- Home
- How a session runs
A remote tech support session starts with a code you read out, and ends with nothing of ours left on your machine.
This is the clock of a booked remote computer support session, from the confirmation email to the moment we disconnect. You watch the screen the whole time. Nothing connects until you click Allow, and the block price is agreed in writing before that click.
Thirty minutes of a remote support session, by the clock.
This is a typical 30-minute block for a single problem. A 60-minute booking runs the same way with a longer middle. Times are measured from the moment you click Allow, not from when the phone rings.
-
−1 day
Booking confirmed in writing
You send the form or call +1 (899) 555-5520. We reply with a time, the block length and the price basis, which starts at $45 for 30 minutes. If the problem description smells like hardware, we say so here and save you the booking. Same-day slots happen; we never promise one.
-
−5 min
We call you
On the number you gave. Not a chat window, not a robot. A technician asks you to describe the fault in one sentence and to have the machine on, plugged in and logged in. If it is a laptop, put it on the charger. A battery that drops to 4% mid-update is how a 30-minute job becomes two.
-
00:00
You open the tool and read us the code
On Windows we use Quick Assist, which ships with Windows 10 and 11. On a Mac, or where Quick Assist is blocked, we send a link to a one-time RustDesk client that runs without installing. You read us the code on your screen: six characters in Quick Assist, a nine-digit ID plus a one-time password in RustDesk. It expires when the session closes, so a code read out yesterday opens nothing today.
-
00:01
Consent prompt: you click Allow
Your operating system shows a prompt naming the session and the permission requested: view only, or full control. We ask for full control only when the fix needs it, and we tell you which before you click. Until you click, we see nothing. If you click Deny, the session never existed.
-
00:02
Triage, out loud
We look at what you see: Event Viewer or Console, Device Manager, the disk health report, the update history. We narrate as we go. "Opening Settings, Windows Update, Update history" is the level of detail you should expect. If you want silence, say so; most people stop listening by minute four.
-
10:00
Hardware checkpoint
By the tenth minute we know whether this is a screen-side job. If SMART shows reallocated sectors climbing, if the battery report shows swelling-level wear, if the machine shuts off under load, we stop. You get a written note of what we found and which kind of bench to take it to, and that session is not charged. That is how we work, not a promise about how your fault will turn out.
-
10:00
to 27:00The fix
The actual work. A driver replaced with the maker's own package, an Outlook profile rebuilt, a print spooler cleared, a startup list cut from 41 entries to 9. Anything we install, we name before we install it. Anything we delete, we name before we delete it. You can say stop at any point and the clock stops with you.
-
27:00
Over-run question
If the fix will not finish inside the block, we say so at minute 27 and ask before the next 30 minutes start. You can say no. We leave the machine in a working state, write down where we got to, and you can book the remainder later. We never roll into a second block on silence.
-
30:00
Test, then disconnect
You run the thing that was broken while we watch: print the page, send the mail, open the shared drive. Then we close the session from our side, and you see the tool close on yours. Quick Assist leaves nothing behind. The RustDesk one-time client is deleted in front of you before we hang up.
Nothing connects before you say yes, twice.
Remote access has a bad reputation for a good reason. Most of the calls we get about "a man from Microsoft" are people who let a stranger in, watched a fake virus scan, and then got asked for gift cards. So the order of consent in a session with us is fixed, and you can check every step of it.
First consent is the booking: you asked us, in writing or on a call you placed. We do not cold-call, and we never ask you to connect on a call you did not expect. Second consent is the operating system prompt, which only you can click. Windows and macOS put that prompt on your screen, not ours, and no tool we use can bypass it.
There is a third one for unattended access, which is a separate job with its own agent, its own password and a written list of who may connect. It is never set up during a one-off session, and never because it would make our next visit easier. If you want it, it is on its own page with its own price.
- We never ask for your Windows or Apple ID password out loud. If a sign-in is needed, you type it while we look away from the field.
- We never open online banking, payment apps or a browser profile that is not involved in the fault.
- We never ask for payment by gift card, crypto or a wire to a personal account.
- Moving your own mouse takes control back. Closing the tool ends the session instantly.
- If you did not book with us and someone claiming to be us calls, hang up and call +1 (899) 555-5520 yourself.
One rule covers most scams: a real technician waits for you to start the connection. If anyone pushes you to install something before you asked for help, it is not support.
Every session leaves a paper trail you can read.
The technician keeps notes while the session runs. Not a recording of your screen. We do not record video of sessions, and we would rather lose the occasional "what did you click at minute 14" argument than hold footage of somebody's inbox.
What gets written down is plain: start and end time, the tool used, the permission level you granted, each change made and why, anything installed or removed, and the result of the test at the end. You get a short summary by email after the call. If something we changed causes trouble later, that summary is how the next technician picks it up in two minutes instead of twenty.
| Field | Example entry | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Window | 14:02 to 14:29 CT | You and us |
| Tool and access | Quick Assist, full control | You and us |
| Changes | Generic PCL6 driver removed, maker's driver 4.1 installed | You and us |
| Left installed | Nothing | You and us |
| Outcome | Test page printed from Word and Edge | You and us |
How the session ends, and what stays behind.
You test it, not us
The fault is fixed when you can do the thing yourself. We watch you print, sign in or connect, then we stop.
We close from our side
The session window closes on both screens. The code you read out is dead from that moment.
Leftovers removed in front of you
Any one-time client is deleted, and we show you the Apps list or the Applications folder without it.
Summary and invoice by email
Usually within the hour. The invoice matches the price confirmed before you clicked Allow.
Seven days of cover
If the same symptom comes back within 7 days, the follow-up session costs nothing. The full wording is in the terms, under Session guarantee.
The four questions people ask before the first call.
If yours is not here, ask it on the phone. We would rather spend two minutes on it before the session than ten during.
Can you see my files while you are connected?
Technically, with full control, yes, the same as someone sitting at your desk. That is why you watch. We open only the windows the fault needs, and we say what we are opening before we open it. If a folder is private, close it before we start; we will work around it.
What if my internet drops mid-session?
The session dies with it and nothing is left half-connected. We call you back, you read a fresh code, and the clock resumes where it stopped. If the fault is the internet itself, we work from your phone's hotspot or move to the router and Wi-Fi job.
Who is this not for?
Anyone whose machine will not power on, will not reach the desktop, or has had a drink spilled into it. Remote help needs a working screen and a network. Those go to a local bench, and our about page explains where we stop and why.
I look after other people's machines. Can I sit in?
Yes. Repair shops and freelance IT book us for their own clients, often with three people on the call. Sessions can run under your shop's name; see the technician's second pair of hands.
Book a 30-minute block. We ask before the next one.
From $45 per block, confirmed in writing before we connect. Booking hours Mon to Fri 8:00 to 18:00 CT.
- Phone+1 (899) 555-5520
- Email[email protected]
- Office74 Cedar Court, Office 12, Austin, Texas 95088