Are Your Employees Using Their Personal Devices To Work? Be Careful!

     It’s only natural that employees will want to check e-mail and do other work-related activities from home or on the road, often using their own personal devices. But be careful! You could be opening up a serious security loophole by allowing this.

     Since these personal devices aren’t company owned and regulated, you have limited access and control over how they are used. Employees can easily download malware and viruses and infect your network when they connect, send e-mails, or transfer files. Another risk is the security of the device. If an employee loses or misplaces a device with confidential client information on it, it puts a responsibility on YOU to notify clients and can lead to a costly PR nightmare or security breach.

     That’s not to say you shouldn’t allow employees to use personal devices – but if you do, then you need to make sure these devices are being secured and backed up like every other device in your network. The type of remote security monitoring you need will depend on the device, the information being stored or accessed and the laws regarding the information you store for patients or clients.

     If you are interested in knowing more about developing a concrete and effective IT security policy for personal device use as well as general system access, please don’t hesitate to give us a call so we can sit down with you and discuss a custom security blueprint that’s just right for you.

What Is Google+ And How Will It Affect Your Comapny’s SEO?

     Not too long ago Google introduced Google+ in an effort to take on Facebook and Twitter in the social networking war – and given the fact that over 20 million people have already started using this feature since it was introduced last June, there’s a good chance it will continue to gain ground and popularity among web users. But what is Google+ and how will it affect the ranking of your company’s website – if at all?

     Google is attempting to combine the most popular features of Facebook and Twitter into a centralized social hub where users have the ability to share content with specific groups of people called “circles.” As users build these circles, they’ll be able to see websites that members of their circles have +1’d.  (Is that a verb?) There’s also a group video chat feature called “Hangouts,” and a user-defined topical news feed similar to Twitter’s hashtag called “Sparks.” While positive (or even negative) reviews from users online have always been viewed through the lens of skepticism, Google+  will add a level of validation to those reviews since you only see the +1’s from people in your circles.

     While it’s still too early to tell how Google+ will affect your company’s SEO, it’s safe to assume that Google will reward websites that get lots of +1s because of the web’s evolution to become more “social” and user driven.

     The bottom line to all of this (and a key ingredient to any company’s success online OR offline) is good old fashioned customer service. These days it’s easy for any disgruntled customer to post a negative comment online. And once it’s posted, it’s practically written in indelible ink. Get enough negative reviews and your reputation will definitely take a hit. Additionally, it’s important that you monitor your company’s reputation online and encourage happy clients to post positive comments about you.

“For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way –
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.”
~ Author Unknown

The Pros And Cons Of Switching To…

Since Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call to his assistant Watson, the phone has come a long way. And now thanks to Internet technology, it’s possible to make phone calls over the Internet using VoIP technology, or Voice over Internet Protocol (IP).

While there are a number of advantages to a VoIP system over a standard phone system, the biggest reason companies switch is to save money. It’s not uncommon for a company making a lot of long distance calls to save 50% or more on their phone bill. Of course, there’s no guarantee of this since there are a lot of different VoIP systems and the amount of money that you will save really just depends on which system you buy – and in some cases, no savings will make up for poor sound quality or dropped calls. So what are the pros and cons?

The upside is that most business class VoIP systems will offer you the same features you’re used to with your current phone system, including call forwarding, call waiting, conferencing, voice mail, and (depending on what your current phone system is) additional features like the ability to share data, applications, and even transmit video in addition to voice so that you can see and hear the person that you are talking to.

Of course, there are some downsides you need to consider before jumping on the VoIP bandwagon. The biggest problem with VoIP systems is the sound quality. In some cases, it’s a bandwidth issue that will cause problems, but it’s not the only one. Since the voice data is being broken up into a series of packets and transmitted over the Internet, there could be moments of silence, broken voice patterns, echoes, delays and static sounds. Sound quality is the #1 complaint most VoIP users have about the service.

Another issue is that VoIP systems cannot be used if there is a power or Internet outage. A traditional phone can function during a power outage because the phone company transmits electricity over the phone line. This electricity is used to power the phone (cordless phones being the exception). That way, even if the power goes out, the phone will usually still work because the phone’s power is coming from a different source.