Telesys Voice and Data Blog

When looking to cut costs in the workplace, one of the best places to start looking is at your printing costs. While paper documents were once incredibly important for businesses (they still serve a function), no one can deny that they take up a considerable amount of space in the workplace, as well as take up precious assets that could be better spent elsewhere. What’s the best way to minimize the resources you spend on printing?

Mobile technology is allowing businesses to make great strides in the way that they conduct their operations, but one of the key reasons why it has been so helpful is that it decreases their costs considerably. Thanks to developments in the way that mobile technology works, it can be fit into pretty much any business model, all the while improving your return on investment for your expensive technology solutions.

In terms of cost reduction, the most notable one comes from always being connected to the office. Without the need to be on-site, mobile computing give a business’ employees all of the tools needed to perform their daily duties from wherever they happen to be--whether it’s at the coffee shop down the road or a hotel while away on a business conference. Mobile devices break down barriers in the quest for profitability, making them great investments. One great example is a Chromebook. While it isn’t as powerful out of the box as a full-fledged workstation, it has the potential to be just as great of a solution with the proper support as long as you stick to certain software titles.

Mobile devices also present a challenge when it comes to security, though. When more devices have access to data of a sensitive nature, it’s placed at more risk of being exposed to potentially dangerous entities. Therefore, you need to take measures to ensure that it’s secure; otherwise, you could be placing the future of your entire business at risk. Preventative solutions are of the utmost importance and can be the end-all-be-all for keeping hackers and user errors from sabotaging your chances of success.

For example, mobile device management can be a critical way to shore up weaknesses in your mobile device strategy. Mobile device management contains several solutions that allow your organization to take action against common scenarios involving the management of mobile devices. If you lose a device, you should be able to easily (and remotely) wipe any data that’s found on it so that it can’t be accessed by those who find it. This means that your organization doesn’t have to worry as much if a device is ever lost or stolen.

Another aspect of a mobile device management solution is whitelisting and blacklisting applications, which keeps your employees accountable and responsible with which mobile applications are downloaded to their devices. You can keep employees from downloading time-wasting or malicious apps so that you don’t have to worry about them throwing away their workday on Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, the devices will remain as secure as can be, relieving some of the stress that can come from whether or not your employees are downloading unnecessary or dangerous apps on devices intended for business.

User control is a great way to control risk associated with mobile devices. Simply put, if your employees don’t need access to a certain kind of data, then they shouldn’t be able to access it, period. For example, your average employee doesn’t need access to payroll information or other sensitive data. Giving their accounts access puts it at risk if they ever lose their device or install some kind of malware that gives access to this data to unsavory characters.

Another great solution for keeping data safe is to deploy a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The VPN sets up a virtual encrypted tunnel between your network and your staff’s devices, inherently creating a much more secure data transfer situation than would be typical over normal networking means.

By taking better care of your devices from a security standpoint, you eliminate the costs associated with potential data leaks and other issues. Furthermore, you allow for increased productivity for all employees involved, giving them the option to work more hours remotely or off-site. It’s the ideal way to connect all of your business’s employees without putting your organization at risk.

Does your organization need a mobile device management solution, or are you having trouble integrating mobile devices into your everyday workflow? Telesys Voice and Data has an answer for that. To learn more, reach out to us at (800) 588-4430.

IT maintenance is something of a sensitive topic for some organizations. While most understand that it needs to be done, they often don’t have the resources to make it happen, either due to a limited budget or timeframe. How does your business handle IT maintenance? If your organization is having troubles managing its annual technology budget, or if you are consistently experiencing profit-sapping downtime, consider managed IT services the answer to your problems.

Simply put, the traditional method of technology maintenance doesn’t work well anymore. The break-fix method to technology management is generally how small businesses have run their organizations for quite some time. Break-fix relies on your business reaching out to a maintenance provider only when your systems are malfunctioning, causing downtime and inefficiency that is sure to show up on your organization’s bottom line.

Without a reliable way to guarantee that the downtime-causing issue won’t happen again, the break-fix method is like slapping a Band-Aid on a wound and hoping that it won’t reopen. Managed IT, on the other hand, is designed to address problems before they happen by taking preventative measures.

Managed IT accomplishes this goal by providing you with comprehensive access to technicians who you can proactively monitor and fix any technology problem you may have with your network or infrastructure. For businesses that lack an internal IT department, managed IT can fill the void you have in technology administration quite nicely. Furthermore, managed IT can provide value even for organizations that have dedicated internal IT staff.

More often than not, a small business will have, at most, an internal team consisting of only a handful of technicians who, more than likely, have a lot on their plate. By supplementing their skills with a managed IT service provider, you’re giving them more time to focus on the quality of their work, as well as assisting your in-house team with any technology problems they might have. It also allows your organization to add profitable IT projects to its roadmap, which provides for higher degrees of productivity and a rapid ROI.

Basically, managed IT does whatever needs to be done for your business’ technology, be it acting as a supplementary force to support your current technicians, or taking on the full responsibility of managing and maintaining your organization's current IT infrastructure.

One of the most important factors of managed IT services is how much more affordable it is. This is explained primarily by how you prevent issues from happening in the first place. Plus, by keeping issues from evolving into bigger problems, you can spend less on your technology support.

Could your business use help with your IT solutions? Reach out to Telesys Voice and Data at (800) 588-4430.

Cloud computing has taken the business world by storm, fulfilling so many needs and simplifying as many processes. If you’ve been on the fence about incorporating the cloud into your IT infrastructure, you should know a few of these benefits to help you make your choice.

Fact: There’s a shortage in the IT skills market. Yet, businesses now have more opportunity than ever to make up for this shortage. A simple solution is to outsource your IT services to a managed service provider. You might find that it’s a great way to save time and revenue on a department that’s becoming increasingly difficult to hire for. Here are three reasons why outsourced IT services can resolve the shortage of IT talent.

Printers, along with every other piece of equipment that is on your network, require careful configuration and regular upkeep to ensure that they aren’t putting your data and users at risk. Security researchers recently discovered two massive vulnerabilities in HP Officejet All-in-One printers that make it incredibly easy for hackers to spread malware and gain access to a company’s network.