IT Services – Frequently Asked Questions

At RA IT Support, we specialize in IT services for small businesses in Ottawa and the surrounding area. We work with dental clinics, optometrists, medical offices, auto repair shops, towing companies, and professional offices. If you run a small or medium-sized business that relies on technology, we can support your IT.

Managed IT services means we proactively manage, monitor, and support your technology so you don’t have to. Instead of waiting for things to break, we prevent problems, secure your systems, keep everything updated, and provide helpdesk support. This reduces downtime, improves productivity, and gives you predictable monthly IT costs.

Yes. We provide specialized IT support for dental, medical, and healthcare clinics in Ottawa area. We understand practice management software, imaging systems, secure backups, and privacy requirements. Our goal is to keep your clinic running smoothly so your team can focus on patients, not computers.

We use a layered security approach to protect your business from cyber threats. This includes advanced antivirus, firewalls, email protection, secure backups, password management, and regular patching and updates. We also help your team with security best practices to reduce the risk of phishing and ransomware attacks.

Our monthly IT support plans can include:

• Unlimited remote support for your staff
• Proactive monitoring of computers, servers, and network
• Security tools (antivirus, updates, basic cybersecurity)
• Backup management and recovery support
• User and device management (new hires, leavers, new PCs)
• IT consulting and planning

We can customize a plan based on the size of your business and your specific needs.

We provide 24/7 monitoring of your systems so we’re alerted to many issues even outside business hours. Remote support is available during extended business hours, and we offer after-hours emergency support options for clients that need it. This combination keeps your systems running reliably and reduces unexpected downtime.

Our VoIP phone services typically cost less than traditional phone lines and offer more features, such as call routing, mobile apps, voicemail-to-email, and call recording. Because VoIP runs over your internet connection, you avoid many of the fees associated with older phone systems, and your team can take business calls from anywhere.

Yes. We can design and install a complete office network for your business, including:

• Reliable Wi-Fi coverage throughout your office
• Wired network where needed for speed and stability
• Printers, scanners, and shared folders for your team
• Secure remote access (VPN/remote desktop) for staff working from home or other locations

We make sure everything is secure, documented, and easy for your staff to use.

We implement automatic, secure backups for your important data, both locally and in the cloud where appropriate. We regularly test restores so we know the backups are working. In the event of hardware failure, ransomware, or accidental deletion, we can quickly recover your files and systems and get you back up and running.

Absolutely. We can plan and handle your migration to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, including email, files, and collaboration tools. We take care of the technical side—so your team has minimal disruption—and then manage and support your environment going forward (accounts, permissions, security, and training).

Yes. We provide on-site IT support for businesses in Ottawa and nearby areas, and remote IT support for offices across the globe. Many issues can be resolved quickly via remote access, and when needed, we come on-site to set up hardware, troubleshoot complex issues, or complete projects.

We use secure, encrypted password management tools and follow strict access controls. We are in the process of offering and maintaining a secure client portal where you can access important passwords and IT documentation 24/7. This approach keeps your credentials organized, protected, and available to authorized people when needed.

We help dental and healthcare offices by:

• Securing patient data with encryption and access controls
• Setting up role-based permissions and secure logins
• Implementing reliable backups and disaster recovery
• Providing network and device security (firewalls, antivirus, patching)
• Offering guidance on best practices for privacy and data handling

While we don’t act as your legal advisor, our IT solutions are designed to support your compliance with privacy and health information regulations.

Yes. We regularly set up secure remote work solutions for small businesses. This may include VPN access, remote desktop, cloud file sharing, and multi-factor authentication. Our goal is to give your team secure, reliable access to what they need, whether they’re at home, on the road, or in the office.

When choosing an IT company, look for:

• Experience with small businesses similar to yours
• Clear response times and support processes
• Security-focused solutions and best practices
• Proactive, managed IT services (not just break-fix)
• Local presence with remote capabilities
• Transparent, predictable pricing

At RA IT Support, we focus on long-term relationships where we act as your outsourced IT department, not just a one-time technician.

We aim to respond very quickly to urgent issues. For most clients, we typically respond within 1–2 hours during business hours, often sooner for critical outages. Many problems can be fixed remotely right away, and if an on-site visit is required, we schedule it as a priority.

Yes. We regularly help businesses transition from another IT provider. We handle the handover of documentation, passwords, licenses, and systems professionally and securely. Our goal is to make the switch smooth and low-stress for your staff, with clear communication and minimal downtime.

We do. As part of our managed IT services, we offer ongoing IT consulting and planning. We can help you create a technology roadmap, plan hardware refresh cycles, evaluate new software, and budget for future upgrades. This ensures your IT supports your growth instead of holding you back.

Our pricing depends on the number of users, devices, locations, and services you need. We offer flexible, customized plans for small and medium-sized businesses, including flat-rate managed IT packages and project-based work. Contact us for a free assessment, and we’ll provide a clear, tailored quote for your business.