A Wireless Connection The Pros There is one obvious benefit to the wireless network: No wires! It is a big benefit not having to run cable, and being able to access resources anywhere within range on nearly any device makes a big difference. In giving your team access to network resources wirelessly, your business will be better suited for collaboration and enhanced productivity. What?s more, with a strong wireless network in place, you can promote some strategies that can work to improve your operational effectiveness. One of those strategies is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. Many of your employees bring their smartphones with them when they come to work and if you don?t have a BYOD policy, they are absolutely a risk. By enacting a BYOD strategy, your staff firmly understands that while their phones can be a positive for the company, they can also be a problem and that the company has steps it can take if that negative reality comes to fruition.  The Cons With the convenience of a wireless network, the speed and security aren?t what they would be with a wired connection. You see, wireless connections are more vulnerable than wired ones. It?s easier for unauthorized individuals to hijack the signal of a wireless connection and can provide a third-party with access to the critical information that is transmitted wirelessly.  The Wired Connection The Pros When dealing with wired networks, IT administrators maintain a higher degree of control over what devices can connect to the network. This presents value is multiple ways, none more important than the degree of security wired connections promote.  Additionally, wired networks are usually much faster than wireless networks. This speed boost is magnified if there are walls, floors, ceilings, or any other potential interference to seeing optimal speeds over Wi-Fi. The Cons The biggest drawback to a wired Internet network is the act of wiring the network. The cost and time are higher than it would be to set up a wireless network, and it can also be a hindrance for maintenance if a cable fails or hardware has to be moved around due to business growth or restructuring.  Another detriment to the business is that a wired connection doesn?t allow for the type of mobility many businesses are looking for nowadays. With a wireless connection, meetings are faster, more to the point, and collaborative work can be fluid. If your business is looking to build a powerhouse wireless network, or if you prefer a wired network and need help networking your office, give the IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.

Balancing Employee Expectations With many employees demanding their small and medium-sized employers to enable mobile operations, this kind of mobility is swiftly becoming an essential need. Employees appreciate the convenience and accessibility of a smartphone, so in their eyes, implementing mobile functionality seems to be a no-brainer. However, the perspective of the business is a little different. While the convenience aspect is certainly appreciated, businesses will typically prioritize data security. However, if this security can be locked down, so to speak, mobility is likely to be embraced. Considerations to Account For Just as with any IT implementation or improvement, you need to mull over a few factors before you dive head first into mobilized solutions. These factors will include: Am I biting off more than I can chew? Or in other words, are you setting realistic goals for your business? Charging in with a comprehensive mobile implementation with no checks on device usage is a recipe for disaster. Instead of doing that, try to identify any issues you have that mobile functionality could help fix and design a tailored strategy to resolve them, specifically. While most mobile business tools are focused on collaboration and/or customer service, others are often introduced that could further expand these possibilities. Starting small and simple puts you in a better position to build upon these capabilities while maintaining control over your data. What do I need to do to keep my business secure? With additional devices suddenly seeking to access your network, multiple layers of security are going to be recommended. While passwords should always be required, it becomes even more important to encrypt your files against unwanted access. On a related note, you should also identify and implement solutions to encrypt data as it travels over the mobile network, as the security of these networks isn?t a sure thing. In addition to these precautions, you?ll want to both back up the data stored on these mobile systems and implement management solutions as a prerequisite to their use. That way, should a device go missing, you can wipe the device remotely to protect the data it contains. What will mobility mean for my business? Finally, you need to know how your team can use their mobile devices, and how that will impact your own infrastructure adjustments. For example, is your team able to access data that is hosted locally? Will any cloud systems need multi-factor authentication enabled? How able is your IT administrator to address any issues pertaining to mobile devices? In other words, in order to make mobility work in your business, you will need to have the right solutions and processes set up. For assistance with this and your other assorted IT needs, give our team a call at (603) 889-0800! White Mountain IT Services is here to help your business however we can.

VoIP, either hosted locally or in the cloud, can bring any business a solid ROI because you use a resource that your company already has in place, your Internet connection to send and receive calls.  Antiquated Strategies and Technologies If you?re still relying on the traditional telephone system of yesteryear, you could be making your job more difficult than it needs to be. Businesses that still use traditional telephone systems have limited ability to grow and expand. Adding new users can mean adding new telephone lines and extensions, a process that?s not necessarily easy. The most logical course of action is to figure out how your business can get away from traditional telephone providers. After all, these are the same organizations that are known to provide bundles filled with services you don?t need. Plus, running telephone wires and adding new users or phone numbers can be quite the hassle, one that you don?t have to worry about with a more dynamic solution. Get a Cutting-Edge Telephone System With great new features that put traditional telephony to shame, VoIP is a sustainable and investment-worthy technology for any business, small or large. VoIP uses your Internet connection rather than a traditional telephone line to function, giving any device with a VoIP application and an Internet connection the ability to work like a phone. Since VoIP only needs your Internet connection, you?re essentially eliminating mobile expenses from your budget. To learn more about how else your organization can benefit from VoIP, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Zoom?s 90-Day Security Plan On April 1, 2020, Zoom announced that it had a 90-day plan to address the numerous security concerns and criticisms that had plagued many users. The crux of the issue was that Zoom links were commonly being shared on social media? effectively opening these meetings to anyone who could find that link. As a result, the concept of ?Zoombombing??unauthorized users hijacking meetings and sharing offensive content?was born. After numerous attacks were waged against organizations of all kinds, Zoom saw that it needed to make some changes. Therefore, on April 1st, the company announced that it would be pausing any new features to focus specifically on those related to the platform?s security. These include: Passwords are now required to access all meetings Waiting Rooms (a space where a meeting?s guests had to wait to be approved by the host) are enabled by default The default settings only enable the host to share their screen Furthermore, Zoom?s acquisition of Keybase has enabled them to incorporate end-to-end encryption. Other internal changes are also now in place including a bug bounty program, deeper penetration testing, and other security improvements. Some Brief Controversy However, Zoom has not escaped all criticism as it has made these changes. In June, CEO Eric Yuan shared that the end-to-end encryption feature would be exclusive to paying users. Once users and security advocates alike spoke out about this policy, Zoom quickly walked this policy back. While it is still rolling out this capacity, and it may interfere with some other features, Zoom is also actively planning for the future with its next improvements already planned out. So, is Zoom Safe to Use? Compared to where it was? Absolutely. However, you may still want to take what you plan on communicating into account when deciding whether to use Zoom for certain conversations, just to be safe. Erring on the side of caution is always the better option when your business communications are involved. Whatever your business? technology needs may be, White Mountain IT Services can help you find and implement the solutions to fulfill them. To learn more about what we have to offer, give us a call at (603) 889-0800 today.

Security Steps Let?s face it, your business? cybersecurity starts and ends with your staff. They need simple, practical directions to follow or they simply won?t pay any mind to it. You don?t want to be the business that deals with significant turnover because security tasks are so demanding that their employees would rather work elsewhere. You will want to take the time to go through every part of your IT and brainstorm potential problems. You will address situations such as: What qualifies as confidential data, when and how this data is to be shared, best practices and requirements for storage and access credentials How devices used for work are to be maintained and handled, which devices may be approved for use, how to get a device approved How employees are required to go about transferring data, remote work policies, threat reporting processes Understanding the potential problems your business faces can go a long way toward dictating where you need to invest capital on the security side.  Prioritize Training Many businesses are still not training their employees even though up to 94 percent of all cyberthreats that come in are due to employee error, negligence, or sabotage. As a result, it?s extremely important to have a comprehensive security training platform in place. You need to teach your employees about phishing, about social engineering tactics, and about data care. Use Innovative Tools There are a lot of businesses that have a lot of security measures that they use to mitigate problems such as data theft, intrusion, and especially malware deployment. These solutions can be had in a comprehensive security suite that includes firewall, antivirus, content filtering, spam blocker and more. To learn more about the powerful security tools your business can implement to keep malware and other threats off your network, call the IT security experts at White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800.