Your client guide
Getting the most out of
your technology
Welcome to iceConnect. This short guide covers everything you need in order to work with us well: how to get help, how quickly we’ll respond, who to speak to, and what we can take off your hands. Give it five minutes now and you’ll know exactly what to do when you need us.
01 · Getting help
Welcome to iceConnect
We’re glad to be working with you.
Our job is simple: keep your technology running quietly in the background so your team can get on with their work. When something does go wrong, we fix it, quickly, and without you having to chase us.
Beyond the day-to-day, we’ll help you plan ahead. Where your systems are heading, what needs replacing, where you’re exposed, and how technology can make your business more efficient. That’s the part most people don’t expect from an IT company, and it’s the part we care most about.
This guide tells you how to get the best from us. It won’t take long.
Share this with your team. Anyone who might need to raise a support request should read the first two sections. It saves everyone time.
02 · Getting help
How to get support
Three ways to reach us. Each one lands straight in our system, so nothing gets lost.
Email us
Raises a ticket automatically and sends you a confirmation. Monitored 9am to 5pm — outside these hours, always call us in an emergency.
Track your requests
Every open request in one place. Register with your work email first time.
Call us
Both reach the service desk. In an emergency, always call.
Please don’t email an engineer directly or ring their mobile. It sounds faster, but it isn’t. The request never enters our system, nobody else can pick it up, and it will almost certainly take longer. Use the three routes above and your issue reaches whoever is free and best placed to fix it.
03 · Getting help
How fast we respond
Every request is given a priority. The more people affected, and the more it stops work, the faster it moves. These are the times we aim for.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Priority | First response | Available | Updates | Aiming to fix in | What this looks like |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 Showstopper | 10 minutes | 24/7 | Hourly | 2 hours | Your server is down. More than half your team cannot work. |
| P2 Major incident | 30 minutes | 24/7 | 2-hourly | 6 hours | Your internet is out. More than a quarter of your team cannot work. |
| P3 High priority | 30 minutes | Office hours | 4-hourly | 8 hours | Time-critical, or raised by a director. One person completely unable to work. |
| P4 Normal | 1 hour | Office hours | Daily | 12 hours | One person has a problem, but can carry on with other work meanwhile. |
| P5 Low priority | 1 day | Office hours | Twice weekly | 72 hours | Routine work. Software updates, setting up a new laptop, general housekeeping. |
These are the targets we work to, and we usually beat them. The formal commitment in your contract is four working hours to first response. The times above are what we hold ourselves to in practice.
04 · Getting help
Who works on your issue
Your request moves up through our team until it’s solved. You don’t need to do anything to make that happen. It’s automatic.
Before anything else, our onboarding team audits your network and documents every part of it, so whoever picks up your call already knows how your systems fit together. They’ll also ask what’s bothering you most right now, and fix that first.
Every request starts here. We log it, work out what’s actually going on, and solve most things on the spot. If it turns out to be affecting more than one person, it goes straight up the chain.
Trickier problems, and anything touching several people at once, go to our senior engineers, who have deeper experience with servers, networks and the more awkward corners of your systems.
The hardest problems land with our most experienced engineers. Where a third party is involved, such as your internet provider or a software vendor, they’ll deal with them on your behalf so you don’t have to.
Bigger pieces of work, such as a network upgrade, a security improvement or an office move, are run by our project team, who’ll keep you posted at every stage.
05 · Getting help
How to escalate
We aim to get it right every time, but occasionally we won’t. If you’re not happy with how something is being handled, say so. Here’s exactly who to speak to.
Use the escalation link in your ticket email
Every ticket confirmation we send has an escalation link in the footer. It carries your ticket reference with it, so our management team can see the full history straight away — no explaining from scratch.
“Your satisfaction is important to us. If you feel your issue hasn’t been addressed adequately or promptly, please click here to escalate your ticket to our management team for a prompt review.”
If you don’t have the email to hand
First port of call
Your helpdesk manager, depending on which office looks after you.
If it’s still not moving
Cagkan (Chuck) Melemendi
Chief Technical Officer
Anything technical, or a request that has stalled.
[email protected] 020 3358 0000If you’re still not satisfied
Amish Sanghrajka
Chief Operating Officer
Service standards, delivery, and how we’re working with you.
[email protected] 020 3358 0000Final port of call
Haree Patel
Chief Executive Officer
If you have been through the stages above and still aren’t satisfied.
[email protected] 020 3358 0000Escalating isn’t a complaint. If something’s dragging, or you’re not getting the answers you need, we’d far rather hear about it early than find out weeks later. Start at stage one and work up.
06 · Your account
Your vCIO
You have a named senior contact who knows your business, not just your kit.
Talk to them about the bigger picture
Your vCIO is also your account manager. They’re who you call about anything above the day-to-day:
- Where your technology is heading
- Budgeting, and what to replace when
- Upcoming projects and office moves
- Your regular technology review
But not for day-to-day problems
If your laptop won’t start, or you can’t get into your email, don’t call your vCIO. They’ll only pass you to the service desk, and you’ll have lost time.
Go straight to [email protected] or ring us. It’s always faster.
07 · Your account
Your authorised contacts
During onboarding you named one or more people who can authorise changes to your account. This matters more than it sounds.
Anything that adds, removes or changes who can get at your data needs sign-off from one of them. New starters, leavers, permission changes, access to a shared mailbox: all of it.
It’s there to protect you. Without it, a convincing-sounding email could hand someone access to your systems who has no business having it, and that’s exactly how a great many breaches start.
Not sure who your authorised contacts are? Ask your vCIO, or email [email protected] and we’ll tell you who’s on the list.
08 · Your account
Billing & invoices
Anything to do with money goes to our accounts team, not the service desk.
How to pay
Direct Debit
PreferredThe simplest option for everyone. Set it up once and your invoices are collected automatically on the due date — nothing to remember, no late payments, no fee.
Set up Direct Debit (opens in a new tab)Bank transfer
Our bank details are on every invoice. Please quote the invoice number as your payment reference so we can match it up.
Request our bank detailsCard payment
Processing fee appliesPay an invoice by card online. Card payments carry a processing fee, which is shown before you confirm. If you pay by card regularly, Direct Debit will work out cheaper.
Pay by cardQuestions about a bill
Invoices and billing queries
The quickest route. Someone will come back to you.
Call the accounts team
09 · What we do
What we can help with
We do considerably more than fix laptops. Everything we offer sits under one of these ten headings. If you need any of it, just ask.
10 · What we do
Improvement projects
Some of our best work starts with a business problem, not a technical one.
If something in your business is slow, painful, or eating hours that could be spent elsewhere, tell your vCIO. There’s a good chance we’ve solved it before, and often the answer is a mix of a smarter process and the right tool, rather than expensive new kit.
You don’t need to arrive with a solution, or even know whether technology is the answer. Just describe the problem. That’s the conversation we enjoy most.
11 · What we do
Technology we recommend
We keep a shortlist of products we know inside out, use ourselves, and trust. Sticking to it means faster support and fewer surprises.
Our recommended list
- Microsoft 365
- Microsoft Azure
- Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft Windows & Servers
- Hyper-V virtualisation
- Dell servers & storage
- Dell desktops & laptops
- Synology storage
- HP printers
- Aruba & UniFi switches
- UniFi wireless
- WatchGuard firewalls
- 3CX phone systems
- Yealink handsets
- Veeam backup
If you use something else
That’s fine. We’ll still help, and we’re good at working things out. Just be aware it may take us a little longer to get up to speed, and in some cases supporting an unfamiliar product falls outside your fixed monthly fee. We’ll always tell you before that happens, never after.
This list changes. Products come and go, and we review it regularly. For the current version, just ask any of our engineers.
12 · What we do
Microsoft 365 licences
Microsoft offers a bewildering number of licences. In practice, almost every business we work with is on one of these five.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column
| Licence | What you get | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange Online | Business email only. No Office apps. | People who just need a mailbox: a shared inbox, or a member of staff who doesn’t use Word or Excel. |
| Business Basic | Email, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive. Office apps in the browser only, with nothing installed on the machine. | Staff who work mainly in email and Teams, and rarely need the full desktop apps. |
| Business Standard | Everything in Basic, plus Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint installed on the desktop. | The standard choice for most office staff. This is where the majority of people land. |
| Business Premium | Everything in Standard, plus the serious security layer: device management, tighter controls on who can sign in from where, and better protection against dodgy email and ransomware. | Anyone handling sensitive data, working to a compliance standard, or who simply wants their business properly protected. For most businesses under 300 staff, this is what we recommend. |
| Office 365 E3 | Everything in Standard, plus a bigger mailbox with unlimited archiving, and the tools to hold and search old data if you’re ever asked to produce it. No cap on how many people you can license. | Businesses past 300 staff, where the Business licences simply stop. Also worth it below that if you have to keep records for years, or already have your own security tooling. |
You don’t have to put everyone on the same licence. Mixing them is normal, and often cheaper. There’s no sense paying for Excel for someone who never opens it. The one hard rule is the 300-seat cap on the Business licences: pass it and you move to an Enterprise plan like E3. Your vCIO will help you work out the right split.
13 · Good to know
What’s included
Your monthly fee covers a great deal, but not absolutely everything. Here’s the honest version.
Covered by your fee
Everything in the inclusion list attached to your agreement, which is to say virtually all of the day-to-day. Unlimited support requests, unlimited hours, no clock-watching. If it’s on the list, don’t hesitate to ask.
Quoted separately
Larger pieces of work that sit outside the day-to-day: installing new equipment, a migration, an office move, project consultancy. We’ll give you a fixed-price quote so you can decide whether to go ahead.
You will never get an unexpected bill from us. If a request falls outside your agreement, we tell you first and quote a fixed price. No surprises, and no meter running in the background.
14 · Good to know
Security vs convenience
There’s a trade-off at the heart of all of this, and it’s worth understanding.
As a rule, the more secure a system is, the more friction it adds. Every extra check is one more step between your staff and their work. Push security too far and people find workarounds, which leaves you less safe, not more.
Our job is to find the point where your business is properly protected and your team barely notices. Not maximum security. The right security, in the right places.
Multi-factor authentication is the clearest example. It adds a few seconds to signing in, and it blocks the overwhelming majority of attempts to break into an account. That trade is worth making every single time, which is why we’ll always push for it on every account, without exception.
15 · Good to know
Ordering hardware & software
Anything IT-related can be bought through us, from a mouse to a server. We’ll also advise on what to buy, so you’re not guessing at specifications.
Smaller orders
A few laptops, some monitors, a batch of licences: email [email protected] or give us a ring. We’ll come back with a quote.
Larger orders & projects
A migration, an office move, a network refresh: speak to your vCIO first. They’ll make sure everything lines up properly, and put together a fixed-price proposal covering the whole job.
16 · Our promise
Our client charter
Five things every one of our engineers is held to, on every single request. We call it CARES, and it’s in the grain of everything we do.
Communication
We explain what’s happening, what we’re doing about it, and how long it will realistically take.
Accountability
Whoever picks it up owns it, until it’s fixed or you have your answer.
Responsiveness
You should never be left waiting or wondering. We come back to you.
Empathy
We understand what this is costing you, in time, money and stress, and we treat it that way.
Solution
In the end, only one thing counts: the problem is solved, or the question is answered.
17 · Our promise
Contact us
For support, always use the service desk. These are our offices.
London Head office
401 Nether StreetFinchley
London N3 1QG
United Kingdom +44 (0) 20 3358 0000
[email protected] Support [email protected] Accounts [email protected]
Chelmsford
LIS HouseMain Road, Woodham Ferrers
Chelmsford CM3 8RP
United Kingdom +44 (0) 1245 323 900
[email protected]
Cape Town
Dock Road JunctionCorner of Stanley & Dock Road
Waterfront, Cape Town 8001
South Africa +27 (0) 10 500 5155
[email protected]