Essentially, utilizing managed access control for your company allows you to outsource many of the time-consuming details that accompany maintaining your security system. Unlike the traditional version of access control, this solution offers a single point of contact for all of your access control requests, needed restrictions and updated clearances for your current and new employees. The time you save managing such details can be better spent developing your business strategies or finding new employees.

Managed access control systems typically provide regular reports on your system’s activity and updates noting any revisions made to employee clearances. Premier systems are backed by state-of-the art help centers to ensure your private information is well-protected. Activating a managed access control system is not difficult – low monthly fees and a simple set-up process will have your business registered and access control system rapidly installed.

It is important to carefully investigate the access control management system of your choice before you agree to the contract. Not all access systems maintain the same professional standards and you’ll want to select one with a solid reputation, carefully implemented security features and highly-trained staff who are willing to work with the unique needs of your business.

To learn more of what access control is all about and the types of access control solutions available, check out these short YouTube videos here:

What Is Access Control?

Types of Access Control

Ready for more?  Sign up for a free Access Control Assessment now.

The post The Managed Access Control Growing Trend appeared first on Altec Systems Inc..

Why Cloud Services?

Cloud services provides businesses with all of the employer / employee advantages of having a remote workforce.

It’s Cheaper: The days of having enough physical space for every employee are over. Remote employees, with their own laptops and smartphones, do not need to be sitting at a desk in an office, in which you are paying rent.

It’s Flexible: A virtual workspace is always the right size. You never have too much room and you never have too little space. You can hire the right person for the job at the hours you need.

It’s Greener: Drive times, gas costs, parking costs and the other complications associated with commuting are eliminated for employees who do not necessarily need to be at the physical workplace.

It’s Targeted: A remote workforce means that you can easily hire and supervise someone outside of your immediate area, especially if your business has multiple locations or a wide geographic range. You can hire the right person in the right place for the job.

It’s Productive: Having the option of allowing employees to work from home under certain circumstances means more productivity. When working with employees who are in remote or at client sites, it can mean greater accountability. 

Cloud services allow employers and employees direct access to the same place – the workplace. Employees can connect from anywhere.  Hosted desktops allow employees to experience the same features as they would if they were physically in the same office (i.e. secure files sharing and telephone system), as well as enabling collaboration from shared calendar, shared contacts and more.

Eliminate the IT headaches with cloud services so you can do what you do best – run your business.

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Secure Outside Layers

The first layer is your property. It extends from the building to the property line. These outermost properties of the business must be protected, such as parking lots, parking decks, sidewalks and grassy areas. The second layer is the outer facility. The outer facility is the walls holding up the building; in other words the walls, doors and windows passersby and drivers see. The third layer is the interior. The interior is the inside of the company. This is where rooms, offices and company belongings are located. This is the place where criminals want to reach. Invest in a first-class physical security system that is equipped to protect all layers, keep burglars outside and protect the employees on the inside. Other things companies may want to invest in is a fence, windows shutters, door security bars, padlocks with keys, combination locks, and access control solutions.

Secure Inside Assets

Along with preventing intruders on the outside a business should prepare for intruders on the inside. Some criminals are employees planning to steal what the company has. The unfortunate part is that those employees know where the data and the security devices are located. Don’t let those criminals get the upper hand. A good security system may prevent those criminals from achieving their goal. Another way is to limit the number of people having access to confidential files, vaults and safes. Be sure to change passwords often and implement sound internal security processes around access to software, data sensitive files, rooms, offices, and other potential target facility areas.

A layered offense is your best defense

A layered offense will be your best defense against intruders. Stack your defenses with a commercial security system that protects you, the employees and the company. Sign up for our free business security consultation for more information about the best solutions to defend your business.

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Most small business owners spend all their time on increasing sales but forget to guard this valuable element of their company. If you lost it all this afternoon, could you get it back? If a fire destroyed everything overnight, could you be up and running within a few days?  And don’t forget about hackers. Today, the average security breach costs $214 per hacked record — how much would that mean for your company?

The stakes are high enough that your top concern should be amply protecting your most valuable business asset: Your data. Here are some tips to help you do that.

Create formal, written plans

Before disaster strikes, create a data recovery and disaster plan. That way you have something to go to during a time that will likely be very stressful and you won’t likely have access to your regular resources. Include as many details as possible, gathering web information and phone numbers you’ll need to put your plan in action.  Store the plan in several different places, both at your worksite and offsite.

Back up your data

Creating a fail proof back up plan is key to protecting your data. Experts recommend encrypting all your data, not just putting them on unencrypted portable drives. And if disaster (or theft) strikes, an onsite backup system is futile, so make sure your data is saved in the cloud. 

Identify critical information

The first step is to identify your most critical business information — accounting data, client information, contracts and quotes, etc. Photos from last year’s sales meeting and other non-critical business documents aren’t what you need to worry about.  How often you back up your data depends on your industry and your small business’s needs. So back up your data several times a day if your information is updated hourly. Many companies will be fine with a back up every night. Then make sure you test it regularly.

Train your employees

Educate your employees on your data safety policy, making sure they have strong passwords for their phones and laptops. A recent article on Geek.com found that the most common password is Password1. Regularly put aside some time to update your business’s data protection policy to update things like new locations or technologies.  Spending time knowing how to protect your business in the time of a crisis will pay huge dividends when it comes to the unexpected — perhaps the most important ROI your business will ever face.

Kick the tires with a Cloud Backup Free Trial here…

The post The ROI of Business Security appeared first on Altec Systems Inc..

Remote Video Guarding

Above all, imagine the power to protect inventory at sites miles away from you.  New remote video guarding services provide the equipment and technology to do just that. Using real-time analytics, revolutionary VideoIQ® iCVR™ Dome Cameras can distinguish activity generated by people, vehicles and boats from other distractions such as animal movement. The cameras can even detect and track activity within an office environment when furniture partially or significantly blocks views of the intruding individuals.

Coordinate Security Efforts

When a verified event occurs, central station professionals alert the designated individuals on your call-list in addition to the appropriate authorities.  Security officers, managers, and other key staff members can receive video clips via e-mail. Traveling partners or patrolling security personnel may view the clips on their smart phones or any other portable device that supports video e-mail attachments. Furthermore, adaptive analytics can discern real threats from minor disturbances, reducing the number of false alarms generated from your facility and potentially eliminating unnecessary contact with local law enforcement. The new focus on prevention may allow your business to deploy security resources to specific targeted areas, rather than rely on a general security presence at your facility.

Avoid Expensive Upgrades

Because the cameras do not have the need to stream images to a central network video recorder, but instead can store months’ worth of video on-board, the remote guarding technology requires much less bandwidth than older systems and can be installed on existing networks. Furthermore, the VideoIQ® camera sensors function in a wide range of indoor and outdoor environments, eliminating the need to install new lighting throughout your site just to begin operation.

Protection Available For All

Remote Video Guarding is no longer only an option for large-scale businesses with extensive inventory and sizable security budgets. The potential for real-time monitoring and response has elevated the value of business security, and technological advances have made theft prevention much more feasible for all companies.

Sign up for our free site assessment below for more information about remote video guarding options for your business.

The post Remote Video Guarding: Watching Your Facility from Afar appeared first on Altec Systems Inc..

Managed Cloud Services for your Remote Employees

As the article points out, aside from the technical challenges, working remotely can be isolating and create a feeling of disconnect from the rest of the team. That’s why it’s important for managers to take responsibility and ensure that all members of the team feel included and in the loop, even when employees are scattered all over the globe. Keeping in touch on a regular basis is helpful, and there are more ways than ever to do that. It’s crucial to maintain a true personal connection, even if most of your communication is virtual. Video conferencing can help team members stay in touch and speak “face-to-face” even from miles away. Managers should also set aside some time each week to check in with remote employees, to help make up for the lack of casual conversations that happen naturally in an office setting.

Whenever possible, bringing the team together in person can be very beneficial for building rapport and increasing productivity. The investment in travel costs can pay off with the opportunity to spend time interacting in person and working together to discuss issues and solve problems. Plus, managers can coach, train and motivate employees in ways that might be difficult to accomplish from a distance.

A remote working arrangement can be a win-win for both companies and employees. The key is to use the proper tools and strategies that will facilitate success. Our managed cloud services allow your team to stay connected from anywhere with features like secure file sharing and collaboration tools.

Contact us to learn more about all of our hosted services and how we can help your team work more effectively, no matter where they are located.

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We’ve come to part 7 of our cloud computing benefits series. Today we’ll be looking at why sending encrypted email is an excellent example of wise cloud computing for your business.

We’ve all seen them…the little blurb at the bottom of the email you may send or receive that contains all the legal jargon about how “if you got this by mistake, please destroy, don’t read or return, etc.”  But, is that legal-ease really sufficient, or is it just damage control after the fact?  Would it not be infinitely better to prevent the information in the email from getting into the wrong hands in the first place?  Additionally, employees may inadvertently not think twice about sending all sorts of confidential or sensitive information to customers, colleagues and partners without considering the need for protecting that information.

With all of the data breaches in the recent news, it’s no surprise that there are laws and regulations mandating that companies protect sensitive data through encryption.  Some fairly hefty fines accompany the companies who get caught not complying, not to mention how hurt their business reputations can become.

The strong email security software providers, like Cryptzone for example, provide end-to-end security of outbound content, either through easy-to-use user actions or through policies that enforce the use of email encryption.

Using this kind of solution, a secured channel is created between the sender and receiver enabling individuals to email information securely inside or outside the organization.

Ease of sending Encrypted eMail

Your administrators can have central control over email security policies, whether done locally or in the cloud (Saas) environment, and the built-in security technology does the rest, so there is no need to purchase additional systems or software.  The secured email integrates seamlessly with the email client so the email security takes just a single click.

Properly securing emails means that the channel is secure form user to user, not just gateway to gateway.  This ensures that your information is protected at all points.  Regardless of whether your organization is using a hosted exchange or Hotmail, secured emails will be stored encrypted at the receiver’s mail server and email client as well as the sender’s mail server and email client.  (Link here to watch a short eMail encryption video.)

Additionally, part of the beauty is that businesses can send encrypted emails to anyone – the receiver doesn’t need to purchase any software.  With a button as simple as “Send Secured”, an email can be automatically encrypted and sent safely on it’s way to the receiver.  The receiver will get the encrypted content as an attachment and follow simple instructions to be able to read the attachment, if they are, in fact, the valid receiver.

Encrypting your business email can not only be fast and easy, it can keep help keep your company legally compliant.  Even more important, it can help keep your company’s data and other intellectual property secure.

The post Sending Encrypted eMail – Key Benefits (Part 7) appeared first on Altec Systems Inc..

Simply defined, IaaS is a model in which the servers, network equipment and components, including hardware and storage, are all outsourced.  The service provider manages or owns the equipment and is responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.  The client typically pays for only what they use and the business services can be quickly and reliably provisioned and managed as the client’s needs change.

Virtual infrastructure is commonly seen as the next generation of the server environment. It is designed to address the inefficiencies of the in-house server model and the limitations of dedicated servers.  Doing away with the restrictions and hassles associated with having to own, manage and maintain server hardware, virtual servers, instead, offer ready-to-use, fully supported server capacity on a simple monthly subscription basis.

Another great feature is that the virtual servers don’t have to act as islands – they can be fully integrated with your existing networks to behave as a seamless extension of your infrastructure.

Here are just 10 of the many key Features and Benefits of a robust virtual infrastructure:

• Set up in flash!  Usually in less than 5 minutes
• High Availability – Never just one server, but part of many
• 24/7 support, leading SLAs
• Control panel access to management
• Dedicated high-speed network
• VMware or Parallels platforms
• 99.99% Uptime guarantee
• Total Cloud Scalability
• Expand from 1 to 32 CPU cores
• Redundant & Secure backups/snapshots

The virtual infrastructure servers look and feel exactly like traditional dedicated servers but, because they’re based in the “cloud”, you have instant access to an almost limitless pool of computing resources. As such, changes to your server can be made on the fly, without any of the headaches or cost penalties associated with moving from one server to another.

While you’re guaranteed a minimum level of resources, you’ve always got access to more should you need them – giving you robust flexibility and cost control. Virtual servers provide a cost-efficient alternative to making large investments in depreciating hardware at a time when IT budgets are increasingly being squeezed.

The post Insights into Virtual Infrastructure vs. On-Premise Solution (Part 6) appeared first on Altec Systems Inc..

There is a demand and increasing need for network security, especially with recent headlines continuously citing companies seeing security breaches and sensitive information being leaked or stolen.Major companies like Sony, Bank of America, Facebook, Twitter and others worth billions have seen multiple security breaches because of negligence to protect their information. Whether it’s a small business or a huge company, any network can fall victim to security problems.

Network security can be properly protected, and since it is a increasing need, there are many companies to look when considering your choices. And with more companies offering such services, business owners must look into a few things when outsourcing to a network company: cost, reliability, cloud network security options and other offered services are just a few top examples.Think of it this way: physical protection for employees, legal help, and business asset protection are all no brainer plans to help protect your business, so, why should you skip out on network and online security?

Why should you compromise valuable or private information or simply neglect protecting it? Employee protection should always be a top priority, of course, but also the information within all devices.According to a report by Charles Henderson of Trustwave on network security in 2011, some of the most at-risk information is payment data, board room minutes, trade secrets, and propriety data. Having any of that compromised comes at a huge liability for any company.Don’t let your information, network, email, and devices become compromised in an attack that could result in costly lawsuits, loss of valuable information, security breaches and a bad reputation among other businesses or customers. Stay on top of security and keep your business safe.

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