As a small- to medium-sized business (SMB), your phone system is likely at the core of your client communication platform. With a phone system optimized for your team’s needs, you can facilitate collaboration and streamline communication while prioritizing customer engagement. In this post, we’ll examine some of the questions you need to ask if you want a business phone system that’s not only prepared to grow with you, but also to drive that growth.

Does the System Offer Intuitive Management?

As a small or medium business, you may not yet have the resources for a robust in-house IT team. That means you need a phone system that’s intuitive and straightforward to manage. Before deciding on the right business phone system, make sure to clarify any back-end management requirements, maintenance, and upkeep. As your business grows and your needs change, you’ll likely need to add lines, switch extensions, and change passwords. If a phone system simplifies these day-to-day tasks, then you’re on the right track.

How Simple Is Setup?

Chances are, you can’t afford days or weeks of downtime to get your new phone system set up and running. Your team doesn’t have the time to troubleshoot setup and configuration issues. That means rapid installation and deployment are a critical component of any SMB phone system. At the same time, you need a level of customization to optimize phone performance for your operations. Finding the right balance between simple deployment and customization is critical to finding the ideal business phone system.

Is the Price Right?

Budget is most likely the No. 1 factor guiding your business phone options. Finding the right business phone system is about achieving the optimal balance of cost and results. While you don’t want to end up overpaying for your phone system, you also don’t want to forget to account for reliability and maintenance when budgeting for a phone upgrade. Oftentimes, paying a little more today can pay off in the long run with minimal downtime and quicker fixes when issues inevitably arise.

How Scalable Is the System?

If yours is a growth-oriented SMB, you need a phone system that’s prepared to align with your growth goals. Before deciding on a phone system, make sure you account for being able to evolve with your changing needs. From adding users to accommodate a growing user base to increasing system capacity at a moment’s notice, research your options until you find one with the features to facilitate future growth, so you don’t end up with a phone system that slows you down.

Springfield, MO IT Support

As Springfield’s leading telecommunications consultants, the experts at PCnet are here to help you leverage a business phone system for your needs. We’ll work with you to understand your team’s workflows and clarify growth goals, so you end up with a comprehensive telecom solution built around your needs.

Internet scams have been around since, well, the internet. Some are blatantly obvious—we all know not to buy anything a self-professed Nigerian prince is selling—while others are so subtle they can fool a seasoned internet skeptic.

The most common kind of email scam is “phishing”, the term coming from the idea that scammers are “phishing” for information they can use to believably assume your digital identity and through that, your financial information. This term goes all the way back to 1996 when scammers hacked into America Online accounts after they conned passwords out of trusting AOL users. In fact, phishing is like the grandfather of security threats—viruses, trojans, and ransomware can all stem from the phishing scam.

Phishing scams can be amateur or incredibly sophisticated, and have born their own set of rules that are as ingrained in some people as our parents’ warnings to never take candy from strangers. These rules include never give out your password and never click a link in an email from a user you don’t know. The trouble is, some scammers can so perfectly duplicate legitimate online platforms it can be easy to believe the email you just received actually did come from PayPal and your account actually does need immediate attention.

So what are the hallmarks of email scams?

1. 1. Did the email go to the right email address? Most of us have not one email, but several. If a PayPal email went to an email address not linked to your PayPal account, it’s likely a scam.

2. Bad grammar and spelling are key giveaways that you’re dealing with a scammer rather than a legitimate company.

3. The email leaves out your name. In an age where everything is personalized, your name should be attached emails you receive from legitimate vendors.

4. You didn’t actually sign up or do business with the website in question. Now, this might lend some people to believe that someone has stolen their information and used it on this website, generating a false report. The trouble is when you click a link in the email, it won’t take you to the true destination (Amazon, PayPal, eBay, your bank, etc.), rather a dummy website that exists specifically to capture your information or spread viruses and malaware to your computer.

Not all phishing scams will be so blatantly sloppy that it’s immediately clear they’re scams, and it can be easy to overlook bad spelling and grammar or not notice your name is missing if you’re in a panic over the security of your account. So here are some ways to avoid being phished.

1. Suspect everything. Even you receive an email that looks legitimate from a company you regularly do business with, tread carefully. Instead of clicking the link provided in the email, pull up another browser tab and type in the web address. This will bypass any potential duplicates and take you directly to the company itself. There, you can login and check your account as you would normally, and change your password if you’re concerned about security.

2. Use free virus protection software and browser add-ons like McAfee SiteAdvisor to be alerted when you might be visiting a site suspected of malicious activity.

3. Use commonsense. It’s pretty much impossible to win contests you didn’t enter or receive security alerts from accounts you don’t have.

4. Trust IT partners like PCnet to provide virus and spam filtering for email.

Have a question about online security? Contact your friends at PCnet. We’ll work with you to create a plan that makes sense for your business so you and your employees can use the ‘net safely.

When PCnet manages your IT, you are getting much more than just a technology provider. We are experienced professionals with an exuberant passion and drive for helping businesses operate more efficiently. Working with a managed service provider (MSP) will help you keep your network and technology infrastructure in smooth, working condition. With an experienced managed service partner by your side, you’ll be able to take advantage of several structured IT solutions that will ultimately get you ahead of the curve.

Partnering with an MSP service is a business solution that will direct you towards long-term success. These are some of the main reasons why it helps to have a professional support team in your corner:

Better Security and Compliance:

There are several risks that are constantly lingering around networks. By working with a managed IT provider, you are mitigating a lot of these matters. An MSP will monitor your network and will inform you when any alarming issues are on the horizon. Additionally, your infrastructure will be protected by a strong layer of defense such as firewalls and antivirus software. Finally, the MSP will be responsible for helping you adhere to any compliance standards and regulations that your business follows.

Less Pressure on Your IT Department:

CIO’s and IT administrators have a lot of responsibilities on their agendas. They are responsible for managing every aspect of your computer and network support system. Partnering with an experienced MSP can help alleviate a lot of stress that they deal with on a daily basis. In reality, your IT department is too busy to monitor the network from a close lens, so an MSP will be able to cover this ground, in order for administrators to focus on more internal matters.

Better Maintenance and Fewer Repairs:

A managed service partner will help tune up any infrastructure to keep it in tip-top condition. Working with an MSP will expose you to upgrades that can give your system an extra boost. This will improve security and finetune any inefficiencies that you might be dealing with. As a result, you can expect less repairs and fewer headaches in the future.

Flexibility and Scalability:

Working with a managed IT provider makes it easier for you to deploy the technology you need, whenever you need it. They’ll help you get the tools you need when your company is going through any vertical movement. This is an easy and stress-free way to bring on new workstations or downsize on any equipment that isn’t necessary to have in the office.

More Responsive Services:

A technical disruption can be very frustrating and obstructive. If you experience a technical failure of any kind, it can take a lot of time and money to get things running and back to normal. Any downtime can put your operation out of commission and hamper your bottom line. You won’t have that problem when you partner with the right MSP. A specialist will quickly analyze the situation, find the source of the issue, and help you patch up the situation immediately.

Affordability and Cost-Efficiency:

A managed IT partner can help you save a fortune on your technology spending. They’ll examine your budget and develop a cost-effective plan to help get the most out of your technology solutions.

If you are looking for a managed IT partner, then contact the experienced professionals at PCnet today. We deliver flexible and authentic solutions to specifically serve each company’s needs. With more than 30 years of experience under our belts, we bear the skills, knowledge, and resources to help direct your business in the right direction. Set up a consultation with one of our certified technicians to learn about the affordable solutions that will help take your company to new heights.