We just launched a new site for the Crystal Lake Chamber Foundation. The Foundation “assists present and future business leaders by providing financial and educational resources to strengthen the area’s business community”.
LeadingIT Solutions is excited to announce the addition of Cory Kennedy as a Technology Consultant. Cory is a graduate of Purdue University with 2 years experience from the Geek Squad. His role at LeadingIT will make him available via email and phone to all of our clients with our help desk.
“We are excited to have brought Cory on to the team here.” says Stephen Taylor, Technology Consultant and Partner at LeadingIT Solutions. “Cory is diligent in what he does and brings some solid experience supporting client desktops. He compliments the culture we have here and is a great addition to the LeadingIT team.”
LeadingIT Solutions offers computer, network, and security support for businesses. We typically work with law offices, manufacturers, accounting firms, and non-for-profits with 2-100 employees that typically do not have a dedicated technology staff. Our vision is to help your company become more capable, more efficient, and more profitable by implementing great technology. Our goal is to offer the next generation of computer support with friendly, knowledgeable staff at the most affordable price. For more information, please visit www.GoLeadingIT.com, call (815) 308-2095 or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LeadingITSolutions.
Here’s a question you’ve probably never thought about: If your IT guy went away, would you know where all the passwords, data, software licenses and disks, key codes, and other important information were stored? Do you know how to log into your server? Do you know the passwords to all your employee’s workstations? Do you know where your offsite data is stored and how to access it? Is your network documented so that another IT person could come in and pickup where they left off? If not, your IT guy is holding you prisoner.
If he’s doing a good job, you might not mind too much; however, you should STILL have him or her document your network in case they didn’t show up one day for work. And if you AREN’T really happy with their work and aren’t sure if they are doing a good job, that’s all the more you should have this done.
Occasionally I’ve run across potential new clients who aren’t really happy with their IT guy’s work, but stay with them out of fear. As one business owner to another, this is NEVER a good reason to stay with your current provider.
If you can’t trust the person with the most access and power over your computer network – the core of your business – you need to find someone you CAN trust. A truly professional person or provider would NEVER hold their client hostage or do any harm in handing over the “keys to the kingdom” to another company. And any good IT firm should be able to walk you through the transition to prevent that person from doing any damage.
How To Know If Your IT Guy Is Doing A Good Job
Another reason business owners stay with their current IT person is simply because they don’t know what good service really IS, and therefore lowered their expectations. Over and over again I’m absolutely HORRIFIED by the incompetence and irresponsibility I discover when I audit most business networks. In 98% of the computer networks I review, I find faulty or non-existent backups, security loopholes, shoddy reporting, and flawed systems that simply cost more to maintain and don’t align with the operations of the business.
Plus, not a week goes by where we don’t get a ‘911 crisis call’ from a business owner with a major technical disaster that COULD have been prevented. Why do so many businesses pay for substandard computer support? Simply because they don’t know how to truly verify that their network IS secure and end up having to take someone at their word.
Here’s a quick quiz to know if your IT guy IS doing a good job. If your technician does not score a “yes” on every point, you could be paying for substandard support:
If Your Current IT Guy Failed This Test, I Want to Give You A FREE Network Health Check To Make Things “Right”
If you’re NOT happy with your IT person and have a sneaking suspicion that they aren’t doing the best job possible, then call us in for a second opinion. At no cost or obligation to you, we’ll come to your office and conduct a network health check to look for problems with your backup, security, speed, and any other problems that could lead to data loss, downtime, and high repair fees.
To claim this free service, simply call us at 815-308-2095 or send us an e-mail to support @ LeadingITSolutions.com
LeadingIT Solutions is excited to announce the addition of Mike Alfus as a Technology Consultant. Mike is a recent DeVry graduate with a Bachelor’s in Network Communication and Management. His role at LeadingIT will make him available to all of our clients in supporting their needs and getting a quick response.
“Both Mark and I are very happy to have brought Mike on board,” says Stephen Taylor, Technology Consultant and Partner at LeadingIT. “Mike has such a positive attitude and a desire to learn all while offering the best level of service he can. He compliments the culture we have here and is a great addition to the LeadingIT team.”
LeadingIT Solutions offers computer, network, and security support for businesses. We typically work with law offices, manufacturers, accounting firms, and non-for-profits with 2-100 employees that typically do not have a dedicated technology staff. Our vision is to help your company become more capable, more efficient, and more profitable by implementing great technology. Our goal is to offer the next generation of computer support with friendly, knowledgeable staff at the most affordable price. For more information, please visit www.GoLeadingIT.com, call (815) 308-2095 or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LeadingITSolutions.
CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark signifies commitment to high industry code of conduct, high level of customer support
Crystal Lake, Illinois / December 5, 2011 –
LeadingIT Solutions, an outsourced IT services firm, announced today it has received the CompTIA MSP Partners Trustmark for its use of industry-accepted best practices for service delivery and customer interaction, they are the first to have done so in Illinois.
VoIP is now within easy reach for everyone—including small businesses. Here are the top ten reasons you should switch to using VoIP and VoIP phones for your business. Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) is basically technology that allows you to make and receive calls over data networks.
Instead of traditional phone services which channel analog signals such as the sound of your voice over copper wires, VoIP converts these sounds to digital form first—so that they can be sliced, diced, packaged, and routed over a digital network.
Because VoIP technology uses the same ideas behind data networking, and allows the use of the same networks used by computers, voice traffic can also be routed through the Internet as well. Suddenly you can now dramatically reduce the cost of voice communications, as well as achieve creative combinations of both services to create new applications for use.
With today’s advancements in technology, and the constant lowering of prices as technology achieves mass adoption, VoIP is now within easy reach for most businesses—even small ones. In fact, many have already made the switch to an all-VoIP infrastructure, using a combination of VoIP phones and VoIP communication systems.
Here are ten reasons why you may want to consider switching to VoIP for your phone and office communication systems:
1. VoIP can allow you to dramatically reduce the cost of communications, especially for interstate or international communications, since everything can go through the Internet instead of having to go through expensive long distance toll charges.
2.You can make and receive calls from multiple devices—for instance, on a dedicated phone, your PC via a software-based phone, or even a mobile phone with VoIP capabilities.
3. It’s easier to add extensions to your phone. You can provide a local number or extension for all your staff without additional costs or cabling.
4. VoIP allows companies to maximize investments already made in their network infrastructure. The same network that handles the flow of data such web access and email can now accommodate voice as well—no need to add and maintain additional wires and devices.
5. VoIP allows your employees to be more productive and efficient by giving them the ability to receive and make calls anywhere with a data connection.
6. VoIP reduces the complexity associated with having to manage multiple networks and devices for communication. A company can potentially set up their office network so that each employee can use a single device such as a computer or a smart fixed or mobile phone to handle everything from email, chat, messages, faxes, and more.
7.You can use VoIP as a tool for real-time collaboration along with video conferencing and screen sharing.
8.You can potentially unify your communication channels, streamlining communications and information management—for instance, marrying email with fax and voice in one inbox.
9.You can employ presence technologies that come standard with VoIP phones and VoIP communication systems. This technology can tell colleagues about your presence or give you info on the status and whereabouts of your staff.
10. You can employ intelligence into how your calls are handled, such as: providing automatic call routing based on the number, time of day, etc; providing an interactive voice response when a call comes in, such as voice prompts that guide callers; call reporting; and more.
VoIP is certainly a technology that has come of age. It’s cheap, ubiquitous, and easy to use. Interested? Contact us and we can help you make the switch to VoIP for your business today!
Backup and Restore—improved for Windows 7—creates safety copies of your most important personal files, so you’re always prepared for the worst.
Let Windows choose what to back up, or pick individual folders, libraries, and drives yourself. Windows can back up files on whatever schedule you choose—just set it and forget it.
You can back up to another hard drive or a DVD. And if you’re using the Professional or Ultimate editions of Windows 7, you’ll also have the option of backing up your files to a network.
We recommend the Western Digital My Passport Essentials line of pocket drives.
, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.
If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.After you create your first backup, Windows Backup will add new or changed information to your subsequent backups. If you’re saving your backups on a hard drive or network location, Windows Backup will create a new, full backup for you automatically when needed. If you’re saving your backups on CDs or DVDs and can’t find an existing backup disc, or if you want to create a new backup of all of the files on your computer, you can create a full backup. Here’s how to create a full backup:
, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.You will only see this option if your backup is being saved on CDs or DVDs.
On 8 June, 2011, Google, Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft will be amongst some of the major organizations that will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour “test flight”. The goal of the Test Flight Day is to motivate organizations across the industry – Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies – to prepare their services for IPv6 to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run
out.
IPv6 and it’s little brother, IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 6. IP’s are sort of like telephone numbers for the internet. You want to browse to Google, you need the IP address. The problem is IPv4, around since 1981, is running out of numbers. IPv6 is the answer to that. On top of many new features and security, IPv6 offers alot more numbers (340 undecillion, to be exact), compared with the 4.3 billion available in IPv4.
The formated addresses look like 2001:4b10:bbc::1 (IPv6) and 212.58.254.252 (IPv4).
There are many factors affecting this eventual and gradual transistion to IPv6. Your computer must support IPv6 (it probably does, Microsoft built IPv6 into Windows XP, Vista, and 7), your server (again Microsoft built into Server 2003 and 2008), your router/firewall as well as your Internet provider (Comcast is also onboard with IPv6). Other services such as your Web site host and your Email provider or server will also need to support IPv6.
There may be cause for concern if you have an older server or older networking equipment (such as a firewall or router). These items may need to be upgraded to ensure your network can remain working.
The skinny here is there is big change coming to the Internet. As your Technology Consultants, we take care of this for you. We’ve been watching our vendors to ensure they’re onboard with the IPv6 transistion. Happy World IPv6 Day!
http://www.test-ipv6.com/
We work with many of our business clients on an all inclusive monthly support agreement. We call this WorkplaceComplete and we include everything our client ever needs in this flat monthly fee. In addition, we implement our own security setup including a UTM firewall and anti-virus software. We do this because we’ve found the best products and services to keep our clients networks safe. Continue reading >
