FAQ
This page of Frequently Asked Questions will cover topics not covered in our Articles section, or discussed elsewhere on our site.
What areas do you serve?
While we are located in the southeastern Michigan area, and service our local area of Canton, Plymouth and surrounding areas, we serve clients all over the USA. If you are able to pay in U.S. funds, we can accept work orders worldwide.
Can you design our site using Flash?
We can do anything you require for your site! While Flash can be attractive for some uses, we discourage constructing your entire site with it. Some internet users prefer not to load Flash, and have it disabled in their browsers; others do not yet have broadband access, and do not wish to wait while a Flash presentation loads. Make sure you include alternate content for your site, to accommodate those who are unable (or unwilling) to view Flash files.
Can I host music or video files on my site?
If you own the copyrights to the media files, or have legal permission to use them online, then yes, we can host them. As some file formats consume a lot of bandwidth, or if you have a busy site where these files are accessed frequently, we may have to charge extra for hosting your account, over and above our usual fees.
How come you do not list your hourly rates online?
We offer different rates, based on the type of work we do for your site. We charge more for custom programming than we do for simple HTML and graphics layout. If we have to subcontract another programmer to fulfill a need, we normally pass that rate along to our clients. And remember: you get what you pay for!
How long will it take to complete our site?
We will give you an estimate of completion time when we quote your website package. Simple sites can be put online within 24 hours, if we require little or no client input. More complicated sites will require additional work on our end, and a lot of client feedback as we work. We do not like to rush any job, but we are also able to accommodate rush requests if needed.
Where is our site hosted?
We use Pair Networks (Pittsburgh, PA) exclusively. Pair Networks has excellent, redundant connectivity to the internet, state of the art backup power generation and fire suppression systems, and is a fully managed hosting service that uses mainly open source software to provide us with a safe and stable hosting environment. They take care of all of our hardware and hosting software issues, so we can concentrate on our clients’ needs. Having a familiar platform to develop websites on also reduces our cost to the client, and ensures security and stability.
Can our site be hosted on our own server, or at another host?
Possibly, although we discourage this. It costs extra to adapt our programming or work around different hosting environments, and we cannot guarantee that the functionality we have at our current host is available on another computer system. Also, due to uptime concerns, we advise leaving the hosting to the experts in the business, unless you have a full-time I.T. person on staff who is available 24 hours to deal with any downtime issues.
How long have you been in the computing industry?
We have worked with computers since 1984, and began developing websites in 1995, far longer than just about every other web development company out there. Two of our busier sites were first developed in 1997, and are still active with us today! References are available upon request.
What other services do you offer?
In addition to web development and hosting, we offer: photo and image retouching services; audio and video file editing, mastering and production; personal computer troubleshooting and maintenance; network consulting and installation; technical writing; computer and internet training.
What is included in your free, basic hosting?
If you have a small, low-traffic site, we will offer free hosting for one year, at your choice. Many restrictions apply, however, as we host your site on the same server as other clients. With this type of hosting, the client is not given a server login to maintain their hosting account. We do have other low-cost options where you can have your own hosting space, with the ability to login to your hosting account to add domain names, manage e-mail addresses, etc.
What is Kall8?
We are an authorized Kall8 agent–Kall8 is a company offering toll-free numbers that ring through to the phone number of your choice. Your account settings are configurable online, and take effect instantly. Fees start at $2/month for basic toll free numbers, with per-minute charges as low as 6.9 cents per minute for all calls made to destinations within the 48 state area. Check their site for the many additional features you get with your Kall8 account.
