Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about working with All Information Services (AIS) — how our managed services and support work, how block hours are billed, and how to reach us. Don't see your question? Contact us and we'll be glad to help.
Getting started & services
AIS is a managed IT services provider (MSP) based in the Chicago area. We help organizations run their technology reliably — combining around-the-clock help desk support, proactive monitoring and maintenance, cybersecurity, backup and disaster recovery, cloud services, and project and consulting work. The goal is simple: keep your systems secure and available so your team can focus on the business rather than the IT.
We work with small and mid-sized businesses across a range of industries, and our services scale to fit. Whether you have no internal IT staff and need us to run everything, or you have an internal team that wants to offload monitoring, security, or after-hours coverage, we can tailor an engagement to match. The best way to find the right fit is to talk with our sales team.
Reach out to our sales team at sales@aislabs.com or (708) 352-7050 to discuss your needs. We’ll assess your environment, recommend the right mix of services, and put together a proposal. Once you’re on board, onboarding is included with the setup fee for the services you purchase, and a project manager helps get everything in place.
Support & service
Our support team is available 24/7/365. You can reach us any time at (844) AIS-LABS (247-5227) or support@aislabs.com, or open a request through our ticket form.
The fastest way is to submit a ticket through our online form, which routes your request straight to our help desk. You can also call (844) AIS-LABS or email support@aislabs.com at any hour.
Project managers are typically not involved in day-to-day support beyond onboarding, which is included with the setup fee for the services purchased. Some clients with many moving parts prefer a PM to manage day-to-day activities and multiple simultaneous projects, and we support that. With a typical monthly support block, we don’t anticipate a PM drawing from your hours unless special communication or coordination is required. For projects, a PM is always involved to ensure the project is delivered successfully.
Security & backup
Security is layered into how we manage your environment. AIS Managed XDR combines automated compliance scanning with MITRE ATT&CK–based threat detection to help harden devices across Windows, macOS, and Linux, and our monitoring keeps watch for anomalous logins, failed login attempts, external vulnerabilities, and other warning signs before they become incidents. See our security use cases for examples of what we watch for.
Yes. AIS Managed BDR provides disk-to-disk backup with available cloud backup options, so your data is protected and recoverable if hardware fails, ransomware strikes, or disaster interrupts your business. We’ll help you choose retention and recovery options appropriate for your risk tolerance and compliance needs.
Yes. AIS Managed NMS provides performance, reliability, and configuration monitoring so issues can be caught and addressed before they turn into outages — the idea is to see what’s important before it becomes urgent. Monitoring covers networks, servers, applications, and environmental sensors, and feeds the proactive maintenance that keeps your systems healthy.
Block hours & billing
Monthly support block hours are typically used for support. In certain circumstances, unused block hours can be applied to a project, with overages billed as Time and Materials at standard hourly rates — this is handled on a case-by-case basis. Our standard practice for projects is to purchase a separate block of hours budgeted for the project. Any extra block hours on a project remain valid for a year and can be applied to additional initiatives or support needs.
Overages are invoiced on a Time and Materials basis — you pay for what you use, at standard hourly rates. The rate table appears in your proposal directly under the block hour multiplier table. The pricing is essentially the same, just without the discount you receive for purchasing a monthly block of hours.
Time is measured in 15-minute increments.
Yes — if you purchase a monthly block of hours with a 2- or 3-year commitment, discount options are available.
It depends on the type of block. Monthly support blocks are sized to your ongoing needs and are generally intended to be used within the month. Project blocks work differently — any extra block hours on a project remain valid for a year and can be applied to additional initiatives or support needs. If you’re unsure how your specific block is structured, check your proposal or ask us.
Still have questions?
We're easy to reach. For anything not covered here, contact sales at sales@aislabs.com or (708) 352-7050 (Monday–Friday, 8:30 am–5:00 pm Central), or see our Contact Us page for all the ways to get in touch.