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1. Keep Your Team Involved Your team is going to be one of?if not the?the most vital resources you have during any crisis. Therefore, your ability to remain positive amidst a disaster event is going to be strongly influenced by how you work with the other people in the office, even if you?re not actually in the office. Keep everyone in the loop? as appropriate. Too many people naturally respond to a crisis by falling back and withholding as much information as possible. Don?t do this. All this will do is encourage rumors to start (distracting from the productivity you are trying to salvage) as well as prevent you from communicating with your team effectively. Having said that, there is a difference between keeping your team apprised of how things are going, and oversharing. If something shouldn?t be disclosed to the team, or you are unprepared to give a complete enough answer to them, tell them that. While remaining honest and straightforward with your team is important, sharing incomplete information or private matters is not the way to go about it. Lead by example. Your team is apt to internalize some of your actions as a leader and interpret them as the way that the business is to operate in troublesome times. While some adjustments must be made in response to any circumstance?many on the fly?you also need to show that you have some control of the situation. Make sure that you are seeing to all your usual responsibilities as the boss, in addition to whatever your circumstances have thrown on your plate. Your employees may just do the same. Believe in your employees. Consider the talent you currently have employed at your business. Once you have figured out what can be done to handle a situation, assign elements of that plan to the people that you know have the capability to handle it. Lean on their talents?after all, they are there to support you. 2. Adjust Your Operations It only stands to reason that any emergency or disaster will require some level of modification to your processes. While it may be too late to do this now, it is generally best to consider these modifications proactively. Figure out where you stand. Here?s the thing: you aren?t going to be able to make the necessary alterations to your business? processes without some understanding of how the situation specifically applies to your business. Identifying what would happen?or is actively happening?and what impact it will have allows you to better predict how your operations will be influenced. This enables you to come up with alternatives to put into action. Ask yourself the tough questions. Once you have an idea of what to expect, figuring out how to mitigate these expectations will require you to make some tough, but necessary, choices. Start with the simpler ones, such as who will take on certain roles if the usual person gets sick or whether you will reduce the times your business is open. After that has been established, move to the bigger, tougher considerations; like, how you can help your staff and clients if they are in a jam, or how long your business could last if a shutdown became necessary. Adapt as you can to the situation. You may find that you have other […]
You Can Do More with VoIP While your main strategy is shifting to a VoIP system for your business? telephone needs, they provide many more benefits. By using bandwidth instead of a dedicated telephone connection, you have access to many more dynamic options. They may raise the cost of your telephone solution a bit, but it will still come in under what you pay for an enterprise telephone system from the telephone company. Security Baked In VoIP is much more secure to use than the traditional landline. This is because it is more difficult to secure an analogue system then it is to secure a digital one. With the benefit of built-in encryption, your VoIP communications are always secure. Perfect for the Remote Worker A VoIP system typically supports calling and messaging through a dedicated smartphone app. This means that any person that has a smartphone can have access to their work phone at any time. Best yet, the VoIP platform?s app will ring when an employee?s extension is called giving them access to all the VoIP features wherever they are on many different types of devices. VoIP Offers Automation Automation makes a big difference when you want things to run efficiently or you are trying to cut costs. VoIP has several different features that leverage automation to make the system easier to navigate. Call forwarding, parking, and other options can be tied to a VoIP account for a small additional investment. VoIP is a technology solution for all of your business? calling needs. Call White Mountain IT Services today at (603) 889-0800 for more information about VoIP and how you can get the telephone system you?ve always wanted for your business.
What is Ergonomics? While it may be a buzzword nowadays, ergonomics began as a philosophy to help your employees work more effectively. The basic idea was that a comfortably positioned employee was more capable of being productive than one who was uncomfortable, simply because the distraction that was to potentially be caused by their discomfort was no longer impacting them. While many might assume the opposite, this is potentially far easier in the workplace than it is elsewhere, like someone?s living space. Think about it?most offices are furnished with workstations, desk chairs, and technology meant to be used in a workplace. Each of these things are often designed with long-term use and productivity in mind. Unlike a vast majority of the items that your employees will have at home, these furnishings are therefore built in such a way that your team members will be encouraged to sit in what is referred to as a ?neutral position.? This position is meant to mitigate much of the pain and tension that can set in when someone is stationary for some time, as they likely are in the office. However, while the workplace has furniture meant to promote this kind of position, the home usually doesn?t. After all, the difference is easy to see when one looks at their workstation in the office and compares it to the chairs and tables found at their home. How many people have a recliner at their office desk, or a dining room table that can convert to a standing buffet? While maintaining the proper posture while working from home can be challenging, it isn?t impossible to do. Basic Ergonomic Best Practices To make sure that you are going home with the right idea of how you should be working, let?s revisit the neutral position for a moment. When seated at a workstation, a neutral posture should include: Your head held straight up and supported by the neck Your back well-supported by your chair Your shoulders relaxed Your wrists held straight Your limbs either held straight or bent at a 90-degree angle Your thighs resting parallel to the floor Your monitor at your eye level or just slightly below it. Now, while office equipment makes all of this relatively simple to achieve, your home furnishings may not? at least, not without a little bit of improvisation. Making It Work There are a few simple adjustments that your employees can make, especially with your support, in order to make use of the neutral position. For instance, if their monitor is too low, they could simply stack some books or boxes to raise it to the appropriate height. If they happen to have a laptop, making sure they have the peripherals to add to the onboard keyboard and mouse ensures that this fix is still practicable. Kitchen chairs can have their height and support levels adjusted with pillows, and if feet are left dangling, a small stool or another box can be used to stabilize them. It is important to remember that they themselves are an asset to their work, so it is just as important for them to take care of themselves as it is for them to take care of their workstations. This will help you optimize any work done remotely for your business. Meanwhile, White Mountain IT Services can […]
There’s a good chance that you?ve considered managed IT services before, but if you haven?t, and you are looking to control your costs while commerce is slowed, a managed services provider (MSP) can offer a lot of benefits. Let?s take you through some of the services an MSP offers that can help get your business through tough times. Leveraging the RMM There?s a good chance you use IT to run your business, but how do you keep your technology working effectively? Do you use a break/fix vendor? Do you have an internal IT administrator (or a whole department)? Whichever strategy you use, technology is bound to have problems. An MSP delivers value by having trained experts use cutting-edge remote monitoring and management technology to mitigate hardware and software malfunctions and support network health. With the RMM, technicians can provide superior uptime, which if leveraged correctly will result in more productivity. This RMM strategy is at the core of what we do. In fact, regardless of what strategy you have in place at this moment, using the RMM, an MSP can provide significant cost savings, while maintaining superior network and hardware performance and security. Fixing Your Hardware Regardless of how proactive you are, technology will break. So, while the RMM will unquestionably mitigate a fair share of potential problems, sometimes you will need your technology fixed. An MSP?s technicians do offer onsite support for broken technology; and, depending on your agreement, it can be much less than using a break/fix vendor. Additionally, most MSPs feature around-the-clock IT support through a help desk. It is a toll-free number that anyone in your company can call and get immediate support for common issues you and your team may encounter. We Can Get You the Technology You Need For the technology that needs to be replaced rather than repaired, an MSP?s consultants have years of experience with business technology, and have forged relationships with some of the very best vendors in the industry. This means that not only can you get products and services that can improve your business, you can do it at a fair price, and will get expert assistance getting the technology deployed in the manner that works best for your business. Patch Management Software is one of the most important parts of your IT infrastructure, and often the most vulnerable. The MSP will manage software security updates and patches to ensure that your software, your network, and your business aren?t exposed to vulnerabilities and threats from outside your network. Vendor Management You would be surprised just how much your vendors cost you. Most MSPs offer a vendor management solution that allows you to have a single contact for all of your company?s IT vendors. This will free you to focus on your business, and not the litany of vendor reps that would normally take up a lot of your time. White Mountain IT Services proudly offers a comprehensive managed IT service that can help you reduce costs, improve your business, and free you up to run your business the way you want. Call us at (603) 889-0800 for more information.
Why Do Good Password Habits Matter? You might think, ?Eh, it?s just my Facebook (or Netflix, or Google, or Amazon) account, what do I really have to lose?? As it turns out, there is a lot to lose, and it could affect your employer as well. Poor password habits are one of the leading causes of cybersecurity issues today. People are using the same passwords across multiple accounts, and often use passwords that can easily be guessed or brute-forced (a process where a hacker tries thousands of common passwords and combinations to gain access to an account). Using the same password across multiple sites is a huge problem, and responsible for many recent high-profile cyberattacks, such as the Disney+ attack we saw last November. If someone uses the same password on their Netflix account for their work email (or some other work account) then they are putting their company?s security in the hands of Netflix. If Netflix is involved in a data breach, that user?s business is compromised as well. There are No Shortcuts Unfortunately, there is no easy, secure way to check to see if a particular person?s password is unique. There is no network policy that will somehow know if the user is using the same password for their Hulu account or their personal email or their eBay account. We can force strong passwords all day long, but users will make it easier for themselves by using common shortcuts that will make it easier to remember passwords. That includes using common password terms and putting an exclamation mark at the end to satisfy the ?use a symbol? requirement. If many people do it, it doesn?t help security. Remember, hackers can see password trends when big data breaches happen. Password Rules Every Person NEEDS to Live By Rule #1 – Don?t Use the Same Password Twice Today, this is the most important rule. You might feel like a savant with a very complex password memorized, but if you use it across multiple platforms, you are putting yourself at risk. Data breaches happen all the time, and as soon as a company like Netflix, Yahoo, Microsoft, Google, or literally any other online entity gets breached, hackers start to try all those accounts everywhere else. They might be trying your password on other services before you learn about the data breach. Rule #2 – Use Strong Passwords That Can?t Be Guessed If I know you reasonably well, would I be able to guess your password? If you are using your dog?s name and your birthday as a password (daisy032271) to lock down your bank account, you aren?t doing much to keep anyone out. On top of that, common phrases and words are often guessed pretty quickly when a hacker uses their tools to try to force their way into an account. Most sites require numbers in their passwords. Maybe your favorite baseball player is Mookie Betts, so you use his jersey number as a go-to for your passwords, or you use the number 42 because you are a big fan of The Hitchhiker?s Guide to the Galaxy. If someone knows you well enough, would they be able to guess that? All you are doing is leaving tiny chinks in your armor. Rule #3 – Use 2-Factor/Multi-Factor Authentication 2FA (also known as […]
