Help is what we do. Kokua is a Hawaiian word for “help” but goes beyond to embody a more holistic helping spirit. But its more than that.

Technology is in our blood, for most of us since we were little kids. Technology is second nature to us; we see how people could use different tools for different reasons. Using technology in creative ways excites us.

So if you have a business problem that keeps showing up, describe it to us and see if we have a couple of suggestions. Our answer could be a simple fix or a complicated system. When you need help with technology, our mission is to be the one who helps you, so we want you to ask us questions.

A good sale is when both the buyer and the seller are happy. However, sometimes things go wrong, and you decide how to respond. Give a little, take a little more. It’s like a chess game, which has nothing to do with fairness.

Chess isn’t a fun way to relate to clients. Instead we choose fairness. Fair from the beginning is what makes a relationship last. And fairness is mutual.

We design all our services so we are rewarded for doing a great job for you, not racking up the hours for the sake of it. When a project is proposed for a fixed fee, it encourages us to plan and design for success. That’s good for both of us, which is ultimately what being fair is about.

No company can be all things to all people. It just doesn’t work that way. So we decided that we wanted to be awesome at a particular set of services and offer a few particular products.

When you ask us a question about how technology may work for your business, our answer is based on what technology we know to exist, not just what we can sell. Simply put, if we don’t offer the solution that fits your business, we will tell you and get you to the right provider.

At our core, we have all lived on referrals from our customers. Referrals happen because we develop trust over time. Trust happens because we talk to you about the right solution, even if it isn’t us.

We understand that technology services may confuse our customers. We make a point of keeping you in control. Our services are designed so you can decide how proactive you want to be.

You can choose to work with us entirely by request. Before we do anything that would generate an invoice, we ask for your permission.

You can also choose to have us do some work proactively, and the rest by request. For example, our Drumbeat solutions includes preventative maintenance for a fixed monthly fee, but other “break/fix” service is billed hourly. And you can choose a monthly flat-rate for technology service, such as Drumbeat Onsite which includes preventative maintenance and day-to-day support services.

If there is a technology emergency, you can choose to press the panic button, and we will move virtual mountains to help.

As a typical IT company grows, they bring on less expensive technicians to handle simpler tasks. If the “Tier 1” technician cannot solve the problem, send in “Tier 2” and then “Tier 3.” You are left wishing that they started with “Tier 3” because you lost several days as your ticket was “escalated”.

Our people operate in teams, not tiers. From our standpoint, all of the products and services that we offer fall into different areas of expertise: desktop support, field service, infrastructure, Internet, phone systems, and training. No one person is an expert in everything.

Naturally, each team has different people with different abilities. Our job is to turn the newbies into Kahunas on each team. Team leaders are responsible for what the team delivers. Each person is on two or more teams to ensure that we are versatile and well-versed. Our teams get better and benefit from sharing the knowledge.

Everyone likes it when you do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. On the surface it seems so simple, but in the real world it can be amazingly hard to do. It can be a perpetual juggling act, so we’ve decided that we need to focus on a couple basic things.

When we set an appointment for service, we show up on time. If something gets in the way, we stay in touch with you.

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
— Woody Allen

Regardless of how talented our Tech Kahunas are, how great our services are, or how perfectly on target our solutions are, if we don’t show up, it doesn’t matter.

As people who are passionate about technology, it is hard to resist “talking tech,” or using some of the industry jargon. We provide products and services that our customers frequently don’t understand. Our customers rely on us to help them understand which product is better for them, or why something about the product matters to their business.

We want to teach our customers how technology can enhance their business, not just translate all of the jargon terms. We avoid geek speak unless we have to or you ask us to. Plain english with real world practicality is always required.

When you want to get a better understanding of the technological specifics, we will warn you that you are in for a complicated ride, but we’ll happily go down that road with you. We know the jargon, but we don’t need to dangle it in front of you to prove that we know what we are doing.

Have you ever lost an afternoon or a day of work (or more) while some IT guy sat at or under your desk to fix your computer? Now just imagine how much time is wasted that way with an office of 10 machines, or 20, or 50. We believe there is a better way.

Your time is valuable and we respect that. Some problems require us to physically take control of the machine, and it will interrupt your work. Our goal is to keep this to a minimum.

So we have invested in the infrastructure tools that allow us to do critical system maintenance and troubleshooting from Kokua Labs (our operations center here in Southern New Jersey) without forcing you or your co-workers to stop using their machines.

When we are able to fix a problem or do system maintenance without impacting your work day, we do a little hula dance of joy. Yes we do.