Remote work is so important today that some folks would fall behind substantially without it. This is why it?s so common that the business professional has a smartphone or tablet when they leave the office, and one reason why it?s so important to have devices that are capable of producing quality work even when on the road. As of 2015, it?s estimated by Pew Research that 64 percent of all American adults own a smartphone. Here are three technologies that you can use to get more productivity out of your mobile devices. Bluetooth KeyboardYou don?t need us to tell you that typing on the on-screen smartphone or tablet keyboard is a pain. While the smartphone or tablet screen keyboard does have its perks for quick messages or emails, there are better ways to be productive with your device. If you want to type out longer documents, you need a stronger (and more comfortable) solution, like a portable bluetooth keyboard. Using this bluetooth gadget, you can avoid autocorrect errors and achieve laptop-like functionality easily. Bluetooth MouseIn much the same way that it?s difficult to type on a keyboard, it?s also a pain to navigate your productivity applications, like your word processor or email client, on your tablet with just your touch screen. To fix this issue, you can hook up a bluetooth-connected mouse that lets you feel like you?re on a laptop with a small screen. While it might seem like a trivial improvement, you?ll appreciate the extra control that the mouse gives you. Many tablets today are compatible with bluetooth mice, which, when combined with a keyboard, give you more of a traditional laptop experience with the mobility of a slim, light tablet. Bluetooth HeadsetThe reason we all use telephones is because they do something that the Internet used to not be able to provide; the ability to instantaneously contact someone. In most cases, however, we have to cease our current activity in order to focus on said call. This can make it irritating when working on the road. If you?re using a bluetooth headset, you can answer or make phone calls without interrupting your own work processes, or those of others around you. Bluetooth headsets also offer several other benefits, like the ability to listen to music, or listen to podcasts to keep yourself updated on the current best practices of your industry. What are some of your preferred ways to get more work done on your mobile devices? Let us know in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more great articles on how to stay productive with your technology.

While it would be beneficial for you if we explained every aspect of employee risk management to you, there?s simply not enough room in a blog post to do so. Instead, we want to direct your attention to a great online tool brought to you by StaySafeOnline.org. It?s a quiz that helps your employees understand why and how they are putting their organization at risk by asking them questions about device usage, data sharing practices, and other security best practices. Inside, you?ll find a comprehensive employee security quiz that helps enlighten employees of how they?re putting their organization at risk, as well as why their behavior could be adversely affecting the organization?s ability to stay secure. After answering a question, the calculator will automatically adjust to show you your risk score. What the quiz doesn?t do, however, is explain ways that you can resolve the problems that lie at the heart of the employee?s risk score. For example, if you notice that there?s a significant amount of risk revolving around your organization’s data on mobile devices, you can integrate a mobile device management solution that?s designed to limit access to mission-critical data. In another example, if you feel your employees aren?t savvy about your IT security policies, provide refresher courses to help them better understand your business?s security goals. Granted, this quiz focuses primarily on user error and the repercussions of allowing data to leak out of your organization?s infrastructure through various means. Employees should always be conscious of what information they give to any external party, and should be especially careful when moving data outside of the office, even on company approved devices. White Mountain IT Services can help your business fully understand the current state of your network security infrastructure by performing a comprehensive network audit. We can check for weak points in your systems, including outdated technologies that require patching or software updates, as well as recommend a quality Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution that can largely mitigate a number of threats that could target your network. However, the primary issue at hand is data leakage for many organizations. We can help with this, too, by educating your end-users on the best practices of the industry and how they can best protect themselves and your organization from suspicious online activity. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

The danger here comes from sharing personal information that a hacker, scammer, and even bullies and competitors can take advantage of. Generally speaking, the worst place for this to happen is over social media. It?s easy for people and employees to become too comfortable sharing personal details over their favorite social networks, which they would come to regret if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. Here are some sharing best practices that you, your staff, and your kids need to be mindful of in order to prevent oversharing: Your StaffWhether they realize it or not, your staff represents your company in the online world as well as when they?re at work. Therefore, they need to be mindful of any information they post that can potentially make their place of employment look bad, and by de facto, cost them their job. For example, every employee is entitled to gossip about their workplace to some degree, but when workplace gossip and rumors find their way to social media for all to see, then they?ll have to face the consequences for what they post. Another thing that your employees need to be mindful of is sharing company secrets online. You may think that your team is smart enough to avoid this blunder, but they may be surprised to learn that their social network could include someone connected to a competitor. Therefore, posting something seemingly harmless like bragging about a potential sale before the deal is inked, could lead to the loss of said sale by a competitor that?s monitoring your team?s online activity. Your TeenagersIf you?ve got teenagers, then it?s likely that they?re active on social media, and that they?re using it in ways that you don?t quite understand. Young people aren?t so much in danger of divulging company secrets on their Facebook account, but they are susceptible to two particular dangers; cyberbullying and leaving behind an unsavory digital footprint. When it comes to cyberbullying, you will want to teach your children to simply block people who would want to do them harm by contacting them and seeing their post. Every child needs to come to grips that ?people can be cruel,? and every modern young person needs to learn how to practically apply this lesson in the online age. In addition to being involved with your kid?s online activities by monitoring what they?re up to, you?ll want to walk them through how to block, unfriend, and even report cyberbullies–as well as give them a swift kick in the butt if they are guilty of cyberbullying. Teenagers and young adults will also want to be mindful of what they post online that can be publicly viewed. Today, employers and educational institutions are searching the social media accounts of applicants, looking for anything that may disqualify them. Therefore, if you have a career-minded young person in your life who is active on social media, be sure to monitor their digital footprint using these five tips from Net Nanny: Check their digital trail by searching for them on Google. View the results from a college or employer?s perspective and make sure it coincides with the application. Limit profile visibility to friends-only. Make sure profile photo is appropriate. Remove any past Facebook posts from public view. Take control of tagging (i.e. don?t allow […]

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of the features, though, we want to mention that Gmail?s new block and unsubscribe features should not be considered a substitute for a full-fledged spam protection solution. In order to mitigate the amount of malicious emails you receive, a comprehensive spam solution is imperative. Blocking and unsubscribing from particular email addresses isn?t guaranteed to stop spam. If it can?t come from one source, it will simply come from another. This is why it?s important to stop spam in its tracks before it hits your inbox. That isn?t to say that Gmail?s new features aren?t worth looking into. They?re still useful for an immediate remedy to a particular problem. It?s a solution that the average consumer can use without worry. If you?re receiving some sketchy emails from a particular sender, you can block an individual email address easily enough. Messages from blocked users will go straight to your spam folder. To block someone, all you have to do is open an email from the sender you want to block, click on the down-arrow next to the reply button, and select Block ?user.? A similar feature can be found on the Gmail Android mobile app (the most recent version – it?s not available on the desktop version of Gmail yet). Unsubscribing allows users to keep messages out of their inbox from email advertising campaigns. It works in a similar manner to clicking the ?unsubscribe? links at the bottom of messages. All you have to do is open the message you want to unsubscribe from, click the three-dot More button next to Reply, and select Unsubscribe. While unsubscribing and blocking users on Gmail isn?t the best way to completely block spam, it?s a good start that can relieve some of the pressure in your inbox. In order to achieve the level of spam protection your business deserves, you need to integrate a powerful spam blocking solution that?s designed to eliminate spam before it even hits your inbox. To accomplish this goal, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800. For more tips on how to optimize your organization?s IT infrastructure and improve your workplace productivity, subscribe to our blog.

Some improvements to the software include: Microsoft Word Word has been one of the most used word processing programs for over 30 years. The newest version of Word brings real-time collaboration and some dynamic features such as a newly integrated ?Tell me what you want to do?? box. This option gives every user the ability to search for the resources they need, or to get directions on how best to use the software?s most useful features. The real-time collaboration features, allow users to work on a document together, whether it is stored in a user?s OneDrive or in a company-hosted SharePoint. With a much improved version history and simple-to-use interface, Microsoft Word 2016 is, as usual, a beneficial addition to any business? productivity cache. Microsoft Excel Excel is known the world over as the top spreadsheet program on the market. With Excel 2016 Microsoft has made it easier to use and with better functionality. Like Word, Excel has had a ?Tell me what you want to do?.? box integrated into the interface to help users find the information they need and have a conduit to help them take advantage of all the dynamic options that Excel delivers to users. With new visualization options, one click forecasting, and built-in data loss prevention, Excel 2016 is a great addition to every company?s productivity software. Microsoft PowerPoint PowerPoint is the predominant presentation software used in business today. The newest offering improves on other versions by integrating the ?Tell me what you want to do?? box, and vastly improving collaborative options. PowerPoint now incorporates improved version history, a simpler sharing interface, and better conflict resolution, which keeps teams from performing redundant, inefficient tasks. Microsoft Outlook Outlook?s improvements, like most of Office 2016?s, are centered around collaboration. Microsoft has improved the way that files can be sent through email to give users more freedom to send the files others need without being hindered in doing so. Microsoft has also incorporated custom Group features into the new Outlook. This gives users the ability to organize their conversations and resources in a given file and sync it with collaborators. Outlook, has also integrated the ?Tell me what you want to do?? box, that will allow for comprehensive searches and tips to find what you are after quicker. Other applications that are a part of the Microsoft Office 2016 suite are: Microsoft OneNote – Office?s note-taking application Microsoft Access – Office?s database management software Microsoft Project – Office?s project management software Microsoft Visio – Office?s diagramming software Each will get the ?Tell me what you want to do?? box integration as well as subtle improvements over their previous versions. Microsoft offers the Office 2016 suite as a part of its Office 365 cloud platform. With Office 365, you can get web and desktop access to all of Office 2016?s powerful applications, complete with OneDrive integration for an affordable monthly cost per user. Simply contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800 to get an idea of further benefits Microsoft Office 2016 can bring to your organization and how to make it work for your staff and your budget. We highly recommend you reach out to us to learn the differences between each version of the Microsoft Office suite.