Switch to VoIP Phones for your business and reap the benefits of using a unified network for voice and data. 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!

Citing numbers released by Apple recently, it has been reported that nearly 86 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the US report deploying or testing the iPad. Many large companies are clearly looking at the iPad as something not just for leisure or entertainment but also for business. Are you considering doing the same? Read on to find out how you can put the iPad to work for your business.

The iPad for many is a revolutionary device in that it brings the full power and experience of computing into a form that is easy to hold, easy to transport, and easy to use. Manufactured by Apple, the device uses the same operating system as its earlier iPod Touch and iPhone devices. And just like its smaller brethren it does away with conventional input devices like the mouse or keyboard, instead requiring just the user’s fingers to touch, navigate, and interact with the operating system and installed applications.

Key to the success of the device has been the availability of thousands of applications from third-party software vendors – in fact, nearly a hundred thousand of them. These applications range in categories from entertainment, media, education, and even productivity and business. Using these productivity and business applications for the iPad, you can effectively use these devices in the workplace. Here are some specific work scenarios in which you may want to consider the iPad in your business operations:

For presentations. Because of its portability, the iPad makes a great device for showing and sharing presentations. Applications like Apple’s Keynote allow you to import and edit PowerPoint presentations. Accessories allow you to connect the device to a monitor or projector. If you’re thinking of doing virtual presentations, there are iPad apps that allow you to do that as well—letting you stream your presentation via the Internet.

For Communication and Collaboration. The iPad has built-in applications for emailing, plus more can be added to support audio and even video conferencing. If you want to manage meetings, the iPad’s built-in calendar and address book apps make it a great replacement for a planner, while its larger screen makes it easier to read and manage than your cellphone or smartphone. It has built-in support for third-party mail and calendar applications like Microsoft Exchange, Google Mail, and Calendar. You can also download and use additional applications to help you manage your tasks, monitor projects, share files, post and read stuff in your social networks, and much more.

For field assignments. The iPad’s light weight and portability make it a great companion while out on the road. You can install and configure VPN clients to securely connect to your office network when in the field, or use any of the business applications you use in the office—especially cloud-based ones. Again, using the built-in productivity tools you can use the iPad to manage your itinerary while on assignment.

For travel. As a travel companion the iPad is unmatched, with a wide breadth of apps for managing flight and hotel booking information, expenses, and more. Use the built-in tools to manage your travel itinerary, and use the communication and collaboration tools to check on progress at the office. During lulls, breaks, or after office hours, easily shift modes and use the iPad as a media viewer or news reader for information and entertainment.

Industry-specific apps. There are dozens more business cases in which the iPad can be put to work. For example, as a store or point-of-sale display, or even a point-of-sale device. Companies are using it to replace manuals, and schools are using it to replace stacks of books.

There are many more ways the iPad can be used for business. Are you considering using it for your business as well? Do you know of other uses? Let us know!

Creating online tools that allow patients to complete cumbersome paperwork online before their appointment and complete other tasks electronically is something both doctors and patients want—because it saves time and money on both sides of the equation.

Patients are ready for physicians to offer a number of new online tools, according to a recent study—and many physicians are ready to do so. Are you?

The Intuit Health Patient Engagement Study, which looked at 556 U.S. medical practices, found that 95 percent of doctors want their patients to fill out medical forms online before their appointments. And most patients are on board: a full 81 percent said they’d like to do these tasks online as well.

One reason is that the current state of medical practices is inefficient. Nearly half of the medical practices surveyed said they regularly run 30 to 60 minutes behind schedule. That isn’t surprising: One-third of practices reported that staff spends three or more hours each day trying to reach patients to communicate follow-up information, and forty-five percent reported that phone interruptions happen so frequently they impact office efficiency.

Patients are unhappy, too: Most of the medical practices surveyed reported that patients complain about spending too much time in the waiting room, filling out the same paper forms over and over, and trying to make appointments, ask questions, and receive lab results.

The current state of medical practices is costly, too: Eighty-three percent of the medical practices surveyed reported that patients have to be reminded more than once before paying a bill.

The solution, according to the survey: “When doctors give patients convenient and easy-to-use online tools, they’ll be amazed at the positive impact an engaged and satisfied patient can have on their staff’s time and their bottom line.”

According to the study, because customers already use online self-service tools today in banking, shopping, and other areas, they’re ready to embrace them in health care.

Users of Internet Explorer beware: security researchers have found a new flaw in the popular Microsoft browser that allow hackers to commit something called “cookiejacking”, which enables them to steal information and data from IE cookies from any website.

Despite a few flaws, Internet Explorer remains one of the most commonly used browsers in businesses today, making it a ripe target for hackers looking for security flaws to exploit.

One such flaw has been discovered recently by a security researcher in Italy. Dubbed “cookiejacking”, the flaw allows hackers to hijack a cookie of any website, thereby allowing them to gain access to passwords, credit card information, and various other data stored in the cookie. The flaw is found in any version of Internet Explorer in any version of Windows.

However, users must first drag and drop an item before the exploit can be activated. It might sound like a bit of a stretch, but hackers are known for their creativity, so expect that a seemingly appropriate situation will be presented in which you will find it perfectly normal to do a drag-and-drop action.

Microsoft responded to the threat by labeling it as “low risk”, citing the level of user interaction required for cookiejacking to occur. It did, however, encourage users to be more vigilant and alert, as well as to refrain from clicking suspicious links and visiting dubious websites.

Regardless of what platform or OS you use, there is always the constant threat from cyberattacks – all it takes is one attack to break through and put important business data at risk. It is essential to always educate users on how to avoid being victimized by scams and hacks, and to have the right security software to ensure that your company’s information is safe and secure.

If you are interested in user training for security and / or better security protocols, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to draw up a custom security blueprint that’s tailor-made to meet your needs.

Fast and easy describes the entire process of EMR implementation at Chicago Nasal & Sinus Center. That’s because the EMR the practice chose, gloStream’s gloEMR, comes with the backing of solid Microsoft technology, ample training, and around-the-clock local support.

Concern about implementation is one of the largest stumbling blocks to transitioning to an electronic medical record (EMR), but the change isn’t always difficult. That’s what Chicago Nasal & Sinus Center found, anyway.

The practice has one physician, a physician assistant, a nurse/surgical coordinator, a CT technician, a receptionist, and practice manager. It sees about 100 patients per week and has about 5,000 active patient files.

To streamline procedures, make the practice more efficient, and save money, Chicago Nasal & Sinus Center explored a number of EMR options. Ultimately, it found gloStream’s gloEMR to be the perfect fit.

“The impetus to explore an EMR was based on our increasing patient volume, the increasing demands of documentation and correspondence, and the upcoming government mandates,” says Practice Manager Becky Pritikin. “The search for an EMR was, at least in part, to decrease the burden of charting and make it more efficient.”

A number of features attracted the practice to gloStream, which uses the latest technology available to offer powerful, single-click access to all patient information, customizable templates, and exceptional voice-recognition technology. “We selected gloStream because of the stable platform (Microsoft Windows) with an established word processing program (Microsoft Word) that we were already familiar with and using,” Pritikin says. “gloStream is a very adaptable system, allowing us to create our own document templates, formatting the EMR in a fashion similar to our paper charts.”

According to Pritikin, employees were very receptive to implementation and took to the training very quickly. Meanwhile, implementation costs have been offset by the $20-billion government stimulus program as well as savings on postage, stationery, and print cartridges.

Rising demand for cost containment and improved service in the health care field is fueling the growth of the EMR market, according to a new study—but given how fragmented the market is, health care practitioners who want to jump on board would be wise to have a trusted technology advisor guide them through the process.

The U.S. electronic medical records (EMR) market will reach the $6 billion mark by 2015—a significant growth rate of 18.1 percent from 2010 to 2015.

This information comes from a new study from MarketsandMarkets, a global research and consulting firm that studies the major market drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the EMR market by looking at components and end users.

According to the study, a rising demand for cost containment and improved service in the health care field is driving the growth of the EMR market, which should grow from $2,177 million in 2009 to $6,054 million in 2015. That’s an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1 percent from 2010 to 2015.

Is it time for you to get on board with an EMR? Although large health care practices prefer on-site, client-server-based EMR systems, small health care practices are jumping on the EMR bandwagon too, with web-based EMR solutions or ASP models.

Still, the study notes that the U.S. EMR market is fragmented, with more than 1,000 players. With this many options available, it helps to have a trusted technology advisor guide you through the EMR selection and implementation process. Contact us if you require assistance.

Related materials: U.S. Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Market, 2010-2015 (Market Share, Winning Strategies and Adoption Trends)

With the security software of many businesses becoming more and more advanced these days, cyber-thieves are resorting to socially engineered cyber-attacks to bait unsuspecting employees with scams like phishing to infiltrate IT systems. This is why it is important to train your employees against becoming victims of such underhanded strategies.

One of the things many people fail to realize is that securing business data from malware and other sorts of cyber-attacks doesn’t stop with implementing the right security software. These days, cyber-criminals also use all sorts of tricks to bait unsuspecting employees into being catalysts for malware entering your system.

Reports cite that as much as 60 percent of cyber and malware attacks on businesses are done through social engineering – meaning that instead of a direct attack on your system, hackers are using ploys found on email and social networks to get people in your organization to unwittingly introduce malware into your IT infrastructure.

This is why it’s equally important to put emphasis on training your employees to recognize common cyber-attack strategies such as phishing, or how to use proper virus scanning software so any external or thumb drives they plug into their computers are malware-free. Remember, it only takes one mistake from a gullible employee to open the gates of your system to keyloggers and other sorts of malware and viruses.

Keeping your company’s IT system safe is an investment. Getting the right security protocols and then training your employees to not only use and respect these protocols but also be more aware about security risks goes a long way in keeping your data safe and your operations stable.

Security experts have recently discovered a new threat to Mac OS X systems. Called the ‘MacDefender’, this malware is designed to fool users into downloading a fake anti-virus program, which informs users that the system is ‘infected’, and then tries to dupe or bully them into buying another fake anti-virus program.

It is a widely held belief that one of the reasons Macs are superior to other systems is because of their ‘invulnerability’ to viruses, malware, and similar threats. All well and good, except for the fact that a recent rogue anti-virus malware that specifically attack Mac OS X systems has been discovered.

So much for the ‘Mac = no virus’ myth.

Called the ‘MacDefender’ and also known as Mac Security and Mac Protector, this malware tricks users by having them think that their system is under attack. It begins when users visit a malicious website where the program automatically downloads itself to the computer. If you have the “Open safe files after downloading” option selected, it automatically installs itself onto the system. The original installation package is then also automatically deleted.

Next, a new menu item appears on the Mac OS X menubar. You’ll see a small orange shield that becomes red, which supposedly means that there are viruses in your system. You’ll then be prompted to “register” – which involves giving out your credit card information – to a website to clean the virus. If you don’t, the malware will then direct your browser to porn sites to ‘encourage’ you to register and pay up.

To know more about how MacDefender works, check out this video.

While Macs are certainly targeted less than Windows systems, the threat of getting infected by viruses and malware is very real, especially if myths like Macs being impervious to viruses persist. To know more about protecting yourself from threats like these, please contact us so we can draw up a plan to keep your system safe and secure.

Google may soon find itself going head to head with services like PayPal as it debuts a new service called Google Wallet, which enables users to transform their smartphones into virtual credit cards. Simply swipe over a participating outlet’s cashier to pay for your bills and earn loyalty points and coupons at the same time.

Smartphone technology has grown by leaps and bounds these past few years, and having a smartphone these days is almost synonymous to being online all the time. Software giant Google has decided to tap into this phenomenon with a new service called “Google Wallet”, which enables users to make purchases and payments from their smartphones.

Partnering with Mastercard, Macy’s, Subway, American Eagle, Citibank, and Sprint, Google assures users that their e-wallet service is safe. The service requires that smartphones have a special chip that allows the user to simply “tap” or “swipe” the phone at participating stores to pay for merchandise or services. When you swipe your smartphone’s e-wallet, you also earn coupons and points for rewards.

The technology is also designed so that the user can turn the chip off when Google Wallet is not being used, making it safe from hackers. If the smartphone is lost, the data can also be wiped remotely.

A similar system to Google Wallet has been operational in some countries including Japan for some time now, but its use is limited to only certain areas and stores there.

While the concept of Google Wallet has great potential, there are still several limitations to the system as Google continues to look for more partners for the enterprise before its official launch, which is slated for within a month or two.

It’s important these days to protect your data and personal information as more and more people become victims of identity theft. Don’t let yourself become the next victim. All it takes is following some simple steps to ensure a safer and more secure online experience.

Security experts are seeing a rise in the incidence of cyber-crime these days as more and more people use the web for their day-to-day needs. No one is spared – both businesses and private individuals have become victims of opportunistic cyber-criminals who take advantage of loopholes in security systems and a lack of foresight and alertness on the part of users.

One common cyber-crime is identity theft, in which hackers steal and assume the identity and personal information of someone else. Under the guise of the usually unknowing victim, these unscrupulous individuals commit fraud or other crimes.

While there is no 100% guaranteed way to be safe from identity theft when online, there are a number of steps you can take to protect your identity and your data.

1. Have the right security software. One of the keys to keeping your identity and data secure is having the proper security software in place to protect your system. Also make sure to update the software regularly.
2. Know the modus operandi. It’s also important to be aware of the different scams and techniques hackers use, such as phishing, which involves duping the user into clicking a legitimate-looking (but fake) link that has the victim enter personal information or download a file that introduces malware into the system. The rule of thumb is that if an email is unsolicited, there is a high probability of it being a scam or phishing email.
3. Be stingy with your personal information. Be sure to only fill out personal information on sites that are legitimate and that you trust, and even then, only if you absolutely need to. Check and double check things like the URL or the company’s tag line to know if a site is what it says it is and whether it is secure. Phishing sites also look legit – but a careful look should be enough to tip you off that something’s amiss.
4. Create unique passwords. The more complicated your passwords are, the harder they are to guess or hack. So don’t pick generic passwords like “password” or “12345″ or things like your birthday or wedding anniversary. The best passwords are alphanumeric – a combination of both letters and numbers.
5. Secure wireless networks. It’s important to allow only the right people to have access to your wireless networks. Besides saving bandwidth, this also prevents leechers and hackers from using your connection to tap into your system or use it for unscrupulous activities.

To know more about keeping your identity and data secure, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to discuss a custom security solution that meets your specific needs.