Dave Ehlke and Andy Trask are proud to be called geeks. They are a couple of guys, who after working in the corporate world for years, decided to capitalize on their geekdom. Trask and Ehlke are the founders of Geek Housecalls, a nine-person computer networking company, based in Lexington, whose main focus is on small, in-home businesses that need PC help. Started in July 2001, the company already has a base of more than 165 clients from Cohasset to Nashua, N.H.

"People using computers at home are not serviced properly," said Ehlke, a 12-year Lexington resident. Trask, a South Shore resident, said the demand and need by small businesses and families all gave a similar message: "Yes, there is a need. We are not getting the help we need," so the two started the company. Attaching the mantra "Your friendly neighborhood geek," to their business card, they were off and running.One upcoming trend, Ehlke explained, is people are... not returning to the workforce, but starting their own companies instead. "They are now working at home. There are one-man shops they can call, but they have to lug their computer to them. We come to your house, diagnose the problem and help fix it."

House calls

Last Thursday, amidst the start of the most recent ice storm, Trask and Ehlke were making a house call to Woodcliffe Road in Lexington. Dressed in their company shirts - a white short-sleeved polo with a pocket-protector silk-screened onto the upper left breast pocket area - the duo identified the type of people who have the most need for Geek Housecalls.
"They are lawyers, doctors and psychiatrists who need help to get going," Trask said.

Their recent visit to Woodcliffe Road resident Jim Flanagan, president of a young company called IR Strategic Advisors, Inc., proved to be because of a program downloaded onto the family computer by one of Flanagan's children, slowing the rest of the computer down.But Flanagan, who started his company about a year and a half ago, said this is not his first brush with "the geeks." Their offices were in the same building and after getting to know them as trustworthy businessmen, Flanagan decided to give them a chance at fixing his small office's network.

"When I moved [to Lexington], I put in a wireless network with a great deal of instability," Flanagan explained. "That’s when he decided to give Geek Housecalls a try. Having them to call on makes his life easier," Flanagan said.
"I don't want to play with technology, I want to use it. ... I didn't have to research [about networks]. They came, they fixed it, it works," he said.
"I like that they are trustworthy and local. I have a business that depends upon it." Flanagan, whose worldwide client base requires him to be online 24 hours a day.Flanagan's network problems made him think he would have to spend the money for a new system. But, after a consult with Ehlke and Trask, Flanagan realized he did not have to buy new programs, so the geeks ended up saving him money.

After such a great experience in his office, Flanagan invited Ehlke and Trask to network his newly-built house and the duo worked with the builder to wire the house during construction. "Now I can bring a laptop home and know I have a stable environment," he said last week.

What they doEhlke and Trask said they will work with almost any system. They also offer tutorial sessions, tackle digital camera problems, virus issues, software problems and much more.The pair worked together for a few years before starting this business. Trask claimed his love of fixing computer problems began before there were computers to fix. "I started with radios and small TVs, pulling them apart to figure out how to put them back together," he said.

Ehlke said much of their business is through word-of-mouth or referrals. He said the trend they see now is people having their homes networked successfully, who then pass the Geek Housecall’s phone number to their business. He said the average call is handled in one day, at most two. They also have employees who work nights and weekends, so staff are available almost all the time.

Recently Geek Housecalls received a call from an 80-year-old woman in an assisted-living complex whose children sent her a computer to keep in touch. Her only problem was she didn't know where to begin, so "the geeks" sent one of their nine employees to help the woman "connect" with her children around the country.

The pair is very happy running their new company. "I've worked in big companies and I've never had so much fun as this. I love dealing with everyday people. It's just fun," Ehlke said. Trask agreed. "I love getting out there on the road. It is great to be out there and get the direct feedback." As for Flanagan, he said "as a small business owner, I don't have the luxury of an in-house computer person, so I call 'em on the geek line when there's a problem."