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Entries by Richard Reiffer

The Pros and Cons of Hiring Remote Employees

More and more of the global workforce is working remotely: about 70% work from somewhere other than their office at least once a week. With so many people choosing to work remotely, it has to make business sense, but unfortunately, it’s not perfect. Here are the pros (and a few cons) of hiring employees to work from home.
The Pros

Expand your talent pool. One of the biggest advantages to considering remote employees is the far broader range of candidates you can tap into. If you’re looking to fill a specialized role and choices are sparse in your area, you can open up the position to candidates across the country—even around the world. This means increased workplace diversity, potential for greater innovation, and access to better cultural fits for your business.

Increase engagement. According to SHRM’s 2016 Employee Benefits report, 60% of companies offer their employees opportunities to telecommute, but some businesses aren’t so sure. Remote workers are often stereotyped as lazy and disorganized, but research shows that they may actually be more motivated and productive than their office counterparts. This is due in no small part to today’s worker seeking flexibility in their careers. Working remotely allows employees to get work done when they are most focused and achieve the all-important work/life balance that is receiving increasing attention from management and employees alike.

Lower overhead costs. As anyone with access to their business’s finances knows, operational costs are far from negligible, especially when it comes to shared office spaces. …

3 Steps to Take When Call Quality Drops

Call quality is a prime consideration for anybody looking to get the most out of their phone system. Nothing is more frustrating than a bad connection with a client or lead during an important phone call, and though VoIP systems have many business benefits, they have also created a new set of obstacles to overcome. Because VoIP systems rely on a fast connection on both ends, a weak connection could mean a disturbance in audio or visual quality. While we have limited control over what happens outside our networks, some things can be done internally to ensure the quality of your VoIP phone systems.

Here are five steps you can take to improve your phone call quality.
1. Calming the Jitters
VoIP delivers voice information through network packets. When functioning correctly, they are evenly spaced and delivered in a constant stream. However, network malfunctions can lead to communication delays, or the audio can be scrambled, making it hard to understand.

Minor jitters can be fixed by replacing an Ethernet cable. Using a category six cable transfers the information between networks faster, which reduces the likelihood that data will arrive out of order.

For more severe problems, installing a jitter buffer can briefly store and organize voice packets to make sure it plays them in the proper order.
2. Reduce Bandwidth Usage
The amount of bandwidth being used on a network will impact audio during a call. Monitoring your network traffic is the easy and cost-effective route to audio …

Are Smart Devices Changing How We Communicate?

As connected devices permeate practically all aspects of our society, are we communicating differently? From voice commands to new technologies, the presence of IoT devices is changing things in the tech and business industries: the only question is, how?

It’s not surprising to hear that by 2020, there will be tens of billions of data-spouting devices connected to the Internet. Many people believe IoT devices make us more efficient in our daily lives, while others feel they create barriers to communication. Here are a few areas you can expect to see impacted by the rapid adoption of smart devices.

 
Traditional Media vs. New Media
One of the biggest changes is location. In the past, traditional media like TV, print, and radio were key components for reaching audiences. Now, the prime location has moved to digital platforms. Web-based and mobile apps like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are taking over. Consumers are shifting to these social platforms when they want breaking news, and 26 percent of them are accessing it through smartphones.

Today, more than ever, business need digital, cloud-based communication. Companies can no longer rely on traditional methods and assume that their employees are as okay with the status quo as they are. Business communications need to take advantage of the technology revolution.

 
Options for Communication
Before smart devices, communication was limited to a few channels. Orchestrating meetings with team members or clients was difficult, and the technology that was available was less than reliable.

These days smart devices offer businesses …

3 Ways Unified Communications Maximizes Your Control

With so many phone system options to pick from, it’s difficult to know which one will fully support your business. But you do know one thing: your current phone system no longer meets your company’s changing needs. So you do what any smart business person does – you conduct a thorough assessment of your options. You quickly learn that what you need is a unified communications system that will integrate with your current business applications at a reasonable cost. Most importantly, you want to control how you use, manage and pay for the phone system over the long term while building for the future and enabling an easy migration to the cloud as your business evolves.
If this scenario applies to you, it’s time to consider a unified communications system that gives you total control in three critical ways: 
1. Control Over Custody
Is ownership your preference? If you have a certain comfort level when the assets you buy are sitting under your roof, an onsite phone system will give you complete custody of the equipment. Simply put, you own it. This type of investment creates a future benefit for your business by reducing long-term system costs while increasing the book value of your company. The financial decision of leasing, renting or buying is up to you. A Mitel Connect ONSITE system gives you investment protection while laying the foundation for a later migration to the cloud. You decide how you spend …

How to Train Your Employees for UC Success

Unified communications can benefit your business operations and move you closer to achieving your goals – which is why so many organizations are investing in better communication and collaboration tools. But without adequate training, your new unified communications tools can turn from a solution to a problem. If you’re thinking about implementing a UC platform in your business, how do you make sure that your employees get the most out of it? The answer is a focus on training.

Here are five things you can do to get your employees up to speed on new communication technology:

 
1. Get employee input
If you really want your employees to utilize new UC tools to their fullest extent, you’ll need to start before you even begin shopping. In one survey, 77% of employees reported that they weren’t consulted about UC tools before implementation, and 58% weren’t even consulted about the usefulness of the new tools after implementation. But when new communication technology affects the day-to-day lives of everyone in the organization, how do you know if you’re achieving your goals for implementation if you don’t ask?

Depending on the industry that you’re in, your employees may hate making calls, or don’t even know how to send a fax. If people aren’t going to use it, is it worth the investment to implement that tool in the first place? By talking to your employees before and after you implement your UC platform and tools, you can get people on …

12 Common Myths about Cyber Security

With all the focus on cyber security for businesses in the past few years, there’s a lot of good information about how to protect yourself and your company from the risk of a security breach. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of bad information circulating, and it can sometimes drown out the facts. Here are 12 common myths to avoid:

The right software will solve your problems. A good suite of software is an essential part of your cyber security strategy, but that’s all it is – a part. Cyber security is not a set it and forget it process. You need experts to be able to monitor, analyze, react, and adapt to threats in your system, and while machine learning is getting better all the time, software alone can’t cover every aspect of your needs.
Cyber security is IT’s job. Speaking of needing experts, there’s more: even if you managed to hire cyber security specialists (people in this field are in short supply,) a solid IT team is not enough to protect your organization against a security breach. Today, proactive defense is much more effective than reactive, as malware takes moments to do serious damage rather than hours or days. That means educating end users and consistently enforcing a security policy in all aspects of your business’s operations.
Attackers don’t go after SMBs. Data breaches in giant organizations like Yahoo! and Deloitte make the headlines; a local boutique shop or a regional manufacturing company don’t. But …

How to Get Started with Data Security

You probably know that your company should be doing more with data security, but where do you start? Getting your business to the security systems it should have can be a long process, but even small steps will help you mitigate the risk of a data breach for the long term. Here are some quick actions you can take as well as some planning steps to get you started with data security.
Quick-Start Steps

Encrypt your emails. One of the easiest ways for people to gain unauthorized access to company data is intercepting emails and email attachments. Secure your email communications by encrypting messages and setting timers for message expiration – once the intended party has received the information, do they really need it forever?

Protect your network. All company networks should be password protected and, ideally, hidden from discovery by non-employees. By ensuring that only company employees have access to the office internet and file sharing servers, you decrease the chance of data breach by unauthorized users.

Enforce a strong password policy. Even though the technology used to attack and secure data has evolved dramatically since the initial spread of internet usage, your best first-line defender is still a strong password. Most websites and applications suggest a password that is a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. And contrary to popular belief, mandating frequent password changes may be doing more harm than good, as employees can get frustrated and use weaker, easier to …

Should You Price Shop for Communication Solutions?

Everyone loves a good deal. When you can get great value out of a relatively small purchase, you tend to enjoy that purchase just a little more. But price shopping doesn’t always have a great outcome. Focusing on finding a steal can mean you’re getting a subpar product or service. Here’s the thing: most unified communications platforms pride themselves on their affordability, but affordability is relative. So how do you find a system that fits both your needs and your budget? Here are four questions to ask yourself when you’re searching for communication solutions.
1. How do you use your phone system?
One good place to start when shopping for communication solutions is your phone. Your phone system should be a foundational part of your unified communications system, and it’s a piece of the puzzle that most businesses already have and use, so it’s a good indicator of whether or not any given solution will work for you.

Start by analyzing how you use your phones. While going through old phone bills isn’t exactly thrilling, it will give you a clearer picture of how people in your organization are making calls. Are they mostly local, or long distance? Do a large portion of your calls go to a single area outside of your city or state? Do you have a toll free number? Different VoIP providers offer different billing structures with regards to distance, phone numbers, and call duration, so you can …

3 Business Cyber Security Solutions for 2018

Every year has seen changes and evolutions in cyber crime and security, and 2018 is no exception. As trends change, businesses need to be constantly educating themselves on cyber security solutions to mitigate risk and protect against cyber attacks. Here are three types of platforms that every company should include in their security operations, as well as the 2018 trends that are driving innovation and change.
System Security
It’s always a good bet to start with the basics, which means that many businesses already have at least some semblance of a general security system in place. However, if you don’t, or if you haven’t reviewed your system security solution in a while, it’s worth taking a second look at the building blocks of your business’s cyber security this year.

System security covers a number of categories, including network, data, application, mobile data, and web security, with a focus on protecting end users from dangerous activity and web content. Anti-malware, email encryption tools, and firewalls all fall into system security, and each area should be covered by one or more security solutions.

2018 Trend: IoT Security

A vast network of connected devices, called the Internet of Things or IoT, has changed how society thinks about connectivity. Prior to the widespread adoption of connected devices, connectivity meant screen time: how much time consumers spent on their phones, tablets, or computers. Now, virtual assistants, smart TVs, networked security cameras, vehicle fleets, and even business telephone systems are connected, and just …

Is Unified Communications Worth It for Small Businesses?

Every business has budget items that are higher priority than others, but for small businesses, that priority list is usually adhered to a little more strictly. After all, it makes sense to make only the most strategic investments when so many things demand your attention. But even if a better communications solution is somewhere on your budget, it may not be at the top of your list. Should it be? Investing in a small business unified communications system could bring significant benefits to your company.
Do More with Fewer Employees
Hiring and retaining employees is a huge expenditure for a small business, and in some industries, wages and benefits may take up a significant portion of the yearly budget. And while expansion is a success milestone for many small businesses, hiring is not a decision to be taken lightly.

As a result, employees of small businesses often wear more than one hat. Sometimes, a salesperson may also take on customer service duties, or an accountant may handle some aspects of HR compliance. These employees are usually up to their ears in work, and in combination with their highly important roles, maintaining easy and productive contact is both vital to operations and difficult to achieve.

For those on-the-fly meetings or out-of-office calls, small business unified communications makes hectic work schedules easier to manage. VoIP phone systems enable employees to take and make business calls wherever they are – so that salesperson can handle current …

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Millennia Technologies is a full-service voice and data solutions company for midsize to enterprise customers. Specializing in UCaaS , CCaaS , Cybersecurity , IoT , Voice , Cloud , and more. Our passion is firmly rooted in showing clients how well-designed data solutions can significantly accelerate business operations, and then celebrating their goal-shattering successes.