The poor ol tech can only do what his/hers management allows/want them to do.

All roads lead back to management.

How do these MES guys charge for talking to people. A lot of my time is spent reassuring staff - chatting.

I help the estates guys out - you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

Is there a lot of chargeable 'extras' with these MES guys?

You may get a better managed service from MES but it comes with quite a few 'out of contract' costs.

Cheers
Mark