Fact: Something is broken – you need to get to work.

1.  Stay calm.

Remaining calm is the best strategy to surviving a system outage and keeping your focus on the current task.  Also, remaining calm will produce less emotional and techinical errors in a workplace.  

2.  Notify all users.

Proactively preparing for a system outage would include creating a Notification Plan based on different scenarios.  Using company e-mail, instant messaging, have a Co-Worker announce the outage or put a sign up saying “System is down.  Working on it now!”.

3.  Recruit a “buffer” to answer any questions.

After the initial notification, users will have many questions.  It would be ideal to recruit someone who is available to answers those questions, especially ETA questions.

4.  Be polite and understanding.

Remember to be polite and understanding when it comes to upset users.  In Step 1, keeping your focus on the current task to avoid making errors, also try to avoid “play-by-play” status updates.

5.  Documentation.

Always document each step of the recovery process.  Start with the initial problem or outage, followed by what you find, what commands you used, what errors you received and all attempts to fix the outage.  Lastly, document the steps that resolved the outage.

6.  Present the facts.

During the resolution process and the aftermath, always remain honest and present the facts.  If you caused the problem or outage, do not try to cover it up because it will complicate the process of resolving the outage.

7. Take your time.

Although, time is of the essense when system is down, take your time while troubleshooting.  If you are not sure what will resolve the problem, taking your time and implementing different solutions at a steady pace will allow you to narrow down the exact problem and resolution.

8.  Call Support.

Having product support is an essential tool for IT departments.  Calling support and submitting a ticket may consist of being on hold, waiting for a call back and sometimes an onsite visit can be a smart business decision.

9.  Stay positive.

Staying positive and continue building a knowledge of system events will prepare you for problem situations.  Having strong work relationships with co-workers will be useful for emergency situations.

10.  Be Prepared.

To be prepared for every system problem is almost impossible.  Continue building a knowledge of your environment is the strongest way to prepare for problem situations, previously mentioned in Step 9.

Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) is permitting employees to bring personal devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to their workplace, and use those devices to access company information and applications.

Create a Private App Store

Designing a private App Store provides the ability to manage custom and purchased apps.  Businesses can manage apps by pushing mandatory apps, approving recommended apps and blocking rouge or unrelated apps.

Policy Compliance

Policies ensure security, productivity, protection of resources and reduce risks.  Implementing a location-based service (LBS) such as Geo-Fencing and GPS will set limitations on access to data based on location.

Strong Security

There are many layers of security for a BYOD environment.  Device enrollment can be a one-time passcode and/or Active Directory credentials.  Applying user profiles will distribute policies, restrictions and Apps based on logical groups (department/location/device type).  Other types of security are tracking device locations, Remote Lock, Complete Wipe and Corporate Wipe.

Track Usage

Usage thresholds can be monitored based on talk, text, data and roaming for each user.  Setting up alerts and reports for misuse, excessive bandwidth, additional charges and security exposures will help track usage appropriately. 

Banning Rouge Devices

Compromised devices such as “jail broken” iPhone or a rooted Android should be restricted from accessing enterprise data and resources.  Compromised devices are susceptible to virus attacks.

For more information on Mobile Device Management

Contact us at 856-745-9990 or click here.

Hurricane season is from June 1 through November 30.  On October 29, 2012 the East Coast was hit with Hurricane Sandy.  Many businesses are still recovering and rebuilding from the largest Atlantic Hurricane on record.  Power outages, high winds and flooding affected many areas in New Jersey and New York.

The Small Business Administration and Agility Recovery hosted “Protect Your Business This Season” webinar.  

Below are five steps to protect your business before a disaster like Hurricane Sandy:

Evaluate Risks

All types of risks exist such as environmental disasters, organized disruption, loss of service, equipment failure and many more.  Assess your company building for risks (inside and outside).  Also, assess business losses during and after a disaster strikes.

Calculate the cost of interruption

Calculating for  “post-disaster”  consists of many different scenarios.  Creating a plan for up to six months of interruptions for your company.  Another major concern is to design a backup plan with secondary vendors in case all primary vendors cannot provide their specific services. 

Insurance Coverage

Consult with your agent and an insurance expert when buying insurance for your business.  Insurance policies vary, it is important to design a policy that best fits your needs.

Create a communication plan

Gather primary and secondary e-mail addresses for all employees, contractors, vendors and customers to put an e-mail alert system in place.  Businesses could also use Social Media to alert public before and after a disaster.

Telework Policy

If a disaster strikes, employees may not have the ability to travel to the office.  Setting up a Telework Policy will grant employees access to work from home.  This policy can be for all employees or specific employees.  

Need help preparing for Hurricane season?

Contact us at 856-745-9990 or click here.

Small and Medium-Size Businesses (SMBs) will often take shortcuts to cut costs when purchasing.  To avoid disasters such as a loss of data or work, SMBs are strongly suggested to focus on the ten points below.

Hardware

Considering the rapid change of technology requirements, a pro-active approach for replacing desktops, laptops, servers, and networking hardware is to look five years into the future.

Backup Software

Although built-in backup software and Windows Server backup are adequate, purchasing a third-party backup solution will have the ability to recover from an image.

Internet Connection

Providing your SMB with a consumer-grade DSL line would not be an efficient business plan. Setting up a network that provides your business with more bandwidth than required will prevent a network bottleneck from occuring.

Firewall

Securing your business with only Windows built-in firewall is not ideal.  Configuring a Cisco, Fortinet, or Sonicwall is more secure, reliable and flexible in a SMB environment.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage provides scalability, reliability and portability.  Cloud storage is divided into three categories:  Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).  Many companies are transferring to Cloud services for access to data outside the network.

Website

Online presence has become an important key for all businesses.  A solid solution is to have a strong website, blogging and effectively using social media.

Redundancy

Redundancy is an appropriate investment towards ensuring that your SMBs network does not go down.  Similar to backups, redundancy does not affect everyday business but should an incident arise, you’ll be glad it’s there.

Support

IT Support is a necessity, whether it’s an in-house department, third-party service provider, or support for software.

Mobile Devices

The ability to work from outside the office and accessing data from anywhere  is now an important key for businesses.  Setting up a virtual private network enables laptops, tablets and smartphones to connect and work from anywhere.

Printers

Supply your SMB with a printer that has the sustainability and features required for business use.

Takeaway:  Five useful tools that are satisfactory for Disaster Recovery.

Quick Disaster Recovery

Quick Disaster Recovery can restrict applications from opening at Startup and re-enabling Windows Administrator tools such as Task Manager and Registry Editor. (Free)

Clonezilla

Clonezilla is compatible with Windows, Mac OS and Linux.  Clonezilla has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning.

There are two versions available:

1. Clonezilla live – Backup and restore on a single computer.  (Free)
2. Clonezilla SE – Backup and restore on 40+ computers simultaneously.  (Free)

Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.  Macrium Reflect has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning, schedule backups, supports RAID and GPT and has a Linux Rescue CD.

There are three versions available:

1. Home-use Desktop Version (Free)
2. Pro Desktop Version ($58.99)
3. Pro Server Version ($199.99)

DriveImageXML

DriveImageXML has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning, browse and restore images.  Browsing images allows you to restore files, folders or the entire disk image.

There are three options available:

1. Home-use license (Free)
2. 5 user license ($100.00)
3. 100 user licenses ($500.00)

System Rescue CD

System Rescue CD is a Linux rescue disk compatible with Linux and Windows.  This rescue disk can recover data, manage partitions and edit configuration files. 

The System Rescue CD can be modified to your specific needs by adding specific tools or scripts.  (Free)

For disaster tips for your office or home, click here.

Takeaway:  IEEE 802.11ac is the next generation wireless networking protocol as the successor of IEEE 802.11n.

What is 802.11?

IEEE 802.11 is a group of physical layer standards that provide the foundation for wireless networks.

802.11 Timeline:

• 1997:  802.11 – 1 or 2 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum (Legacy)
• 1999:  802.11a – 54 Mbps in 5 GHz spectrum
• 1999:  802.11b – 11 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
• 2003:  802.11g –  54 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
• 2009:  802.11n – 600 Mbps in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrum

802.11n vs. 802.11ac

802.11ac offers the freedom of a wireless network combined with the capabilities of Gigabit Ethernet.  In a 5.0 GHz spectrum, 802.11ac will provide up to 500Mbps (single) or 1000 Mbps (multi).  Final ratification for 802.11ac expected in December 2013.

Takeaway:  Creating numbered or bulleted lists would be simple with the ability to adjust or remove automatic indents.

Simple Solution

This simple solutions works with the current list only. If you add to this list, Word will remember the indent. When you start a new list later in the document, it won’t.

1. Create an numbered or bulleted list.
2. Double-click any number or bullet in the list to select all.
3. To change the indent position:

• Select the Decrease option in the Paragraph group (Aligning all items to the left margin)
• Select the Increase option in the Paragraph group. (Aligning all items to the right margin)

Entire Document Solution

The entire document solution will adjust the settings for all numbered/bulleted lists in the document.  Instructions below will default the list to be aligned at the left margin (0), you can adjust accordingly.

1. Create an numbered or bulleted list.
2. Double-click any number or bullet in the list to select all.
3. Right-click the selection; select Adjust List Indents.
4. The Adjust List Indents window opens.

• Number Position:  0 (Where the numbers / bullets will align.)
• Text Indent:  .25 (Space between numbers/bullets and text.) 

RingCentral is a company that specializes in providing business VoIP services, fax services and mobile communication solutions.  RingCentral continues to offer more features to boost efficiency. 

Intercom:

Intercom allows you to call an individual extension that will automatically pick up on speaker.  This is a “one-to-one” feature, not a “page-all” feature.

Intercom is available for:

• Cisco – 303 / 502G / 504G / 508G / 509G / 525G / 525G2 
• Polycom – 321 / 331 / 335 / 450 / 550 / 560 / 650 / 670 / VVX500

Softphone and Polycom 6000 conference phones can only initiate Intercom using the touch tone command.

Polycom VVX-500

The new color touchscreen IP phone with 12 touch keys that display Presence Status, speakerphone, integrated PoE, Gigabit Ethernet… etc.

Business SMS:

Business SMS easily integrates with iPhone(s) and Android(s) to allows you to use your business RingCentral number to send and receive text messages from customers, colleagues and company departments.

• Unlimited texting
• Ability to text from multiple devices using RingCentral smartphone App

Audio Conference Bridge:

Audio Conference Bridge allows you to setup and/or join unlimited conference calls anytime and anywhere. 

• Dedicated conference bridge dial in number
• Free unlimited conference calling
  
• Host & Participant access codes for each RingCentral User

Call Recording:

Call Recording can be used on your Softphone, IP phone or cell phone and allows you to record conversations on for RingCentral phone number.

• On-demand recording
• Recordings stored in the cloud
• Anytime access for playback or download

Call Park:

Call Park allows you to park a call (put on hold) in two ways:

• Public Call Park – allows anyone to pick up the call
• Directed Call Park – only allows the owner of the extension to retrieve.

For more information regarding RingCentral,

please contact us at 856-745-9990 or click here.

NFS Built-In

Apple prefers to use Passbook system instead of Near Field Communication (NFC).  Passbook is not capable of performing all tasks that NFC can handle such as the ability to beam content by touching devices or send money via PayPal wirelessly.

Swype

“Swype is a faster and easier way to input text on any screen.”

Swype gives your phone the capability to input text by sliding your finger from letter to letter accross the screen.  Only Android smartphones offer this input ability.

SD Cards

iPhone’s are not built to extend device storage using external SD Cards, Micro SD Cards or Mini SD Cards.

Storage

Many iPhone user’s have replaced their iPod’s with their smartphone.  The storage capacity for an iPhone (64GB) versus an iPod Classic (160GB) is not comparable. 

USB

iPhones have never used a standard USB cable to sync.  Currently, iPhone 5 uses a new MicroDock connection that will not allow older sync cables to connect without a specific adapter.

Micro HDMI

Android devices have a Micro-HDMI port for retrieving video from your phone. iPhone 5 requires a special adapter or an Apple TV to retrieve video.

Changing the Battery

Although, iPhone 5 provides a stronger battery, some users require more power but replacing an iPhone battery is challenging.  To replace the battery it requires a special screw driver and special tools to lift the screen 90°.

Battery Life

While the iPhone 5’s battery is larger that the iPhone 4S, it produces the same battery life because of the bigger screen and power to run 4G LTE.

Exchange 2010 Service Pack 1 restricts the number of ActiveSync devices (=EAS PartnerShips) by setting the default to allow up to only 10 devices.  This default helps eliminate resources from being monopolized.

Limiting ActiveSync devices is for the new feature “Throttling” which manages Exchange performance. Throttling enforces bandwidth limits by tracking consumed resources per user.

Run command in cmdlet to adjust ActiveSync limits:

 Set-ThrottlingPolicy –EASMaxDevices # –Identity DefaultThrottlingPolicy_hex_string

• Change # to the number of devices.
• Run  Get-ThrottlingPolicy to find out the hex_string identity.