Businesses of all sizes are discovering the vast amount of approaches they can take to going green. While there are simple efficiency-saving methods such as changing to LED bulbs, there are countless other ways your business can make a difference. One major method is leveraging the cloud. Cloud Computing Cloud computing allows businesses to access data from wherever, whenever. New servers can be created without the need for bulky hardware. This eliminates necessary real estate and power costs. Server rooms require an enormous amount of electricity to operate, not only to run but to maintain. Server rooms are required to be climate controlled. Overcoming the heat output of hardware is not an efficient task. While it might seem like this is a ?there is no such thing as a free lunch? scenario. This has to cost someone, somewhere. Surely the reduced carbon footprint is negated by the host of your cloud, but that is not the case. While it is true that the cloud is itself a server, and does need to be hosted somewhere, it is far more efficient to host numerous virtual servers in one efficient data center, rather than businesses hosting their own. Cloud providers have efficiency down to a science, even to the point that they take advantage of naturally cool, low humidity environments. After all, their biggest long-term expense depends on the efficiency of their infrastructure. Remote Workforce In the U.S., the average one-way commute is over 26 minutes. Multiply this drive by two (after all your employees need to go home). During a five-day work week, your employees on average are spending nearly five hours per week commuting. Remote work options are one of the most carbon-reducing options your business can take to not only reduce emissions, but also reduce the required real estate, thus reducing cost. Remote workers are still capable of communicating with clients despite being off-premise. There are numerous different meeting software options. The same options are available to employees who need to ask a colleague a question. Instant messaging and online meetings have revolutionized the way we do business. Along with convenience, comes the satisfaction knowing your business is making a difference cutting the carbon footprint. Reduce Printing Ask yourself, do you sometimes print out a document that you could just read on your desktop or smartphone? Reducing the amount of printing will save your business money, space, and resources. You might think that some industries can?t get away from all the excess paper. You need to sign contracts, store records, and file everything away in big bulky file cabinets, right? Actually, modern day document management systems will let you handle all of that and more with digital files. You can convert contracts to digital files and let clients sign them on a touch device, and then you can backup these documents and pull them up with a quick search. At White Mountain IT Services, we have implemented, and encourage our clients to use, green technologies. If you would like to find out how your business can introduce efficient, cost saving technology, call us at (603) 889-0800.

Most are familiar with the Office 365 suite in at least one of its iterations. Not so many are acquainted with the Microsoft 365 package. What is Microsoft 365? Microsoft 365 takes the business utility of the Office 365 solution suite and bundles it together with the Enterprise version of Windows 10, along with Microsoft?s Enterprise Mobility + Security and machine learning features. As a result, it offers businesses who need these solutions a simple and convenient means to consolidate their assorted services into one – which is much easier to manage. What Microsoft 365 Includes In no uncertain terms, quite a bit: Windows Enterprise OS Installed versions of Microsoft Office applications  Word PowerPoint Excel OneNote Access Mobile versions of these applications Office for the web Outlook Exchange Teams SharePoint Yammer OneDrive for Business Sway for Office 365 Stream Task management tools To-Do Planner PowerApps and Flow Device and Application Management Microsoft 365 Admin Center Intune Windows Autopilot and Device Health Analytics System Center Configuration Manager Identity and Access Management Azure Active Directory Premium 1 and 2 Windows Hello Direct Access Credential Guard Threat Protection Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics Windows Defender Antivirus and Device Guard Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Azure Advanced Threat Protection Information Protection Office 365 data loss prevention Windows Information Protection and BitLocker Azure Information Protection 1 and 2 Cloud App Security Security Management Microsoft Secure Score Microsoft Security and Compliance Center Advanced Compliance Advanced eDiscovery Customer Lockbox Advanced Data Governance Service Encryption with Customer Key Privileged Access Management Advanced Analytics MyAnalytics Power BI Pro We realize that?s a lot, and there are a lot of complicated services and features that you may not know if you need or even want. Fortunately, our technicians are very familiar with Microsoft 365 and its massive set of tools and capabilities. That?s why New Hampshire businesses lean on White Mountain IT Services for assistance. Not only can we help you determine the best solution for your business, we?ll help you procure it, implement it, and manage it. Reach out to us at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Find Me/Follow Me Call Routing Most telephone platforms have a call forwarding service, but the find me/follow me call routing feature allows for additional customization to this service. You are able to set what phones you want to ring, in what order, at what time. This routing service ensures that you get all the important calls wherever you are, keeping you mobile, and not tethered to a specific phone when you?re expecting a call. Voicemail to Email Transcription VoIP has features that make tough situations better. One useful service is to have your voicemail transcribed to text and sent to your email address. This allows you to read your voicemail messages when you are unable to talk on the phone, ensuring you get the messages promptly.  Auto Attendant With a built-in auto attendant, VoIP provides thorough and fast call mapping, ensuring your callers can access the right caller without knowing the extension. Conference Calling Most phone systems offer some semblance of conference calling, but with VoIP, it features managed invitation, interaction, and muting controls to have more control over your audio conferencing solutions.  Do Not Disturb Need to buckle down and get some work done? The do not disturb setting will put everything to your voicemail without ringing any of the phones on your queue. If you would like to hear about more features, and information on how VoIP can benefit your business, talk to our experts at White Mountain IT Services by calling (603) 889-0800 today.

At one point, many companies provided each employee with a smartphone to benefit their ability to do work remotely. As technology advances, however, convenience and usability does as well. The burden of carrying two separate phones is not appealing to most users. In 2011, Pew Research Center surveyed U.S. adults to estimate how many adults owned a smartphone. Their research concluded that 35% of Americans owned one. Fast forward eight years later, and it is now estimated that 81% of U.S. adults own a smartphone of some kind. Another survey concluded that 70% of employees keep their phones ?within eye contact? at work. So why do only 59% of businesses allow their employees to use their smartphones for work purposes? There?s both pushback from the employee who doesn?t want to give up their liberties on their own device, and pushback from business owners who don?t want to risk data theft. Separating Personal Data from Work Data Some businesses simply do not understand–or have not deployed–the resources to enable work profiles. Android?s work profiles allow users to securely separate their own personal data from work data. These profiles not only store data in separate storage areas, but do not allow applications to simultaneously run which might compromise data security. Data is truly separated, and cannot be intertwined. While using work profiles is secure, some employees are hesitant to create a profile. Employee pushback is the main reason employees do not participate in BYOD programs. Most employees are not bothered if Mark Zuckerberg has access to the entirety of their contacts, browsing history, camera and microphone, and even photos; but, if their own personal boss has the same authorizations, some employees will not partake in any sort of BYOD. Setting up Work Profiles While skepticism is unavoidable in some employees, setting up work profiles still greatly benefits your business. Setting employees up with their own device can improve productivity, and security. Most work profiles are set up through Google Mobile Management for Android. There are few requirements in order to set up work profiles. Your device must use Android 5.1 or newer software, and users must have whitelisted apps in the managed Play store. Once these requirements are met, users are able to navigate to: Click on the Settings app go to Management > Devices > Search and select devices and then open a work profile installation wizard from Managed Google Play. Once there click on Create managed Google account/work profile. Click Create to confirm. If you have any questions on how to set up work profiles, or how it will benefit your business, reach out to our IT professionals at White Mountain IT Services by calling (603) 889-0800.

RFID is a form of communication in which radio waves transmit data from an RFID tag to a reader, which then is able to transmit data to RFID computer software. RFID tag usability has only just begun to be explored, meaning the future could hold a use which could greatly benefit your business.  Modern Usage RFID technology has multiple uses in the modern age. RFID tags are very frequently used with merchandise, but they also are used to track vehicles, pets, or even patients with Alzheimer?s. These tags are sometimes referred to as an RFID chip. Most of these tags, or chips, are known as passive. They required the reader to provide power before they are able to be identified.  These chips are so miniscule that they can be attached to even the smallest of objects. For example, Budweiser Brazil utilized the compact design of an RFID chip to install them into what they called a ?Buddy Cup?. Once the Buddy Cup was linked to a user?s Facebook account via a QR code, the user could instantaneously ?friend? anyone else who had a Buddy Cup – simply by ?clinking the cups against one another as a toast?. In reality, this close proximity enabled RFID tags to be read, and the reader to run its program.  Another more practical use, comes from St Vincent?s Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. RFID tags were used to check on patients as they returned from lab testing, x-rays, and other procedures. Their precise location is displayed to the nurse?s station, enhancing the quality of care patients receive.  These specific cases show the usability and function of RFID technology, when a little ingenuity is applied. Let us know in the comments how you would leverage RFID to assist in your operations!