When it comes to running a business there are a few integral components you need in order to have a chance at being successful. One of those is a phone number. This means you also need a phone and infrastructure to support it, which can be quite costly to implement. One alternative is to use a digital phone system - Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The question many business owners ask is: Can it bring any benefits to my business? In short, yes, it can. Here are five benefits of VoIP.

1. Automation Most VoIP systems can be easily configured to route calls to numbers without the need of an expensive switchboard. This means that you could route calls to your mobile phone when you are out of the office.

Any good phone system offers callers the ability to leave messages. Some VoIP systems can take voicemail messages and turn them into emails, which makes it easier for you to track and reply to these messages.

2. Larger appearance Solid VoIP systems allow you to have different numbers that can route into one branch. For example, if you have a presence in four states, you can set a local number in each state and when users call, they are automatically routed to your office.

By having a local presence, many customers will think your business is bigger than it really is, and may be more trusting. Similarly, you can also assign numbers to different 'departments' that get routed to one phone. This is a great way of making your company seem bigger and more reliable.

3. Features With most traditional phone services, you have to pay extra for features like all display, extra numbers, call monitoring, etc. VoIP systems often include these features and more at little to no extra cost.

4. Savings As VoIP uses your Internet connection, calls are not geographically routed which means that a phone call that would normally be considered long distance, isn't on VoIP. This translates to lower phone bills. These systems don't require complex infrastructure and wiring that traditional phone systems do. Existing phones can be easily integrated into VoIP systems with a small piece of hardware, meaning you won't need to invest in new hardware.

5. It's scalable It is easy to add numbers and phones to any VoIP system. This means that when you hire new employees, you can quickly (often in as little as three minutes) and easily assign them a number and a phone at little to no cost. This means that as you grow, the system grows with you.

If you are looking to update your current phone system or save money, please contact us today. We may have the VoIP solution that fits your business needs.

A joint operation between the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), authorities in Estonia, and IT security firm Trend Micro recently put down a massive bot network that victimized an estimated 4-5 million users around the globe.

Four million is a big number – which makes four million bots, in security terms, a staggering and frightening number as well.

It is a good thing, then, that four million is also the number of bots taken down in a recent bust by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Estonian Police, and security firm Trend Micro. Data centers in New York City, Chicago, and Estonia were raided by authorities, shutting down hundreds of servers used to create a network of bots that spanned some 100 countries.

The said bust, dubbed “Operation Ghost Click”, is one of – if not THE – largest cybercriminal bust in history, putting to sleep a sophisticated scamming operation that victimized 4 to 5 million users and was said to have generated at least $14 million in illegal revenue.

The scam mainly involved hijacking Domain Name Server (DNS) settings in infected computers, which can be used not only to introduce more malware into an IT system, but also to hijack search results and replace advertisements loaded on websites visited through an infected computer.

While this bust does bode well for all IT users everywhere in the world, it also illustrates the scope of influence and level of organization behind security threats. Since this is probably not the only scam / fraud / botnet operation in the world, it is always best to have a comprehensive security policy for your IT infrastructure to minimize the risk of compromising your company’s data and information.

For more details on the bust, check out Trend Micro’s blog post here.

With mobile devices becoming more accessible, many are finding it more comfortable and more productive to use these devices not only for personal purposes, but also for work. This may seem to be a good thing initially, but it also means that you have less control over the way these devices access your IT system. The best thing to do is to have a good IT security policy in place to make sure that important company data is not compromised.

As technology continues to become more affordable and accessible to consumers, it's an inevitable fact that employers will see more and more of their employees using their own personal devices such as laptops and mobile phones to access the company's IT system.

This can be a dangerous thing. Since these devices aren't company owned and regulated, you have limited access and control over how they are used. Employees could download all sorts of malware and viruses on their devices and pass the infection along to your IT system when they access it.

The solution: a comprehensive IT security policy. It's important that you find a compromise between the freedom of the employee to use the device as desired and your need to keep your IT system safe from viruses and other threats to your data's security. Steps such as having employees run mobile device management (MDM) software on their devices is one of many actions you can take to lessen the risk of security breaches. You may also want to implement applications and software that check and screen for malware, both for laptops and mobile devices. And don't forget that while Android seems to have a bigger problem with malicious software, Apple isn't exactly virus-free, either.

Employees have a right to use their personal devices as they see fit, but not at the expense of important company information stored in your IT system. Running a tight ship in terms of security is an effective way to protect your business interests and your sensitive company data. If you are interested in knowing more about developing a concrete and effective IT security policy for personal device use as well as general system access, please don't hesitate to give us a call so we can sit down with you and discuss a custom security blueprint that's just right for you.