Depending on your situation, you might have an internal IT department that focuses on daily operations, or one that focuses solely on innovation, leaving your users to handle the various daily maintenance and upgrades your network needs. While this is better than no IT department at all, you run the risk of user error that could potentially leave your infrastructure unguarded; or worse, breached and compromised by hackers. This is the primary reason you want your IT department to be in complete and total contact with the rest of your business?s departments. It smooths operations and makes troubleshooting issues much easier than if you?re relying on those who aren?t trained professionals. Plus, ensuring that your IT department is in contact with the rest of your team allows for them to communicate network troubles, server issues, email complications, and more. This helps to make sure that everyone is on the same page, and thus, understands that situations are under control and being addressed. For example, one of your users isn?t skilled at working with technology. They might experience simple issues, like being unable to access the network or having difficulty working within your chosen email solution. Instead of bothering your internal IT department, which should be primarily focused on implementing new time-saving solutions, they can contact White Mountain IT Services?s Help Desk. When you work with White Mountain IT Services?s experienced, helpful IT staff, you get the quality of work you expect from an internal IT department at a fraction of the cost. Not only are our technicians more than capable of solving average, day-to-day issues, they?re also skillful and knowledgeable enough to diagnose and treat more serious problems with your IT infrastructure. It?s our mission to know and understand the nuances of your network so a user can?t catch us off guard. At the end of the day, White Mountain IT Services wants to be your go-to source for any and all technology-related issues your business might encounter. We work with you to establish clear, concise expectations, so you can always know what services you?re getting, and at what cost. There are no secret fees or hidden add-on costs. For more information on how we can help your business succeed, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.

Finding Qualified Individuals for IT ManagementYou don?t want your end-users to be the ones administering and managing your technology solutions, mainly because they?re probably not trained or experienced enough to confidently do so. You want IT professionals handling your technology whenever possible. These technicians should have an impressive resum? complete with experience, certifications, and a good reputation. Balancing Innovation and UpkeepBusinesses need to ensure that a certain amount of innovation is happening in order to keep themselves at the forefront of the competition. Unfortunately, integrating new solutions and normal, everyday maintenances often conflict with each other; especially if the team performing maintenance is the same one which is responsible for innovation. In order to succeed in the most secure and efficient way possible, businesses need to adapt to changes in their IT environment while keeping their technology maintained and up to date. Gathering Information and InsightsOne of the best ways your business can get a head start on IT is by doing your research before committing to a particular solution. A tech-savvy professional is someone you want on your side when considering significant changes to your IT infrastructure. This helps you ensure that you don?t make changes that could potentially be incompatible with your hardware or software. Planning Ahead for Future DevelopmentsWhat problems can you see your business running into in the future? You want to make sure that your IT infrastructure is flexible enough to account for growth if necessary. Building an IT roadmap that anticipates the growth of your business, as well as changes in your business model and more, can help you prepare for the future of your IT. Providing Training for End-UsersYour users are arguably one of the most valuable assets your business has, and if they don?t know how to use your technology solutions, what good is the technology? One of the most vital roles that your tech support should be able to supply for your end-users is training. This helps them better leverage their technology and saves your team time, especially when trying to diagnose potential issues that are caused by simple user confusion. This might feel a little overwhelming, but you don?t have to worry about it. White Mountain IT Services can help your organization overcome these five challenges. We can equip your business with personal IT consultants whose ultimate goal is the same as yours; for your business to succeed. Our talented professionals examine your infrastructure for potential weak points and improvements, then work around your budget to get the solutions you need to maximize efficiency. Furthermore, we can help your employees better understand their technology and get more out of their workday. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

Your typical company executive is not a master in technological logistics. Many of them defer to people that have some semblance of an idea about those types of things. What concerns many companies is that they can?t afford to dedicate an employee to the development of a mobile strategy. There are also considerations that have to be made regarding the security of your mobile platforms, and whether or not your organization will be promoting employees to use their own mobile devices on your company network. If building mobility has become a priority for your company, there are many applications that are available on the three major mobile platforms. Two of which are: Calendar Every platform has an integrated calendar program and all three present an opportunity to keep you in the know about important events. All three of them sync up to a central account, the two most popular are Google?s Gmail and Microsoft?s Outlook. Each device, including the devices running iOS, can integrate their calendar with the mail account they use most. To use your calendar most effectively, you will have to utilize the sync feature made available by your device?s operating system. Follow the instructions on the corresponding pages to sync your smartphone calendar with your account. Android iOS Windows Phone 8.1 Once that?s done, you can begin to get the most out of your device. By keeping a dedicated and up-to-date calendar, you can begin to take advantage of the mobility that the smartphone promises. Note-Taking AppsThere are literally dozens of note capturing applications on the various app stores. Three of the best ones are Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, and Google Keep. Obviously OneNote will come standard on Windows 8.1 Phones and Google Keep will come standard on Android, but Apple device users will have to download one. The most popular one, for good reason, is Evernote. These apps mostly do the same thing: They allow users to jot down information, capture screenshots, and record audio to make it easier for people that have to juggle tasks and manage time to complete tasks properly. Controlling All of the DataAs a business owner, you need to be ahead of the game before your employees start piecemealing solutions together. If you don?t have a calendar in place for your business, for example, a staff member might take it upon themselves to throw something together. This isn?t a bad thing until you realize you have different applications and workflows being done all throughout the organization with no standardization or documented process. By researching and committing to a solution, you can take steps to deploy it for all employees, allowing you to control where your data is and what happens to it when someone leaves the company. You don?t need to handle this on your own. You can rely on your account manager at White Mountain IT Services for consultation. It is obvious that the number one device that a company can use to push their initiatives forward is the smartphone. The smartphone is such a productivity tool (and security threat) that as a part of a company?s mobile device management policy, a company will be absolutely forced to make a decision on the use of employee smartphones on the network, known as a BYOD strategy. If your organization needs a whole strategy to manage […]

Is Windows 10 Free?First, let?s talk about how Microsoft is handling the licensing/upgrade model. This has caused a lot of confusion over the past few months. If you are running a legitimate copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8, it?s likely that you?re eligible to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. There are a few requirements: If you have Windows 7, you need to be updated to Service Pack 1 If you have Windows 8, you need to be updated to Windows 8.1. Your version of Windows needs to be a registered copy. Windows 7 and 8 Enterprise are NOT eligible for the free upgrade. Windows RT is not eligible for the free upgrade. You have one year from July 29th, 2015 to get your free update to Windows 10. In short, most Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to upgrade their operating system to Windows 10 for free, as long as they do it within the next year. What?s New in Windows 10? The Slickest Windows Experience YetSince a lot of people didn?t care for some of the changes made in Windows 8 and 8.1, Microsoft toned down what wasn?t working. The Metro Live tile interface that received a lot of flack has returned, but it?s less intrusive. Unless you?re using a tablet-like device or you want it front and center, the brightly-colored tiles stay tucked away. CortanaMicrosoft?s answer to Siri, Cortana, is integrated with Windows 10. Cortana brings voice search capabilities to Windows in much the same way Siri does for the iPhone. She can help search for files, open applications, and search Bing. It?s nice to see this technology finally hit desktops and laptops, but it?s pretty clear smartphones are the ideal environment for Cortana. We don?t foresee many people talking into their PC?s microphone the way they might on their mobile device. Also, Android users will immediately feel out of place without any integration with Google. As expected, Microsoft?s Cortana is solely partnered with Microsoft Bing for web searches. It?s not a terrible interface, but power users are going to feel a little odd not having the choice. Asking Cortana to ?sing a song? almost makes up for this shortcoming though (give it a try). Lots and Lots of Little TweaksThere are new keyboard shortcuts, better window controls, improved notifications, and a lot of other little improvements. Most users probably won?t dig into these very deeply, but if you want to get the most out of your gadgets, Windows 10 delivers users a lot of nifty improvements to explore. One of the most interesting additions is virtual desktops, which allow you to spread your work across multiple desktops that you can cycle through quickly. The New BrowserMicrosoft Edge, the long awaited replacement for Internet Explorer, is a huge improvement. The browser is faster, more secure, and has a lot of modern features reminiscent of smartphone browsers. It?s easy to share information, take notes, and get access to relevant information. Edge might not convert any die-hard Firefox or Chrome fans, but it should improve the experience of users who just use what browser the operating system gives them. Furthermore, you can take notes and draw on web pages for future reference. Tighter Integrations with Office 365This is where things start to get really interesting. It?s […]

Text-to-Audio NotepadThere?s a plethora of text-to-audio apps available for download, but did you know that you already have this tool on your Windows OS with Notepad? This feature is not readily available, and requires some programming on your part, but don?t let that scare you; creating this Notepad audio program is as easy as copying and pasting. First, you will open Notepad. Now copy and paste the following text into Notepad: Dim msg, sapimsg=InputBox(“Enter your text for Conversation | Tool by Irshad (http://pctricksonline.blogspot.com)”,”PC Hacks Text-To-Audio Converter”)Set sapi=CreateObject(“sapi.spvoice”)sapi.Speak msg Next, you will go to File > Save As, and then save the file as text_audio.vbs. You will then close the note and open the saved file. When you open it, a text box will appear with a form. Simply type or copy and paste your text in the form, click ok, and then be amazed when you hear it read it back to you. One of the first lines you can enter into the form for playback is, ?Check it out. This makes me a computer programmer!? Google Voice SearchAnother fun way to interact with your PC audibly is by using Google Voice Search. Searching the Internet is something you do quite often; therefore, using your voice to enter text into the search bar is an easy way to make your everyday web-browsing experience feel more natural. Google Voice Search is a feature that comes standard with Google Chrome, and it is easy to use. All you have to do is go to Google?s homepage and click on the mic icon to the right of the Google search bar. You will then speak into your microphone what it is you want Google to search for, and the more you use it, the more accurate the app will be able to read your voice. Expect a few funny results when you first start using it, and be sure that you have SafeSearch turned on. Bonus Fun TipTo have some fun with your computer?s audio and voice features, try combining the two. Open your text-to-audio notepad, type some text into it, and have it read the text back to Google Voice Search. This is a highly inefficient way to search the web, but it is fun nevertheless. These features are already on your computer and they are just a taste of what you can do to make your computer more interactive. There are many great apps, like Siri for iOS and Robin for Android that can give your computer a personality and a semblance of artificial intelligence. Do you have a favorite interactive app? Share it with us in the comments.