Virtual Business Tools
As a company providing small business IT support, we make sure that our technicians are always equipped with the right business tools to help our customers when on site. Each one of our technicians carry their own flight cases with the most vital tools to fix most physical IT issues. However, it’s not just the physical tools that help our technicians solve our customers problems. There are three business tools the techs couldn’t work without, and if they did, work flow would become very slow and generally extremely unproductive. When it comes to digital tools here are our top three business tools that, not only technicians from all IT companies should be able to live without, but marketing and accounts department too.
Managed File Sync
The first business tool is Managed File Sync. This is our file storage and sharing tool with military-grade security. Staff members can access files anywhere from any device as long as there is a secure internet connection. With Managed File Sync, admin users can control the permissions each member of staff has and the access to which folders, ensuring the appropriate employees view the appropriate folders and files. There are also features such as tracking and collision support, allowing full control over employee activity on files and prevention of file collisions when two people work on a document at the same time. You can also view every computer each user has their Managed File Sync on. This can be a great security feature to monitor. If there are any devices that are unrecognised, you can sign out immediately to reduce the risk of unauthorised people accessing company documents. Read more about Managed File Sync here.
Office 365 Portal
The second business tool if Office 365’s Portal. Having a business Office 365 account enables employees to access their emails from any device with a secure internet connection, allowing staff to work on the go and onsite. Another great feature of the Microsoft Office 365 Portal is the ability to use the Apps such as Word and Excel even if the device doesn’t have these apps installed, you can still use and online version that the Portal provides you. Microsoft Office 365 also use multi-factor authentication which adds a second layer of security to your account. You log in as normal and then you will be asked to enter a code which you will find on a text message or an authentication app, depending on how you configure the initial set up. This can acts as a fraud alert if unauthorised people are trying to access your account, you will be notified to enter the code. If you were not trying to access your account then you know someone else is and can act upon this. Read more about multi-factor authentication here.
Managed Disclaimer
The last business tool we recommend and think is so important is our Managed Disclaimer. This is the centrally controlled email signature manager. Managed Disclaimer ensures all employees email signatures are applied no matter where the employee is emailing from and which device. The email signatures are applied automatically meaning there is never an awkward moment where an email is sent and the signature is not there, leaving the email blank and unprofessional looking. This is also brilliant for when IT services employees are working on the go and using mobile devices, as the email signatures are still applies.
Having Managed Disclaimer can also provide marketing opportunities as everyone looking at your email signature is another audience to advertise to. The signature designs and features are endless. Did you know that there is certain information in an email signature that legally should be displayed? Managed Disclaimer solves all your problems and ensures your business is compliant by applying the legally required information to every email signature every time. Read more about Managed Disclaimer here.
There are many more tools which benefit businesses and are used on a daily basis by managed IT services, whether industry-specific or not. However, we believe these are the top three that most businesses who use computers would make a massive impact on their business productivity and efficiency by simply implementing these simple, but vital business tools.
Physical Business Tools
Not only do we think businesses would benefit massively from the three virtual business tools mentioned above, but also these three physical business tools should always be available in case things go wrong.
USB to Ethernet Adapter
If you are ever working online and suddenly your computer will not connect to the internet, however, the internet is still up and running, you can still connect using a USB to Ethernet adapter. This allows you to plug in an ethernet cable via your USB port. This will then directly connect you to the internet without having to rely on a wireless connection, allowing you to continue working with a temporary fix whilst the underlying issue is being solved.
Precision Screwdriver Set
This is a pretty generic tool that the majority of businesses will require at one time or another. Some businesses will find more of a need for a good screwdriver set, other businesses will have that one thing that requires a specific screwdriver. Having this set lying around somewhere is guaranteed to save day at some point.
USB to SATA
This is a life saver if anything were to go drastically wrong with your computer to the point it cannot be turned on. Using the correct screwdriver from the set, you would be able to extract the internal hard drive from your broken computer and use the USB to SATA cable to pull the data from the internal hard drive. This is a great backup option and means you can save your data before disposing of the machine. However, you should always make sure that your computer is encrypted with something like bitlocker. This means if your internal hard drive was stolen and the criminal tried taking the data using the USB to SATA cable, they would not be able to access the confidential company data as it is encrypted with a bitlocker key, which only authorised people would know.