9 Jan 2019

Boost mobile security with virtualization

2019-01-14T10:47:56-07:00

Mobile device security is paramount in today’s IT landscape. There are plenty of ways to be sure your employees are accessing data safely away from the office, but there is one solution we recommend considering: combining mobile security efforts with virtualization technology.

Mobile device management and virtualization

Mobile device management (MDM) is about controlling how users on any device — from laptops to internet-connected printers — view, share, and store sensitive information.

For example, if you have a user who accesses data via a company-provided laptop, an office copier, and a personal smartphone, IT administrators can install an application on each device to enforce policies from a centralized console.

There are dozens of standalone MDM solutions that consolidate device administration, but by using one that integrates with your virtualization platform, you can standardize policies for any industry across a range of company-owned, line-of-business, and personal devices.

Users are constantly picking up and discarding devices. Solutions like VMware’s AirWatch and Citrix’s XenMobile mean you no longer need to manage security settings for each […]

Boost mobile security with virtualization2019-01-14T10:47:56-07:00
8 Jan 2019

Benefits of using a VPN

2019-01-14T10:47:48-07:00

While using a virtual private network or VPN isn’t a silver bullet to online privacy threats, it still offers crucial security benefits, especially if any part of your day involves using unsecured channels such as public Wi-Fi. Given its importance, how do you pick the right one and what factors do you need to consider?

What is a VPN?

The best way to describe a VPN is as a secure tunnel between your device and destinations you visit on the internet. Once you’ve established your PC’s connection to a VPN server, your computer acts as if it’s on the same local connection as the VPN making it seem you moved to a different location. As far as websites are concerned, you’re browsing from that server’s geographical location, not your computer’s actual location.

When you surf the web through a VPN, all the data transmitted and received is also encrypted, preventing anyone — from hackers to government agencies — from monitoring your online activities.

Why should you have one?

Of course, security and […]

Benefits of using a VPN2019-01-14T10:47:48-07:00
7 Jan 2019

PHI security best practices

2019-01-14T10:47:39-07:00

Healthcare companies and the vast amount of valuable patient information they hold have become a major target of cyberattacks. Hospitals must combat this with a highly trained team of technicians equipped with the following technologies and security tools.

Strict access policies
To control access to protected health information (PHI), your IT department must introduce access restriction policies. For example, accountants should not have access to the same data as physicians. This guarantees that none of your employees are viewing off-limits records or increasing the chances of a breach.

Healthcare executives must also enforce policies that reprimand staff for accessing patient data without a valid business-related reason. This coupled with strict training for IT security best practices will significantly reduce the chances of a data breach.

Full-disk encryption
Full-disk encryption is an inexpensive and quick method to secure private information. It renders stolen data indecipherable to anyone without the matching decryption key.

Even though this recommendation is old news in the healthcare sector, the recent shift to greater mobility makes encryption a top priority […]

PHI security best practices2019-01-14T10:47:39-07:00
4 Jan 2019

Which is better, Hangouts or Skype?

2019-01-14T10:47:30-07:00

Many online collaboration tools are coming up with improved features for online communication. These include Microsoft’s Skype for Business and Google’s Hangouts Meet. Both are used for video calling, group chat, private chat, and file and image sharing. Despite these similarities, you may prefer one over the other.

Calling features

Hangouts and Skype both offer enterprise-grade security, 1080p HD quality video, and screen sharing capabilities, but there are still some slight differences.

Skype for Business users can set up and record online meetings for up to 250 people and broadcast meetings to up to 10,000 attendees. Skype ensures you never miss calls and streamlines caller management with its call forwarding and auto-attendant features. It also has a Skype Translator, a plugin that instantly translates voice and text.

On the other hand, Hangouts Meet supports up to 30 people per session and lacks broadcasting and voting capabilities. However, it has intelligent built-in features like muting and auto screen focus, which shows the participant who’s currently talking on the main part of the […]

Which is better, Hangouts or Skype?2019-01-14T10:47:30-07:00
3 Jan 2019

Work smarter with Microsoft’s Workplace Analytics

2019-01-14T10:47:20-07:00

Did you know that Microsoft has Workplace Analytics, a program that allows managers to assess the productivity of their staff using data gathered from email, documents, calendar, and other Office 365 applications? It’s an improvement over MyAnalytics, which only allowed employees to view their own data. Now managers can also access their employees’ data for evaluation.

How it works

A paid add-on to Office 365 enterprise plans, Workplace Analytics extracts behavioral insights from data gathered from Office 365 email, calendar, documents, and Skype. This means any data an employee types into their email and calendar — whether on the subject line or in the body itself — can be used to indicate their productivity status.

The program has an overview dashboard that provides specific information:

  • Week in the Life provides an overall view of how the entire organization spends time and how members collaborate
  • Meetings shows the amount of time spent in meetings
  • Management and Coaching gauges one-on-one meetings between staff and manager
  • Network and Collaboration takes a look at […]
Work smarter with Microsoft’s Workplace Analytics2019-01-14T10:47:20-07:00
28 Dec 2018

Migrating your data from Windows to Mac

2019-01-14T10:47:12-07:00

There are now more Macs than ever being used around the planet, thanks in part to the constant improvements to macOS that make it more powerful and less difficult to use. Moving data from a Windows PC to a Mac is now easier with the latest update to the Migration Assistant in macOS Mojave. In this post, we’ll show you the steps to a flawless migration from Windows to macOS.

Preparing to migrate data

First, make sure that your PC isn’t so outdated that it can’t run Windows Migration Assistant. It works with Windows 7 and all newer versions up to Windows 10.

Next, get the administrator access credentials for the PC. This is important as the Windows Migration Assistant requires administrative access to certain files on the PC.

Both the PC and the Mac need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network, or if you prefer, you can run an Ethernet cable between the ports on the PC and Mac for a direct connection. Since newer Mac laptops do […]

Migrating your data from Windows to Mac2019-01-14T10:47:12-07:00
27 Dec 2018

Boost your revenue with thin and zero clients

2019-01-14T10:47:03-07:00

When you have several money-saving options like cloud computing and managed services providers, you shouldn’t worry about IT spending. To further reduce costs, trade in your expensive desktops for thin and zero clients.

What are thin and zero clients?
Thin clients are stripped-down computers with minimum processing power and memory. They rely on a basic operating system and a network connection to access a more powerful system where almost all computing processes take place.

Zero clients work the same way. The only difference is that there’s no local storage or operating system installed on the device; all the software, storage, and processing power sits on a server until you need it. This setup makes it ideal for cutting costs.

Reduced hardware costs
When it comes to upfront costs, thin and zero clients are the obvious choice. Conventional desktops start at $300 per user, while thin clients can go as low as $90 per user. […]

Boost your revenue with thin and zero clients2019-01-14T10:47:03-07:00
26 Dec 2018

Simple steps to speed up Google Chrome

2019-01-14T10:46:54-07:00

Google Chrome is the most preferred web browsers across the world. Unlike its competitors that take forever to load because of their media-heavy landing pages, Chrome is a minimalist browser that runs at top speed. But, like any expandable browser that allows features and extensions to be installed, Chrome can slow down because of the extra weight. If you’re experiencing snail-like Chrome performance, use these handy tricks to speed up your browser again.

Clear your browsing data

Chrome stores a cached copy of a website you visit, so it can load the page faster when you visit it again. It also keeps a database of your browsing history and cookies for the same purpose. As you visit more and more websites, these pieces of data accumulate in Chrome and can slow the browser down.

Thankfully, the solution to this is easy: clear your cache. To do this, simply access your browsing history by entering chrome://history on your address bar. From the left panel, select Clear browsing data. Choose […]

Simple steps to speed up Google Chrome2019-01-14T10:46:54-07:00
25 Dec 2018

Add hours to your day with these hacks

2019-01-14T10:46:43-07:00

There are only so many hours in a workday, so making the most of your time is vital. If distracting websites, unorganized files, and cluttered inboxes prevent you from getting work done, consider these tips to better manage your time and stay productive at work.

Monitor productivity levels

Start by tracking how much work you complete on an average day. There are useful apps for this such as Google Chrome Extensions like RescueTime, which record your most frequently visited sites and track how much time you spend away from your computer. Running the app will provide you with a productivity rating and a detailed log of how you spend your time at work.

If you discover you’re wasting a huge portion of your time on social networking and other productivity killers, you’re more likely to make conscious adjustments on how you manage your time.

Get rid of clutter

You can also decrease distractions and increasing output by deleting old files, uninstalling unused programs, and organizing documents into appropriately labeled folders. This makes […]

Add hours to your day with these hacks2019-01-14T10:46:43-07:00
21 Dec 2018

How AI can shape the future of VoIP

2019-01-14T10:46:32-07:00

AI-driven applications and cloud-based services have brought significant enhancements to many organizations. As time goes by, these technologies will become a necessity, especially when it comes to VoIP telephony, and here’s why.

Contact center operations
Highly automated VoIP technology enables businesses to manage their call centers easily and reduce the need for human intervention

For example, AI-integrated VoIP systems can determine a caller’s personality, mood, and queries so calls are routed to the agent best equipped to handle them. This makes call center operations more seamless and cost-efficient because this reduces the need for a help desk operator to answer calls just to redirect them.

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems
An IVR system is designed to automatically respond to customer queries, which is extremely helpful for high call volume.

AI enhances this feature by working in the background as AI assistants gathering all relevant customer data such as personal information and recent transactions to resolve a query. For more nuanced queries, the AI “worker” sends this information to the business representative, who will […]

How AI can shape the future of VoIP2019-01-14T10:46:32-07:00
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