Benefits of Establishing a Guest Wifi for your Business

/in , , /by

Business owners and their staff hear one question all too often, “Do you have WiFi?”.  Whether hosting a small business meeting or daily influx of customers, the need for visitors to connect is unavoidable. Granting unlimited access to everyone introduces many security issues, so consider establishing a guest WiFi as a solution. This practice accommodates visitors and protects your company’s network. Read more

5 Important Words to Know When Shopping for a Business Phone System

/in /by

If your company has employees on-site (or off-site), you need a functional, efficient, and feature-rich business phone system to facilitate productive internal and external communication. Business owners shopping for a new phone system are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available these days. Whether you are thinking of purchasing a premise-based phone system, a VoIP system, or a used telelphone system, it can help to know some of the key industry lingo. Here are five important terms. Read more

The Great Facebook Outage of 2019: A Lesson in Avoiding Downtime

/in /by

On Wednesday, March 13, Facebook, as well as its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp, experienced an unprecedented eight-hour long outage that caused many of their 2.3 billion monthly users to settle into an entire workday without a complete social media feed. While some people took the outage as an opportunity to detox a bit from scrolling, others defected to other working social channels like Twitter. Even if they hadn’t used their Twitter account for years, users migrated to the next best functional thing when faced with downtime on their favorite channels. Even the Facebook tech support team took to Twitter to update users on the progress resolving the outage. Read more

Why You Need an IT Support Company That’s Been Around as Long as the Oldest Millennials

/in , , /by

Did you know that BCS was founded “way back” in 1983? We started by offering business telephone systems and structured cabling (services and products that are still important parts of our business). We grew through the 80s and 90s and evolved alongside the rapidly changing technology, increased Internet usage, and rode the waves of just about every IT trend that came along. (read more about our history here). Read more

Improve Client Relationships Through Video Conferencing

/in , /by

How often do you meet with your highest-paying client? How about your lowest-paying client? Do you meet in person or via phone? Do you interact with touch points in-between meetings? Depending on the products or services your company offers, your answers to these questions may be different. No matter what you do, though, customer service is probably near the top of your priority list.

One easy way to both streamline communication with clients and improve the overall relationship is to integrate video conferencing into the customer-relationship-management mix. Read on for the top 3 reasons that your company should boost its use of video conferencing technology ASAP. Read more

You Deserve Better Conference Calls

/in , , /by

We’ve all been there. It’s 8am and three out of six participants have joined the call. Carl is unable to get through on the line, no one can hear Jennifer, and the office coffee maker is broken. Ok, that last part has nothing to do with the conference call but it definitely makes the whole situation more of a challenge. Read more

Interactive Digital Signage Maintenance: Top 3 Tips and Tricks

/in , , /by

In December 2018, several McDonald’s restaurants in the U.K. faced an embarrassing PR crisis when a group of researchers discovered some unseemly bacteria on the screens of touch-based ordering kiosks. McDonald’s responded quickly by disinfecting those screens and publicly committing to doing better in the future. This should serve as a big reminder to those who use digital signs, especially interactive ones, to devote resources to cleaning and maintenance! Read more

Fight Hectic Holidays

/in /by

The busy holiday season is almost over, and often no matter how hard employees try to get things done in advance, the weeks afterwards always seem to become a big game of catch-up. It may be a long list of unfinished tasks, or it may be getting in contact with clients or customers only to find heaps of important messages missed due to an unreliable voicemail inbox or forwarding system.

We still have a few more days before the end of the year, but it’s a great time to start thinking about your business resolutions. If you’re ready for smoother communication and fewer errors in 2019, it’s time to add “new phone system” to your list.

The best way to find a new phone system for your business is to do your research. First, identify the needs of your business. If you have a smaller office with no remote employees, or are on a budget, a used phone system is a great option (check out our blog post on the pros and cons of a used phone system for more details). If you have multiple offices with hundreds of employees and remote workers, you’ll probably want something that can handle your call volume, transfer calls easily, reach remote employees and is simple to use.

Thankfully, the experts at BCS Voice & Data are here to make the process of choosing and installing a new phone system easier. We offer everything from used phone systems to cloud-based systems – all effective at helping you avoid missed calls and downtime.

Start the new year off smoothly by replacing your old phone system! For more information and expert advice on choosing the best option for your school, contact BCS Voice & Data at (757) 497-3100.

Create Fewer “Out of Office” Days

/in , , , , /by

Your business may thrive more having all of your employees in-office, but what happens on days the weather takes a turn? Winter temperatures are here, which means the possibility of snow days is increasing quickly. Is your office equipped to access the information you need from home?

Even if you don’t plan on having remote workers, making sure your office is ready for a work-from-home day will set you up for success. What does this mean? It’s different for every company, but here are a few suggestions.

1. Easy access to information. Making sure your employees can access the files they need remotely ensures a productive work day, even remotely. This can be done by having a cloud-based network for your employees to save information to and access from any device.

2. Cloud-based phone system. With mobile device integration, calls to desktop phones in your office can be directly routed to your employee’s mobile phones. This means that on days you just have one or two people in the office, everyone can stay connected with fewer missed calls from clients and customers.

3. Video conferencing. The holidays are often the busiest time of year, with lots of meetings to review the year and starting planning for the new one, and time off. A reliable video conferencing system means you won’t have to reschedule important meetings when you have deadlines approaching.

BCS Voice and Data carries a variety of cloud-based phone systems and video conferencing systems, and offers IT Support to help keep your offices running, stress-free. We also complete the set up and installation, and train your users to avoid confusion and mistakes once the system is ready. If you’re ready to improve your office systems to stay connected remotely, contact BCS Voice & Data today at (757) 497-3100 to find out what will work best for you.

New Tech to Make Life Easier

/in , , /by

With the holidays approaching, you’re probably already looking for gifts for the office and your friends and family at home. You may also already be stressed out, trying to handle everything in the office before the extra days off this season. Thankfully, these new tech updates can make your life easier, and your workplace more efficient:

  1. Bluetooth headphones. New Bluetooth headphones, like Apple’s AirPods, are updated versions of those bulky over-the-ear headsets. These make great gifts, but also make life easier when you are on the go, or in cold weather when you can’t use your phone’s touch screen easily.
  2. Smart Speakers. These devices are great to have at home, but are excellent for the office as well. For your busiest days, smart speakers can tell you the weather and read news highlights while you’re settling in, or play music during your office holiday party. When you have too many items on your monitor and need to know something fast, you can ask your device for the information you need.
  3. Tablets. These portable devices aren’t just for browsing Facebook and watching Netflix anymore. If you are frequently on the go or meeting with clients, having a tablet is a convenient way to take and present notes without carrying around loose paper, or getting work done when you don’t have an internet connection available. With the great Apps available from Starleaf and other brands, you can connect with your employees access information remotely.

These three tech updates are a great addition to any office, but not if your systems are failing. To learn more about the solutions that BCS offers to keep your office running smoothly, give us a call at (757) 497-3100, or use our online contact form.