Preparing your company’s IT for the holidays

Preparing your company’s IT for the holidays

With the end of 2017 approaching fast, this is when your company, more than any other time of the year, needs to be able to provide quick and efficient service. Even if you’re tempted to indulge in the festivities, it’s still vital to take care of clients as quickly as possible.

Before the holidays roll around, you’ll want to start reviewing your company’s technology systems to identify vulnerabilities and potential areas for improvement. Here are somethings you can do.

Upgrade your phone systems

You may want to consider an upgrade if your current phone systems are slow and outdated. Cloud-based VoIP solutions give your business powerful, feature-rich phone systems with advanced features like call forwarding to any device and auto receptionist, all without complex setups. These telephony solutions come with little to no startup costs, as there is no equipment needed to get them up and running.

With VoIP, you can use sophisticated routing technology to direct clients’ calls to the right person, who might be a product specialist or a technical support representative. You can also handle incoming calls quickly and efficiently, reducing the risk of long waiting times. This means those who reached out to your business will finish their call satisfied with your prompt service -- and that's another customer happy over the holidays.

Beef up your cyber security

If it’s been a while since you last checked in on your company’s IT security, now would be a perfect time to revisit it. Small- and medium-sized businesses in particular make the perfect target for hackers during this time of year, since they have large amounts of clients’ personal information, but often do not have the time and resources to protect them by implementing the same robust security measures that larger companies have.

You don’t want to call your clients to tell them their information has been compromised because your security wasn’t up to speed. Nothing is worse than ruining the best time of the year with unpleasant news. But believe it or not, every year there are hundreds of businesses that have to do this, and it almost always irreparably harms their reputation.

The best course of action is to consult with your IT department -- or better yet, a Managed Services provider -- to see where your security vulnerabilities are at, and what can be done to rectify them. It’s also prudent to have a meeting with your staff to brush up on safe email and internet security practices.

Optimize network speed

Just because your network is fully operational now doesn’t mean it will necessarily be smooth sailing during the holidays. There are numerous problems, big and small, that may spring up any moment to slow down your network. However, by being proactive now, you can prevent network issues from cropping up further down the road.

We recommend bringing in a professional to thoroughly examine your network to assess its overall health. A qualified technician will be able to find and fix any problem that might slow down your network, as well as identify areas that could be improved. If you’re not already hiring a Managed Services provider, it should be something to consider, particularly if your in-house IT department already has its hands full.

Make sure a data backup plan is in place

The greatest risk facing nearly every company is lost or stolen data. There are all kinds of reasons your data can go missing, including equipment failures, hackers infiltrating your systems, and a natural disaster destroying servers.

This is why it’s critical to ensure all your important work is backed up before you head away on your break. If you’re unsure where to start, we offer managed backup solutions so you can protect your data and quickly recover them even if they were lost or stolen.

Make sure your holidays are happy ones by having the necessary technology in place during peak hours. USWired offers a comprehensive range of IT solutions, and our experts will make sure your technology is always available, protected, and performing at its best. Just give us a call and see how we can help.


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