Recent Blog Posts
Hosted Email Most businesses today rely on their email for a sizable portion of their business operations, but the way that they support this email is much different than how they once did in the past. Rather than maintaining an on-premise email server and taking on the need for the in-house space, experience, and investment that such an implementation requires, many businesses are now using email solutions that are part of a Software-as-a-Service offering (more on SaaS later). Taking this route has enabled many small and medium-sized businesses to adopt a much more financially feasible means of using email, along with the available benefits of hosting. Hosted VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol is swiftly being adopted as the way businesses and private users alike place phone calls. Much like an email solution, it can be hosted either onsite or in the cloud, with many businesses realizing the inherent benefits of the latter option. For starters, using a hosted VoIP solution means that a business is no longer on the hook for the on-site hardware (very similarly to hosted email, as you may have noticed). As a result, it is easier to scale up and down your solution to meet your needs, and your telephony as a whole is much more mobile. The As-a-Service Model We?re back to SaaS, as well as the other cloud-based services available to a business. Again, by virtue of the cloud-hosted nature of a Software-as-a-Service solution (as can be found in Platform-as-a-Service, Network-as-a-Service, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service) these solutions are a more efficient option for businesses that need access to a given resource, but cannot support these needs independently in a cost-effective way. By delivering these resources via the cloud, providers enable these businesses to put these options into use. If you feel that the cloud would be useful for your business to take advantage of for any of its operational needs or processes, reach out to White Mountain IT Services and talk to one of our seasoned professionals. We can help you determine your best course of action and assist you in following through with it. To learn more, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.
Standardization through Automation To use your network, your users must connect to it with various devices, which will require a few network configurations to be put into place. Putting together standardized configuration templates not only helps to speed up the configuration process, it helps to keep everyone?s devices working in the same way. This centralized uniformity allows better collaboration to be enabled much more efficiently than it would be if you were to configure each device individually. Monitoring and Troubleshooting Of course, a network isn?t infallible, so you will want to make sure you have the tools in place to both detect and resolve any issues that may spring up. Tools are available today that can assist an IT team in identifying the base cause of some negative impact and in efficiently rectifying it, either by removing the issue itself or by mitigating the damage that the issue causes. Patching and Policymaking Just as the rest of your business? IT should be maintained, your network itself needs to be checked periodically for vulnerabilities and bugs. Make sure that your IT administrator is checking for patches and reviewing if your business is at risk. For similar reasons, your provider should also be reviewing network policies to ensure that they benefit both your productivity and your security. Both are essential, especially as compliance standards place certain demands regarding your network?s resilience and the handling of your business? data. Confirming that you are compliant to these standards is necessary if you want to avoid fines and possible business closure. Planning your IT Business technology is always changing, which means you must prepare your IT infrastructure and strategy to accommodate these changes. Otherwise, the decisions that you make now could wind up stifling your business? development and success in the future. Even the most well-optimized network today could become obsolete in an instant, so staying apprised of current and upcoming developments is critical to maintaining your ongoing flexibility and adaptability. If this all sounds like a lot to handle on top of your usual operations, that?s what White Mountain IT Services is here to help with. Our professionals can help you make sure that these standards are met, as well as many others we couldn?t mention here. To learn more, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
What are Phishing and Whaling? The first thing to understand is the basics of phishing and whaling. If you’ve heard these terms but are not 100% sure about how it works, then you’re lucky enough to have never been a target. Phishing Phishing is the original practice. It involves sending a fake email address to a targeted employee. The email pretends to be from someone that the employee knows and would trust. A coworker, their boss, or a friend whom they have emailed with at work before. Or it might be a generic message pretending to be from the person’s bank or a social media platform. The email is usually simple and usually involves a request to open an attached file. In the file, of course, is malware that will sneakily download and install itself on the computer the moment the employee clicks the link. Spear-Phishing Spear-phishing, which you also may have heard of, is simply more targeted. It involves the hacker doing more research on the person they’re targeting and the person they’re impersonating. The hacker may research social media to try and type with the same phases and cadence as the person they’re impersonating. They may try to use gleaned personal information to add authenticity. And they are trying to pull on the relationship between the target and whoever they are impersonating. Whaling Whaling is an evolution of spear-phishing in which the targets involved are higher in the authority chain and, therefore, have more power to give the hacker something beyond a malware-infested click. In other words, spearing “bigger fish,” hence whaling. In a whaling scenario, the hacker usually tries to impersonate someone very high up in the business, like the CEO, a VP, or a department head. They study the exec’s social media to learn how they talk, and who they most often talk with. Then the hacker sends an email impersonating this exec to either an employee or another higher-up in the company in order to get something. That ‘something’ is usually either money (as a wire transfer or other online means) or insider information about the company. Phishing is a Threat to Every Business The problem is that most companies underestimate the damage that phishing can do. If you’ve been aware of cybersecurity for some time, you know that phishing is ‘old news.’ It’s also not a very complicated kind of hack, because it relies on human error rather than infiltrating your defenses. But the reason hackers still use it and use it so abundantly, is because it works. No matter how secure your data security infrastructure is, one misguided click from an employee checking their media can get your business network infected and breached. And the worst part of malware-phishing is that usually, the employee has no idea what they’ve done. Whatever they clicked will appear to open a legitimate file. Whatever little question was used to lure them will be answered. But somewhere on your network is ransomware, spyware, or a rootkit waiting to strike. How Whaling Works Now let’s talk about whaling, which is a whole other kettle of fish — so to speak. Unlike phishing, the primary goal of whaling is almost never to spread malware. Instead, the hacker works hard to impersonate someone important and then use the power of that authority […]
What is VoIP? VoIP is short for Voice over Internet Protocol. Instead of using a telephone connection, your company?s telephone system is delivered over your broadband connection. Since the average business already pays for more bandwidth than it needs, using a solution that relies on bandwidth makes a lot of sense. You?ve probably already used VoIP before. If you?ve chatted with others using Skype or Facetime or Facebook Messenger, you?ve used VoIP. While helpful, these applications are aimed toward users, not whole organizations. VoIP platforms aimed toward businesses have many more options. Let?s take a look: What Makes VoIP Superior? A VoIP system holds many operational advantages over a traditional phone system. They include: Cost VoIP platforms are typically less expensive and more valuable than a plain old telephone system (POTS). You get access to more dynamic tools and options, while also paying less in overall costs. Sure, to get a VoIP platform that has all the bells and whistles (which we?ll go through later in this post), you may pay a little extra, but it pales in comparison to how much you would pay if you had a POTS and paid for individual solutions that integrates other tools you can get through VoIP. Simply put, because VoIP is a digital system, it will cost less to run than comparable analog/digital systems. Simplicity To run a simple VoIP system, the only thing you?ll need is a VoIP capable phone. You don?t have to find the time to run cable, you simply sign up, plug your VoIP-enabled phone and you are ready to use your VoIP platform. Additional services, like video conferencing, and mobile enabled VoIP softphones are just as simple to set up. New users are added easily through a control panel that either you can use, or we can manage everything for you. Functionality VoIP features dozens of features that you can use to properly manage your business? communications. Here are a few: Call forwarding Personalized extensions Call routing Call recording Automated receptionist Call queues Instant messaging Text messaging Find me, follow me Audio and video conferencing Integrated voicemail Line-of-business integration …and more. With VoIP, your company can get the services that can help you manage your business? communications, get more sales, and improve your operational collaboration. To find out more about VoIP, call our IT professionals today at (603) 889-0800.
Communication The capability to share information and collaborate with others is crucial to a business? processes and its overall success. Reflecting on this, it only makes sense that there are more solutions available to small businesses that ever before with this exact goal to motivate them: VoIP ? As an alternative, cost-effective means of telephony, a Voice over Internet Protocol solution can provide a business with top-tier phone services and features that promote both client contact and internal networking. Messaging ? From email to short-form communication methods (like instant messages), messaging solutions are the cornerstone of a business? capability to interact both within itself and with external parties. Cloud collaboration ? As just one of many applications that cloud technology can be used for, sharing documents and working cooperatively on them is another important facet of a business? communications. Security All aspects of a business? security, from data protection to infrastructural resilience to unwanted access, are as important to companies and organizations as they ever have been. In order to resist the growing number of threats out there, more means of maintaining this security are now available: Access management ? Applicable to both your information and your infrastructure, restricting access to resources is one of the central goals of any business? security strategy. With assorted solutions to see to both, small businesses aren?t left vulnerable due to their size. Password management ? If users are being appropriately diligent in their password hygiene, they will have a great variety that they are supposed to remember. This can be difficult (which in of itself discourages poor password hygiene) but using a password management solution can help alleviate this difficulty. Firewall and antivirus ? Why worry about a huge percentage of the threats out there if there are solutions that can be implemented and prevent them? Putting these measures in place and maintaining them over time can eliminate a great many of these threats. Productivity As the underlying goal of anything a business does, it may be assumed that any modern solution is (at least indirectly) meant to enable a team to be more productive. However, this standard is much more apparent in some solutions, as compared to others: Cloud storage and applications ? Returning to the cloud, cloud solutions are available to give your employees access to the data and tools they will need to work productively, even as a part of a remote workforce strategy. Remote access ? If you prefer to keep your resources on-site to monitor them more closely, remote access tools can still give your team the ability to work productively from home if need be, from a variety of devices. Automation ? It stands to reason that the fewer steps to a process an employee must worry about, the faster they will be able to accomplish their responsibilities. Automating parts of your processes can help boost efficiency while reducing human error. As a managed service provider, White Mountain IT Services is here to help your business adopt and utilize various technology solutions to resolve your business? challenges and problems. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to find out what we can provide for your benefit today!
