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We wanted to take a moment and look at what two corporations with particularly large impacts on the IT industry, Google and Microsoft, have done in response to the current pandemic. What Google Has Done Google has taken a very active stance, as far as coronavirus awareness and education are concerned. There is currently a collection on their blog that outlines their ongoing response to the health crisis. Included are an announcement of Google?s tools for students and teachers to continue their work, tips for improved video calls and remote collaboration, as well as a list of resources available to small businesses. Besides these blog posts, Google has also been actively promoting public awareness in their Search results. Any coronavirus-related searches now pull up an SOS Alert, which generates a sidebar next to your results that provides a rundown of the current situation–in this case, an overview of the coronavirus disease, along with symptoms, prevention, treatments, and assorted statistics. Along with this, the current top news stories are committed to coronavirus-related topics, there?s a worldwide graph of cases and more resources on the other side of your results. Your results are littered with relevant tweets, video suggestions, resources for more health information, and news updates. Google has also curated a YouTube playlist, called WFH Essentials, that shows a few tips and tricks to enable productive and focused work from an environment that doesn?t necessarily promote it. Keep in mind that many of these tips aren?t necessarily applicable to the current coronavirus situation, as it is not recommended to socialize publicly at this time. YouTube has also made some adjustments to how YouTube dishes out money to creators, attempting to slow down unhelpful coronavirus content and prevent the spread of misinformation. On the financial side of things, Google has committed over $800 million to SMBs, governments, health organizations, and the healthcare workers who are out and in the thick of things. This $800 million includes commitments to research efforts and the production of personal protective equipment, as well as $340 million dollars? worth of Google Ad credits available to small businesses who have had an active account for the past year. If you have had an active account since the start of 2019, make sure to keep an eye out for a notification to your account. What Microsoft Has Done Microsoft has also put measures in place to spread COVID-19 awareness, incorporating an interactive map into Bing that shares the dispersal of the virus worldwide, and in a more regionalized context for individual countries. This map utilizes information from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), as well as Wikipedia. Microsoft has also partnered with the CDC to create a Coronavirus Self-Checker tool to help people evaluate their needs to be tested. This AI-powered tool allows a user to establish if they do indeed have a medical concern, and suggestions on their next steps (but no concrete medical advice). This tool assists in keeping emergency services–already taxed to their maximum capacity–from receiving so many patients whose needs aren?t severe enough for hospitalization. It can be too easy to see companies of such scale as monoliths, untouchable by concerns that influence smaller businesses so easily. COVID-19 has […]
Before we get too far into this, let?s go over what ?net neutrality? is. The Foundations of Net Neutrality The fundamental idea behind net neutrality is that of the open Internet: that all content and all websites are given equal footing, regardless of the platform used to access them. Basically, an Internet service provider (ISP) wouldn?t be allowed to make a user?s connection to a big global enterprise?s website faster than it would be to your website. One analogy for net neutrality that many experts have used is that of the ?dumb pipe.? In a city?s water system, all users would ideally get the same water pressure–their individual identity and specific use of the water isn?t factored into the speed at which they receive it. Net neutrality has its biggest supporters in human rights, civil rights, and consumer advocacy groups, as well as in many major websites. However, Internet Service Providers and telecom companies have been resistant to the idea in the past, largely because of some of the other implications brought by net neutrality. The entire issue is fascinating, but is far too in-depth and convoluted for a single blog post–the important thing to keep in mind here is that telecoms and ISPs have generally been opposed to net neutrality in the past. What the COVID-19 Outbreak Has Caused With coronavirus running amok around the world, and more and more people subscribing to the social isolation policies suggested by entities like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it has become clear to many that connectivity has become a critical need for our society. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission has taken steps and released a pledge for ISPs and telecoms to take up. Here is the Keep Americans Connected Pledge, as written in a press release given by the FCC on March 13: ?Given the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on American society, [[Company Name]] pledges for the next 60 days to: (1) not terminate service to any residential or small business customers because of their inability to pay their bills due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic; (2) waive any late fees that any residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic; and (3) open its Wi-Fi hotspots to any American who needs them.? Dozens of providers had signed the pledge within a day, and many others have taken other steps to help soften the blow dealt by COVID-19 in addition to what is demanded by the Keep Americans Connected Pledge. In a statement, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said, ?As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions to the economic, educational, medical, and civic life of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected. Broadband will enable them to communicate with their loved ones and doctors, telework, ensure their children can engage in remote learning, and ? importantly ? take part in the ?social distancing? that will be so critical to limiting the spread of this novel coronavirus.? Many observers have noted that this approach relies on many of the tenets of net neutrality, but in the face of a disaster like COVID-19, it also seems very necessary in order to support the large amount of people who will have no choice […]
Notifications in the Action Center Like any other platform, Windows has notifications. Many of them are related to the function of the operating system itself, Microsoft-developed software like Outlook can use this notifications area to deliver email or any other messages tied to Microsoft-related applications. There are also ways for you to synchronize your Android phone with Windows 10 which definitely makes the notifications options inside the Action Center that much more valuable to users. Instead of expiring or interrupting users, notifications accumulate in the Action Center for users to check. If you have notifications, you will be able to see how many from the little message icon on the end of your taskbar. By clicking on the icon you will open up the Action Center. If you are on a touchscreen device you can swipe the Action Center open from the right. Once opened, you will see your notifications at the top, along with a brief list of quick-access settings that expands to include: All settings Network Connect Project Screen snip Battery saver VPN Bluetooth Night light Mobile hotspot Wi-Fi Focus assist Location Airplane mode Nearby sharing Tablet mode Of course these settings are designed to be used with the touchscreen device, but it does give the mouse-driven user the ability to quickly access all of the above options. White Mountain IT Services helps New Hampshire businesses with blogs like this one. Subscribe to our blog or, if you have a specific question, call our experts at (603) 889-0800 to get the professional perspective you?re looking for.
Equipping Remote Employees with the Best Kit Possible The only question is how you should go about equipping them. Employees in the office sit at workstations, and you can outright ask them what they need for mobile or home office work that they might do. But what about remote employees? How do you put together an enticing, useful, and all-bases-covered package of equipment to send over that will keep your remote employees on-task and in-the-loop? We have your answers. Laptop Computer Every mobile equipment kit starts with a laptop computer. Whether your company trends toward ephemeral MacBooks, sturdy Lenovos, or something in between, make sure your remote employees are working with equipment similar to what others are using. If you don’t have a strong laptop preference for your teams, ask your remote employees what kind of laptop they work best with to optimize their workflow based on past experience. Wireless Hotspot with Unlimited Data Plan Wireless hotspots are something every employee outside the office should be equipped with. For employees who travel or work outside the home in coffee shops or with clients, a wireless hotspot ensures that they never fall victim to the “Free wifi network” honeypot trap of hackers. And that they can always connect anywhere with strong cell-signal. For remote employees, it’s best to assume that you have no idea where they’ll be working and that providing a hotspot is just a good best-practice. If you can score a bulk deal on unlimited data hotspots for employees, this can also ensure that working for you does not over-tax a remote employee’s metered internet at home. VOIP Number There’s no need to require an employee to provide their cell number (or even to have a cellphone) when your company runs on VOIP. Cloud phones are ideal for remote employees who will already be connecting via high-speed internet and from any possible location or device. They can be halfway across the world and on the same communication network as their coworkers at the same time. A VOIP number also enables remote employees to stay connected and to check in even in emergency situations where normal devices or work locations are unavailable, for whatever reason. Company Email Address The tradition of offering a company email address is falling out of fashion as everyone gets mobile and BYOD spreads to other aspects of business life. While it’s true that you can and should know a remote employee’s normal email address, you may also want to provide a secured company email address with greater data security and hacker protections than the commercial-grade email your new remote hires likely have for personal use. Project Collaboration Platform Hand-in-Hand with company email and VOIP number is access to your project collaboration platform. You may have a specific site, cloud service, or shared software that you prefer to use for this, or you may have integrated your VOIP cloud communications platform for the purpose. Either way, your remote employees need a way to share documents, participate in team project efforts, and to stay in constant live-chat conversations with their team members. The more interactive and feature-rich your collaboration platform, the better. High-Quality Headset Most laptops come with a webcam and microphone that can be used for VOIP and video calls. But you can’t always guarantee that […]
What is a Business Disaster? Technically speaking, a lot of different things could fall under the umbrella term ?disaster.? A business disaster could include any event that creates a disruption to that business? processes, so it isn?t too generous to include the COVID-19 outbreak and (more directly) its impacts in the list. Nevertheless, it would be irresponsible to pretend that the other potential issues that could impact your business become a non-issue just because the focus has shifted to the illness currently dominating the public awareness. Other than the current pandemic, the term ?disaster? covers: Natural disasters, like: Fires Floods Storms Earthquakes Tornadoes Blizzards Criminal acts, like Hacking Ransomware Hardware theft Sabotage Human error, like: Deleted data Unauthorized shutdowns Unsaved files Lost/damaged devices Really, anything that causes data loss should be seen as some degree of disaster, so your backup and business continuity strategies become that much more important. What is Business Continuity? Business continuity is pretty much what it says on the box: the ability your business has to continue an acceptable level of its operations, despite some kind of obstacle. In the case of coronavirus, your business? ability to continue its operations, despite your workforce preventatively isolating themselves or being under quarantine from the coronavirus. While this is the kind of situation that might not obviously require a backup, a backup is always a useful thing to have. For instance, one implementation that can greatly help your business continuity would be the capability for your team to work remotely. That way, even if they were stuck in their house, they could still serve a useful function to the business. While there are many ways to accomplish this, we always recommend that your business adopts the cloud. Why? Simple–not only does the cloud allow for convenient and secure access to data from any authorized device, a cloud that is hosted offsite can inherently protect your data from a variety of those other threats listed above. As a result, if any of the above circumstances were to fall upon your business? location, your business as an entity could continue with a few additional measures in place. Remember, while there may be a global health crisis going on at the moment, there?s no guarantee that something else won?t impact your business as well. To learn more about how you can help protect one of your business? most important assets in disasters of every shape and size, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.
