Fair Use Policy

1. Who and what is covered

• Your organization has a signed service agreement for unlimited remote support, and onsite support where your plan includes it.
• Only the users, computers, systems and locations listed and billed in your Supported inventory are covered.
• Requests for anything else (unlisted devices or users, personal or home devices, third-party managed equipment, locations not in your agreement) are out of scope. We tell you before any charge applies.

How units are counted

One unit covers at most one person, one computer (a workstation or laptop) and one email account, and we count whichever is highest. A person, a computer or a licensed email account on its own is still one unit. Our plans assume a typical working set-up: each person is assigned one computer and one licensed email account.

• Additional computers and email accounts. A second computer or a second licensed email account for the same person is another unit. A cloud computer (a virtual desktop) counts as a computer.
• Macs. A Mac counts as two units on every plan. If you ask us to set up and support additional user profiles on a Mac, each additional profile adds one unit.
• Phones and tablets. One phone and one tablet per person add no units: we provide clear instructions so each person can add their work email. When you ask us to manage, support and keep a phone or tablet updated through our device management, that device counts as one unit. A shared tablet or kiosk used in place of a computer, such as a check-in tablet or point-of-sale terminal, is one unit.
• Phone systems. VoIP (internet phone) desk phones and phone systems are covered under their own phone system agreement and are priced separately from units.
• Accounts at no unit charge. Shared mailboxes without a licence, aliases, distribution lists and service accounts without a licence (for example scanner-to-email or room calendars) are included at no unit charge. A former staff member's mailbox is included at no unit charge once converted to an unlicensed shared mailbox, and is one unit while it keeps a licence.
• When staff leave. A departing person's email account and computer remain units until you ask us to remove them. To remove a unit, give us 30 days' written notice; a unit removed with shorter notice is billed as one full unit for that period.
• Company devices. Plan support covers company devices. Work on personally owned computers, phones and tablets is billed hourly, and we work exclusively with businesses and organizations.

Shared computers and multiple sign-ins. Many organizations let staff sign in on any computer, for example with a server and individual user names for every person, or with desks used on a first-come, first-served basis. Each person who signs in on a computer has a separate user profile that must be set up, secured and maintained. If your team manages those sign-ins itself, our plan covers each person on their assigned computer. If you ask us to set up and support profiles for additional people on a computer, that computer counts as one unit plus half a unit for each additional person who signs in on it. For example, 17 people who each sign in on 4 shared computers: 4 × (1 + ½ × 16) = 36 units.

A common assumption is that a plan for 10 computers covers 20 employees who share them. It does not when we set up the sign-ins: if 20 people each sign in on 10 computers, that is up to 200 separate user profiles, and every change of desk means another profile to set up and support. Under the rule above, those 10 computers count as 10 × (1 + ½ × 19) = 105 units.

One shared account on a computer. Some organizations use a single shared account on a computer for several people. This is acceptable and is normally counted as one unit. If it leads to repeated support requests, for example one person changes a setting and the next person asks us to restore it, the additional work is out of scope: it is billed hourly, or the computer is counted as one and a half units per month, as agreed with you.

If the adjusted unit count is not accepted, your plan covers one assigned person per computer and email account, and setting up or supporting additional profiles is out of scope and billed hourly at our rates. For security, we recommend assigning each computer to one person, or a managed shared-computer set-up that does not require personal profiles on every machine.

The unit count is always shown on your written estimate before you agree to it, and we review it at onboarding and at each regular review, with 30 days' written notice before a change applies to your monthly invoice.

2. What unlimited support covers

• Support for your listed users with their listed computers, email, Microsoft 365, files, printers and the software on your Supported inventory.
• Fixing problems, answering questions, small changes for people and systems already covered (a permission, a mailbox setting), and the monitoring, updates and security work included in your plan.
• Reasonable, recurring use that is normal for a business of your size and industry.

3. Each request, one issue

• Each request, call or email covers one issue. Unrelated requests are logged as separate requests so nothing gets lost.
• Each request includes up to one hour of technician time. When an issue needs more, we tell you; complex work beyond that is handled as project work or at the hourly rate in your Statement of Work (SOW), agreed with you first.

4. How onsite support works

Remote support and onsite visits. Remote support means we work on your computers and systems over the internet, without anyone handling the equipment. Any work where we physically handle equipment is an onsite visit, wherever it happens: at your office, at a home office, or at our office. If your plan does not include onsite support, onsite visits are charged at the rate and minimum in your Statement of Work (SOW), confirmed with you before we start.

Our remote-first process

For plans that include onsite support, we follow a remote-first process, the same approach used by major hardware manufacturers for onsite service:

1. Remote first. Every issue starts with remote investigation and diagnosis. Most problems are solved this way, and faster than a visit.
2. Your team helps us diagnose. We may ask a staff member to check a cable, restart a device, read a light or a message, or run a short test while we are connected, following our instructions.
3. We dispatch when remote work cannot fix it. Once remote diagnosis shows the issue needs hands on the equipment, we schedule a visit within Metro Vancouver during your support hours.
4. Not part of unlimited onsite support: new computer set-up, office moves, cabling and project work. These are quoted separately. Project work can be scheduled after hours or on weekends, quoted at after-hours project rates.

When an onsite visit is charged

Onsite visits are charged as a standard onsite visit when one of the situations below applies. The rate, minimum time and any visit fee are the ones set out in your Statement of Work (SOW). This applies when:

• your staff did not help with remote diagnosis when asked, so we could not confirm a visit was needed;
• we were told our written instructions had been followed, and on site we find they were not; or
• we arrive and find no fault with the equipment or service reported.

Equipment brought to our office

Equipment brought to our office. Our office is not a walk-in or drop-off service desk; support is delivered remotely first and at your location when a visit is needed. If you bring or drop off a computer or other equipment at our office for us to work on, it is an onsite visit, not remote support: if your plan does not include onsite support, it is charged at the rate and minimum in your Statement of Work (SOW), confirmed with you before we start. Office visits and drop-offs are by appointment only, booked through a support request that lists the device and the work requested and confirms your data is backed up. We are not responsible for data on equipment that is not backed up.

5. What we ask of your team

• Be ready. Have access to the device, your password and your multi-factor sign-in device when a session starts.
• Stay available. We wait up to 5 minutes for a user to respond, approve a sign-in or unlock a device. Waiting beyond that, or a session interrupted by meetings or absence, counts as session time and may need a new appointment.
• Allow restarts. When a fix needs a restart, please allow it when we ask. Postponing it can mean rescheduling the session.
• Follow instructions. For simple tasks a user can do, we send clear step-by-step instructions instead of taking over the computer (see section 6).

6. Simple tasks: instructions first

For tasks a standard user can do with access they already have, we provide instructions by email or chat, and stay available for questions:

• resetting your own password, signing in to Microsoft 365, Outlook or Teams;
• re-adding email to Outlook or a phone, adding a signature or an automatic reply;
• reconnecting to Wi-Fi or restarting a device;
• adding a printer whose driver installs automatically, checking storage, clearing the browser cache, running Windows Update.

If a user declines the instructions and asks for a technician to do the task without a valid reason, the session is charged at the hourly rate in your Statement of Work (SOW) with a 15-minute minimum.

7. Declined assistance and repeated issues

• Declined assistance. If a user asks for support, declines to follow our instructions or closes the request, and later asks again for the same issue, the new request is handled as a continuation and may be charged with a 15-minute minimum.
• Issues that keep coming back need a permanent fix. When the cause is on the client side, for example a hard drive that is nearly full, a computer that is old or out of warranty, unsupported software, files saved to OneDrive or SharePoint with names, characters, path lengths or file types they do not accept (so the upload is rejected again and again), or a habit that keeps causing the same problem, we resolve it within your plan once or twice and tell you what will fix it for good (for example a larger drive, a replacement computer, or renaming and reorganizing files to meet the OneDrive and SharePoint limits). If you choose not to fix the cause, later requests for the exact same issue are out of scope of unlimited support and are charged per occurrence, with a 15-minute minimum.
• Other patterns we review with you: very frequent requests for minor tasks, reopening resolved requests without a new problem, repeated reinstalls or recoveries (more than three in a quarter), repeated account access requests, requests marked urgent that are not, and support shared with people who are not covered users.

8. After hours and emergencies

• Unlimited support runs during your plan's support hours, excluding weekends and BC statutory holidays, unless they are included in your agreement.
• After hours, we respond to business-critical outages on covered systems. Non-urgent after-hours requests are handled the next business day or, if you ask for them after hours, charged at our after-hours or extended-hours rates. After-hours work (weekday evenings, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) is billed at 1.5 times the plan's hourly rate, extended-hours work (9 p.m. to 9 a.m., and weekends) at 2 times, and BC statutory holidays at 3 times. The multiplier applies to labour only; travel is not multiplied. Project labour outside business hours uses the same multipliers.
• For emergencies in the City of Vancouver we aim to be on site within one hour of your call. Emergency rates apply on Protect, Managed and Managed Pro; emergency response in business hours is included on Enterprise.
• Meetings, such as technology reviews and training sessions, are held online. A meeting at your office is billed at your plan's onsite rate plus travel.

9. Not covered by unlimited support

• Anything new: setting up a new staff member is included on Managed, Managed Pro and Enterprise, and billed hourly on Protect; a new computer, network device or server is project work on every plan.
• Project work: any change that affects your whole business (for example a new sign-in or security policy for everyone, a licence change for all staff, a new system or platform), building or migrating systems, new servers, new SharePoint sites or intranets, office moves, cabling, new-system rollouts and cybersecurity projects, priced case by case with a written estimate before any work starts.
• Out-of-scope support: devices, users or systems not on your Supported inventory, at the out-of-scope rate in your Statement of Work (SOW), confirmed before we start, or added to your inventory at the matching price with your approval.
• Training beyond short how-to answers (training is available, billed separately), and work for third parties (your contractors' own equipment, your clients' systems) unless agreed.
• Sustained usage far above normal, for example one user generating as much support as a whole team, month after month.

10. How we apply this policy

1. We tell you first. When we treat a request as out of scope or chargeable, you receive a written notice with the reason and the estimated cost before work continues. You can always ask us to confirm coverage before we start.
2. We look for the fix. For patterns of heavy or repeated use we share the numbers and propose a remedy: a root-cause repair, an upgrade, training, or adding the item to your inventory.
3. We agree changes with you. Moving work to project rates or reviewing your price is agreed with you in writing. If a pattern continues after written notice, we may bill the affected requests hourly, recommend a different plan, or, as a last resort, end the agreement with written notice as your agreement allows.
4. Regular reviews and pricing updates. We review your Supported inventory and support usage with you at regular intervals. Your prices, and how and when they can change, are set out in your signed service agreement (MSA) or statement of work (SOW). Your monthly support fee also changes when the number of people, computer units or licensed email accounts we support changes. Hourly rates (out-of-scope, onsite, after-hours and project work), add-ons, hardware and third-party products are not fixed for the term: they are charged at our rates in force when you approve the work, and we give you at least 30 days' written notice before any of these rates change. Work you have already approved in writing keeps the price you approved.
5. Updates to this policy. Hexafusion reserves the right to update this Fair Use Policy. We review it at least once a year, and we may also update it when our services, the technology we support or the law change. The current version is always published on this page with its effective date, and changes take effect when they are published. We let active clients know by email when we make a material change. Price changes follow your signed service agreement or statement of work. If this policy and your signed agreement differ, your agreement prevails.

11. Questions

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 604-332-1500
• Hexafusion IT Solutions · 250 - 997 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3M1, Canada