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Advice For Small Business Owners Overwhelmed By Technology

June 30, 2014

Scott Blake is a Senior Network Engineer with Tech Experts.

A recent study by Brother International Corporation and SCORE found that 64 percent of small business owners feel overwhelmed when it comes to technology, because they have limited resources in information technology (IT).

Surprisingly, this isn’t related to a lack of financial resources, but rather this is due to the fact that many of them do not have the proper technological guidance.

Most of them have no dedicated IT support, and 59% of the survey participants said there are insufficient resources available in small business communities to help them.

Keeping pace with tech trends
According to the study, mobile devices are the most important piece of technology for their businesses, because mobile technology allows for easy and quick reach as well as easy access to documents, regardless of where they are.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM), social media and cloud services are also among the tech tools that small business owners find necessary in running their businesses. Forty nine percent (49%) of business owners consider tech-related investments as their top priority.

However, about half of them are hesitant to invest in it too quickly without a good ROI (return on investment), while the other half are concerned that failing to invest in technology gives their competitors an advantage.

Solutions
Outsourcing IT is one alternative for small businesses to take advantage of technology without heavily investing in it.

Social media is also a convenient tool that many IT service providers use to provide tech support to their clients, while office technology products are becoming more user-friendly.

Another important step that small businesses must take as far as IT is concerned is to identify and outline their business processes.

This makes it easier to sort through the best technology to meet their business needs. It also eliminates the frustration experienced at the endless pitches small business owners get from vendors and solution providers that do not even understand their business goals.

Recommendations
When you understand your business processes, you can easily determine the technology that you need or don’t need.

Take advantage of the tools available to help you understand the channels that are driving your business, including apps like Google Analytics. Finally, when using consumer apps for your business, go for the business options as they usually offer more security options and tech support.

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Are You Losing Customers Because Of Your Website’s Loading Time?

June 30, 2014

The amount of time a page takes to load is undoubtedly an important part of any website’s user experience. The fact is that website visitors care more about speed than all the bells and whistles you add to your website.

In fact, page loading time also affects your search engine rankings. Here are a few additional facts to consider:

On average, consumers expect a web page to load within 2 seconds, with a significant portion of online shoppers abandoning a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Additionally, customer satisfaction is decreased by a 1-second page load delay and discourages them from buying from the same site in the future.

Measure your website speed
Page Speed Online is Google’s free web-based tool that allows you to easily and accurately measure the speed of your website online.

It also provides an overview of the high, medium and low priority fixes that would help increase your page speed.

However, the suggestions may be fairly technical, and you might need professionals to let you determine which ones are feasible for your site. Some of the ways you can decrease page load time include:

•Enable GZIP compression to reduce the bandwidth of your pages and reduce HTTP response.

•Optimize your images by selecting the ideal size, format and source code.

•Enable browser caching to reduce the number of components that need to be downloaded for subsequent visits.

•Use a content delivery network (CDN) to deliver content more efficiently to users based on their location.

(Image Source: iCLIPART)

Six Tips For Dealing With Email Overload

May 30, 2014

Thomas Fox is president of Tech Experts, southeast Michigan’s leading small business computer support company.

Most, if not all, small business owners are barraged by the large number of emails they receive on a daily basis. As a consequence, way too much time is spent on email that actually slows down productivity.

Email has become a ‘disruptive’ technology that could take you on a tangent and eat up your time fast. So, it is important to take charge of your inbox and filter unwanted emails. Here are some ways you could do that:

Prioritize incoming emails
As a rule, not every email you receive requires immediate attention. Filtering out the most important messages allows you to prioritize the emails you should answer and saves you valuable time.

Most email software have a few good filters that make this possible.

Set specific times to respond to your emails
Giving in to the temptation of checking and responding to your emails is actually an issue of inefficiently dealing with emails rather than the abundance of emails.

Instead of continuously checking your email from multiple devices, set specific times throughout the day to check your email and refrain from checking email outside these times. It is actually more efficient to respond to your emails in bulk rather in piecemeal.

Use the search function
Organizing your emails in folders are important; however, if you are searching for an old email, use the search function, the advanced search operators, and filters to quickly find what you are looking for.

Unsubscribe from unwanted lists
To eliminate the many emails that are not spam but which are still cluttering your inbox, take some time and unsubscribe from newsletters or services which you no longer read or use. Look into using a mass unsubscribe tool if you don’t want to unsubscribe from each list.

Use filters
Most email systems allow filtering, which you can assign to any type of email that you get regularly. For instance, a filter makes it possible to forward emails which contain particular keywords to your assistant or have a particular automated response to certain emails. This significantly reduces the amount of time you spend on email.

Turn off notifications from social media sites
You really don’t need to get an email each time someone responds to your Facebook comment or tweet. Since you’ll eventually see such updates once you actually visit those sites, they shouldn’t be allowed to clutter your inbox. In fact, such notifications are just distractions that could cut on your productivity.

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Why Is Network Security Important For Your Small Business?

May 30, 2014

Michael Menor is Vice President of Support Services for Tech Experts.

Network security is very important to all networks big or small. The purpose of network security is to prevent loss, through the misuse of data.

There are a lot of issues that can arise when network security is not properly implemented and maintained, a few issues include, but are not limited, to the following: data destruction, data manipulation, and breach of confidentiality.

The most important layer of security is physical security, this should be the first line of defense for any network. An organization can have all the access rules, logical security policies, and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) in place, but nothing beats being protected at the physical level.

One of the simplest steps is to lock the door, for example the server room or network closet should have a physical door and lock that secures it. This can also include any items that may be vulnerable to theft or physical damage.

Another form of physical security can be having surveillance cameras monitoring the premises. This gives an organization that extra sense of security, especially after hours.
Earlier we discussed ways to secure the physical network, but what about the logical network? You do not want to be on a network that does not challenge you for logon credentials to access systems.

This is where authentication and password security comes into play. Securing a network with usernames and passwords can prevent unauthorized access to data and also provide measures that prevent unauthorized changes of systems.

System administrators can also implement a password complexity policy, which requires users to have passwords that are of a certain length, and contains a combinations of alphanumeric and special characters. It is also wise for users not to use any personal identifying characters in their passwords because this is usually the first things hackers look into.

The Internet is not a secure place, viruses pose a big security risk to a computer network because there are so many out there. Without antivirus protection, a computer can get infected and may even infect other computers on the same network.

Depending on the purpose, or payload, of the virus, the viruses’ creator may have designed the virus to steal or delete information, render a system useless by using all resources, or even use the computer as part of a botnet. Antivirus software provides protection against most, but not all viruses.

Not only should users frequently update and scan their computers for viruses, but they must also be smart when browsing the Internet because many viruses can disguise themselves as legitimate software.

Firewalls are a great way to control the internal network traffic and also incoming traffic from the Internet.

While antivirus protection helps to protect a computer from potentially unwanted programs and viruses, a firewall can help to control network access into a computer system.

There are two types of firewalls: software- and hardware-based firewalls. Both provide similar functions, but it is best to implement a hardware firewall because it gives a system administrator the ability to make changes to a system as a whole, rather than at individual systems, or endpoints.

Within the firewall there are policies which allow or deny traffic based on the needs of the network. The most secure policy is a restrictive policy which denies all network traffic, this policy only allows essential network traffic to traverse the firewall.

If you have any questions about your network security give us a call at the office, (734) 457-5000, or email info@mytechexperts.com.

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Windows 8 – WOW Does It Look Different!

May 30, 2014

Microsoft’s venture into a truly mobile operating system, that can be spread spectrum across all of their platforms, was in theory a great idea.

What went wrong was underestimating the public’s attachment to the look and feel of their Windows XP and Windows 7 (we’ll just forget about Vista) operating system.

With many users still looking sideways at the new stylish Windows 8 interface, and even with the slight upgrades and changes in looks (ha, I laugh at the new start button) that Windows 8.1 has brought on since its release.

For many users out there, this still is not a big enough change to truly bring enjoyment to their personal computer experience.

If you are in “ever search mode” to locate and regain that look and feel of operating systems of yesteryear, there are two great programs that allow anyone of any level of computer experience to install and customize to regain that feeling of comfort.

Classic Shell, a freeware program, can enable a legacy-style Start menu and Windows Explorer interface. You can even have the Windows 7 menu back! But why stop there? Windows XP and Windows Classic menus are available as well. The Classic style will be a comfort to anyone upgrading from Windows 98.

The classic Explorer settings can also transport you into the way-back machine, and users can now have the simple Windows XP style back that they know and love.

A small low impact application that gives you a true look and feel of a Windows 7 interface, while still maintaining the complete functionally of the Windows 8 operating system.

Classic Shell, gives you a true start button and brings back that all too familiar look and feel of your dearly departed Windows XP or 7 systems.

Check it out, it even offers a “Shut Down” button. Classic Shell also allows for customization of the new start menu.

Created by Stardock, a company that’s been making Windows user interface mod’s for years, Start8 comes as a free 30-day-trial. After that, you can “unlock” the third-party software for just $4.99.
Start8 does not re-enable the Windows Start menu. Instead, it creates a new menu that looks similar to it. Because of this, Stardock provides a great deal of customization.

Users can make the menu appear Metro-like by giving it square edges, or can stick with the Windows 7 look by giving it rounded edges. It’s also possible to change color, add or remove translucency, and give the Start menu button a custom icon.

And that’s just the beginning. There’s a plethora of options available in the app’s configuration and control menus for users to explore and customize.

Considering its low price and the large number of options, I think this software is a good deal. I even like the optional faux-Metro style.

However, Start8 doesn’t add any new functionality, so users are essentially paying $5 to have what was bundled with Windows 7.

So there you go. Two great choices, it just all comes down to “to pay or not pay, that is the question.”
Remember the technicians at Tech Experts are always ready to lend a hand.

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Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Home and Office Computers

May 30, 2014

Spring is a good time to get some cleaning done in your home as well as your office. Here are few tasks and tips you should check off your list, if you own a small business or if you simply are a computer user:

Back up your files
You should make it a routine and regularly back up your important files to the cloud or into an external hard drive. Delete old unnecessary emails and archive important ones. This will make it easier to locate specific email chains and will open up the storage space in your computer.

Update your security settings
You may assume that your home or small business or PC is too small a target for hackers, but that is simply not the case.
Internet security statistics show that hackers are targeting businesses with fewer than 250 employees due to the fact that it’s generally easier to hack into small businesses and home users.

As a rule, assume that any valuable information you have is at risk, and ensure you install the latest security patches and updates whenever they become available.

Take advantage of mobile technology
Research indicates that small businesses that do not accept mobile payments could be losing up to 1 trillion dollars annually. Many small business owners realize the potential of mobile technology, but 91% of them still don’t have mobile-optimized websites. If your business is not yet mobile friendly, it is important to start thinking about upgrading your services.

Go paperless
Going paperless will significantly reduce paper clutter and will minimize the time needed for spring cleaning. There are many affordable solutions you could adopt which allow you to maintain and organize critical business documents.

Manual clean-up
Your hardware and peripherals also need to be cleaned, so take some time to clean your keyboards, screen monitors and to check the batteries in your mouse or wireless keyboards. Also, remember to clean your printer and check whether or not you have installed all the required updates from the manufacturer and that all its parts work seamlessly.

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Effective Ways To Increase Your Privacy Online

May 30, 2014

With the increased hacking and account infiltration attempts, protecting people’s privacy has become extremely important.

While online, you can minimize your exposure by browsing privately or completely anonymously.

Private Browsing
You can browse the internet privately, by turning on the private browsing feature. It will prevent the history tracking of pages you visit. The feature is found in the main browser menu.

In Internet Explorer, the feature is called ‘Private Browsing,’ in Firefox, it is called ‘Private Window’ and in Google Chrome, it is called ‘Incognito mode.’

However, there are limits to private browsing: Any files you save or websites you visit will have your IP address as well as unencrypted data you send.

For greater privacy, there is Sandboxie, an application which prevents other programs from saving any data to your disk.

Protect Personal Data
It is good practice to use unique usernames and passwords for each computer user, including guests.

This will help to reduce unwanted access to your files. You could also encrypt your hard drive by enabling Bitlocker which will encrypt your entire drive, making it inaccessible to anyone without your Windows user password.

In case you don’t have Bitlocker built into your OS, TrueCrypt is another free alternative that will secure your files. When you need to completely delete your files, use a utility like Eraser which will ensure they can never be recovered.

Use a Private OS
The best way to ensure complete anonymity and privacy, you could work in an entirely different operating system from your regular OS through virtualization.

A wall is set up around the virtual computer to prevent anything you do from leaving files on your normal Windows file system.

This is an entire operating system devoted to privacy, and is installed on a DVD or USB to run on any computer.

Nothing is written to the computer’s main drives and your browsing activity is completely anonymous.

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Why Your Company Should Make The Switch To VoIP

April 29, 2014

We made the switch to a Voice over IP (VoIP) phone system a few weeks ago. I opted for an in-house telephone server, but could have easily chosen a hosted option that didn’t require any hardware in the office except for phones.

A growing number of small businesses are making the same switch. While it can be a lot of work to overhaul the entire telecommunications system of your small business, it is definitely worth considering in light of the ever-increasing costs of traditional services.

What is VoIP?
VoIP is a method of making phone calls using the Internet as opposed to using typical landlines. VoIP services integrate Internet connected IP phones, which look pretty much like traditional office phones, except they plug into an Internet connection with an Ethernet cable.

Cost effectiveness
The biggest VoIP attraction is low cost. Since they’re Internet-based, hosted systems usually require little to no hardware investment. You might need to upgrade your firewall or Ethernet switches to accomodate the increased traffic.

An in-house system requires an investment in a mid-grade voice server, the phone system software, new phones, and possible network upgrades. The equipment cost is around half of what a traditional phone system would cost.

We’ve seen our monthly phone bill drop from over $300 per month to less than $60 using VoIP carriers instead of a traditional phone company.

Hosted fees run from $20 to $30 per extension, which includes all of your local and long distance calling, and the rental of the cloud based phone system.

VoIP is particularly cost-effective, if you have employees working from satellite offices or telecommuters.

A telecommuter can take a VoIP phone home and make calls by plugging it into his home Internet connection to make and receive calls on the company lines at no additional cost.

Other benefits
Certain VoIP service providers have introduced mobile apps that allow workers to make and receive phone calls on their mobile devices using the company phone numbers. Their privacy is therefore protected since they do not give their personal phone number.

In addition, the company owns the line so if an employee leaves, calls are routed to the company rather than the employee’s cell phone.

Things to consider
While the mobility and scalability of VoIP systems are attractive, there are a few things to keep in mind. Since VoIP services depend on an Internet connection, if the connection fails, the phones would be dysfunctional.

In a business such as ours, where phones are integral to daily operations and client service, we would strongly recommend a backup Internet connection.

Almost all VoIP systems also have a fail over function, where the system will automatically route incoming calls to another number, such as a cell phone, if the Internet goes down.

The future
The increase in VoIP adoption is undeniable, and analysts predict that it will become the predominant business phone service over the next decade. Our system works great, and I’m glad we made the switch!

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Does Your Organization Have A Security Program?

April 29, 2014

No matter how large or small your company is, you need to have a plan to ensure the security of your information assets. Such a plan is called a security program by information security professionals.

Whether yours is five or 200 pages long, the process of creating a security program will make you think holistically about your organization’s security.

A security program provides the framework for keeping your company at a desired security level by assessing the risks you face, deciding how you will mitigate them, and planning for how you keep the program and your security practices up to date.

Think you don’t have anything of value to protect? Think again. The key asset that a security program helps to protect is your data – and the value of your business is in its data.

You already know this if your company is one of many whose data management is dictated by governmental and other regulations — for example, how you manage customer credit card data (PCI Compliance) or even how you handle sensitive patient information (HIPAA). If your data management practices are not already covered by regulations, consider the value of the following:

Product information, including designs, plans, patent applications, source code, and drawings.

Financial information, including market assessments and your company’s own financial records.
Customer information, including confidential information you hold on behalf of customers or clients.

Protecting your data means protecting its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Also known as the C-I-A triangle. The consequences of a failure to protect all three of these aspects include business losses, legal liability, and loss of company goodwill. Consider the following examples:

Failure to protect your data’s confidentiality might result in customer credit card numbers being stolen, with legal consequences and a loss of goodwill. Lose your clients’ confidential information and you may have fewer of them in the future.

A data integrity failure might result in a Trojan horse being planted in your software, allowing an intruder to pass your corporate secrets on to your competitors. If an integrity failure affects your accounting records, you may no longer really know your company’s true financial status.

Having a security program means that you’ve taken steps to mitigate the risk of losing data in any one of a variety of ways, and have defined a life cycle for managing the security of information and technology within your organization.

Hopefully the program is complete enough, and your implementation of the program is faithful enough, that you don’t have to experience a business loss resulting from a security incident. If you have a security program and you do experience a loss that has legal consequences, your written program can be used as evidence that you were diligent in protecting your data and following industry best practices.

Getting started in the right direction
It doesn’t matter whether your security program is five pages or 200 pages long. The important thing is that you have a security program and that you use it to address your company’s security in an organized, comprehensive, and holistic way. You can adapt the above elements to create a security program for your organization, or, if you need help, give us a call at (734) 457-5000.

Everyone needs to have a security program because it helps you maintain your focus on IT security. It helps you identify and stay in compliance with the regulations that affect how you manage your data. It keeps you on the right footing with your clients and your customers so that you meet both your legal and contractual obligations. Its life cycle process ensures that security is continuously adapting to your organization and the ever-changing IT environment we live in. And, of course, it’s the right thing to do because protecting your data’s security is the same as protecting your most important asset.

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