Improving the Customer Experience: The Secrets

Posted by Troy Stanton on May 2, 2023 11:15:00 AM

Customers can be fickle (and expensive) creatures today. They demand value, plus a concierge-style buying experience, and guess what, they hold the cards. For one thing, finding a new customer can be up to 25 times more expensive than keeping an existing one. Also, the buying decision has become a critical balancing point between consumers and business owners, especially with looming economic uncertainty. With this in mind, here are six (6) recommendations for keeping your existing clients happy.

Read More

Topics: Insider

VPN is Tired and Outdated. There is a Better Way.

Posted by Troy Stanton on Jan 23, 2023 12:30:46 PM

The widespread use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to access files remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic may have created a false sense of security.  Users would open their VPN client software, enter a password and gain "secure" access to the office network.  But at what cost?  Common problems with VPN  include inefficient user interfaces, dangerous firewall pinholes, and outdated software and security.

Read More

Topics: Insider

Check your Security Policies as Cyber Insurance costs continue to rise

Posted by Troy Stanton on Aug 16, 2022 10:15:00 AM

Premiums for cyber insurance are sky-rocketing and it's not because of inflation.

It has been a little over 1 year since the very public cyber-attack of Colonial Pipeline Co. that resulted in a $5M ransom demand. The effect that this hack and a subsequent string of high-profile attacks had on the cyber insurance market in 2021 is unprecedented.

Insurance companies were excited to enter this budding new market in the late twenty-teens. There was very little risk and plenty of interested buyers. This new coverage niche was highly profitable.

Read More

Topics: Insider

The Hybrid Work Schedule is Here to Stay

Posted by Troy Stanton on Apr 4, 2022 1:33:27 PM

2021 was the year the working world went remote. 

As pandemic conditions continued to evolve throughout the year, so did the way we work. Employee expectations underwent a seismic shift, with many choosing to opt for more balance and flexibility in where and when they work. With nearly 70% of full-time U.S. workers having worked remotely - and many still doing so - employers have adjusted their workplaces to fit a new hybrid working model.

Read More

Topics: Insider

Going Passwordless. The Basics of Multi-Factor Authentication

Posted by Troy Stanton on Jan 18, 2022 8:58:35 AM

Passwords are everywhere. We use them to protect many aspects of our online lives, from everyday websites and social media accounts to more important sites like banking, shopping, and corporate network access.  Like most everything in cybersecurity, passwords have served their purpose for a time but when used alone, they have become a big vulnerability. A simple hack or database leak can release millions of passwords to the dark web in a matter of seconds.

Read More

Topics: Insider

With Malware, the Best Defense is a Great Offense

Posted by Troy Stanton on Oct 28, 2021 11:08:14 AM

Many in the sports world tell us  that "defense wins championships" and in some cases, this may be true - until it's not. The strategy of an aggressive attacking style of offense has two main advantages. One, you are distracting your opponent from their own attempts to score and two, you are focusing your team on the main path to a win; scoring points. The strategy that the best defense is a good offense can also be applied to cybersecurity. 

Read More

Topics: Insider

Reduce Cyber Threats in Real Time

Posted by Troy Stanton on Sep 16, 2021 10:15:00 AM

Think of a firewall as the moat that surrounds your castle. For pillagers to cross and storm the castle it just takes one village idiot to accidentally lower the draw bridge. What if you could stop them before they ever got to the lever?  In the cybersecurity realm, this is what DNS layered security offers. Before we explain what DNS layer protection means, let's take a closer look at what DNS is.

Read More

Topics: Insider

Cyber Criminals Prey on the Unaware

Posted by Troy Stanton on Jul 19, 2021 1:35:03 PM

It was another email from a vendor about a purchase order. She'd seen this same email a hundred times before. Why would she look more closely than the familiar logo and letterhead? After all, the dangerous stuff couldn't get past her company's firewall and spam filter. Or so she thought...

She didn't notice that the phony email address was from a .co instead of a .com. Flash forward one week.  After dozens of hours of lost business and a $16,000 ransom payment, the company was still digging out of the mess. 

Read More

Topics: Insider

Cloud Hosted Phones are part of the New Normal

Posted by Troy Stanton on Jun 30, 2020 10:15:00 AM

In a Blog post exactly one year ago, we asked "Are you ready for Cloud-Hosted Phones? "  We explained what it was, how it worked and the pros/cons as compared to an office-based phone system. Fast forward one year into the depths of the Coronavirus epidemic and we find ourselves in a completely new work environment. The question we asked one year ago has a very different answer today
Read More

Topics: Insider, Installing a VOIP Phone System

5 Phone System Features that will pay Immediate Dividends

Posted by Troy Stanton on Feb 27, 2020 5:16:50 PM

Call Accounting:

Ever wonder why your customers complain that they are having a hard time reaching you? Maybe you lost a key customer or prospect because a phone call or voicemail wasn't returned? Call Accounting software or applications can track all of your calls from "cradle to grave" meaning that you can visually track a call from the point that it hit your phone system through the hang-up. Did it get to an extension? If so, which extension? Was a message left in the voicemail box? How long was the message? All of these questions can be answered with Call Accounting.

Read More

Topics: Insider