We?ll discuss a few major ways how your business can take full advantage of this mobile revolution, and how you can safely and securely do so without putting your business at risk. Mobile ApplicationsMany of the services that you use on a daily basis have mobile app equivalents that can be of great value to your business. We?re talking about productivity suites like Microsoft Office 365 and Google?s G-Suite, as well as voice chat systems like Skype for Mobile and Google Hangouts–solutions that you may have been able to use on your desktop, but could never dream of using on your mobile device. As business grows more demanding, company executives are looking to get more out of their mobile device, and having near-constant access to their critical assets while out of the office is a great boon that cannot be ignored. Mobile DevicesYour workstation might be tethered to the wall outlet, but your smartphone and laptop certainly aren?t. With mobile devices on your side, you can stay productive even while out of the office by using mobile versions of the same solutions. This offers your business the flexibility to work from anywhere at any time, while also providing a productivity boost that?s often needed to stay one step ahead of deadlines. Furthermore, you give your team the ability to get their work done on their own terms, which can be empowering in its own right. The CloudSimilar to how you access mobile applications while out and about, you can use the cloud to store and access data while out of the office, among other things. You can host just about anything in the cloud, including your business?s servers, workstation infrastructure, data storage, and even applications. All you need is a connected device. After that, the rest is history. Staying SafeGoing mobile comes with certain side-effects–chief of all is the security problems associated with accessing data while out of the safety of the office. Your in-house network is secure from external threats, but hackers will use public Wi-Fi connections to steal unsecured data while it?s in transit. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) encrypts data that?s sent to and received by your device, protecting it from being spied on by any onlookers on a public network. Furthermore, you should be using a comprehensive Bring Your Own Device policy to ensure that any devices accessing sensitive information while out of the office can whitelist or blacklist applications, section off data on a per-user basis, and be capable of remotely wiping any data stored. White Mountain IT Services can equip your business with the means to take your business on the move without putting your data at risk. To learn more about VPNs or BYOD, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.

Today, with nearly every business leaning heavily on some sort of computer-based technology, it becomes important for decision makers and business owners to analyze the performance of their tech, and of their staff. In the past, the eye test worked just fine, but today there are ways to measure the productivity and efficiency of every department of your business. It?s called business intelligence. Business intelligence (BI) refers to the practices of (as well as the technology used in) analyzing available information to help you make the best decisions for your business. In the past, business intelligence was very much as it is today, finding practices and procedures that create a better business without all the bells and whistles that contemporary BI practices provide. Every business has plenty of people that depend on it, and the better the business is run, the more it can do for those people. So while it?s easy to think of business intelligence in the 21st century as a complex process, it is just the process of doing what every successful business owner has done from the day they put out their shingle. While BI has been around for some time, modern BI is the practice of using the enormous amount of data your business creates to help you make better decisions. How does this work? Your business has loads of information stored in various places, but most of it is in databases. One stand-alone database may not help you, but if you are able to bring all of your data together in what is called a data warehouse, you can then begin to link the information. Once the information is in this repository, you can begin using state-of-the-art BI software to crawl the data and deliver reports that take this enormous amount of information and provide relatively easy-to-read reports. The best part about this BI software is that you can customize definitions to get the specificity you are looking for out of these reports. The software will return detailed analysis. So whether you run a retail store, a product manufacturer, or a high-volume restaurant, you will be able to ascertain what the best decisions are going forward. These metrics work for operations, marketing, distribution, and any part of the business that can be represented in numbers.  The small business has begun to use technology in new and interesting ways; and, using it to bridge the gap between their larger competitors. Many times BI analysis can surprise even the most savvy business owner with truths about their company. BI lets business owners build efficiency through analysis, not through conjecture. This targeted and analytical approach is sure to be a huge benefit for any business that finds itself battling operational inefficiency or any number of other deficits they encounter. White Mountain IT Services wants to provide our clients with the information they need to build a more efficient business. We offer small and medium-sized businesses comprehensive IT support and other proactive IT services that are designed to eliminate downtime and build overall efficiency. Call us at (603) 889-0800 today to see how our professional technicians can help your business be more efficient.

With Adobe ending support for Flash by 2020, many web browsing tools have begun to shift away from using Flash as their default media player. For example, Google Chrome has made the jump to HTML5 for the most part. The problem with this is that there are still quite a few websites and other online tools still use this technology. In the event that you want to enable it on a case-by-case business, here?s how to do so. It?s important to remember, however, that the reason why Flash is being phased out is that it has compatibility and security issues. In any case, you?ll want to keep it disabled most of the time. Before you make any changes, make sure that you take a look at your current Flash settings in Chrome. To check these, go to a new browser tab and type chrome://flags into the search bar. You?re looking for a pair of settings that need to be changed to Allow rather than Default. These are Prefer HTML over Flash and Run all flash content when Flash setting is set to ?allow.? The next step is to open another Chrome tab and enter chrome://components into the search bar. You need to find the Adobe Flash Player section, where you will click the Check for Update button. Next, open up Chrome?s settings. Go to the bottom of the page and view Show Advanced Settings. Go even further and you?ll see the option for Content Settings in the Privacy tab. When the box opens, scroll down to the Flash option. Check the selection for Ask first before allowing sites to run Flash (recommended). You can also block Flash in your browser completely by checking the box for Block sites using Flash. This is generally a better option, as allowing sites to run Flash unchecked is a security problem. If you want to allow specific sites to use Flash without being blocked, you can do that too. You can Manage exceptions, which are found in the Content Settings. Find Flash, then enter the URL of the website for the exception. Then, select Allow in the Behavior column. You can even use a shortcut to do this same function. Just click in the leftmost end of the address bar and, under Flash, select Always allow on this site. For more great tips and tricks, be sure to subscribe to our blog.

However, many small and medium-sized businesses were also victimized by ransomware attacks, often under the mistaken impression that they were too small to be considered worthwhile targets by the perpetrators. Unfortunately for many of these small businesses, this impression ends up costing them big when ransomware strikes. Ransomware works by encrypting the data stored on a device, demanding that the victim pay a sum in cryptocurrency for their files to be decrypted. This is usually paired with a time-sensitive threat to delete the data if the ransom isn?t paid post-haste. When attacking large corporations, cybercriminals go for the gold, trying to extort as much as they can from their victim. With small businesses, on the other hand, they take advantage of the common inability many have to afford the solutions that would protect them against such attacks, and ask for a smaller ransom. Considering the relatively high costs many solutions have for a small business, combined with these smaller, more ?reasonable? ransoms–plus how much damage even the smallest amount of downtime can cause these businesses–it should come as no surprise that many small businesses see themselves as having no choice but to pay up. This is problematic for a few reasons. First, paying the ransom inherently requires entrusting the ones who attacked you to remain true to their word and actually unlock your systems once the funds have changed hands. Are you willing to assume that your attacker is a trustworthy person after they?ve threatened your business? Second, consider what effect a successful heist against an SMB would have on the cyber criminal. They would naturally be inclined to target more SMBs, possibly returning again to those who proved willing to pay up with a new attack. Think about it–which would you choose: a possible large payday, or a lot of almost-guaranteed smaller payoffs that quickly add up? Regardless, it is always better to avoid paying the demanded ransom and to instead rely on proactive measures, such as an off-site (or ideally cloud-based) data backup solution that you can restore your systems with that has been kept safely away from the ransomware. You also need to make sure your staff is well-versed in recognizing ransomware attacks in order to better avoid them, and what to do and who to contact if their workstation contracts one. If your SMB needs help protecting itself against the threat of ransomware, reach out to White Mountain IT Services for assistance. We can advise you on best practices to keep ransomware out of your systems. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to get started.

Traditional telephone lines were once extremely important for your business?s success. You had to have dedicated phone lines in your office running to each and every desk so that each of your employees had access to a phone when they needed it. Nowadays, however, virtual telephone systems have become popular with businesses of all size. How does this new way of handling your business?s communications hold up compared to the more traditional model? You might be surprised to hear this, but virtual telephone solutions that utilize the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology are exceedingly more beneficial and dynamic than your traditional telephone system. We?ll discuss some of the ways in which the two differ so that you can make the best, most educated decision regarding the future of your business. FlexibilityImagine that you?re on the phone with someone, but you have to step away from your desk for some reason. While cordless phones certainly are a thing, you can only go so far with them. Plus, you don?t have much choice in how you use this phone–if you?re not comfortable with it, you?re out of luck. How can VoIP change up the tradition of corded and cordless handsets in the office? VoIP frees your employees from their desks and allows them to communicate with any connected device, whether it?s a laptop with a VoIP client or a smartphone with a mobile app installed. Employees no longer have to leave a conversation just to step away from the desk for a moment. Business owners can stay connected to the office even when they are across the country on a business trip, or settling down at the home office to pull an all-nighter to meet a deadline. FunctionalityWhat exactly does your telephone system come equipped with in the first place? Often times, your telephone system will come with some other bells and whistles, like your Internet or television for residential accounts, or nickel-and-dime features for businesses like conferencing. Unfortunately, depending on what it comes attached to, you may find that you have no need for certain features or functionality–or they may just not have any business functions in the first place. VoIP allows your organization to achieve more with fewer resources that can be added for additional costs or agreements. For example, in addition to all of the features that you?ve come to know and love, like call forwarding and conference calling, you could add in video chat or instant messaging for your VoIP client, depending on the solution you?re using. These features allow your business to be much more productive with its time, and can enhance the work experience significantly by offering multiple modes of communication depending on the situation. CostWith a traditional telephone system–as mentioned before–you might wind up paying for services or features that mean nothing for your business. Many phone companies add must-have features and services for additional costs. Plus, long distance calls tend to rack up additional charges. You?ll ultimately be spending more money for services that you don?t use, which isn?t good for your budget. You?re just wasting resources that are better spent elsewhere. VoIP uses your business?s Internet connection to transmit your voice. Since you?re using your Internet in the execution of day-to-day business, using it for your company?s telephone system will result in […]