Services for Home & Family

Many homes now have a pick ’n ’mix of Windows laptops, Apple Macs, tablets and phones.  We help you set them up to keep you and your family safer online, and avoid the ‘what if I break it’ fear.

• New device setup - Get new laptops, tablets and phones configured, updated, secured and ready to use with accounts, apps and email all working.

• Windows 10 End-of-Life - If you have a computer running Windows 10, like us you will have no doubt seen the dire warnings about it being end-of-life and unsupported.  We can help unpick what this means in the real world and provide options to either upgrade, replace or re-use your existing equipment so it remains useful, secure and reliable.

• Security built in - Turn on sensible protection against viruses, hackers, scams and dodgy apps without making devices frustrating to use.

• Backup that works  -  We all have files and photos that we want to be protected and safe.  We can set up automatic backups for family photos, schoolwork and important documents, so a broken or lost device does not mean lost memories and stress.

As parents we are juggling more screens, apps and platforms than ever.  We of course want our children to be safe online, but also recognise that technology is an important part of modern life that our children must be confident and knowledgable about.  We can help you set clear, realistic boundaries that fit your family values, and setup your devices to ensure those protections are built-in.

• Parental controls setup - Configure controls on home broadband, phones, tablets, games consoles and smart TVs to manage access by age and time of day.

• Screen time and house rules - Help you create simple, fair ‘house tech rules’ that balance homework, play and sleep, and that both adults and children can understand.

• Safe social and messaging - Review privacy settings and friend requests, and talk through how to manage group chats, social media and sharing photos.

• Child and teen accounts - Create age-appropriate logins and profiles so children have their own space without the risk of exposure to things they shouldn’t see or payment methods they shouldn’t use.

Online homework and school portals are now part of everyday life for children, we help you get set up so schoolwork can be done calmly and on time, the devices are safe and children can’t be sucked into games and entertainment.

• Right devices for learning - There are a huge number of devices available, but not all are created equal and the choice can be daunting.  We can help choose devices that offer solid protections for use by families, and set up those devices in a way that is appropriate for your family’s house rules, that are appropriate for your children’s age and meet school requirements without overspending.

• Shared devices that work - Where laptops and devices are shared, we all want our personal space.  We can help create separate accounts and profiles for family members so multiple children can share a laptop or tablet without treading on each other’s work or preferences.

• Learning-friendly setup - To help children easily access the apps and tools that their school uses, we can configure browsers, bookmarks and basic tools to make school portals, homework sites and video lessons easy to access.

• Study spaces and routines - We know family computers and devices will be used for school, games, entertainment and everything in-between.  While that’s to be expected, it can be good to set sensible time-limits and windows for these activities to support focus and wellbeing.  We can help setup these protections and coach you on how to tweak them as your family grows.

Many households now blend home life with remote or hybrid work.  We help you create a home office setup that feels professional, reduces stress, and works well alongside family life.

• Work-from-home setup - Working from home should be as comfortable and productive as being in an office, if not more so!  We can help check and optimise your home working environment to help you work comfortably, and make sure you are setup so video calls are crystal clear, and lighting and background help you look and sound professional.

• Reliable tools for work - Where you are using work equipment at home, it’s important that the work devices and your home technology work together.  We can help ensure that work tools like Teams or Zoom behave reliably, and your work security is maintained.

• Printing and scanning workflows - While many documents are now digital, there’s still a place for paper!  We can help ensure that printers and scanners work properly and show you quick ways to sign, scan and send documents without faff.

• Separation of work and home - Working from home can make a huge difference to family life, but it’s important to strike the right balance and have reasonable separation between work and home - both from the perspective of the technology and our own wellbeing.  We can advise on keeping work and personal data separate on devices, keeping work confidential in a busy household, and how to introduce a virtual commute to transition from work to home mode.

Smart devices can make life easier, but they can also become a confusing tangle of apps, accounts and cables.  We can help you get the fun parts working and keep everything simple but secure.

• Smart home setup - There’s a world of smart devices out there, smart speakers, lights, doorbells, thermostats, even hosepipes!  Getting these to play nicely with each other and actually work in a helpful way can however be a challenge.  We can help you pick a platform, then install and configure devices so they are useful rather than gimmicky.

• TV, streaming and gaming - In many families streaming has overtaken live TV as a way to watch, and gaming is as much a part of family life as it ever has been.  Getting the setup of smart TVs, streaming services and games consoles right can avoid family frustrations and help enforce your family’s house rules.  We can help with setup including profiles for children, purchase controls and safe chat options.

• Tidying up accounts and subscriptions - It’s easy to rack up the number (and cost!) of accounts and services.  In many cases we end up buying the same features from more than one place, or forget to cancel things we no longer need.  We can help review subscriptions, remove ones you do not use, and suggest ways to combine services to make sure you are not paying twice for similar services.

• Privacy and data awareness - There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and one way ‘free’ online services make money is by gathering and selling data on our use of them.  We can coach you and your family on what data smart devices collect, and how to adjust settings if you want to reduce tracking.

Technology should be useful and fun, which means knowing how to get the best from it.  We want you and your family to be confident and safe in your use of technology, we take time to explain how things work, answer questions without jargon, and give you simple, written guides so you are not dependent on us for every small change.

• Parent confidence sessions - One-to-one or small group sessions to talk through your concerns about children’s tech, social media and AI, and to agree practical next steps.

• AI at home - AI is emerging as a world changing technology that will shape the world we live in today, and the world our children will live and work in.  We can introduce AI in simple, real-world, terms and provide guidance on how to use AI tools for learning and creativity without encouraging cheating or unsafe sharing of personal information.

• Ongoing check-ins - Technology is a topic that is constantly changing and evolving, we can book time so you can ask questions, update controls and adapt your family’s tech setup as children grow and your needs change.