The Navpoint family (from left) IT manager Jason Ginsberg and co-owners Ivy and Craig Ginsberg. (Photo by Jeremy Jones)

by Jeremy Jones

There is a Shop-Local powerhouse located just around the bend – the crazy-big bend on Bethlehem Pike heading from Chestnut Hill toward Erdenheim.

The world of information technology systems has a language all its own, and Navpoint Internet Services speaks that language on local and global levels.

I covered Navpoint for the Local 21 years ago. Back then, it was known as Byte Support, Inc., which was established in1987 as a computer reseller, specializing in leasing hardware to schools and medical institutions.

In 1992 Byte Support opened a small retail store at 600 Bethlehem Pike and broadened its services to include small business- and home-computer users. At this time, husband and wife co-owners, Craig and Ivy Ginsberg, recognized customer demand for “a new way to connect to the world,” so they created Navpoint Internet Services, which provided all the features of a large ISP (Internet Service Provider).

In 1997 the Philadelphia Inquirer featured an article on Navpoint, lauding its success as the first ISP in the Philadelphia area to deploy the X2 56K technology (super-fast modem solutions).

Two years later, Navpoint became one of the first ISPs in the Philadelphia area to offer its business and residential users DSL Service (Digital Subscriber Line). Slow and spotty dial-up service was soon to become extinct.

Now approaching 29 years in business, Navpoint offers a wide range of sophisticated services to a customer base of more than 500, while remaining true to its commitment to personal customer care.

Two years ago, Craig and Ivy’s son, Jason, came on board as full-time IT manager. He has been helping his mom and dad with the business for years and now he is a key and personable force on the team.

According to Jason, Navpoint’s services and programs are divided into four main verticals. Summarized briefly, they are: Byte Support – PC repair and anything pertaining to your physical computer, virus removal, data transfer and peripherals; Server management – colocation, rent/buy computers, backup and remote access; Web presence – email, hosting, web design, registering the site, backing up the site and spam protection; The Peace of Mind Plan – This is a new plan that includes anti virus protection, remote monitoring, remote support and cloud backup space at a cost of $10 a month per computer.

“With this plan, essentially we’re giving small business owners the ability to protect their machines from viruses and back up their data to the Navpoint cloud that we’ve built to provide remote support,” Jason said. “By giving customers the cloud storage option, we’re giving them the option to access their files from anywhere. You know, if you’re at work and you forgot to bring your flash drive, we’re giving you the option to access your files.

“This is critical when it comes to disaster recovery. Let’s say you have a fire or someone deletes something by accident, you at least have a backup that’s close enough that we can push it back remotely or drive over there and give you the data.

“We’ll back up your data. We’ll keep you protected and if you do have a problem we’ll be there to help you.”

Peter McGoldrick, president of McGoldrick Leasing Co. in Lafayette Hill, currently has about 2,000 vehicles on the street. Last year, during a heavy snowstorm, McGoldrick and most of us in the surrounding area lost power.

With his computers down in the heat of meeting a major negotiation deadline, McGoldrick contacted Navpoint. The Navpoint team calls this kind of scenario “mission critical.” Because it has its own cloud and its own generator, Navpoint immediately was able to remotely restore McGoldrick’s information and data. He was up and running before the lights in the office were.

“With Navpoint I don’t have a care or concern when it comes to my programs and computers – they are exceptional,” McGoldrick said.

Navpoint has been a golden source and resource for yours truly. I’m basically the little guy. But the team has never implied that notion in our work together. I work with them as the local neighbors they are. I am able to bypass the frustrations of phone prompts and IT folks who are doing the best they can to communicate from another country in a strictly assigned IT/impersonal capacity.

“We don’t charge for advice,” Jason said. “We’re in the information technology industry. We want to provide information to people. If someone goes on Google and looks up ‘how do I do this?’ they could break something and they could make it a million times worse. We just say, ‘Hey, this is what you need to look out for and this is what you’re looking at.’

“We have a woman who sends laptops to schools in Africa, and she was coming in saying this isn’t working and this isn’t working and what about this? And we just said, ‘Here’s our card. Call whenever you need us.’ We didn’t charge her for the repairs, and it was just giving her little tricks and tips to make her life easier.”

Life in the IT lane is easier – just around the bend.

For more information visit www.navpoint.com.