Stay on top of the Latest IT Tips and Suggestions with this Selection of Blog Posts from BCS

Windows 10 is getting a very useful Windows 11 feature

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There’s no denying the Windows 11 has a lot of really cool new features.

If you haven’t made the move from Windows 10 yet, you’re missing out.

But there’s good news. To make the (eventual) move from Windows 10 to 11 a little easier, Microsoft is sharing a couple of 11’s most useful features.

The first should make printing a little easier. We can hear your cheers from here! Anything that makes printing easier is OK in our book too. Printers don’t have a terrible reputation for nothing…

This feature makes printing PIN-protected. That means when you want to print a document, you’ll send it off to the printer – but it’ll only print when you’ve reached the printer and entered your PIN.

This removes the risk of you printing something confidential and leaving it on the printer for everyone to see.

Or accidentally printing several copies of the same document. Yes, this will reduce paper waste.

And that’s not all…

There’s a second really useful feature coming over to Windows 10. It’s called Focus Assist and works alongside do not disturb.

Switching on do not disturb is great when you want a little uninterrupted time to finish a task or do some research. But if you use it a lot, you might miss a notification that you really needed to see.

Focus Assist stops that from happening. You use it alongside do not disturb and it still allows important and time-sensitive notifications and messages to reach you.

These features have been in testing since June this year. There’s still no date for when they’ll be released to everyone with Windows 10. But they’re on their way.

If you can’t wait to try more of the time saving and productivity boosting features that Windows 11 has to offer, give us a call to see how we can help you make the switch.

Microsoft’s taking leadership on AI

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Microsoft’s decided to retire and rework an AI tool that could not only recognise our facial features, but also identify our mood.

Azure Face is an emotion recognition tool. These are highly criticised by experts who believe they violate human rights.

Microsoft has just published the updated version of its Responsible AI Standard.

It wants AI to be a positive force in the world, and says it recognised Azure Face has the potential to be misused.

It seems like it’s not goodbye for good for the AI facial recognition technology though. Although the public won’t be able to access it, Microsoft sees the value of controlled access for specific needs, such as assistance for the visually impaired.

One thing that has been cut is the AI’s ability to recognise individuals based on their gender, age, hair, and even facial expression. The concern is that the feature could be used by cyber criminals to impersonate individuals and commit fraud.

On top of the Azure Face change, Microsoft’s also limiting which businesses can access its Custom Neural Voice service. This is a text to speech app that’s said to be very lifelike.

In other related news, it’s not the only new step that Microsoft is taking right now to help protect us from fraud and threats.

It’s also adding new features to its email service in Microsoft 365, that improve how something called Tenant Allow Block List works.

Previously, this was a feature that allowed people to block contacts. If a blocked contact tried to email you, the email wouldn’t reach you.

Now, Microsoft is previewing an additional control which also allows you to stop emails being sent to these blocked contacts, too.

It means the threat of being caught out by a phishing scam is reduced, giving you another layer of security as part and parcel of your Microsoft 365 subscription.

With phishing scams becoming increasingly more dangerous, it’s not a moment too soon in our view.

The feature should go into preview soon, and is expected to be available by the end of the month. In the meantime, if you’re concerned about your business’s email security, get in touch.

Ever wondered if your apps are spying on you?

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It’s no secret that some applications are a little too interested in us and what we’re doing.

We’ve all had this experience. You might be talking to a friend about a new product that you’d like to try. Or perhaps you’ve discussed somewhere you’d like to visit.

Then the next time you go online you see adverts for the exact things you were talking about.

It’s more than a coincidence, surely???

Until recently, we haven’t had a lot of control over what information our apps are gathering about us.

Android and iOS first stepped up to give us more power over our online privacy. We were given the ability to control which apps could access our data, and sensitive things like our camera and microphone.

But while it’s easy to think of this only being an issue with phones… laptops have the same problems.

So, here’s some great news. Microsoft’s testing a new feature in Windows 11 to put the power back in our hands.

It’s currently testing a new feature – called Privacy Auditing – which allows you to see which applications have been accessing sensitive hardware, like your webcam and microphone.

You’ll also be able to see if your screenshots, messages, and even your contacts and location data have been accessed. And there’s a log of which apps accessed this info, and when.

When launched, the feature will be available in your Privacy & Security menu, under App Permissions.

There you’ll be able to see a full list of what’s been accessed, by which app, and when. It should become your first port of call if you suspect any suspicious activity is taking place on your device.

When the feature is released, it will be a great tool to check periodically to help you avoid malicious activity and to make sure your sensitive data remains in the right hands.

In the meantime, if you’d like someone to look over the data permissions on your business’s devices, get in touch.

Your business is losing hundreds of hours to spam

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Spam emails. Everyone hates them.

It’s not just the emotional pain of clearing spam from your inbox. Having to do that is a real productivity killer, too.

A recent report found that each one of your employees could be losing up to 80 hours each year, thanks to filtering and deleting spam emails.

That’s a LOT of lost productivity.

Anywhere between 45% and 85% of emails generated each day are spam emails. And worryingly, that also includes malicious emails and those hoping to infect you with malware.

Although we don’t all receive the same number of emails every day, the hours lost to filtering them out adds up.

If one of your employees gets 30 external emails a day, they’d get around 30 spam emails each week. That would work out to around 5 hours each year wasted on sorting through and deleting them.

For an employee who gets up to 60 emails a day, it would be an average of 11 hours a year wasted.

And for someone who gets more than 100 emails each day, you’re looking at around 80 hours of productivity lost to filtering emails each year.

Now add that up for each one of your team and you could be looking at a big number.

Not only that, but since a proportion of these emails will be phishing attempts (that’s where the sender wants you to take an action that will secretly give them access to sensitive data), it’s also a big risk to your data security too.

Of course, there are a few things you can do to cut down the time spent on dealing with spam emails. The first is to make use of the spam and junk email filters available from your email service.

You may also consider bringing in dedicated anti-spam and anti-phishing tools.

Finally, you can make your people aware of the risks of spam, how to spot spam emails, and the best way to deal with it to save time and minimise the risk of malware or a data breach.

If that kind of training is something you’d like some help with, get in touch.

Google Chrome’s going to block disruptive notifications

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When you’re browsing it can feel like you’re being bombarded with things other people want you to see.

Not only do we have to click on permissions for cookies and tracking, but now a lot of websites ask for our permission to send us notifications.

And while many of these notifications are harmless – news updates, latest recipes, product releases – sometimes they can be outright spam.

It’s distracting, it’s making us less productive at work, and it’s just really annoying.

It’s called ‘notification spam’ and it’s becoming a problem. In fact, Google says it’s one of the top complaint reports from people using its Chrome browser.

So now the tech giant has decided to do more about it.

Back in October 2020, Google first acted on harmful notifications by exposing websites that misled people into giving permission. It created its own prompts to warn people the website may have malicious intent.

Now, Google intends to take things a step further if it feels the website is ‘abusive’ or ‘disruptive’. It’ll revoke a website’s permission to send notifications, and even block attempts to request permission.

Even if you’ve accidentally allowed a malicious site to send notifications, Chrome will be able to step in and block the alerts.

While it’s not yet clear how Google will define websites as ‘abusive’ or ‘disruptive’, it feels like a good move towards reducing the amount of spam we’re exposed to.

Google has explained that this new feature works to strengthen its ‘Developer Terms of Service’ that pledge not to use the company’s API to send any form of spam. It shouldn’t affect the majority of websites, but instead should go some way to keeping your Chrome notifications spam-free.

Development on Chrome’s notification spam block protection has only just started, so we don’t yet have a release date for the new feature.

As always, if you’d like any further advice on protecting yourself from spam and other productivity killers, get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

 

Re-Opening Your Office After Working Remotely

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Depending on which state you live in, you may be thinking about the process of re-opening your offices. Even if you don’t plan on having employees return for another few weeks or even a few months, it’s a good idea to consider what steps to take, and what a new work environment might look like.

Tech Tips

  • If your employees working remotely have been saving files to their own devices rather than a secure, remote network, now is the time to transfer those files to keep them safe and backed up.
  • Not all businesses will be back to their office at the same time – setting up one or more dedicated meeting rooms for video and phone conferences will help you keep in touch while eliminating background noises. Make sure devices in the room can access network resources, if needed.
  • Update your information. When you left the office, did you update your website, Google listing or Linkedin with new hours of operation and phone numbers? Don’t forget to change them back!

Personal Tips

  • It can be easy to feel motivated and work through the entire day once you’re back in your regular office setting, free of the distractions you had at home. Remember to give your eyes (and brain) a break every once in a while.
  • Respect your coworkers by maintaining safety precautions to prevent the spread of germs, and ask that they do the same. Just because it’s been deemed safe to be at work again, doesn’t mean you should stop washing your hands frequently or maintaining social distance.
  • Sanitize your work environment. It’s always a good idea to keep a clean work area, but you may want to take a few extra steps, like wiping down your phone, door handles and other surfaces regularly with a disinfectant. If you’re the owner or manager, be sure to communicate new cleaning processes with all employees.

If your office needs help transitioning back to the office with video conferencing solutions, IT support or network security, contact BCS Voice & Data Solutions today.

Tips for Working From Home

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Earlier this month, we shared tips for keeping your video conference professional while working from home. But, what about the hours or days where you don’t have meetings scheduled? How do you keep yourself on-task when working with all of your home comforts just a few steps away from your workspace? Take a look at these tips for working from home: 

Set Boundaries

When you’re working at the office, do you go into work at whatever time you choose? Work in a different office every day? Creating time and space boundaries can help you stay focused on the tasks at hand, rather than putting work off to the side to complete later that night, or on the weekend. It also means that family time will be for family, and weekends will be for relaxing or honey-do lists, instead of trying to get extra work done well past your to-do list. 

Stick to Your Routine

While getting up early and putting on a pair of slacks may not necessarily make you more productive, it can help you stick to a routine and feel a sense of normalcy, despite the changes in your work environment. 

Take breaks

Once you are sticking to a routine, it can also become easy to get sucked into work and continue through lunch. Though you may not be able to run out for a coffee or sandwich right now, taking regular breaks to walk outside and get fresh air, or read a book while you eat lunch can be incredibly beneficial for your mental health. 

Check In

If you’re accustomed to working in a larger office around a lot of coworkers, remember to check in with them. Sometimes even a short conversation with your officemate can inspire a new idea, or help you solve a problem in a way you hadn’t thought of before.

If you need assistance transitioning your workforce to remote connections and network access, the experts at BCS Voice & Data are here to help. 

Common Cybersecurity Myths Busted

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It’s easy to say “it won’t happen to us,” but cybersecurity is something that every business, large or small, needs to take seriously. It’s easy to underestimate cyber dangers if you believe certain myths that surround them. So, let’s take a look at some cybersecurity lore and why it isn’t always correct. 

Myth: We’re too small; no one will hack us. 

Small does not mean safe. No matter what it’s size, your company is a target for hackers. In fact, many hackers will purposely search for small businesses, correctly betting that they don’t have a secure network in place. Unfortunately, small does mean your company is hurt more significantly. As reported in Forbes, the average cost of an attack is more than $200,000!  That puts 60 percent of small companies out of business within six months of a cyberattack.

Myth: Anti-virus software and a firewall is enough security.

Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated. That makes it important to have multi-layered security protecting your data. In addition to the traditional end-point security of firewalls and anti-virus software, consider other measures like two-factor authentication, data monitoring and encryption software. While there is no perfect cybersecurity solution, make it your goal to have systems in place that allow for a quick reaction and comprehensive damage control.

Myth: You know right away if your computer is infected.

Gone are the days when slow loading times and non-stop pop-up ads were the obvious indicators of a virus. Today’s malware is stealthy and  hard to detect as hackers control webcams, access sensitive information or use an infected computer to attack other targets.

Myth: Cybersecurity is a technology issue only.

While your IT department or contractor plays a large role in keeping your data safe, employee education is critical when it comes to cybersecurity. Employees, rather than technology, are the most common entry point for hackers. Make sure internal cybersecurity training occurs at least once a year and covers topics such as phishing scams, password best practices and the ins and outs of wireless networks. 

 BCS Voice & Data Solutions works with its customers to provide guidance and support for implementing the most up-to-date cybersecurity practices. Call us today at (757) 497-3100 to discuss how we can assist you in creating a cybersecurity plan that is right for you. 

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Fighting Bacteria In the Office

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Most work environments are an easy place for germs to gather. Large offices, warehouses and schools have hundreds of employees interacting on a daily basis. With an extended cold and flu season among us, companies should take extra measures to ensure their employees are safe and healthy.

Read more

Build Better Client Relationships With Tech

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February is the month of love! If you’re looking for ways to improve the relationship between your business and clients, take the seasonal opportunity to do so! Show clients and partners that you appreciate them with new technologies that improve their experience with your company.

Wondering how BCS can help? Here are some easily integratable tools that quickly show your clients how much you care:

1. Free WiFi

The need for visitors to connect is unavoidable. Granting unlimited access to everyone can introduce security issues, so many companies don’t offer up their private connection.

Unfortunately, that creates a negative experience for the visitor. That’s why you should consider establishing a convenient guest WiFi, instead. A dedicated guest network lets visitors quickly connect with a simple password and no red tape. It’s a thoughtful and appreciated convenience that all clients and guests will enjoy, and it protects your business systems.

2. Professional Conference Calling

Do you have regular in-person meetings with  customers? Whether they come to you or you go to them, someone adds minutes and sometimes hours onto their workday just getting to the meeting. One easy way to streamline communication with clients and improve your overall relationship is to integrate video conferencing. Professional video conferencing, like our StarLeaf technology, allows you and your client to get that face-to-face contact without the burden of travel, something your everyone will thank you for.

3. Eliminate Wait Times

Being able to talk with a real person when you need help is an important demand for clients and customers across all industries. If your phone system is too complicated or employees can’t connect quickly, communication falls apart. Show your clients that you understand their needs. Upgrading to a seamless and easy to use business phone system with BCS.

BCS Voice and Data is here to make you and your clients happier! Call us at (800) 365-8067 to learn how we can eliminate the barriers to building great relationships and set your business apart.