Stay on top of the Latest IT Tips and Suggestions with this Selection of Blog Posts from BCS

Never bring your laptop to a meeting again. Introducing the Mitel UC360.

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Concerning multi-party collaboration, clients come to BCS looking for a solution that is affordable and simple to use while still providing all of the high-tech capabilities of a dedicated multimedia business communication suite. Some might think that sounds like a tall order, but thanks to Mitel’s UC360 Collaboration Point, we’re happy to say that they are wrong.

Mitel UC 360 Collaboration Point

Mitel UC360 is a single device that is open and standards-based, meaning that it fits seamlessly into diverse communication infrastructures and is compatible with most PBX systems and computing environments. No hassle or expensive infrastructure upgrade here. You just connect UC360 to your network and its intuitive user-interface will guide you through the simple setup process. From there, you can begin to engage in the kind of collaboration that drives innovation… with the ease of making a phone call. Watch this informative video to see UC360 in action:

 

UC360 is ideal for those offices and shared spaces that wouldn’t usually be used for intensive multimedia collaboration and those businesses that want more than what even the most expensive business phones offer in the way of collaboration.

A few of UC360’s fantastic features include:

  • Intuitive touchscreen and user interface.  The vibrant 7-inch color display takes the guesswork out of device deployment and operation. It serves as the hub of all of your activity and makes it so you don’t even need to bring your laptop into the meeting with you, no matter how intensive your presentation.
  • Superior audio and display quality. Whether you have two or four parties participating in your meeting, UC360 boasts high definition audio that will provide each member of the conference with an in-room experience no matter where they are. And UC360 supports HD display on LCD monitors and top-of-the-line projectors so every crisp detail of your presentation will have the utmost clarity.
  • Easy access to everything you need. Pull up all the important documents you need for your presentation however is most convenient for you. UC360 supports USB flash drives and micro SD cards as well as instantaneous access to Dropbox and Google® Docs™. You can even connect to a remote desktop. Again, no laptop necessary.
  • Seamless Mitel integration. From Mitel: “When integrated into Mitel Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) Solutions, UC360 also supports user dialing into audio conference calls on Mitel communications platforms and on the desktop collaboration application Mitel Collaboration Advanced (MCA). You can include UC360 in Mitel Personal Ring Groups, and seamlessly manage UC360 with the aware-winning unified communications application Mitel Unified Communicator® Advanced (UCA), so that calls reach you based on your presence and availability.”

In short, if your business already uses Mitel Unified Communications technology, Mitel UC360 is the perfect addition to your office. And even if you don’t, UC360 will complement your existing infrastructure and streamline productive collaboration without putting extra strain on your IT department.

As an exclusive Mitel business partner, BCS is proud to offer your company UC360 and the rest of Mitel’s cutting edge business communication solutions. Call or contact us today to learn more.

IT Outsourcing…Is It Right For My Business?

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There comes a time for most businesses when growth and increasing success includes larger challenges–especially in the realm of IT. When faced with these technological complexities and strategic decisions, business owners have choices. They can develop and manage an internal IT department, or choose professional IT outsourcing services with a company like BCS.

Which is the smartest choice? The answer depends on the size, staff structure and level of technological expertise of each individual company. However, for many the benefits of outsourcing IT management significantly outweigh those of using internal resources.

Seasoned Experience and a Competitive Edge

All businesses have the need for meticulous IT management, but few have the expertise or the time to carry it out themselves. IT, done well, is a full time job, even for a smaller company.

Building an internal IT department from within your existing staff generally will not provide you with the knowledge and experience you need to keep your mind off strategic IT decisions and on your core business.  Also, bringing self-professed IT experts onto your payroll is expensive and still doesn’t guarantee technical mastery (“certification” does not always equal “experience”).

While we can’t speak for other companies, when you choose IT outsourcing with BCS, we give you real solutions and careful attention. We are your fully staffed, highly experienced IT department whether you are right down the road or across the world.

If you have a capable existing in-house IT department, BCS can act as a support team when you need us. We are only a call away. Our IT support and outsourcing services include:

Whether you are looking for a total outsourcing solution or a small-scale enhancement to your IT department, our Managed Services Plan might be just what you are looking for.
Opting for this plan gives your business:
  • Priority Queuing
  • Unlimited Help Desk Support
  • Server Maintenance
  • Network Hardware Maintenance
  • Security Audits and Anti-Virus Updates
  • Backup Monitoring
  • Onsite Labor

When you hire BCS, you can have confidence that your latest IT challenge is nothing we haven’t seen before. Let us be your IT department. Call or contact us for more information and a no obligation estimate.

 

image: freedigitalphotos.net

Mitel 5360 IP Application Phone

Mitel Business Phone Systems: Which One is Right For You?

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As a certified Mitel Exclusive Business Partner, BCS Voice and Data Solutions offers Mitel’s wide range of first-class business phone systems. From the basic desktop IP phone for small businesses on a budget to the cutting edge Windows screen-based soft phones for big companies with lots of mobile workers, BCS can provide you with the Mitel phone system that fits your company’s needs, and then some.

Mitel designs and produces four kinds of IP-based business phone systems including 1) Traditional IP Button Phones, 2) IP Application Phones, 3) Industry Specific IP Phones, and 4) Business IP Soft Phones.

Not sure of the right option for you and your business? Read on for a quick overview of the highlights of each system and an example of a business phone system in each category:

Traditional IP Button Phones

For the small to medium sized business that wants an IP-enabled phone with all the telephony features needed to facilitate fast and reliable communication, the traditional IP button phone is a good choice. Priced reasonably, these desktop phones are beautifully designed with ergonomics in mind.

Pictured below, the Mitel 5324 IP phone is a great example of an advanced traditional IP button phone:

Mitel 5324 Traditional IP Button Phone

 IP Application Phones

For the busy medium to large business with many remote workers and a need for fast-paced creative communication, the large touch screen IP application phones are a great fit. Not only do the IP application phones have all of the telephony features of the button phones, they provide instant on-screen access to web applications and development tools.

Mitel’s 5360 IP phone boasts a full color, backlit touch screen and 48 programmable keys.

Mitel 5360 IP Application Phone

Industry Specific IP Phones

Mitel specializes in providing the hospitality and financial industries with IP phones that suit their unique communication needs.

The Mitel 5505 Guest Phone, for use in hotel rooms and similar venues, allows guests to cordlessly communicate with the front desk and beyond without hassle. It has large-dial buttons, a hands-free speaker phone, a built in alarm clock, and many other innovative features. It also greatly reduces costs for both the hotel and its guests. Read more about the benefits of VoIP in the hotel and hospitality industry here.

Business IP Soft Phones

Mitel softphones aren’t physical phones, per se. They are actually web applications that allow mobile workers to access all the features of a top-of-line physical IP phone right from their Windows-enabled PC’s desktop. Softphones provide the ultimate benefit of IP telephony and Unified Communications by offering businesses seamless flexibility.

The Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced Softphone gives remote workers the full functionality of an IP phone as well as secure instant messaging, visual voicemail, and personalized USB configuration.

Mitel Unified Communicator Advanced Softphone

So whether you are in the market for a basic IP telephone system for your small company or remote IP Unified Communications software for your remote team, Mitel and BCS can help you find the perfect VoIP solution. Call or contact BCS today for more information.

A Data Backup Strategy is Your Best Defense

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With the next destructive natural disaster seemingly always around the corner and “big data” getting bigger every day, small companies have to stay on top of protecting their business’ critical information with a solid backup strategy. Part of this task involves regularly, if not constantly, backing up important data.  Businesses that don’t back up their data consistently and reliably put themselves at risk for costly recovery downtime, not to mention the loss of customer trust that comes with any kind of data or security breach.

Some businesses approach the issue like a teenager behind the wheel and feel invincible, but no one is immune to the eventuality of data-loss events. Be prepared. How? If you don’t already have a backup strategy in place, follow these three steps to keep your business-critical information safe, secure, and enduring:

Pinpoint business-critical data

Especially if you are a very small business, it may not be necessary to have 2 or 3 copies of every single file, image, or video you have ever handled.  Larger companies with bulkier databases would do well to use less discretion. It’s all about using your best judgment. A good rule of thumb to use is to ask yourself, “Can I do business without this?” If not, you have your answer.

Choose an external backup system

Once you decide on the most important data, you must then decide on the ideal backup medium. What you choose depends largely on the size of your company and the volume of business-critical data that you handle.  Your options include (but are certainly not limited to) placing multiple copies of your information on CDs, storing them on a basic external hard drive or tape drive, or storing your backups offsite in a virtual environment.

BCS recommends combining onsite backup storage on a hard drive or tape drive with offsite virtual backup, as this will keep your data most secure in the event that a natural disaster destroys onsite copies. We work with the company VMware to provide our clients with dynamic virtualization solutions. Along with virtualization, we offer VMware’s top-of-the-line data protection that enables “fast and efficient backups to disk and, more importantly, fast and reliable recovery.” Technology like this allows a growing company to safely store their data in the cloud without worrying excessively over corruptible hardcopies. (Although it is wise to still keep those on hand.)

Backup regularly

Like we mentioned before, part of a solid backup strategy is consistency. If you only backup once a year, you are doing yourself a big disservice.  Perform a manual backup at least once a month, but if you prefer (and your backup medium can perform the function) it, you can schedule automated backups daily. The second option is the better one because not only does it make routine data backup one less thing to think about, it is also extremely thorough.

When you work with BCS to protect your data offsite, we make sure that nothing you need is ever lost and that it remains easily accessible to you and your team at a moment’s notice.  If you have any questions about your data backup strategy, call or contact BCS Voice and Data Solutions today. We are excited to help.

BYOD Policy and Your Wireless Network

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We live in an increasingly interconnected world and the line between people’s work lives and their personal lives becomes blurrier every day.  In the workplace, this “Work 3.0” culture translates to the common practice of employees using their personal technology (smartphones, laptops, etc.) to access the corporate wireless network both in the office and out of the office.  It used to be that employees came in at 9 a.m. with their company issued cell phones to sit in their company-issued cubicles and work at their company-issued desktop computers. At five, those employees went home—and more or less left work at the workplace.

 

These days, thanks to the consumerization of technology, corporate employees have no reservations about accessing company information and enterprise via their own smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers from the office, from home, or from the coffee shop down the street. Check out this breakdown of employee behavior on personal devices:

 source

While this culture enhances productivity and the flexibility of employee daily life, it presents a huge security challenge for IT professionals who must attempt to protect company information on a number of vastly different devices on and off of the network. It’s enough to make a CIO want to throw their hands up and ban all personal devices from accessing the server on the wireless network—which is a strategic option. The problem is that too many companies neglect to form any kind of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy at all, thus putting their sensitive data at great risk. Mitigate the risks associated with BYOD and reap the productivity benefits by following these three steps:

 

Define your policy

Weigh the pros and cons of BYOD for your business if you haven’t already. Are the productivity gains and the lower hardware costs worth the headache of Mobile Device Management (MDM) across myriad platforms for your IT department? Your policy is likely to fall in a grey area between total tech license for employees and total barring of non-company owned devices from the wireless network.

 

Promulgate your policy

You can develop the clearest, most reasonable BYOD policy out there, but if your employees are unaware of it, your efforts will be wasted. In our last blog post we talked about the importance of well-structured business-IT alignment, and the need for a top to bottom understanding of BYOD policy is a perfect example of why said alignment matters. When everyone is on the same page, your sensitive data is safer.

 

Enforce your policy

Once your BYOD policy is well known by all involved in the organization, enforcement of it becomes top priority. Of course, most of the continued implementation relies on experts in IT who must ensure that all firewalls and encryption mechanisms are in good working order.

 

How solid is your BYOD policy? Or perhaps it’s better to ask, how safe is your sensitive data on the wireless network? Let BCS provide you with a free IT consultation. We can help you decide the best course of action for a BYOD policy and provide wireless network monitoring solutions for your company. With these services, you can rest assured that no unauthorized device is infringing on your wireless network. Call us today. 757.497.1300.