Computer Tip of the Day — How to Disable Automatic Update In Windows 10

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One of the new features of Windows 10 is that it automatically updates itself, and there is no real way to turn it off in the Home version. Although updating your Windows system is crucial to staying safe in the cyber world, there are times when automatic updates aren’t wanted. For example, if you have work to finish at a certain deadline, you don’t want to have to sit through an update and reboot. It’s also bad if you have a limited or slow internet connection and you want to wait until you get to a quicker internet connection before you update. Here’s how to get around the automatic update feature.

Set Your Network as Metered

Cellular networks and mobile hotspots are automatically set as metered, but you can set any Wifi connection as metered. Metered connections won’t download updates automatically. Go to your Wifi settings, click on Manage Known Networks, choose your network, and click on Properties to do this.

Change Reboot Hours

If you go to your Updates settings, you can set hours when Windows won’t automatically restart. Just set the hours that it should restart, which can be at night. However, your computer will have to be powered on then for the update to be installed. It also won’t stop the update from downloading during your non-active hours — it just won’t reboot then.

Show or Hide Update Tool

There is a show or hide update troubleshooting tool that you can download from the Microsoft website. Using this tool, you can set certain updates to be hidden. Hidden systems and driver updates won’t be downloaded automatically.

For more computer help, just contact us!

How Can IT Support for Small Businesses Help You Improve Customer Service?

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Customer service is critical to your company’s success. Recent data reported at Small Business Trends shows that some form of poor customer service is responsible for over half the negative complaints small businesses receive.

One function of strong IT support for small businesses is to enhance customer service in a number of ways, including the following:

  • Minimizing downtime for the business website. Customers need consistent access to the site, for example to contact the business, buy products, leave comments and reviews, sign into their accounts, download forms, and look up important information.
  • Gathering and analyzing information about customers. Businesses can better serve their customers and respond effectively to concerns and complaints by having a clearer picture of who their customers are. They need to understand the customers both as individuals and as members of a larger group. IT support professionals can help your business implement powerful solutions for managing customer relationships, gathering, organizing, and analyzing data from customers. They can help you maintain databases of critical customer information.
  • Establishing reliable ways for customers to reach you (and for you to reach out to them). For example, IT support professionals can help you establish and maintain a reliable business email service and Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions.

If your business enjoys strong IT support, customers can also benefit. Your employees are able to work more productively and efficiently. Both customer and employee data are more secure and, thanks to reliable backup and recovery measures, are less vulnerable to permanent loss.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to further discuss how we can help you improve your customer service performance, along with strengthening your business operations in many other respects.

Computer Tip Of The Day: Using Two-Factor Authentication

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Two-factor authentication can provide your workplace with an extra foundation of security. It requires extra information beyond just a username and your password to access computer accounts.

Two-Factor Authentication for Emails

Two-step authentication will require a combination of a username and a password, in addition to an extra piece of information that includes a security code that will be sent to a mobile device. Adding an extra layer of security to an email account is one of the biggest improvements that can be made. 

Workplace Social Media Accounts

We are aware of how popular social media accounts are in the business world, especially due to their ability to attract customers from across the world. It is important that the proper steps are taken to secure social media sites. Two-step authentication can also be used to secure social media accounts.

It is very important to always be cyber aware, even if you find it to be an inconvenience. The extra steps you take to secure your account can be the difference between having a successful business and a business that fails because it was not properly secured in the online world.

If there are various online accounts that need to be managed, it is greatly important that you take the proper steps to secure online accounts, customer data, and other vital business information.

Two-factor authentication will generally include one or more of the following:

  • One of your physical characteristics, such as your fingerprint.
  • A one-time security code that can be sent to your mobile device or email address that you will enter after you have entered your username and password. The login process will not be completed until the security code has been entered. 
  • Another layer of security that can be used for identity verification is challenge questions. When choosing challenge questions, we encourage you to choose questions that may be difficult for others to answer. Avoid choosing simple challenge questions that hackers could find the answers to by searching online, especially on social media.

Two-factor authentication is becoming a popular choice for many account holders in all industries. Contact us today for more information on two-factor authentication and how you can become more cyber-aware.

Benefits of IT Support for Small Businesses

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The probability of thriving in an environment with huge corporations and established companies is minimal if you are a small business operator without the necessary support you need. Several strategies can help small businesses surmount competition in their respective industries, including the adoption of the right marketing strategy and investment in technology.

Unfortunately, small enterprises do not have adequate resources to invest in IT services, which is a prerequisite for achieving success. Outsourcing your IT services from reliable vendors can help your small establishment achieve set objectives as it grows. Here are the benefits of seeking the help of external IT support service providers for your small business.

IT Support Reduces Downtime

Experiencing lengthy downtimes is a severe setback for small businesses that rely heavily on technology. Since systems are prone to failure on various occasions due to diverse reasons, you cannot afford to remain without a backup plan as a small business operator. Engaging a credible third-party IT service provider in offering support services for the systems within your small firm will eliminate the frustrations of unnecessary downtime.

IT support service vendors can provide several services including data backups, regular maintenance, and system updates, in addition to ensuring quick response in case the unexpected happens thus taming system downtime.

Ability to Leverage the Latest Technology

Needless to say, in the world of technology what is relevant today will become irrelevant tomorrow. The demands of customers are also changing every day, and you need to remain informed to stay ahead of the curve. As a small business operator, you may have difficulties researching the latest innovations to incorporate into your operations to promote productivity.

A professional IT support services provider will help your small business leverage the latest advancements in technology so that you can compete favorably with others in your industry.

It Promotes the Achievement of Core Objectives

Most small business operators lose focus on what they should pursue as the primary objective of their enterprises when they shift attention to their IT requirements. Divided attention will undoubtedly lower the productivity of your business. That is why you need to hire third-party IT support service providers.

Releasing the responsibility of IT support to a qualified vendor of these services allows you to commit more time and resources to projects requiring your attention for your company to achieve set objectives. If you need more information on the benefits of IT support services for small businesses, contact us today!

Outsourcing in Fort Lauderdale: The Advantages!

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Monetary profit is generally the highest priority in any business — it makes sense that business owners and managers would prefer to focus on that rather than “chasing tails” and spending hours managing a computer, or network of them, to achieve unforeseeable and potentially damaging results. Those who run small businesses and are at the same time computer-savvy have an advantage in that they can save some money on hiring professionals to manage their computer equipment — but sometimes professionals have better solutions than tech-savvy folks can provide — and even if a business manager is indeed tech-savvy, most likely she doesn’t want to spend time dealing with the maintenance and repair of business computers. This is when outsourcing comes in. 

Here are some points to consider for deciding whether outsourcing in Fort Lauderdale is the right path:

  • Exceptional ROI — Return On Investment
  • Better Security

Money is spent on expensive equipment. Additionally, many times, to save money, business managers will attempt to install and configure computers on their own. However, time is being taken away from focusing on how to bring in monetary profit by doing this. Also, there’s the high potential of improperly configuring the equipment which could have disastrous results, generally speaking. Outsourcing the installation, set up, and ongoing maintenance of computers will increase the ROI — return on investment — due to the equipment running at its optimal ability. In this case, managers and business owners pay no mind or worry.

Business owners and managers taking computer security into their own hands is a gamble. There are two basic vectors to be concerned about when attempting this. First — computer hackers who seek to illegally obtain and use private information using sophisticated abilities are out there, and they are waiting for just the right time to attack. Computer systems that are not secured by experienced professionals are at a high risk of being compromised by criminals. Second — computer security also encompasses the preservation of computer data. Human error or hardware malfunctions can render a business dead in its tracks with nowhere to go. Efforts have been made by the computing industry to mitigate the risks of data loss. Thus, they should be taken advantage of correctly — allowing professionals to handle the job.

Outsourcing in Fort Lauderdale will achieve optimal return-on-investment and security for small businesses. Allowing owners and managers to focus on what’s most important to them — monetary profit!  Please contact us for a consultation.