Managed IT Services FAQ —
Dallas-Fort Worth Businesses

Fortress offers three flat-rate plans: Essentials at $99/user/month, Standard at $149/user/month, and Premium at $199/user/month. All plans include unlimited helpdesk tickets, proactive monitoring, and enterprise cybersecurity tools with no hidden fees.

Break-fix means you call someone when something breaks and pay hourly. Managed IT means a proactive partner monitors your infrastructure around the clock, patches vulnerabilities before they become incidents, and provides unlimited helpdesk for a flat monthly fee. Most DFW businesses find managed IT costs less annually than reactive break-fix once downtime and emergency rates are factored in.

Our plans include remote monitoring and management (RMM) of all covered devices, IT helpdesk via phone, email, and remote session, antivirus and endpoint protection, email filtering and spam protection, patch management, and quarterly health reporting. Standard and Premium plans add managed firewall and network equipment, extended helpdesk hours, and vendor coordination. Premium adds compliance monitoring, cloud backup, and 24/7 priority support.

Both. Remote support handles the majority of issues faster and without disrupting your team. When on-site is required — hardware failures, new equipment installs, infrastructure assessments — we dispatch to your Dallas-Fort Worth location, typically within 4 hours during business hours.

Yes. We manage Microsoft 365 licensing, user provisioning, email configuration, SharePoint, Teams administration, and security settings. Google Workspace administration is available as well. Both are included in Standard and Premium plans.

Our standard SLA is a 4-hour response time for business-critical issues during business hours. Standard and Premium plan clients receive extended coverage. Premium clients have 24/7 priority response for critical incidents. Non-critical tickets are typically addressed within the same business day.

No. All managed IT plans are month-to-month with 30 days written notice to cancel. No early termination fees. We believe our retention should come from performance, not paperwork.

Commercial cabling in DFW typically ranges from $150 to $350 per drop depending on run length, building construction type, ceiling access, and termination standard. A standard office buildout averages $200–$265 per drop installed and tested. We provide detailed written quotes for every project — no ranges, no surprises.

Cat6 supports 10 Gbps up to 55 meters, while Cat6A supports 10 Gbps up to 100 meters with better crosstalk suppression. For most commercial office environments built today, Cat6A is the right call — it future-proofs your infrastructure for 10-15 years and isn't significantly more expensive to install. We recommend Cat6A as the default for new commercial buildouts in DFW.

Yes. All cabling projects include Fluke DSX certification testing by default. Every run is individually tested against TIA-568 pass/fail parameters, results are documented, and a PDF certification report is delivered as part of project closeout. Many enterprise tenants, GCs, and insurance carriers require this documentation.

Yes. GC coordination is a standard part of how we operate on TI projects. We attend site meetings where needed, submit DART documentation and as-builts, provide insurance certificates for permit applications, and schedule our work around the construction timeline.

Yes. Most commercial TI projects happen in partially or fully occupied buildings. We schedule disruptive work (core drilling, overhead work) around business hours, use dust barriers and floor protection, and coordinate access with property management.

IP only. Analog surveillance systems are not cost-effective for commercial deployments in 2026 — the resolution ceiling, remote access limitations, and inability to integrate with modern IT and access control systems make them a poor investment. All Fortress surveillance deployments use IP camera infrastructure running on standard Cat6A networks.

Retention is determined by storage capacity, camera count, resolution, and compression settings. We size NVR storage for your target retention window — typically 30, 60, or 90 days. For regulated environments (healthcare, legal), we design specifically for compliance retention requirements. Cloud backup options are available for critical camera locations.

Yes. Every Fortress surveillance deployment includes remote access configuration — mobile app and browser-based access to live and recorded footage. Access is secured with authentication controls to prevent unauthorized viewing.

Yes. Integration between access control and surveillance is a standard offering. When a credential event occurs at any door, the system automatically correlates the timestamp with the relevant camera feed — giving you a searchable, linked audit trail. This is how we configure all deployments where both systems are present.

We support key fobs, proximity cards (125kHz and 13.56MHz), mobile credentials via Bluetooth/NFC, PIN codes, and biometric (fingerprint) readers. Most commercial deployments use a combination — mobile credentials for employees and key fobs for vendors, for example. We recommend based on your security requirements and operational preferences.

Instantly. Cloud-managed access control platforms allow credential revocation from any browser or mobile device in real time. There's no waiting for a technician, no physical key collection, and no possibility of the credential being used after revocation.

Yes. Every access event is logged with timestamp, credential ID, door location, and grant/deny status. Logs are searchable and exportable. For compliance environments (healthcare, legal, financial), we configure retention and reporting to meet your specific requirements.

Yes, with supported platforms. When HR completes an onboarding workflow in certain HRIS platforms, access credentials can be automatically provisioned. The same integration revokes access when an employee is marked as terminated. We discuss integration options during the scoping process.

Fortress Equipment Solutions LLC is a Dallas-Fort Worth commercial IT and low voltage contracting company. We deliver Managed IT Services, Structured Cabling, Surveillance Systems, and Access Control for commercial businesses across the DFW metroplex. We serve commercial clients only — no residential work.

We are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We serve commercial clients across the entire DFW metro — Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Carrollton, Richardson, North Richland Hills, and surrounding communities. We also serve Austin and Houston as active markets with completed project presence in both cities.

Yes. Fortress Equipment Solutions LLC holds the appropriate Texas contractor licensing for low voltage work and carries general liability and professional liability insurance. Insurance certificates are available on request for GC and property management requirements.