by Felicien | Jan 18, 2019 | Education
As much as people hope their business can run like a well-oiled machine, the truth is issues are inevitable. With businesses using an increasing number of technologically advanced tools, many issues experienced in the workplace have to do with the technology itself.
If a system or tool fails or becomes inoperable, or an employee lacks knowledge on how to use technology effectively, the organization is unable to optimize its IT in the most useful, profitable way. In short, technology should be working for you, not against you. Enterprise help desks—often a component of the remote monitoring provided by Managed Service Providers (MSPs)—are a vital part of helping a company, large or small, run smoothly by providing a single point of contact for users to get assistance. From there, help desk technicians work to keep organizations’ technologies up-to-date and running smoothly.
What is a professional help desk team?
In business, and particularly the IT area, there are two main concepts when it comes to help desks, which are responsible for addressing, answering or troubleshooting the technical issues experienced by users. The first type of IT help desk has to do with the services, software or other options a company sets up to handle customer queries and issues. If a user (or customer) is experiencing trouble using a company’s website or some other technical difficulty, they often will interact with the company’s help desk by messaging with a representative online or on the phone, emailing, or filling out a ticket.
Businesses themselves also benefit by being taken care of by a professional help desk team, staffed by professional, certified experts who can support the organization and its IT systems. These internal help desks are set up to offer a similar type of help, except aimed at the employees within the organization, rather than the customers.
Where does help desk support come from?
Some major companies maintain an in-house help desk to support their IT and offer preventative maintenance, network monitoring, and other solutions that decrease the downtime of IT services and functions. Other companies use remote, outsourced help desk services, generally offered by Managed Service Providers (MSPs), and access the same support from technicians via phone, online and occasional site visits.
Help desk technicians are trained to quickly address and resolve technical issues relating to:
User administration
Desktop performance
Hardware and networks
Printer installation and support
Microsoft and Apple Desktop operating systems
Microsoft Office and leading third-party applications
Email applications and web browsers
Mobile phones and tablets
Help desks often use desk software or an issue-tracking system to keep track of user requests, which allows them to prioritize cases, efficiently locate solutions to common questions and concerns, and maintain records of issues.
Some help desks utilize a tiered approach to manage a variety of queries and conveniently categorize problems. For instance, the first level is designed to provide answers to frequently asked questions and the like. Those problems that are a bit more complex or cannot be solved at the first level are passed on to the next level, where technicians who are better trained or have special areas of expertise can take care of them.
How do businesses benefit from help desk support?
Having proper technical support from a professional help desk helps prevent IT problems from halting your business, leading to enhanced efficiency, a seamless work environment, and boosted productivity. When employees are able to accomplish tasks and do their jobs without hitting technical snags or experiencing system downtime, the entire organization profits. End users experiencing trouble with their computer hardware and software or other technologies can rely on help technicians to provide support and troubleshooting services.
Equally important, however, is the proactive and preventative maintenance provided by help desks for optimal network stability. Many times, the goal is to detect small issues before they become larger, crippling problems that can lead to system failure.
Help desks are often an extension of a more robust remote monitoring platform that allows an MSP to take care of its clients. By taking a proactive approach to network monitoring and engaging in regular maintenance, help desk technicians help you stay ahead of the game. They can detect problems early on and then actively work to resolve them—sometimes even before they have been reported.
What should you look for in a help desk team?
A professional help desk team should include technicians who possess technical knowledge, effective communication skills, and the ability to identify and prioritize technology solutions. Skilled technicians will have a deep understanding of computer software and hardware, operating systems, smart devices, and other types of technology. They also should be receiving regular training, coaching and quality review to sharpen their skills as technology continuously evolves. Additionally, your professional help desk team will be backed by professional managers and supervisors who can provide cohesion and consistency, ensuring you receive the best service delivery.
by Felicien | Jan 17, 2019 | Education
Of the risks your company faces on a regular basis, those associated with your IT department are likely a low concern and priority. The fact is, in today’s world most office professionals are capable of conducting the majority of their own IT work as needed for their individual devices. However, that isn’t their primary job description; their time is better used for the projects they were hired to do. There is also a matter of uniformity and consistency with how work is performed. When these issues are considered, it begins to make sense as to why a designated IT team is generally a worthwhile investment.
What Are Managed IT Services?
Just like employees are specialists in their own job description, IT people also tend to have specialties. Although IT people have the training and education required to work in any field, their personal expertise depends on their individual professional experience. Someone who has worked in architectural offices, as an example, may have a bit of learning curve when dealing with medical software and equipment. That’s not to say they “can’t” do the job and do it well, but they will take longer and likely have to correct some errors after initial setup. Hiring an outside source with specific industry experience for managed IT services is recognized as a solution for these and other problems that arise when using an in-house team.
Budgeting and Accounting for IT Expenses
With an in-house IT department, you know what you pay the employees who conduct the work, but are you aware of how much you’re really spending regarding efficiency? This can include issues with how much downtime the IT team has, and how much time other employees are spending to do some of the work themselves. Many office needs can be provided with an app, but what happens when the marketing department is using one app while the sales team uses a different app? Then you have to consider the time spent when they work together to make their work compatible with each other. An in-house IT team will likely work with each department individually rather than pointing out how efficiency would be boosted if they both agreed to use the same programming. Having an outside managed IT resource is going to be more likely to assure such inconsistencies are corrected.
Maintaining a Secure Network
To the layman, “Secure Network” can vary according to each person’s concerns. Cyber attack is something everyone who uses a computer is aware of, and certainly a threat every company faces. But there are other ways in which a network can be insecure. Imagine the nightmare of having a major system-wide failure and losing important client information. Such an incident might happen from a computer crash due to improper setup, outdated software, or even a natural disaster. It’s important to remember information has to be backed up, securely, as insurance might cover the physical damage of a flood or fire but no amount of insurance payment can cover the cost of lost data when hardware is destroyed in such a scenario.
Keeping a Backup Plan in Case of Emergency
There always has to be a backup plan in place for such an emergency. One of the worst things that can happen to a business is for clients to lose faith in the company’s ability to provide their service, and that’s what happens when you lose data. Think about how you would feel if an investment adviser had to ask you to resupply all your information with an explanation it had been lost in a network failure. You probably wouldn’t feel comfortable continuing to work with that company because even though they might be really good with financial advice, they aren’t completing the job by keeping your investments secure. Likewise, your clients are going to wonder about your professionalism if you lose their information.
Specialized Services for Your Field
Specialized services are the new norm and expectation of every business, and this concept holds true for IT personnel as well. To return to the previous example, the IT person who works with an architect knows how to set up a plotter to make blueprints, and they understand how to use software toward making graphic designs for presentational purposes. They have an aptitude for such things which is why they went into the IT business, but they still don’t have the experience to set up medical equipment and even though some software might be the same or similar, it’s going to be used differently by a doctor’s office. Someone with a specific specialty working with people in your field is merely going to be more efficient for your needs.
Trying to “Figure It Out on the Fly”
Having office workers conduct their own IT work can potentially be even more disastrous toward office morale and overall efficiency. Most people have a familiarity with computers and equipment and can figure out how to get it working, but might take all day or even settle for a less than perfect setup. Have you ever seen someone print a 20-page document one page at a time because they can’t get the printer to print the entire project as a single function? Now imagine that situation with over a hundred pages, and what else they could be working on instead of manually printing each page and then having to put the papers in proper order after spending half a day trying to make it work. An IT person fixes it by spending five minutes to clear old data and restart the printer.
Conclusion
The rest of your company is specialized by department, so should your IT. A managed IT services company can provide for your needs and due to the nature of the work, makes more sense than allowing the job to be conducted in-house. You end up with oversight for your network by specialists not only in IT work, but how it pertains to your business needs.
by Felicien | Jan 17, 2019 | Education
Who Has Been Impacted by Chinese Cyber Attacks?
At the beginning of the year, the FBI warned businesses to protect themselves from cyber attacks by foreign entities, saying activity has spiked in the past 18 months.
Hewlett Packard and IBM are among the businesses most recently targeted. There’s a National Counter-Intelligence and Security Center that manages intelligence efforts for the U.S. government. It recently launched a campaign to address continuing threats. The center warns that many companies need to be more to protect against cyber theft.
Foreign governments accused of cyber attacks against the U.S. include Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, with China receiving the most scrutiny in recent reports.
How Do Hackers Breach Company and Government Security?
According to Entrepreneur magazine, hackers create fake social media accounts to get people to reveal work and personal information. One of the ways to guard against bad actors is to carefully scrutinize social media requests from people that aren’t personal connections and to research apps before using or downloading them, as well as keeping antivirus software up-to-date.
The FBI warning including a brochure entitled, “Know the Risk, Raise Your Shield” that targets federal employees. The recent warnings follow a string of cases against individuals and organizations accused of stealing proprietary information from U.S. government and businesses.
Nine cases filed since July 2018 include two hackers investigators say are linked to the main Chinese spy agency. Knicknamed APT 10, they allegedly stole corporate and government information via cyber attacks on employees.
Has There Been an Uptick in Recent Activity?
The breach of private businesses by Chinese hackers first hit news headlines in 2014, when Sony Pictures was hacked. This prompted an agreement in 2015 between Chinese President Xi Jinping and then President Barrack Obama that curbed cyber attack for a while.
At FireEye, a cybersecurity firm, analysts track hackers working on behalf of the Chinese government. The firm’s representative says attacks are on the uptick recently. These hacking groups are referred to as Red Leaves, cloudhopper, and APT10.
Managed Service providers are among the groups targeted. MSPs supply technology, telecommunications and other services to business clients. If they can break the security systems of such companies, Chinese hackers gain access to the sensitive data of the MSP’s clients.
APT10 has routed malware via an MSP network to its business targets. However, there are many steps businesses can take to protect their employees and data from prying eyes in cyberspace.
What Should Business Do to Raise Their Shields?
U.S. businesses should take proactive measures to safeguard against cyber attacks from Chinese hackers via email, social media and other points of entry.
This includes ensuring that advanced detection tools are utilized on network and email servers to safeguard access to company data. Regular threat assessments and employee training can help. This provides a diagnosis of the state of a firm’s cyber defenses regarding advanced persistent threats that attempt to find breaches in the company’s firewall. Precautions taken against the intrusion of foreign governments include:
Fortify access controls. Evaluate the plans, policies, and procedures that govern corporate technology to keep proprietary data safe. This could include that installation of multi-factor authentication (MFA), data encryption and solidifying a layered defense system on all possible points of cyber attacks.
Training. Make cybersecurity education and training a top priority. Everyone from the Board of Directors and C-Suite to individual employees needs to understand how to avoid cyber attacks by avoiding fake emails, malware and weak password strategies, among other efforts.
Incident response plan. Organization leadership and key technical personnel must develop a protocol for dealing with threats. This should include representatives from business administration, information technology and operations.
Crisis communications plan. Align the protection policy to risk management methodologies and the business needs of employees.
Adopt a monitoring, detection and response plan. Quickly detect intrusions and breaches via rapid-respond plans to effectively eradicate the malware or other methods of entry.
by Felicien | Jan 15, 2019 | Education
Most of us, when asked if we would prefer to pay for something we could theoretically do ourselves, will opt to take care of the task personally – even if it’s not our strong suit, or indeed, if we lack all experience entirely. This is often the case with managed IT services.
Whether your company has an in-house IT team or is small enough that you hire only one person, chances are good you don’t spend much time thinking about whether you should update your approach. That could spell disaster for your company, though, especially in this day and age of cyber attack and data breach.
Here’s a quick look at what most people get wrong about IT management and six of the most common signs your company needs it.
Why Does IT Require So Much Management, Anyway?
The root of many companies’ unwillingness to bring on IT help stems from a fundamental misunderstanding about its nature. Most people think of computers and other technology as a blank canvas of sorts. You put your applications and software on them, type messages, input information, manage spreadsheets and message others using the systems IT makes available to you. But you rarely think about the systems themselves.
That’s a problem. If we compare it to dentistry, you’ll see why. No one would claim that you can eat and eat all day without ever worrying about your teeth. Taking care of your teeth requires both daily maintenance and constant vigil, looking out for any problems that might be headed down the pipeline. Brushing your teeth isn’t enough to stay safe and healthy, but neither can you neglect to brush your teeth simply because you watch for cavities.
Managed IT is like any other sphere requiring both care and prevention. Your daily activities are the food. Your hardware and software and network security protocols are the teeth. If they don’t stay healthy, you won’t have the tools to eat for long.
Sadly, most companies have neither the expertise nor the resources to care for your company’s IT the way it needs. The result is that they use IT systems until they break, at which time they cast about wildly for the quickest possible fix, so they can go on with business as usual. Sometimes your in-house team can handle it, but more often (at least when the problem is serious), they can’t. As for preventing those problems in the first place, that’s usually more than one small team or a single individual can handle on behalf of a company.
5 Signs Your Business Needs Managed IT Services
That’s where managed IT services come in. When you outsource your IT needs to an outside company, you have access to a true wealth of expertise and professional tools. Rather than the limited knowledge and skills of one person – and whatever budget you can put toward information technology in-house – you now have an entire business on your side.
Still, think you don’t need outsourced IT services? Here are five signs you do.
Tech issues stop productivity in its tracks: You’ve been there. The day was going just fine, and suddenly someone’s computer manifested a weird bug … and then everyone’s computer seemed to have it. Or maybe your SSL certificate grew outdated and no one fixed it; the network went down and no one could figure out why; half the people in the office were locked out and asked to create new passwords for no reason. These “temporary” problems might have solutions, but that doesn’t make them easy to deal with. If you’re facing a lot of them, it’s time to do something about it.
Your “IT guy” doesn’t have experience in your niche: It hardly bears saying that banking IT and artisanal grocery IT are not the same thing. While both require careful safeguarding of customer information, the former industry manages far more detailed, and personal data is under much greater scrutiny and is subject to particular federal laws regarding the safeguarding of information. To keep your company aboveboard, you need someone who knows exactly what they’re doing, both on the day to day, and in extreme situations or crisis.
You don’t have a security plan: One of the primary responsibilities of an IT staff is to ensure you have a good security plan and robust software to back it up. If you don’t have a strong defensive approach, you could find yourself at the mercy of cyberattackers and data thieves, so don’t wait for that to happen before contacting a real IT provider.
Your maintenance plan is casual at best: Again, many companies use a “break it, fix it” model, in which they turn a blind eye to systems until something goes wrong. With preventative maintenance, however, you can avoid many (if not most) of those breaks – but you need someone who knows what they’re doing. An expert can help you configure your systems most intelligently, reallocate resources as your company grows, protect new vulnerabilities that open up and stay on top of updates, so you’re always protected and functioning at the highest level of productivity.
You’re paying too much for IT: If you’ve ever asked yourself “Why does it cost so much to deal with this?” that’s a bad sign. Believe it or not, it often costs less to pay for outsourced IT, because you have access to economies of scale that you just don’t have if you employ a few people in-house. We challenge you to do a cost comparison and see what happens.
Don’t Wait to Get Started with Managed IT Today
In the end, your decision to outsource your IT services to a professional provider should be an easy one. It’s like getting a dentist. Is there really any doubt that your company needs one to stay healthy now and in the future?
Hint: The answer is no. If you want to stay safe from attack, steer clear of potential disaster and keep your business humming along at the most productive rate, it’s time to make the switch today.
by Felicien | Jan 15, 2019 | Education
A shared mailbox in Microsoft Outlook will prove invaluable if your team is collaborating on a project, as they can exchange messages from a central platform. A communal email center is also an asset if your employees are responsible for responding to customer inquiries. Outlook Calendar allows members to create events or let others know when they’ll be out of the office. When you create a shared mailbox in Outlook, members can monitor messages via a public email alias, which usually appears as info@companyname.com. The sender appears under this alias, too, rather than by name. That group members can now communicate without logging into the mailbox or conveying personal information. If you’re new to using shared mail in Outlook, here are some “how-to” tips to help you get started.
Creating a Shared Mailbox in Outlook
Before you use the mailbox, you will need to have an office 365 admin for your company or organization set it up and add you as a member. If you are the admin, follow these steps:
Sign into Office 365 and select admin.
Go to Groups and choose Shared Mailbox.
Choose Add a mailbox and type in the name you want it to have. Many addresses begin with “support”, “info”, or “contact.” Then click Add.
When the wizard continues to Next Steps, choose Add members. It may take a few minutes to reach this step after you add the mailbox.
Add members by searching for them or selecting them from a list. When you’re finished, click Save, then Close.
If you want to make changes or updates at any point, select the new mailbox and click on Edit next to the information you want to modify.
Using a Shared Outlook Mailbox: Getting Started
Once the admin has created the public mailbox, close Outlook and restart it. The mailbox should appear automatically in the Folder pane. Note that it may take a few minutes to display after the admin added it, so if you don’t see it, wait a bit, then close and restart Outlook again. If you still cannot locate the shared mailbox, you will have to add it manually.
Once you’ve opened Outlook, select File.
Select Account Settings and then choose the Email tab.
Be sure that the correct account is highlighted, then select Change.
Select More Settings. From there, choose Advanced, then click Add.
Type the name of the shared email address, choose Ok and Next followed by Finish and Close.
Using the Shared Calendar
If you want to access the calendar right after the admin created the shared mailbox, you will need to close and restart Outlook to gain access to it. The shared calendar connected with the public mailbox is added to your Calendars list automatically. To use the shared calendar in Outlook, navigate to calendar view and choose the shared mailbox. From there, you can manage schedules and appointments. This feature allows all team members to be on the same page about schedules and appointments.
Using Shared Contact Lists in Outlook
When the mailbox has been created, the corresponding Contacts list is automatically added. To access it with Outlook:
Select People.
Look under My contacts to select the contacts folder for the shared contacts list.
Using a Shared Mailbox with a Mobile Device
If you or your team members need to take work on-the-go, you can access the shared mailbox from a smartphone or tablet, too. Unfortunately, the Outlook app on your mobile device won’t allow you to use the shared mailbox, but there is a workaround. Follow these steps to use your primary mailbox and the shared one simultaneously:
Right-click on the name of your primary mailbox in the left-hand pane, then select Add shared folder.
In the dialog box, type the email address or name of someone who has shared a mailbox with you, then click Add. Another option is to enter the name of the shared mailbox you are a member of.
In Outlook on the web, you should see the mailbox in your Folder list. Just as you can do with your primary folders, you can expand or collapse the shared mailbox folders. If you want to remove the shared mailbox from the Folders list, right-click Shared mailbox and choose Remove shared folder.
How to Use the Shared Calendar with Outlook on the Web
As a member of a shared mailbox, you also have access to the shared calendar. This feature allows you to create, edit and delete events (that you or someone else created) and make the information available to all members. To use the calendar from a mobile device:
Sign in using Outlook on the web, then select Calendar.
Right-click Other calendars, then select Open Calendar.
Use the from directory option to search for the shared calendar you need to access and click Open. You should see the shared calendar on your Calendar folder list.
A Few Things to Know About Shared Mailboxes in Outlook
With a shared mailbox, you can send, receive and reply to messages just as you do with your primary mailbox. However, if you want to send automatic replies, only the admin is authorized to set this up. You cannot give anyone outside your organization access to your shared mailboxes. If you want to include people outside your business in your group correspondence, you can create a Group in Outlook instead.
Creating a shared mailbox is a helpful way to ensure that your team stays up-to-date on appointments, schedule changes and group messages. It’s also a critical tool for connecting with customers and vendors. Keeping members “in the know” improves communication, employee performance and morale.
