Making Our Schools Safer

We had a “ball” at Taylored June’s Lunch and Learn, where we heard from four of our strategic partners about their cloud computing solutions — and then gave attendees the chance to win free tickets to the Indianapolis Indians! After loading our plates with enticing cookout fare, we settled in to talk shop with representatives from Intermedia, Zultys, Speco and ISONAS, four of Taylored’s valued partners for cloud computing products and hosted services.

Hosted Services and Products Make Custom Cloud Workflows Easier

We led off with Ben Moon, Partner Account Manager with Intermedia. Intermedia is a cloud services provider offering hosted servers, email, firewalls and Microsoft Office 365 as well as archiving, backups, file encryption and file collaboration.

Ben illustrated how Intermedia’s hosted products differ from other manufacturers: namely, that Intermedia’s solutions do not require an expensive infrastructure investment should customers decide that they want to host their own cloud-based domain controllers, file servers and application servers. With Intermedia’s cloud services, customers can host their own environments outside the manufacturer’s datacenter without assuming responsibility for equipment maintenance, installation and upgrades.

Global Collaboration at the Click of a Button with Unified Communications and Hosted Voice

Of course, our June Lunch and Learn session was just getting warmed up. Next on the roster was Justin Bush, the Vice President of Sales at Zultys, Inc. Zultys is our go-to provider for business hosted voice and unified communications systems. Justin discussed how Zultys-hosted VoIP solutions are helping businesses as they move toward a more mobile and distributed workforce.

Hosted voice offers a unified method for workplace collaboration, even if that workplace exists mainly in the cloud. With video conferencing, chatting and messaging systems, team members can connect and collaborate anywhere with a device and a Wi-Fi connection.

Hosted Video for Convenient, Sophisticated Security Administration

Next at bat was Territory Sales Manager Julio Rodriguez of AWA Reps, the manufacturing representatives for our partners, Speco Technologies. Julio presented an overview of the hosted video solution Speco offers through its dealers. This option stores security camera footage in the cloud rather than in an on-site network video recorder, making it an attractive option for both clients with multiple sites and customers with 10 or fewer camera installations.

Speco has a long history of delivering innovative audio and visual solutions. In fact, they’ve been operating since 1959, when they started using speakers installed in the first talking Barbie and Ken dolls. Of course, their options today are a lot more sophisticated: using their mobile app, users can be notified of events captured on camera and can review video directly from a mobile device. Some camera models include SD cards so that data will continue to be stored even if the network goes down.

Hosted Access Controls Simplify System Installation and Maintenance

After that insightful presentation, it was Greg Monts’s turn at the plate. Greg is the RCDD Sales Engineer and Project Manager for the Low Voltage Division of Taylored Systems. Greg ran us through ISONAS Pure Access, a hosted access control system for businesses.

This solution is networked wirelessly, allowing you to avoid complicated wiring panels and bulky cables. All that’s required, wiring-wise, is a single ethernet cable run from the server room to the controller at the door. All programming is managed in the cloud. And for convenient entry, the bluetooth version of the system, known as Pure Mobile Credential, allows employee access using a mobile phone.

Of course, all work and no play would make for a pretty dull Lunch and Learn session — so to add a little excitement to the day, we awarded two sets of Indianapolis Indians tickets to attendees who came dressed in their favorite sports team apparel. Congratulations to the winners, Jason Smith of Midwest Metals and Trisha Heien and Jamie Strahl of Family Horizon Credit Union! We hope you enjoy taking yourself out to the ballgame of your choice!

Want to be like one of these lucky winners? Stay tuned for our upcoming Lunch and Learn session, coming up this fall. Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer, and we’ll see you back at Taylored Systems for our next installment of the Lunch and Learn series.

‘Twas the fifth of December and all through the company, our holiday lunch and learn filled us with glee. That’s right, at this month’s lunch and learn series, we were practically brimming over with holiday spirit as we peppered our regular tech talk with plenty of seasonal cheer! Alongside a meal of hearty holiday favorites, we doled out a smorgasbord of IT insights on information security and wireless networks. And to make sure everyone could have a good holiday, we collected donations for Toys for Tots and the Good Samaritan Network as well!

First up, we heard from AT&T’s Steve Hoffman about the changing landscape of information security. There’s never been a better time for small business owners to reevaluate their network protection strategy. Malware and hacking techniques are growing more sophisticated and complex every day, which means that your security approach needs to be flexible — and up to date — to counter an ever-moving target. Here’s how it all breaks down.

• Small businesses are at a particularly high risk for the latest security attacks. Attack methods are constantly evolving to outwit new security procedures, which means business owners and IT admins have to continually strive to stay ahead of the latest security threats. In particular, small businesses face an elevated risk of ransomware attacks. And research shows that these kinds of attacks hit SMBs the hardest, since they lack the confidence in their protection methods and the resources to handle the aftermath.
• Keeping up with the newest security measures is a big job for small business IT teams. Meanwhile, SMB IT admins often struggle to keep up with preventative measures, such as installing software updates, making firewall improvements and other protocols that can keep attacks like these at bay. Security innovation moves faster every day — so staying on top of these updates takes a whole lot of vigilance!
• It’s okay to ask for some help. Lastly, Steve led us through his requirements for SMBs — and enterprise-level businesses — that want to stay safe in a landscape of growing security concerns. For instance, all organizations should invest in 24/7 network monitoring and install email gateways that scrub inbound and outbound emails. These measures help to secure your server from virus attacks, keeping your organization running smoothly and fluidly.

Next at the podium was our own systems administrator, Trey Womack, who’s been with us at Taylored since 2011. Trey walked us through some of the basics of networking — and what’s coming down the pipeline for business wireless.

• Your wireless may not be as cutting edge as you think it is. Mainstream wireless typically maxes out at speeds of about 1 gig per second. But new top-tier wireless products are capable of speeds seven times faster than that, with bandwidth to spare. These high-speed wireless connections are particularly useful in boardrooms and living rooms — anywhere where streaming video plays a crucial role.
• Even network design processes are evolving to be more efficient. Wireless network site surveys, a plan that technicians develop pre-installation (and continue to improve throughout the installation phase), help ensure that the design is as efficient and error-free as possible. But there isn’t just one type of survey — active, passive and predictive surveys all make up the lifespan. Predictive surveys, in particular, can help you plan for your network’s future, long before the first access points go in. And that means fewer fixes and updates in the future!
• Updated wireless networks come with new requirements. At the end of his talk, Trey ran us through the requirements for a modern high-speed network. Those include, at a minimum, two Cat 6A cables per access point. Furthermore, businesses that offer free wireless to customers while on site need to make sure to bulk up security practices — after all, a safe visit is the best gift of all!

Mark Your Calendars for March’s Lunch and Learn

Missed the last lunch and learn? Don’t worry! We’ll be back at it in March with new discussions about moving physical security systems onto the cloud and live demos of cloud-based security access control and video solutions.

Moving your access control, 4K and hosted video surveillance solutions off of your servers and into the cloud saves money, time and frustration. Cloud-based security products offer the ability to track keys and manage ownership more efficiently — without the burden of maintaining physical servers. We’ll be looking at the evolution of physical security products as they converge with IP and demonstrating a few of the latest tools during the session. And of course, we’ll top it all off with a hot lunch, drawings for prizes and plenty of great conversion with our staff and fellow attendees!

March 2018 Lunch and Learn: Physical Security Converging With IP

When: Tuesday, March 6, 2017

(11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)

Where: Taylored Systems

14701 Cumberland Road, Ste. 100

Noblesville, IN 46060

Visit our Lunch and Learn page for more information and to register for the seminar. See you there!

What’s better than plain old lunch? Lunch served with a side of knowledge!

At Taylored’s Lunch and Learn seminars, our goal is to help busy professionals kill two birds with one stone: learn about the available technology options for their small to mid-sized business and get a hot meal in the process.

In September’s edition, we addressed the need for more robust, streamlined business communications options that can keep up with today’s ever-evolving modern workplace. Specifically, we discussed how VoIP unified communications solutions offer businesses a more flexible alternative to conventional phone systems while reducing their reliance on external programs and applications. Below, you’ll find a brief recap of the highlights.

• Mobility Features for Today’s Workplace Challenges. The way we do work is changing. Professionals don’t just sit at their desks anymore — they jet off to client lunches, hold impromptu calls outside packed seminars and put out after-hours fires in their living rooms. Because the very definition of work is becoming more fluid and diverse, teams need a solution that they can access on the fly, regardless of where their nameplate sits.

During our September session, we talked about how the mobility feature in Unified Communications frees businesses to do their work remotely. Your team can access the service directly from their cell phones — including through a chat feature for those times where a phone call isn’t appropriate. Likewise, with desktop integration, instant messaging and conferencing, you can use our phone systems to replace myriad applications, such as Go2Meeting, WebEx, Skype and Slack.

• Streamlining Services for High-Level Performance. With our all-in-one installs, you’ll use the same product, the same software and the same handsets, no matter how you deploy the solution. Our enterprise communications partner, Zultys, has an outstanding record for versatility in its equipment. In fact, in September’s forum, we discussed how Zultys was able to equip Amazon’s warehouse workers with phone service through its UPC scanning wands.
• Planning for an Event-free, Growth-Heavy Future. Moving your phone service over IP requires a well-articulated redundancy plan in case of outages. We talked about how we’ve been able to leverage the Zultys cloud for these kinds of failures and implement backup servers so that phone service can continue uninterrupted.

Of course, any technology strategy you employ should ultimately position your business for future growth. ZAC, Zultys Advanced Communicator software, allows you to expand your phone system into a true interoffice communication platform, used for data collaboration between photo, video, social media and group sharing. That means you can chat, schedule a group webinar and access your voicemail right from your screen, keeping you informed and connected — no matter where you are.

Mark Your Calendars for December’s Lunch and Learn

Ready for even more technological food for thought? At December’s Lunch and Learn series, we’ll be dishing up techniques to connect — and protect — your IT network as you begin to fold in more Wi-Fi-enabled devices. We’ll talk about how thieves and cybercriminals can use these “smart” products as an entry point into your network and what you can do to lock them out.

In the spirit of the season, we’ll also be helping the less fortunate in our area by donating to the Toys for Tots and Adopt a Family programs. Please come with an open mind — and an open heart — and join us at Taylored Systems for an afternoon of learning, dining and giving.

Holiday Lunch and Learn: IT Security and Wi-Fi

When: Tuesday, December 5, 2017

(11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.)

Where: Taylored Systems

14701 Cumberland Road, Ste. 100

Noblesville, IN 46060

Visit our Lunch and Learn page for more information and to register for the seminar. See you there!