Most support is remote now and that is a genuine saving rather than a compromise: a session that starts in two minutes beats an engineer arriving on Thursday for almost everything a small business hits. The question worth asking is what happens on the days remote cannot work, because those are the days that cost the most and the ones a purely remote contract is quietest about.
What remote genuinely handles
Software faults, account and password problems, mail configuration, printer queues, permissions, and the long tail of things that are quicker to fix by taking control of the screen than by describing over a phone. On a modern estate with cloud mail and files this is the overwhelming majority of tickets, and a provider that resolves it quickly is delivering most of the value of the contract.
What it cannot handle
Hardware that has failed, a switch or firewall that needs replacing, a network that is down so completely that no remote session can reach it, and a new office that needs building. Also the first day of a new starter, where somebody has to be handed a working machine. Each of those needs a person in the building or a courier and a plan, and those are the lines to look for.
The three answers to get before signing
Whether onsite visits are included, capped or billed, and at what rate. What the provider does when the site is unreachable, which is the scenario where a remote-only contract is worth nothing at exactly the wrong moment. And who supplies and configures replacement hardware, because a business waiting for its own procurement while a laptop is dead is losing more than the laptop cost.
Questions people ask about remote it support for small business
Can IT support be entirely remote for a small business?
For most tickets, yes. It cannot cover failed hardware, a network that is fully down, or handing a new starter a working machine, so a purely remote contract needs a named answer for those.
Are onsite visits included?
It varies, and no provider in this record publishes a rate for them. Get whether they are included, capped or billed, and at what rate, in writing.
What happens if the whole site is offline?
That is the question a remote-only contract answers worst, and the one worth asking first. Ask specifically what the provider does and how long it takes.