IT Voice

Category: Uncategorized

  • USING SMARTER PROCESSES TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY


    The goal of today’s office phone systems is far greater than just answering phone calls. Modern technology is aimed at consolidating processes, sharing data more efficiently, and building stronger teams. Even a few minutes saved on each phone call can quickly add up to drastic improvements in your turnaround and reductions in your labor costs.

    MULTITASKING

    One of the biggest assets of new office phone systems is their ability to handle a variety of information simultaneously from a single interface. In the past, call center employees have complained about working in several different windows at once, clicking through menu after menu to reach the information they need. Today’s phone systems are more fluid and allow users to gather more data in less time, saving precious minutes on the phone with customers.

    COLLABORATION

    Another major change in modern phone systems is a greater ability to share information among team members and collaborate effectively. By having internal chat options available for immediate communication, and being able to share documents and account information between departments, it is possible to reduce downtime while trying to resolve problems. Spreadsheets and documents are no longer sitting in email inboxes unanswered while the customer gets transferred around on the phone. Instead, everyone is kept up to speed, and questions can be answered with a sense of urgency.

    EMPOWERING

    Perhaps the biggest change your employees will notice with new office phone systems is the ability to solve problems for customers better than ever before. With all of the latest online support tools at their fingertips, your employees can do a far better job of meeting the customer’s expectations and giving them a really great experience. The result is that employees will feel more in control of their work environment, have a better ability to diffuse tense situations with frustrated customers, and deliver more work in less time. If you are looking for ways to improve productivity, the right phone system can make all the difference in the world.

    No matter how many staff members you have on board, even saving one minute per call can add up to a substantial savings. Imagine having fifteen staff members taking twenty calls a day and allowing them to save one minute on each call by not having to fumble through loading screens and menus. At the end of the day, you would have saved a total of 300 minutes or five hours of labor to get the same amount of work done. If you integrate email and chat support with your phone system, that five hours of time can be applied to solving even more problems online. In other words, you could cut your response time on emails down to 24 hours or less in no time.

    Office phone systems are an instrumental part of how your business operates. You may not realize how much time is currently wasted on inconveniences that were inherent in older systems. A quick survey of your employees will likely reveal that much of their time is spent waiting with the customer for access to vital information to process. Eliminating that downtime can have a tremendous impact on your daily productivity, especially when scaled to your entire workforce.


  • Data Protection and Bring Your Own Device to Work


    Data Protection and Bring Your Own Device to Work

    BYOD refers to a firm’s policy of allowing employees to use their own personal phones, tablets and laptops for all their work applications.This is a pretty common policy, and it has many benefits, but it brings along risks. How are you addressing these risks?

    Here are some of the issues raised by BYOD
    1. A lost device – If you issue company phones, you have the ability to remotely wipe the unit clean if it is lost or stolen. With employee’s personal devices, do you still have that ability. If not, your data is at risk.
    2. Software updates – Is the employee responsible for updating all the software and virus protection programs on their own devices? If that responsibility transfers to them, you are at the mercy of their willingness to keep track of such tedious tasks. If you accept responsibility for it, do you have the in-house staff to handle all the extra work?
    3. Back ups – with data being entered on many different devices, something must be done to ensure back up procedures are routinely followed.
    In short, BYOD is probably an unavoidable approach to device management. It is unrealistic to expect people to carry around 2 different phones or tablets 24/7. But BYOD means extra work for the in-house staff of a small business. To learn more about these risks and a more affordable, comprehensive approach to BYOD Management, see our e-guide “Now you see it, There IT…Stays”.

  • 4 things to do to ensure your business continuity planning is a success

    4 things to do to ensure your business continuity planning is a success

    Working on creating a contingency plan for your business? That’s great! Here are 4 things you need to consider when preparing your new business continuity plan.

    Audit of your business continuity plan
    Having a business continuity plan alone is not enough. You need to audit it at regular intervals to ensure it is up-to-date and relevant. Often, business continuity plans aren’t used for years, and may be obsolete or irrelevant by the time an actual emergency occurs.

    Creating a team for business continuity
    Constitute a team for your business continuity project. Decide who will take ownership of implementing the business continuity in the event of an emergency. Break down the business continuity plan into smaller elements and decide who is responsible for each of them. Also, remember to designate a back up for each person in the team.

    Mock Drills and Dry Runs
    After your business continuity plan is ready you need to check if it really works. A dry run will tell you if it is really effective and also point out to loose ends, if any, that you can fix before the actual emergency.

    Don’t forget a debrief
    In case you do end up using your business continuity plan, make sure you do a debrief. It will help you determine the effectiveness of your business continuity plan. The brief should focus on identifying the losses you incurred from the disaster, the time taken for implementation of the business continuity plan, the key positives of implementation of your business continuity plan and also offer suggestions, if any for improvement. Irrespective of the size of your business, business continuity planning is indispensable. Bigger companies often have their own staff (IT as well as non-IT) for business continuity planning, but for SMBs to have their own business continuity planning team can be a bit of a strain on their resources. Consider teaming up with a MSP who is experienced in disaster recovery planning, so you don’t cut corners now to regret later.

  • IT Red Flags to Watch Out For

    IT Red Flags to Watch Out For

    As someone running a SMB, you probably have a lot on your plate. You are the core decision maker, responsible for growing your business, keeping your clients happy and getting all the working done. Often, when you have so much going on, one area that gets overlooked is IT. When you are so busy looking into other things, the start of IT issues may slip your watchful eyes. In this blog, we discuss the IT red flags that you need to watch out for.

    Adware ambush

    This happens generally when your internet browser has been hijacked and an adware has been sneaked into your system. When you try to surf the net using a hijacked browser, you will find online ads popping up everywhere. And by that we don’t mean the few sponsored search results or a couple of ads that show up when you browse a site. We are talking about ads showing up just about everywhere on your browser. Even a simple link click will take you to an unintended page. It is so evident, you just cannot miss identifying an adware ambush!

    Strange pop-ups

    Much like the Adware ambush, strange pop-ups show up when you least expect them. For example, you may be trying to open a presentation or a document and a series of pop-up windows will appear before you are allowed access to the file. Watch out for these, as they indicate the presence of a malware in your system.

    Spam/Fake emails

    If, all of a sudden, you see a lot of spam emails being sent from your/your staff’s official email IDs, there may be a worm at work. Often email worms enter the IT system through the download of one infected file and then replicate themselves across the network via email. Worms do this by penetrating the victim’s email security and spread itself across all of the victim’s email contact list through automated emails that look as if they were actually sent by the victim. So, is Sam from Accounting sending you a lot of junk emails? Probably time to get his PC checked.

    A lot of what used to work before is now broken

    We all have minor software and hardware issues here and there. But, if all of a sudden, a lot of stuff that used to be up and running seems to be broken, it screams “Red alert”! It could mean that the malware is slowly taking over your IT system, one program at a time.

    Bottomline–Surprises are good, but not so much in IT. If you find anything amiss, anything different, like a machine that suddenly slowed down, or a program that just doesn’t work anymore or a new plug-in added to your browser or a new homepage, it’s better to take a deeper look and arrest the problem before it spreads elsewhere wreaking havoc through your IT network.

  • PROS AND CONS OF BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE


    A quick search of Bring Your Own Device on the web turns up a mixed bag of reactions from IT professionals and phone system analysts everywhere. Like anything else, BYOD can be great with the right execution, or it can be a headache if your team is not properly trained and prepared. Here are a few pros and cons of this phone technology for business that will help you decide if it’s right for you.

    PRO: COST

    The cost of implementing a Bring Your Own Device system is extremely low in comparison to the cost of purchasing a full set of phones for your business. Since the user is paying for their device and their service, you could be saving up to $75/month per user line. That is a huge recurring cost that you won’t have to worry about. Interestingly, while some companies do provide a stipend toward the cost of employee’s phone bills, many employees are happy to pay it all on their own. Plus, your employees probably take advantage of free upgrades on their devices whenever they can, meaning that your company is gaining access to better phone technology for business on an ongoing basis—at no additional cost to you.

    CON: SECURITY

    Naturally, without claiming ownership of the devices, it is much harder to regulate how and when they are used. Some companies address this by beefing up their internal security and by directing their employees to company-approved security applications for their phones. Making these minimum security requirements helps get everybody on board.

    PRO: HAPPY EMPLOYEES

    You may have noticed that whenever it came time to upgrade devices, you could never please everybody. You likely have one group of people who is happy with the old, simpler handsets, and another group who is chomping at the bit for something bigger and better. With BYOD, your employees can choose phone technology for business that fits their aptitude and personal requirements.

    CON: DATA RETRIEVAL

    Certain federal regulations concerning consumer data can affect your ability to roll out BYOD. While you can generally say that the data is safe on company-owned devices, there is a lot of grey area when employees are carrying it around with them outside of work. In addition, if an employee is ever terminated, there is reason to be concerned about the safety of information that was left on their device. Your IT team needs to be prepared to retrieve information and help users clear data from their phones when necessary.

    PRO: MORE UPTIME

    For so long, companies have depended on desktop phones to stay connected with customers. The downfall came when your employees stepped away from their desks for lunch, breaks, or meetings. Now it is possible to keep your phones accessible throughout the day without tying people to their desks. Allowing employees to use traditional devices and a mobile BYOD helps increase connectedness and productivity.

    CON: USER CREATED ERRORS

    If some of your employees are not quite up to speed on the latest technology, you may find that your IT team is spending more time than usual trying to troubleshoot individual errors caused by the user. If this becomes too burdensome, you may find it easier to allow BYOD only for employees who already have advanced knowledge of phone technology for business.

    Under the right conditions, BYOD can greatly improve your company communications and allow all of your employees to feel like they have control over their work environment. This system saves you money and opens up a wider range of technological advancements for your use. However, companies who regularly deal with confidential information should take some serious time looking into adequate security measures and training to ensure safety.

  • The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Mobility and BYOD

     
     
    The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Mobility and BYOD
     
    There are a lot of advantages to mobility in today’s workforce, but the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) movement has also brought its share of headaches as well.
     
    We live in a society where everyone must have the newest technology. We are inundated with ads reminding us that the smartphone or tablet we just bought a year ago is laughably outdated and inferior to the upgrade that just hit the market.
     
    People who have just bought the latest technology don’t want to have to set it aside to use a separate company-issued device. As a result, businesses are beginning to grant these employee-owned devices access to their file and email servers, databases, and applications.
     
    While this brings certain competitive advantages to employers, it naturally carries many risks, too.
     
    Let’s begin with the pros of BYOD…
     
    The Advantages of BYOD
     
    Greater Flexibility and Productivity –  Personal devices allow workers more flexibility, which in turn can increase productivity. Today’s employee isn’t restricted to their office workstation or cubicle. They can carry out job responsibilities from home, a coffee shop, their child’s dance recital, or while traveling.
     
    Reduced Costs –  Purchasing even the most basic Blackberry for an employee can cost a company $900+ per worker. Costs like that can be completely eliminated by adopting a BYOD policy where employees are required to use their own device.
     
    Happier Employees/Attractiveness to Job Seekers –  Recent studies have found that 44% of job seekers are attracted more to employers who are open to BYOD and occasional remote work. Beyond this hiring advantage over competition, it has been found that employees as a whole are generally happier using the devices they own and prefer for work purposes.
     
    Better Customer Service –  This goes hand and hand with more flexibility and productivity. Mobility allows employees to occasionally resolve or escalate urgent client issues outside of normal working hours, and clients remember that kind of response time.
     
    And now the cons of BYOD…
     
    Disadvantages of BYOD
     
    Compromised Data Security –  Unfortunately, letting employees use their own smartphones, tablets, and laptops increases the likelihood of sensitive company or customer/client data being compromised. It is important for companies to establish a comprehensive mobile device security policy and never make any exceptions to it whatsoever. Really. No exceptions. Ever.
     
    Employee Privacy –  Many employees may oppose using their own devices for work, especially if it’s a company requirement that they aren’t reimbursed for. You have to remember that these are the same devices employees use to log into their Facebook and Twitter accounts or do their online banking. In this age of constant paranoia over big brother watching our every move, employees may be concerned that their employer will spy on them or access their personal passwords and information.
     
    Handling Employee Turnover –  Companies must consider how they will address the retrieval of company data and information from an employee’s device if the employee either quits or is fired. Some companies may require that employees only save or edit company files on their servers or use cloud-based sharing software like Dropbox to share and edit docs.
     
    The Importance of a Mobile Device Management Tool
     
    Obviously, businesses must keep track of all of the devices that access their server, applications, and data. Mobile Device Management helps enterprises centralize what is an otherwise chaotic hodgepodge of devices and operating systems. This ensures that all devices are configured, deployed, and properly monitored and managed. This is a smart way for businesses to embrace BYOD while securing data and applications across multiple devices.
     
    Contact us at Slappey Communications

  • Ransomware emails: How to identify

    Ransomware emails: How to identify and steer clear of them

    Ransomware attacks have suddenly become more prevalent. Each year sees more of them. Hospitals, NPOs, shipping giants, etc., have all been victims of ransomware attacks. Your business could be too! Did you know that emails are one of the most common gateways for ransomware to get into your systems? In this blog, we tell you how you can stay safe by following a few tips.

    If you think something is amiss, it probably is

    Does that email seem unfamiliar? As though you weren’t meant to get it, or it doesn’t quite sound like your colleague wrote it? Perhaps it’s not. Malicious email senders often try to mask actual email IDs with something similar. For example: An email you believe to have come from billing@yourvendor.com might actually be from billing@yourvemdor.com. So take a good look at the email ID if you spot something ‘phishy’.

    Attachments and form fills

    Does the email contain an attachment that you are being asked to save to your computer? Or an executable file that you are asked to run? Perhaps you are asked to submit your personal details at an authentic looking website. Before you do any of these, check the authenticity of the email and the message. Were you supposed to receive it? Were you expecting an attachment? You might even want to call the sender and confirm if you are unsure.

    The message seems to instill fear or a sense of urgency

    Often, malicious email messages urge you to take immediate action. You may be asked to log onto your ‘banking website’ ASAP to prevent your bank account from being frozen, or enter your ITR details onto a webpage to avoid being fined by the IRS. Real messages from your bank or the IRS will never force or hurry you to do something.

    Other things you can do

    Regular data backups

    Conduct regular data backups so that in the eventuality of a ransomware attack, you don’t lose your data. Cybercriminals having access to your data is bad enough–it damages your brand and business reputation and can even attract lawsuits from parties whose personal information has been compromised, but, not being able to retrieve all that data in the aftermath of an attack is even worse. Regular backups help you in that regard, plus when you have a pretty recent data backup you are not reduced to the state of helplessness where you HAVE to pay the ransom to retrieve your data.

    Install an anti-malware tool

    Last, but not least, invest in anti-malware tools that can detect malware attacks and alert you before you fall prey to them. Such tools scan emails, links and attachments and alert you if they are found suspicious.

    No matter how big or small a business you are, ransomware attack is a reality and applies to you. It is better to be prepared than having to cough up huge sums of money to free up your data later and even then there’s no guarantee your data will be restored by the cybercriminal.

  • 3 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR COMPANY’S CUSTOMER SERVICE


    In many companies, there is much discussion about great customer service, but that discussion rarely translates into action. When it comes to your online customer service, the only way to know if you are actually succeeding in keeping your customers happy is by tracking real metrics and communicating directly with your customers to learn about their experience.

    DECIDE WHICH METRICS MATTER MOST

    There are a variety of ways that online customer service can be measured. The speed of your responses and the number of interactions that it takes to resolve a customer question through either chat or email are both quantitative measurements that can be used. The use of CRM software allows you to track longer-term metrics as well, such as the number of inquiries that a customer places over the course of twelve months, indicating that previous resolutions were inadequate. The good news is that once you have decided which metrics you are going to track, you can inform your team members and set goals. Once you make employees aware of these goals, they will become more aware of how they can help improve results.

    SURVEY YOUR CUSTOMERS

    While CRM and quantitative metrics can give you an indicator of how things are getting done, they are only a small piece of the bigger picture. You also need to hear the voice of the customers and get their take on things. A short online survey can tell you whether customers feel like they received timely answers to their queries, along with the accuracy of the assistance they received. This is a qualitative review of how well your team is doing and can help identify any weak links in your process and team.

    GIVE YOUR TEAM INCENTIVES

    After you have identified the parts of your online customer service that matter most and how you intend to address them, you have an opportunity to incentivize your service with rewards for your team. While awareness of the objectives will certainly make a difference in your overall service scores, giving your team members a chance to earn a bonus or other prizes can help push your numbers over the top.

    The most important thing to remember about improving your online customer service is that you need to have a solid idea of what you are actually measuring and how those numbers actually translate into better customer relationships. It is not enough to depend on short response times to tell you how many customers you are serving if the customers are not satisfied by the end of the call. Taking into account both the CRM data and the data gathered directly from customers, you can direct your employees towards better results.

  • Cyber hygiene: The key to your business’s good cyber health

    Cyber hygiene: The key to your business’s good cyber health

    We all know that basic hygiene is a must to lead a healthy life. Did you know that the same rule applies to IT as well? There’s something known as cyber hygiene that plays a key role in keeping your business healthy from the IT perspective. So, how do you ensure your business doesn’t fail when it comes to cyber hygiene? Here are a few tips.

    Follow industry benchmarks and standards
    Remember that if an IT practice has gained industry-wide recognition and adoption, it is because it certainly offers some benefits. Protocols like the HTTPS implementation, SSL security certificates, CIS Benchmark, etc., are examples of industry standards that you must follow to maintain good cyber hygiene. Following these standards enhance your cybersecurity quotient and also play a positive role in helping you win your customer’s trust.

    Stronger IT administration
    The role of an IT administrator is very critical in any organization. IT administration involves exercising control over most of the IT activities with a view to ensure the security of your IT environment is never compromised. Make sure your IT admin rules and policies are clearly formulated and covers everything including-

    • Clear definition of user roles
    • Permission levels for each user role
    • Restrictions regarding download/installation of new software
    • Rules regarding external storage devices
    IT Audits
    Conduct regular IT audits to spot vulnerabilities and gaps that may threaten the security of your IT infrastructure. During the IT audits pay special attention to-

    • Outdated software or hardware that is still in use
    • Pending software updates that make an otherwise secure software vulnerable
    Fix what you can and get rid of what is too outdated to be made safe.

    Password policy adherence
    When it comes to cyber hygiene, passwords are the weakest link as often, people compromise on the password policy for convenience’s sake. Here are a few things to look into at the time of your IT audit to ensure your password policy is being adhered to.

    • Check if passwords are strong enough and follow the standards set for secure passwords
    • Discourage password repetition or sharing
    • Ensure multi-factor authentication, where apart from the password, there is at least one more credential, such as a secret question, a one-time password (OTP) sent to the user’s mobile phone, or a physical token or QR code, to verify and approve data access
    Ensure basic security mechanisms are in place
    As a part of your cyber hygiene check, ensure you have all the basic security mechanisms in place. These include

    • Anti-malware software programs
    • Firewalls
    • Data encryption tools
    • Physical security and access control tools like biometric access
    Pay attention to what happens with obsolete data
    How do you get rid of data you no longer need? Even though old data may not be of any use to you from the business perspective, a breach of that data can still hurt you legally. Ensure you get rid of old data safely. It is a good practice to deploy data wiping software and also create policies for the safe destruction of physical copies via shredding or other methods.

    Strong cyber hygiene practices can keep your data safe from cybercriminals lurking out there. However, consistently following up and ensuring these best practices are being adhered to, can be taxing on your internal IT team. It may be a good idea to bring an MSP on board who is well versed in cybersecurity to assist you with cyber hygiene.

  • BANDWIDTH REQUIREMENTS FOR CLOUD PHONESS


    One of the biggest questions facing companies considering cloud phones is whether or not they have the bandwidth necessary to make the conversion seamlessly. Poor call quality and dropped calls can lead to angry customers and squabbles over who is responsible for your call quality: phone service provider or internet provider? Here’s what industry leaders have to say about the issue.

    Defining Bandwidth

    Simply put, bandwidth is a measurement of how much data you can transfer in a specific period of time, or rather how fast your system can send and receive data. Once you understand what bandwidth is, it’s easy to understand why it’s so important to cloud phones. When cloud phone systems experience problems, it is typically because they are not supported by enough bandwidth to make the calls they need.

    Go High

    The typical phone call requires anywhere from 40 to 100 kbps of bandwidth. This means you need to have at least this much available bandwidth in your network to place a single phone call at any time. While it is possible for your phone calls to come in on the lower end of the spectrum, most experts agree that you should estimate your bandwidth needs at 100 kbps, so you always know you have enough to cover the call. For each additional call that will be placed during the same time period, you will need to add another 100 kbps in available bandwidth just to be safe. Still, this is not an exact measurement.

    Other Considerations

    For most businesses, it is highly unlikely that all of your phones will be occupied at exactly the same moment. Call center operators may take a higher volume of calls than management. You need to assess your current call volume trends to determine how many simultaneous calls you actually need to handle.

    You also need to know whether or not your current Internet provider has a monthly bandwidth cap. While very small businesses may be able to get away with a consumer-grade Internet plan, most mid-sized businesses and larger need to subscribe to a business tier Internet plan to support their cloud phones.

    Now is also a good time to look at how much bandwidth you are actually getting for your money. Many broadband providers claim up to 100 Mb of bandwidth, but a free speed test will show you only 5-20 Mb of actual bandwidth making it to your computer.

    The next step is addressing your current bandwidth usage. Remember, the bandwidth for your cloud phones needs to be on top of the bandwidth you are already using for your computers and other services. This may mean that you need to limit Internet use for your employees or upgrade to a larger Internet package.

    Finally, it’s time to assess your network hardware. Many quality routers come with Quality of Service (QoS) settings. These settings allow you to prioritize voice data to ensure that phone calls are always put through, even if it means Internet surfing slows down temporarily. If your router is not equipped with this feature, it is a good idea to upgrade to one that does.

    When implemented correctly, cloud phones can greatly improve the quality and reliability of your communications system. However, taking a good hard look at your Internet connection in advance is a good way to determine whether or not you are ready to make the switch, and what other steps you can take to improve your network. Remember that cloud phones rely heavily on the Internet to function properly, so if you begin seeing problems you should check your network first.