you.
Remote support
Why do you only offer remote support?
Because it is faster for the overwhelming majority of business IT work, and because we decided to be excellent at one delivery model rather than adequate at two. A technician who does not have to travel begins working within minutes of a ticket opening.
What if we need someone physically present?
We coordinate a local vendor, brief them precisely on what is required, and manage the work on your behalf. You are not left to find someone yourself. Their charges are quoted before anything is scheduled.
Is remote support secure?
Sessions are initiated by your employee and require their approval. Everything is encrypted and logged, your staff see the screen throughout and can end the session at any moment. Unattended access to servers is configured deliberately and separately rather than enabled quietly across your fleet.
Can you support staff working from home?
Yes, identically to staff in your main office. This is one of the clearest advantages of the model, since a home-based employee typically receives worse service from an onsite-first provider.
Pricing and contracts
How is pricing structured?
Flat per user per month for the Crew plans. Your invoice changes when your headcount changes and not otherwise. Projects outside the plan are quoted and approved before any work begins.
Why is there no price list on the website?
Because a number without context would be misleading. A ten-person firm with a clean tenant and modern laptops costs meaningfully less per user than a ten-person firm with a 2016 server and machines that cannot run current Windows. The free assessment produces a real figure, usually within a week.
Do you require a long-term contract?
No. There is no multi-year commitment. We would rather earn the renewal each month than rely on a term to keep you.
What happens if we want to leave?
You give notice, we hand over documentation in a usable format, and we cooperate with your incoming provider. You own your hardware and licenses outright. We do not make leaving difficult, because a provider who does is telling you what they think of their own service.
Getting started
What is a Depth Check?
Our free assessment. We review your endpoints, servers, Microsoft 365 tenant, backups, network and security posture, then deliver written findings. It costs nothing and the report is yours whether or not you become a client.
How long does onboarding take?
Roughly two weeks for most businesses under fifty users, from signed agreement to fully deployed. Larger or messier environments run three to four weeks, and we tell you which you are during the assessment rather than afterward.
Can you take over from our current provider?
Yes, and we handle the transition directly rather than putting you in the middle of it. The main variable is how quickly the outgoing provider releases credentials and documentation, which varies considerably.
What do you need from us to get started?
For the assessment: administrative access to your Microsoft 365 tenant and domain, access to any servers, and about ninety minutes with someone who understands how the business actually runs day to day.
Service and support
How quickly do you respond?
Same business day for every request, and in practice most are answered within the hour during business hours. Crew Care clients also have after-hours emergency coverage for genuine outages.
What are your hours?
Monday to Friday, 7am to 6pm Pacific. Monitoring runs continuously regardless, so infrastructure problems frequently generate a ticket on our side before anyone notices them.
Is there a limit on support requests?
Not under Crew Care. Unlimited remote help desk for your staff, because a plan that discourages people from calling produces exactly the behavior we are trying to eliminate.
Do you support Macs?
Yes, though our depth is on the Windows side. We manage Macs in mixed environments and support Apple hardware for everyday business use. An entirely Mac-based studio would be better served by a Mac specialist, and we would say so.
Security and compliance
Can you make us HIPAA or PCI compliant?
We implement and document the technical safeguards those frameworks require, which is a substantial part of the work. We do not certify compliance, because no IT provider legitimately can. Compliance also involves policies, training and vendor agreements beyond technology.
Do you sign business associate agreements?
Yes, as a matter of course before touching any system containing protected health information.
Can you help with our cyber insurance application?
Yes. We answer the technical questions accurately and document the evidence behind each answer, which matters because an inaccurate application can void a claim at the moment you need it most.
What happens if we are breached?
Crew Guard clients have an incident response runbook prepared in advance covering contacts, isolation, communication and evidence preservation. Writing that during an incident is how a contained problem becomes a prolonged one.
Talk to Us
Still have a question?
Call and ask. You will reach a technician rather than a sales team, and you will get a direct answer even when it is not the answer that wins us the work.
(858) 429-1311Family owned in San Diego, California since 2004 · remote support in all 50 states · US-based technicians · never outsourced