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

Encouraging Communication

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Have you ever had that employee that just can’t bring themselves to make phone calls? With the way most businesses run, phone calls, emails and video conferencing are taking the place of in-person meetings between clients and other employees. This means that the employee avoiding phone calls may not be communicating with clients and coworkers much at all!

We’ve written before about the importance of telephone etiquette, which is often the first step in encouraging your employees to pick up the phone. People who have recently entered the work force may have an added fear factor from not having much experience on formal phone calls.

As with any activity, habits picked up in the office are often learned behaviors. Encourage your employees to pick up the phone by doing so yourself. If you have the time, instead of having your secretary or office manager pass messages throughout the office, pick up the phone and relay the message yourself. This will get them comfortable with picking up the phone without notice or an agenda, and they will get more familiar with the buttons and functions.

Another step is confirming your employees understand how the phone system works, and making sure it is easy to use. So many of us are used to making calls easily from our cell phones, and your employee may be avoiding making out-of-state calls because they just don’t know how! It is a great idea to include a phone system guide in your employee welcome packet.

If your office is having trouble making calls because your phones don’t work properly or are too complicated, it may be time for a new system. Whether you’re looking for something new or used, the experts at BCS Voice and Data Solutions can help you find the perfect phone system to get your employees excited about having good communication with your clients! Contact us today for a consultation.

3 Useful Tech Updates

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With the quickness at which new technology is rolled out in 2018, keeping up with updates and new devices can be overwhelming, and may make you want to retreat away from phones and computers all together. We know it can be annoying and time-consuming to even update your devices, but these three useful updates may just convince you:

  1. Cloud-based sharing. Sending photos to your friends is easier than ever when you share them via icloud or similar devices, and on some devices, you can even share wifi networks with your contacts, allowing them to connect without finding and typing in a password. Make sure your device offers these services and has the latest version to use them. This tool is much faster than messaging or emailing, and downloads automatically to your computer or phone.
  2. Money-sharing apps. Nobody writes checks anymore, and few carry cash. So, how do you pay your coworker back for lunch? Money-sharing apps allow you to connect to your bank account and send your friends money, either instantly (with a fee) or within a few days. Be sure to check reviews or with your bank to make sure the app you pick is safe to connect.
  3. Banking apps. Does your bank have an app? If so, it can save you a trip to the bank to deposit checks with online depositing, or allow you to transfer money instantly if one account is running low and you need to make a purchase.

If you’re updated on the latest tech trends at home, but haven’t updated your work systems yet, check out our services to see what we offer. We continuously follow technological developments to introduce the best possible products! Contact us today to learn more and for select case studies relevant to your industry.

What Does a Modern Conference Room Need?

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Conference rooms still serve the same purposes they have always served: a huddle room for the exchange of ideas and updates between employees, and a quiet place to communicate with clients. However, with more people working remotely, more companies expanding internationally and more businesses using digital platforms for their businesses, the modern conference room requires technology updates that bring us far, far away from conference rooms of the past.

So, what does a modern conference room need?

Your conference rooms need to have the technology to communicate with employees and clients who can’t be in the office with you. This means that you’ll need a great phone and video conferencing system, and the tools to support them. For instance, a phone system that just makes calls can’t help you keep up with remote employees. Choosing a system that is fully integrated means you’ll spend less time forwarding calls trying to connect to the right person, and more time on the work you’re there to do. Similarly, a video conferencing system is no good if you don’t have desktop or network sharing to make sure everyone on the call is looking at the right information.

Aside from the technology to make conversation and collaboration easy, your conference room should be comfortable! This means making sure your seating is arranged so employees and visitors don’t have to strain to see each other or the presentation in front of them. Make sure the color and lighting in the room is comfortable, but not too comfortable – you don’t want your clients dozing off because of yellow, dim lighting putting them to sleep.

Your company’s message and goals are the most important part of communication and connecting with new clients, but the way you send out your message can have a huge impact. To learn more about the solutions that BCS offers to update your conference room, give us a call at (757) 497-3100, or use our online contact form.

IT is Your Friend

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Navigating technology and IT solutions can seem overwhelming, especially for employees who have no direct involvement with your company’s network. Many choose to leave the technical side of things to the outsourced company, and others may not trust an outside company with their information at all.

However, your IT company doesn’t have to be just a stranger – IT can be your friend! Getting to know your IT company can make you feel better about keeping your data secure, and help things run smoothly when problems arise. Here are a few ways to create a better relationship with your IT company:

  1. Get to know your technician. If your outsourced IT company has employees assigned to your company, be sure to get familiar with the technician assigned to your account! This will make things easier when you need to contact someone about your data or security by knowing who is familiar with your account.
  2. Ask questions. Become familiar with how your data is stored, where it is stored, who has access to files and what the plan is when it comes to a data breach or needing access to a backup by asking questions. There are no dumb questions, and becoming familiar with these procedures will help you trust your outsourced company and make you more knowledgeable about your own network and how IT support works.
  3. Know your services. There may be a service you need that you are unfamiliar with or aren’t sure is right for you. Talk with your IT company to find out every option and set up a service that is tailored to your type of business. For instance, companies who store customer’s personal information will need more backups and security.

If you’re interested in IT Support or Network Monitoring services, Call BCS at (757) 497-3100 today to learn more about how we can help your business run more efficiently and with a greater degree of security, leaving you worry-free during future data breach scares.

Hurry! It’s Hurricane Season.

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It’s officially hurricane season, which for most people at home means stocking up on extra water, batteries and flashlights in case of potential power outages. But what about at the office?

You’re not likely to worry about a tree falling into your office building or having enough snacks on hand, but every time the power goes out or a bad storm hits, you risk the loss of your saved documents (and if you’re someone who doesn’t hit the save button frequently, all of the ones you’re working on). Now is a great time to take a look at your data protection plan and make sure you are up to date on all of your procedures.

First: Does your company have a backup strategy, and are your employees familiar with your data backup plan? Scheduling regular backups and making sure employees are following through on them, or outsourcing an IT company to handle backups for you will ensure minimal date loss if a problem were to occur.

Second: Where are your backups going? An on-site location, off-site where your IT company stores them, or to the cloud? If a storm is on the way and your information is stored elsewhere, you may want to check with your IT company or cloud support to make sure your data will be safe. Redundancy is good when it comes to sensitive or hard-to-replace data.

If you aren’t sure about either of these questions, BCS can help you develop an effective plan, and with our managed services, can take care of the entire process for you. Remember, backups aren’t just for storms, either – they help with data recovery for a variety of reasons, including hacking, virus & malware infections, drive or hardware failures, and even accidental deletions.

If you’re concerned about how to protect and recover your date during hurricane season, or any other time of the year, give us a call at (757) 497-3100 today.

Why Use Digital Signs in Restaurants?

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If you’ve gone to a counter-service restaurant or coffee shop recently, you may have glanced up at the menu to order and realized something is different – the menu has changed. No, there aren’t any new items, and no, nothing was removed from the menu. However, the menu itself (the material it’s made of) is completely new, and it’s digital!
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Your Spring Cleaning Checklist

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How often do you clean and organize your computer’s desktop? How about the trash folder and bookmarks? Your actual desk? Like your home, these areas can become cluttered after a week of work, and important files disappear between old stock photos, documents and folders. Not only will this clutter make you feel stressed, but it can also slow down your computer!

If you’re working on your spring cleaning checklist this month, it’s time to add your computer and workspace to the lineup. Here is what you’ll want to accomplish:

1.     Delete unnecessary files: Those funny gifs and memes you downloaded to send to a friend? It’s time to get rid of them! Increase storage and declutter your desktop by deleting these unnecessary files.

2.     Empty the trash: After a big delete session, your computer’s trash file will be overflowing. Make sure there isn’t anything important and empty the file completely.

3.     Organize: To make files easier to find and de-clutter your virtual workspace, create different folders for clients, images, important documents and past work. You can also move old files to an external hard drive to free up storage space while ensuring your files will be safe and sound! Go ahead and get rid of old papers and folders around your physical workspace too.

4.     Scan for viruses: If you don’t scan for viruses regularly but use the internet often, your spring cleaning day is a good time to do so. It’s also a great time to look into network and desktop monitoring to stay safe and avoid spending time on this task in the future!

5.     Disinfect: This past flu season has been a rough one, and it’s not over yet! See our previous blog post on Germ-Free Tips for Technology.

BCS Voice & Data Solutions is an IT consulting and network monitoring company in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that serves clients both locally and nationally. Call our sales desk today at (757) 497-3100 to discuss your company’s unique needs and how BCS can help!

Protecting Your Data

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If you’ve been keeping up with tech news so far this year, you may be aware of new insight that Google provided on who may have access to your data. They found that hackers could find your stored information in cloud services through your device’s processors. If your business, like many others, relies on computers, tablets and phones to store important information and communicate with clients and employees, this news may be frightening.

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Should I Buy a Used Telephone System?: Cons (Part 2)

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In our last blog post, we talked about the benefits of buying a used telephone system rather than one that is brand new. At BCS, we sell and stand behind both used and new phone systems, but acknowledge that different clients have different needs. While used business phone systems typically cost less, are more readily available, and act as a good starting points for many businesses, they also have their drawbacks.

Cons

  • Possible shorter lifespan. While all the used systems we sell are of the highest quality and thoroughly tested, they are typically older and more likely to break down in the future. All products have a shelf-life. If you are planning to upgrade to a new system in the not-too-distant future, then used may be the best option, but if you plan to keep the system long-term, consider buying new.
  • Finding replacement parts can be a chore. Manufacturers start retiring system components after a number of years and when something breaks or you need to add new users, locating the part you need can be a challenge. When you purchase from BCS, however, we will do everything we can to find an identical or comparable component when your system requires it.
  • Less feature-rich. Buying an older system often means settling for fewer cutting-edge features. While this isn’t always the case, you will experience a bit of a trade-off when purchasing used.

No matter which route you choose, BCS Voice & Data can find you the business phone system that fits your company’s size, mission, and unique needs. Call our sales department today at (757) 497-3100 to talk about your options.