Technology Archives - Page 13 of 17

Jun, 2017

Microsoft OneNote May Be the Best Note-Taking Tool on the Market

Most modern PCs come pre-installed with a handy tool by Microsoft called OneNote (and it’s also included with Office 365). Today, we’ll run through the features that OneNote offers that make it a useful business tool.

Keep in mind, we’ll be focusing on OneNote 2016. Older versions of OneNote have some of the same features, but if you are running an older version of Office, you may want to consider upgrading.

Benefits of OneNote
OneNote was clearly designed with collaboration in mind, as you can save your Notebooks either to your local network drive, or to Microsoft’s OneDrive. You are able to share your Notebooks with others in your organization and work together, letting you collaborate on projects and share notes in the cloud.

While OneNote on its own isn’t the best word processor, spreadsheet app, or presentation software, it offers what can be described as the highlight reel of the other Office 365 applications. You can write, build simple tables, show charts and graphs, and even draw, but it won’t replace your other Office 365 applications.

Note Taking Capabilities
OneNote offers an impressive number of features that make it an excellent choice for quick note creation and organization. As you create a Notebook, you can divide it into tabs, and then divide those tabs into pages. OneNote also has premade templates for you to utilize, or you can create your own, to best arrange the particular information that note is to contain.

Of course, your notes can include more than just text. OneNote allows you to take clippings from web pages and insert them into your note. Another great thing about OneNote is you to pull text directly from images by right-clicking them, or search for text that appears in included images, with a considerably high level of success.

Plus, with the right equipment, OneNote supports handwritten note-taking, and is able to convert it into font-based text with good accuracy. The same can be said of its math function. By typing out or drawing a simple equation, the formula can be both converted to text and solved, as long as it was properly formatted.

You can format your pages to suit your needs, and OneNote also offers a very handy feature that allows you to link content on one page to content elsewhere in OneNote for quick access. Finally, for added security, notes can be password protected, so if they are shared with someone they shouldn’t be, your data is still safe.

OneNote offers plenty of highly usable features to improve your business’ organization and collaboration. So, tell us, will you try it out in your company? Would you try it out for personal use? What do you use to stay organized? Let us know in the comments!

Jun, 2017

You Can Now Generate Power By Literally Folding Laundry

Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could charge your smartphone just by walking down the street? How about turning your tie into a voice-recognizing security system? Michigan State University has been working toward creating some great new tech that makes these suggestions seem like real possibilities, in the form of a small device.

Nelson Sepulveda, an MSU Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with his team, developed a device that can create power as it is bent or folded–which means it can be used as fabric for clothing. These devices are called biocompatible ferroelectret nanogenerators, or FENG.

Power is created by the device’s layers as energy is received through other sources; for example, the user’s physical motion. This allows for countless possibilities, including the ability to charge a device through only using FENG technology.

There are other ways that this technology can be used, including security applications. FENG material is very sensitive, so it could make it almost impossible to trick a voice recognition system. FENG could also be used as a speaker, adding to its versatility. In other words, it can work from both sides of the spectrum.

It’s also likely that FENG technology can be used to aid in discovering new ways to make technology more efficient for longer periods of time. This can help businesses achieve much more overall than they were previously able to, all without losing the ever-important battery charge. Read more about FENG here.

What are your thoughts on FENG? Do you think that this will become a new standard for building new devices? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog for even more great business technology information.

Jun, 2017

You Will Soon Be Able to Search the Web With Your Smartphone Camera, Thanks to Google Lens

While many instances of augmented reality may seem gimmicky, Google is taking strides toward making AR a purposeful utility in our mobile devices. This was made apparent when Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, announced Google Lens.

Taking note of the online shift from text-based content to image/video-based content, Google is doing its best to improve the search engine’s ability to reflect that shift. Utilizing machine learning, Google Lens can view images that are either saved in the device’s memory or visible to its camera and complete tasks based on those images.

For example, Google Lens can:

Identify a species of flower that the camera is focused on.
Log into a WiFi network just by viewing the SSID sticker on the router.
Translate text that the camera is pointed towards into a different language.
Provide information and reviews on local restaurants, stores, and other establishments that the phone is pointed at.

When it’s launched, Google Lens will have the ability to interact with both the Google Assistant and Google Photos. Google Assistant will allow you to add an event to your calendar just by pointing your camera at an information board. Google Photos will allow the user to check details like opening and closing hours of a business. If you happen to have a screenshot of someone’s business card, you can call them directly from the image.

More Google apps will follow these two, providing users even more functionality.

So, what do you think? Do you see these features making your day-to-day business tasks and responsibilities easier? Which Google app do you most look forward to Google Lens augmenting? Let us know in the comments!

Jun, 2017

Advice for Passing Your Next IT Audit With Flying Colors

Most people think of audits and immediately cringe, but the fact of the matter is that businesses wanting to maximize output can really benefit from an audit. Audits can be great ways to ensure that a business’ priorities are being given their due attention, and that best practices are being utilized. An audit of your IT infrastructure and network can go a long way toward helping you determine if there are changes you need to make in order to maximize the profitability of your organization.

Here are three of the most common problems that our technicians find when conducting our comprehensive IT audits.

Outdated Software
It doesn’t matter if it’s the operating system on your workstations or the software on the servers, if you fail to apply critical updates and security patches to your operating systems, then your network will be vulnerable. This is a big red flag during any IT audit. Since outdated versions of software can become problematic for your integrated security protocols, by not properly updating your mission-critical software, you could be putting your business at significant risk.

An Absent Business Continuity Plan
As a part of a risk management strategy, any organization that doesn’t have a business continuity plan is ignoring the truth. The facts suggest that a disaster could happen at any moment, whether a company is ready or not. If you fail to prepare for a disaster, you’re staring failure in the face.

Poor or Lackluster Implementation
When it comes to regulatory compliance, NuTech Services will audit your internal processes, and analyze how they could be more efficient or secure. If you have outdated IT policies, they can end up costing you a lot more than a passing grade on an IT audit. If you haven’t properly tested your infrastructure, or if you’ve failed to deploy modern security best practices like multi-factor authentication, then your organization will perform poorly on an IT audit. Furthermore, if an auditor sees that your organization’s IT department splits responsibilities on a per-task basis, you’ll be more likely to score lower than if all IT resources understood how to perform every task necessary to their position.

These are only a few ways that your company could fail to perform as intended during an IT audit. If you want to ensure that your organization can pass your next audit, then you’ll want to ensure that your IT understands the importance of adhering to security best practices and industry standards.

Lastly, it is incredibly important that you remember that auditors aren’t the ones who are trying to sink your business. If anything, they are attempting to help you improve the way your organization operates. They are simply doing what your IT department should be doing in the first place by checking to see if you have unpatched or vulnerable systems, or aren’t adhering to best practices.

NuTech Services can help your business ensure its security by performing an IT audit. We can comb through your network for any potential issues and suggest ways to resolve them. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

May, 2017

Microsoft “Slims” Down Windows 10 With New Operating System

Have you ever tried using a Google Chromebook for work purposes? While it might offer the ability to browse the web on a budget, the device is limited by the operating system’s lack of functionality. Microsoft has created a similar operating system in the form of Windows 10 S, which uses less processing power than the full version of their latest operating system.

Windows 10 S runs on less resources than laptops running Windows 10 Pro, which gives it a better loading speed. In fact, a laptop that’s running Windows 10 S can load a user profile up to 15 seconds faster. This is mostly thanks to there being fewer processes and applications running in the background.

The first audience Microsoft is targeting with this new operating system is educational institutions, like schools and college campuses. Unfortunately, Windows 10 S likely won’t be a good fit for an organization outside of education. While it might be helpful if you’re on a budget, it faces the same limits and inconsistencies as the Chrome OS. You get a passable experience, but what you can do will be limited.

It stands to reason that Windows 10 S will be found mostly on inexpensive laptops. Businesses that want to keep costs down have an option if they don’t want or need the extra power. Big names such as Dell, HP, and Acer have all chosen to produce laptops with Windows 10 S pre-packaged on them. This might be a great way to acquire a low-cost device for traveling or for meetings.

Most notable about this new operating system is that Microsoft is using this opportunity to upsell users on their Windows 10 Pro OS. Windows 10 S will be free, primarily because it’s already installed on the devices that will be using it. However, users can easily upgrade to the full version of Windows 10 Pro. While students can receive the full version of Windows 10 Pro for free, non-students must pay $49. This effectively gives businesses the opportunity to “test-drive” Windows 10 before going all-in.

Starting as early as this summer, Windows 10 S will be available. However, you still need to consider the repercussions of trying to save money by going with a cheaper device and lightweight OS. If you consult a professional IT technician, you’ll be able to iron out all of the details and understand exactly what you want and need before making a commitment, like purchasing a new device.

To learn more about how NuTech Services can help your business with its technology needs, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

May, 2017

Webinars Take the Excuses Out of Missing Meetings

For today’s businesses, displaying your organizational authority is crucial to success. Whether it’s McDonald’s with fast food burgers, Chevrolet with cars and trucks, or Walmart for everything else, the message you put out there is seemingly as important as the services you provide. For small businesses, this becomes even more crucial. For example, if you run a hardware store, you likely can’t compete with the prices of the big box stores, but you can bring to the table something of greater value to the consumer: your knowledge.

In the past, companies would have seminars to introduce new concepts to anyone that had a vested interest, or to present their consumer base a new set of practices. These seminars were great marketing tools for companies to show the consumer that they, in fact, know about the products or services they were selling. As a result, they were great ways to build organic traffic into their stores. This is a classic example of how word of mouth is the best form of marketing.

Cut to today, people are busy, and with social media being what it is, it was inevitable that companies would have to start coming to the consumer, rather than having the consumer come to them. Nowadays, the webinar (obviously taken from the root words web and seminar) has allowed the modern business to interact with would-be customers over the Internet. The webinar is set up much like the seminar with a presentation or course followed by a full question and answers section.

A webinar can be an hour or two, it can be a half-hour, it can be five. There really isn’t any set amount of time, but you have to remember that even if you are constantly at the computer, some of the people you are trying to reach aren’t. Also, no matter how valuable you think the information you have packed into your five-hour webinar is, it doesn’t take much for people, interested or not, to be distracted away from what you are saying. In fact, that brings up one of the main benefits of the webinar, the ability for the user to listen at their leisure. So while you may hold an event at 7 PM on a Wednesday, you can distribute the webinar for anyone to download or stream for as long as you’d like. It’s best practice to keep it between one and two hours, and don’t waste your listener’s time with fluff. If someone gets bored with one of your webinars, the chances decrease substantially that they will ever go to another.

Along with their platform for distributing your company’s knowledge and authority in your industry, webinars have shown to be one of the best ways to close new customers. In fact, Buzzsumo has stated that nearly one-fifth of their webinar attendees turn into paying customers.

The technology used to conduct a webinar is readily available. There are literally dozens of free and paid applications designed to let you conduct webinars. Some of these include GoToWebinar, AnyMeeting, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft’s Skype platform. If you are curious about what it takes for you to educate potential and current customers with a webinar, contact NuTech Services’s professional IT staff at 810.230.9455.

Apr, 2017

What’s Behind so Many Businesses Switching Their Phone Systems to VoIP?

The office telephone has been a staple in the business environment for generations, but the extent that each organization uses their telephone will vary. Factors like the number of users, telephone handsets, and wiring required will influence how much use you get from your telephone solution. However, these questions don’t have to be as difficult to ask if you consider the many benefits of a hosted phone system.

We’ll discuss some of the best reasons for using a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and what it can offer your business.

Fewer Costs
A traditional telephone system is provided by your local telephone company. Sometimes these agreements include services that aren’t needed by your organization, like television or otherwise. This can be frustrating, as all you want is the ability to use a telephone, and instead you’re forced to go all-in on some entertainment package that you won’t use.

VoIP doesn’t demand that you sign up for any extra services. In fact, you actually wind up saving money thanks to VoIP using another service that you’re already paying for–your Internet connection. With VoIP, your voice is transferred over the Internet rather than through the traditional telephone lines. Just keep your bandwidth in mind, as VoIP will likely use up more resources than your other network-connected services.

A Simplified Infrastructure
There’s a reason why you take so much time to plan your cabling infrastructure before implementation, and that’s because it’s not easy to make changes once you’ve set your network up. Of course, this also requires that you anticipate growth, which isn’t always easy. For all you know, your business can grow substantially over your first few years in business. How can you anticipate such growth?

While VoIP can’t predict the future, it can help you adapt to change with one-time setup costs. You won’t have to tear down walls or run new telephone lines just to accommodate new employees. All you have to do is contact your VoIP provider and add new users to your system.

More Flexibility
How many phone numbers do you have? Chances are that, as a business owner, you have your personal cell phone number, as well as your in-house number for company affairs. You wouldn’t be the first professional to think that it would be extremely convenient to have all of your numbers on one single device. Thankfully, VoIP offers a solution for this dilemma, too.

With VoIP, you and your employees have a great way to access your work-related phone numbers and contacts. Since VoIP can be used on desktops, smartphones, and even the traditional telephone handsets, it’s a customizable experience that lets you use your phone solution in the way you prefer. Plus, the extra accessibility allows your employees to be productive off the clock too, which can be great for getting ahead.

No matter how you look at it, VoIP can be a valuable investment for your organization. To get started, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Apr, 2017

Don’t Worry, Your Samsung Phone “Winking” at You is Just a Cool Feature

If you’re a Samsung smartphone user, have you ever seen a little eyeball symbol appear at the top of the screen? You might notice that it will show up for a minute, and then disappear again. Since this kind of activity usually makes users question what’s going on with their device, let’s get down to the bottom of this weird occurrence.

To assuage your fears that you’re being watched by some sort of malware or spyware, know that this eyeball icon doesn’t mean you’ve been hacked. Instead, it’s a feature called Smart Stay created by Samsung. When the eye appears, the feature is activated.

What is Smart Stay?
Smart Stay uses your front facing camera to tell whether or not you’re looking at the device. While this sounds a bit creepy, the camera can use your face to keep the screen from turning off while you’re looking at it–like, say, when you’re reading an article on the Internet that’s particularly long. This actually overrides any screen timeout settings, so it’s a great way to finish off whatever you are reading without having to press a button every now and again to keep it lit up.

To change the settings of Smart Stay, you just go through to Menu > Settings > My Device > Smart screen. All you have to do is uncheck the Smart Stay box to turn it off. Depending on how helpful you find this feature, you might actually prefer to keep it on.

How You Know You Have Something to Worry About
While Samsung’s Smart Stay isn’t something to worry about, there are other symptoms of hacking attacks on your mobile device that you want to keep in mind should the need arise. Depending on the type of problem, the symptoms will vary, but keep the following in mind if you suspect something out of the ordinary.

Unfamiliar charges on your carrier’s statement.
Data access patterns that you don’t recognize.
Your battery drains quicker than normal.
You find apps that are downloaded from a third-party app store.
Strange notifications start appearing, especially related to finding and downloading new apps and games.
Your device has been rooted (aka jailbroken).
Your antivirus has been disabled.
You actually see the hacker’s remote actions of opening apps and navigating your phone.

If you ever have reason to suspect that your phone has been hijacked, make sure that the first thing you do is turn off the device’s Internet connection and power it down as soon as possible. Once you’ve done this, consult your trusted IT professionals at NuTech Services. We can remove the threat before it causes any more damage to your device.

A little healthy skepticism never hurt anyone, so be sure to approach issues with your device with a grain of salt. To learn more about how your business can identify troubles with technology, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Apr, 2017

What Your Software Has in Common With the Food in Your Fridge? An (EOL) End of Life Date

It’s a well-known fact that nothing in this world lasts forever (other than Twinkies), and this pertains to your technology more than perhaps anything else. The same solutions that you’ve been working with for years will also need regular updates and improvements in order to stay relevant to your organization.

When you think about it, making sure that your software solutions are always up to date is sort of like keeping your kitchen cabinet full of foodstuffs that haven’t spoiled. Both the software developer and the food producer offer resources that are absolutely crucial in the modern world, and both create products that frequently need to be replaced in order to function as intended. Both offer sustenance to something or another; yet, how similar are they really?

A food producer will tend to focus on offering delectable foods that taste great and offer nutritional value, while a software developer will work toward creating user-friendly solutions and patching up vulnerabilities. Any improvements made tend to be focused on security, but often times the developer will add new features or improve the user interface to offer a better experience as a whole. Primarily, the patches issued resolve problems that hackers can take advantage of to infiltrate your organization and cause trouble.

These improvements are one of the reasons why you might receive notifications about updates available every so often. In fact, they are so frequent that if you don’t implement them as they are released, you could quickly fall behind on network maintenance.

Returning to the food analogy, let’s take a look at a convenience that most businesses have: a break room fridge. If each of your employees keeps a single cup of yogurt in this fridge, and it goes uneaten, it will naturally spoil. However, if you keep this spoiled yogurt in the fridge, despite it being practically inedible, someone will eventually try it out. This could result in employees getting sick.

Whether it’s poor productivity from being ill all day or software that’s missing critical software updates, the result is the same: the potential for a really bad time. If you have someone whose responsibility is to “restock the fridge,” you can keep your organization from being exposed by the sudden, gut-wrenching sickness of a hacking attack.

NuTech Services can be the ones to keep an eye out for anything that needs updates or patches on your network, and better yet, we can do all of it ourselves without interrupting operations. This keeps you from taking valuable time out of the day to do it yourself, and you can know for certain that your software solutions are being handled with the care they deserve. To make sure that your business’s network security doesn’t reach its expiration date, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Mar, 2017

Step Aside Sherlock, Supercomputer Watson is Investigating Cybercrime

When it comes to solving crime few are as well renowned as Sherlock Holmes. However, now Watson is stepping forward to strike back against cyber criminals–but not Dr. Watson, Holmes’ faithful companion. Instead, we’re referring to Watson, IBM’s renowned supercomputer.

After a year of being “trained” to spot cybercrime, Watson is now keeping an eye out for 40 organizations to further develop its ability to spot security threats. Thanks to Watson’s combined abilities of swiftly processing mounds of data and crunching the information found in stories about recent cyber attacks and analyzing against the industry’s best practices, the supercomputer is able to better identify and track high priority security concerns.

Watson wasn’t made ready to go on the hunt for criminal activity, however. In fact, when it was first taught the term “ransomware,” the computer was convinced that it was a place.

Now, thanks to a lot of data processing, Watson is ready for the next steps, much like a human student would be. The computer will sift through the security events of dozens of companies, analyzing them for patterns and identifying which constitute legitimate threats, and which can be chalked up to user error.

While there will be a learning curve for Watson, the abilities it has at identifying legitimate threats will only improve with time. In the meantime, you can’t afford to wait for Watson’s capabilities to come to your business.

Your business will need other resources at its disposal to ensure its network security. NuTech Services can provide those resources, along with other solutions to fit your IT needs. Call 810.230.9455 for more information.

Mar, 2017

Productivity Suffers Without a Cohesive IT Plan

There are right ways and wrong ways to do many things, and managing IT is no exception. Many businesses, especially small ones, are left susceptible to issues and vulnerabilities in their network. What’s worse, these are often networks that are supported by an IT “expert.”

Whether it’s due to budget constraints, a lack of workable time, or any other reason, companies frequently settle for substandard solutions when it comes to making changes to their IT. Oftentimes, they’ll try to bury their issues underneath a relatively updated infrastructure without doing anything to resolve the underlying problem. Either that, or they decide that they can fix the problem themselves, piecing together an unstable solution that almost works.

Observing this has only made us at NuTech Services more dedicated to providing a real solution for businesses that resort to these DIY implementations.

Many business, most often small ones, have a few things in common. First, they all experience similar issues with their IT, and secondly, they are usually ill-prepared to deal with the repercussions of these issues. Furthermore, these businesses will frequently neglect their need for standard operating procedures for their employees to follow.

This only opens the business up to greater issues as the employees will resort to processes that they’re personally comfortable with to complete their responsibilities. In the end, the workforce is left in the uncomfortable position of desperately needing change, with the unwillingness to make any changes.

As a result, the already tricky business of running an SMB is only made more difficult. When issues persistently prevent your technology from serving its intended purpose, your employees will be rendered incapable of meeting their responsibilities by a situation that is out of their control.

NuTech Services can help put control back into your hands with our variety of IT solutions. From our proactive monitoring and maintenance practices to our ability to block many distractions, we can apply a consistent solution to your entire network, unifying your IT so it will better serve your needs. Call us at 810.230.9455 for more information.

Mar, 2017

These 25 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Help Make Cars Intelligent and Safer

By now you’ve heard of self-driving cars insofar that you understand that there are engineers from all over the United States and abroad working with AI to develop systems that can create safer traffic conditions and cut down on emissions with efficiency. But what you may not know is that there are many drivers concerned at the development and deployment of these autonomous systems.

The Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan conducted a study that found that over one-third of all drivers are “very concerned” about riding in a self-driving car, while two-thirds of respondents are “very or moderately concerned”. It doesn’t seem as if the public is necessarily ready for this technology to be deployed; even though there are places where it has been shown to reduce traffic incidents substantially.

A car is many consumers’ “biggest” purchase, and with the car a person drives inexorably tied to their social status, people are not in a big rush to give up purchasing and driving cars without paying much mind for a car’s practical and safety information. With an autonomous vehicle, the driver’s role is now taken over by a computer, a completely terrifying prospect for some folks.

The reality is, however, that these cars are far and beyond more reliable than any human-driven car could possibly be. That’s because the human mind isn’t capable of the accuracy of these computing systems. Today what you see in lieu of full-on automated driving, are car manufacturers using some of the technologies developed for that purpose to improve the manual usage of the automobile. Marketed as advanced driver assistance systems (or ADAS), many newer cars offer some or all of the following options:

How many of these systems have you recognized on your family car?

These options have been slowly implemented as driver-assistance options. By using them incrementally rather than as part of a completely automated system it allows today’s drivers to avoid accidents while still getting the function out of their purchase.

One way that the automotive industry is currently taking advantage of ADAS technology is to have it assist drivers when needed. This is a much different approach than using it to fully automate the entire driving experience, and one that produces some confusion by drivers who are used to doing things a certain way behind the wheel.

Toyota’s “Guardian Angel” program is one example of a major car manufacturer working ADAS technology into a car to improve safety without negatively altering the driving experience. This program has the AI learn the driver’s habits as to give feedback while the car is being driven. Some ADAS options do take over the control of the car in times where motorists typically struggle with the goal to leverage the technology that’s available to improve safety and limit the amount of vehicular-related deaths (currently about 30,000 per year in the U.S.).

One caveat to successfully creating software that aids in the driving experience is that developers have to have an understanding of practical situations to interrupt a driver’s control of the vehicle. The CEO of Toyota Research Institute, Gil Pratt, went on to talk about this very subject to CIO magazine. “Your car may someday warn you several times about a particularly dangerous driving habit you have before taking control of the wheel. Autonomous driving capabilities are measured on a government scale of zero to four, with zero being no automation, and four being fully automated. The focus of most of the discussion among car makers today is how far up the scale they should go and how quickly. There’s a lot of discussion in the industry whether we go incrementally up the scale or whether we jump.”

It is important, especially with the public’s overwhelmingly negative perception of automobile automation, that these features are accurately assessing live situations. Up to 20 of the most visible car manufacturers have accepted this step-by-step approach to automobile automation as published by CIO, “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced earlier this year that 20 automakers have pledged to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on their cars by 2022.”

What are your thoughts? Are you willing to ride in a self-driving car? Can you trust your safety and that of your family to assisted-driving technology? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

Feb, 2017

Is New Hardware Procurement on Your IT Budget?

Depending on how long you’ve had your current workstation, you might start to see performance problems. Eventually, you’ll start to see issues that could cause downtime and lead to wasted assets. Therefore, you need to have a plan in order to replace your hardware before it fails. What’s the best way to do this without breaking your budget?

The answer is easy, and it’s called hardware procurement. This is way to help your business commit to regular hardware refreshes without spending an exorbitant amount of cash doing so. Through hardware procurement, you can get replacement servers, workstations, network components, and so much more without having to pay for them up-front.

How it Works
Purchasing new hardware can often be a financial problem, especially for big ticket items. You might be in the red for months following a hardware failure, or even up to a year. Still, even if it’s expensive, hardware refreshes are borderline necessary if you want to make sure that your business doesn’t fall victim to the eventual hardware failure, which can cause data loss. The question, therefore, is how you can accomplish all of this without breaking your IT budget.

Let’s Get Started with an Assessment
Are you unsure about investing in hardware procurement? NuTech Services can offer you a complete assessment of your IT infrastructure. This tells us if you have any outdated hardware components that are running in a way which might threaten your network with downtime. Furthermore, we can build you out an IT roadmap that helps you plan out your hardware refreshes for the next five or even ten years. This is crucial if you want to make sure that your organization can best implement new hardware in the long run.

Routinely updating your hardware is an important part of keeping your network secure, as well. Older hardware may not be getting the proper security patches and updates, which could put your business at risk of hacking attacks, in addition to the amplified risk of hardware failure. You don’t have the luxury of waiting until something bad happens to you, as the threat is omnipresent and could happen at any time.

To learn more about hardware refreshes and network audits, reach out to NuTech Services at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2017

Samsung Galaxy vs Google Pixel, Which is Best for You?

When it comes to Android mobile OS-run smartphones, consumers may wonder where the value is when they see so many name brands charging premium prices for their flagship devices. Two of the most popular devices, the Google Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy s7, seem to be in a league of their own in the Android market. Today we do a brief comparison:

Google Pixel & Google Pixel XL
Brand awareness plays a major part in whether or not a device is economically viable. In the past, Google has released their “flagship” devices under the Nexus monicker, and users have found them to be the cleanest Android-run devices on the market. The Google Nexus brand has been manufactured by several companies including Huawei, HTC, and LG as Google doesn’t find that the cost of starting their own smartphone manufacturing outfit to be viable. This time around Google once again partnered with HTC to create their newest namesake device, the Google Pixel.

Designed and marketed as the first truly Google phone, the Pixel comes in two sizes: one with a 5-inch display and a 2,700 mAh battery, and a larger version called the Pixel XL that features a 5.5-inch display and a larger 3,450 mAh battery. Otherwise the two devices are identical, making the choice between the smaller and larger versions more of a matter of preference than a deliberation between specifications.

Both devices feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor with 4GB of RAM, and a 12.3 dual-LED camera, that is now considered by industry professionals as one of the best camera experiences available on a smartphone today. They both are made from aluminum and glass and come with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader for security.

The Pixel comes in three colors: Quite Black, Very Silver, and Really Blue. Customers can choose a device with an ample 32GB of onboard storage, or a 128GB version for those users in need of more storage space for their media. The device is available for all major carriers and can also be purchased on the Google Store, where financing is available.

Google Pixel
Dimensions – Aluminum & Glass design, 5.04 oz
Display – 5” AMOLED, 1080 x 1920 (~441 ppi)
Particulars – Android OS v7.1 {Nougat}, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, Adreno 530, 4GB RAM, 32/128GB Internal Storage)
External Memory & SIM – None, Nano-SIM
Cameras – Rear facing: 12.3 MP, front facing: 8 MP
Battery – Non-removable 2,770 mAh
Other Information – Rear-mounted fingerprint reader, fast charging enabled, NFC enabled

Google Pixel XL
Dimensions – Aluminum & Glass design, 5.93 oz
Display – 5.5” AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 (~534 ppi)
Particulars – Android OS v7.1 {Nougat}, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, Adreno 530, 4GB RAM, 32/128GB Internal Storage
External Memory & SIM – None, Nano-SIM
Cameras – Rear facing: 12.3 MP, front facing: 8 MP
Battery – Non-removable 3,450 mAh
Other Information – Rear-mounted fingerprint reader, fast charging enabled, NFC enabled

Samsung Galaxy s7 & Samsung Galaxy s7 Edge
If there has been an industry leader in the smartphone space, it has to be Samsung. Not only do they manufacture some of the most popular (and powerful) smartphones on the market, they produce components for several of their competitors’ devices. In a testament to their overwhelming popularity, of all the smartphones purchased in the first quarter of 2016, nearly a quarter of them were made by Samsung. Only time will tell if those numbers are sustained after their flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, was recalled and discontinued after hundreds of them were distributed with violently faulty batteries.

The Galaxy s7, however, is probably still the best smartphone on the market. The s7, and it’s sister product, the Galaxy s7 Edge, come with Super AMOLED displays, the most advanced chipset of any phone on the market and 4GB of RAM. If there is a feature you would like to see on a smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy s7, and s7 Edge, have it. They are dust and water resistant, they feature an always-on display, a great performing battery, and a return of expandable storage capabilities up to 200GB.

Like the Samsung Galaxy s7, the s7 Edge features a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display, but the Edge features a rounded edge-to-edge design that some may favor. Each device features a fingerprint reader for security, fast-charging, and NFC for use with data transfer and payment platforms. It comes in six colors: Black, White, Gold, Silver, Pink Gold, Black Pearl, and Coral Blue; and, is available on every major smartphone carrier.

Samsung Galaxy s7
Dimensions – Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel
Display – 5.1 inches, 1440 x 2560 pixels (~577 ppi pixel density)
Particulars – Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow), upgradable to v7.0 (Nougat), Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 Exynos 8890 Octa,, 4GB RAM, 32/64GB Internal Storage
External Memory & SIM – microSD, up to 200GB (dedicated slot) – single-SIM model
microSD, up to 200GB (uses SIM 2 slot) – dual-SIM model
Cameras – Rear facing: 12 MP, Front facing: 9 MP
Battery – Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
Other Information – Fast charging enabled, NFC enabled

Sumsung Galaxy s7 Edge
Dimensions – Corning Gorilla Glass 4 back panel
Display – 5.5 inches, 1440 x 2560 pixels (~534 ppi pixel density)
Particulars – Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow), upgradable to v7.0 (Nougat), Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 Exynos 8890 Octa, 4GB RAM, 32/64/128GB Internal storage
External Memory & SIM – microSD, up to 200GB (dedicated slot) – single-SIM model
microSD, up to 200GB (uses SIM 2 slot) – dual-SIM model
Cameras – Rear facing: 12 MP, front facing: 5 MP
Battery – Non-removable Li-Ion 3600 mAh battery
Other Information – Fast charging enabled, NFC enabled

With the smartphone space becoming more and more convoluted, each of these devices provide a substantial upgrade over last year’s smartphones, while providing users the specifications and usability they seek in a new product. Their superior build-quality and industry-leading internals provide consumers the value they seek when shopping for the best smartphone for their dollar.

For more information about the latest mobile technology, call us today at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2017

4 Options for Backing Up Your Data. Which is Best?

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare; they wake up to find out that their entire data infrastructure has been wiped out by some unexpected natural disaster or hacking attack. The only way to guarantee that your business’s future remains intact is to have some sort of data backup and recovery system, just in case of the worst.

However, if you’re unfamiliar with data backup solutions, you might not know where to start. We’ve outlined several options that your business has, as well as which ones are the superior choice.

Local Data Backup
Most organizations will immediately think of local data backup as their first option. While it’s a great way to avoid the risks of not having any data backup at all, keep in mind that it’s far from the ideal solution. Two types of local data backup solutions are magnetic tape and external hard drives. These allow you to keep a copy of your business’s data on-site in the event of a disaster, but it’s not a guarantee if you want to ensure the recovery of your data.

Imagine for a moment that your business was struck by a disaster so great that it eliminated pretty much everything that your organization had stored in your office. Fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, or floods all have this destructive capability. If this were to happen, your organization would be left without a trace of data to go off of. Furthermore, you also run the risk of malware infections, user error, or hardware failure when hosting your data backups on-site.

So… what’s the next best thing?

Cloud Backup
The next logical step would be to host your data off-site, and the cloud allows for just that. If your in-house infrastructure were to be rendered obsolete or incapacitated by some sort of disaster, you could restore your data quickly and efficiently through the use of a cloud backup and restoration process. Plus, you can forget about the potential user error that could arise from having to manually set and restore through tape backups.

Multiple Data Center Backups
Before going all-in on a cloud-based backup, you should ask them how many data centers that they use to store your data. Ultimately, you want your organization’s data to be stored in as many different locations as possible, as this improves the odds that your data can be located and restored. Basically, if the data can’t be found in one data center due to some sort of internal problem, you’ll know with certainty that at least one of them has it.

Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR)
For organizations that are serious about business continuity, an enterprise-level Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) solution is the best option to ensure the preservation of your mission-critical assets. BDR works by taking a backup of only files that have been changed since the last backup was taken, which allows it to take multiple backups throughout the workday instead of just one large backup after-hours. These backups are then stored in the cloud for future access.

BDR can also restore directly to a device, or to the BDR hardware itself, depending on just how bad the disaster is. This keeps downtime to a minimum and helps you get back in business as soon as possible following a disaster. If you have nothing to restore your data to, a backup device with all of your data can be sent to your office’s location overnight.

Are you ready to get started with BDR? To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Feb, 2017

Tip of the Week: Easy Ways to Train Your Staff About IT

You might wish that your employees know more about IT and its inner workings, and you’re not alone. SMBs often suffer from a lack of IT talent, and they might try to supplement this lack of proficiency by training employees on how to do basic computer tasks required to work effectively. Thankfully, you don’t have to rely on just your knowledge and that of your employees when it comes to maintaining your technology.

You can augment your employees’ IT knowledge with the following services offered by IT providers.

An IT Help Desk
One of the best ways to supplement your organization’s in-house knowledge of technology troubles is by taking advantage of an outsourced IT help desk. Basically, this is a phone number or live chat system that your employees can utilize when they need help with specific technology problems. This strikes a unique balance between allowing your employees to get their own support, and giving them access to help when it’s needed most; allowing them to learn more about IT without letting them perform advanced procedures on their own.

If you want to use a help desk as a training tool, you’ll want to make sure that your IT service provider is remotely accessing your employees’ workstation during this process. This helps the service provider guide them through the steps one-by-one, without letting them make big mistakes that could derail operations. Once an employee knows how to do something in particular with minimal effort, they’re less likely to waste time on the same process in the future.

When this interaction is remote, it is typically more cost effective than having a technician go on site.

Focused IT Training
Training is an accepted part of the office environment, and one of the most valuable lessons that you can provide for your employees is technology best practices. Every so often, require that your employees review basic IT protocol, such as how to make secure passwords, how to handle sensitive information, troubleshooting common technology problems, and so much more. Ultimately, your goal should be for your employees to walk out of the training session with the sense that they’ve learned something new about how best to work for your organization and how to handle its technology with care.

In fact, some IT providers can provide all-you-can-eat help desk support for end users, while providing training materials, best practices, and more. We figure that the more educated and effective your staff is, the more growth you will experience. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Jan, 2017

Explaining Managed IT to Busy Business Owners

As a business, you focus on providing a specific good or service to your area. This means spending a considerable amount of time trying to make your organization the go-to SMB for that particular service. All organizations specialize in a certain craft, but sometimes their skills may fall short of their needs in areas that lay outside this expertise. Outsourcing is a simple way for businesses to leverage skills that aren’t part of their expertise without taking the time to learn the skill themselves, and it’s an invaluable part of any business owner’s strategy.

Let’s use managed IT services as an example. While enterprises might have the budget and workforce to accommodate managing on-site networks and hardware, it’s unlikely that the SMB does as well. Technology maintenance requires careful attention to detail, which can only be offered by trained professionals who understand the importance of their task. IT maintenance and management isn’t something that can be learned overnight.

While the benefits are significant, the major roadblock for organizations isn’t implementing a new IT management model; rather, it’s their limited budget. They struggle to resolve problems with their IT systems without breaking their budget, and the typical break-fix IT company isn’t devoted to saving them any cash on technology repair. Instead, a managed service provider tries to take proactive measures to prevent issues from happening in the first place.

Comparing the two solutions side by side gives more than enough reason to forsake break-fix IT services. If you can prevent problems from happening in the first place, why wouldn’t you? When a server or workstation breaks down, countless files and hours of productivity are lost, making recovery difficult, if not impossible.

Managed IT allows for fixed monthly payments, taking the unpredictability out of managing technology. Unlike break-fix IT, which capitalizes on your business’s technology breaking down, managed IT services aim to prevent this from happening in the first place; saving your business money in the long run. You’ll find that when you experience minimal trouble with your IT, the possibilities are quite literally endless. You can invest more time and money into your business’s other aspects.

To learn more about managed IT services, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Jan, 2017

Tip of the Week: 4 Accessories Every Smartphone Needs

Smartphones are very convenient technologies, but with a couple of improvements to your device repertoire, you can drastically improve both your user experience and the value of your device. Here are four smartphone accessories that can enhance the way you use your mobile device.

Portable Battery Pack
Sometimes, no matter how much you charge your battery, you might find yourself falling short of the juice required to work while on the go. You aren’t always going to have access to an outlet, and even a quick charge may not be enough to get the job done. In instances like this, a portable battery pack is a huge help. There are battery packs available that are compatible with modern USB technology, so all you have to do is plug in your phone to charge your device. For starters, you can check out this one made by Anker.

A Long USB Cord
Your typical smartphone charging cable is generally only a few feet long, which means it’s easy to come up short when you need a charge. If you regularly find yourself needing the extra length, you can try out this huge USB cord by Anker. It makes a perfect partner for the portable battery pack we brought up. Plus, this cord is built out of some pretty hefty material, which means that you won’t have to worry about your pet chewing it, or severing it unexpectedly when moving a heavy piece of furniture around. With reinforced stress points, the cord can be bent and wrapped up for quite a bit, making it a long-lasting solution to your USB cord woes.

Bluetooth Headset
How often do you find yourself sick and tired of holding a phone to your face while trying to get work done? In cases like this (particularly long meetings with no end in sight), a Bluetooth headset for your smartphone can come in real handy. All you have to do is tether the device to your smartphone, pop it in your ear, and voila–you have a hands-free way of talking on the phone while getting to your work.

Other Bluetooth Technology
Basically, anything that uses Bluetooth technology is great for your smartphone, as it allows you to wirelessly tether devices to it. For example, you could use a wireless keyboard when you need to write a document or email. If you want to listen to music, you could hook up a pair of Bluetooth headphones so as not to bother others who might be in the vicinity.

What are some other great accessories that you can use for your mobile device while out and about? Be sure to let us know in the comments, and subscribe to our blog for more great tips and tricks.

Dec, 2016

The Case for Hosting Your Phone Solution In-House

Traditional communications solutions are all well and good, but they’re quickly growing antiquated and outdated with the inception of more dynamic solutions. Some organizations have found that cloud-hosted VoIP has advantages over an on-premise telephone solution. While there’s a certain degree of truth to this, an on-site system still presents value.

When you host your own VoIP solution, the biggest difference to consider is the fact that you’ll be managing your own hardware. An in-house system is stored in the server room or another dedicated part of your infrastructure. Alternatively, when you use cloud VoIP, the system is stored off-site, hosted and maintained by an outsourced provider.

Keep in mind that when we talk about on-site VoIP systems, we’re not referring to the traditional landline telephone system that many organizations still use. Rather, we’re talking about a virtual phone system that uses your Internet connection rather than a landline cable infrastructure to send and receive calls. Though VoIP is a service that can easily be outsourced to a third-party provider, it’s possible for you to host an in-house system on a dedicated server… assuming you have the staff to properly manage and maintain it.

Regardless, there are still some benefits to consider regarding on-site VoIP hosting rather than going through a cloud provider. Here are a couple of them.

Control: In comparison to a hosted solution, your business has greater control over an in-house phone system. You can easily add new users and phone numbers rather than going through support to do so. This also means that you’re in a greater position of responsibility, so it’s important that you have the staff on-site and ready to maintain your system, should you choose to go this route.
Use your existing infrastructure: Consider for a moment how much effort went into building your current infrastructure. You already have a network, servers, and other important hardware hooked up to it. What’s a little more in the form of your in-house VoIP system? If you wanted to add VoIP to a cloud infrastructure, you have to go through the hoops of configuration and setup, which is something that you may not have control over with a hosted solution.

If your organization is considering revamping its communications infrastructure, look no further than NuTech Services. We can help your business get the most return on investment from your phone solution. To learn more, reach out to us at 810.230.9455.

Dec, 2016

In Case of Emergency, Activate Facebook’s Safety Check

In 2014, Facebook launched Safety Check, a helpful tool allowing users to “check in” that they’re okay during a crisis event, like a natural disaster, mass shooting, etc. Recently, Facebook made a major change to Safety Check by allowing users affected by the crisis to activate the feature. This is yet another example of how social media is changing the way people find out about major events and react to them.

To give you an idea of the sizeable difference this change makes, consider the fact that in the first year of Safety Check (when it was exclusively controlled by Facebook), the feature was activated 39 times worldwide. Since the change was made in December of 2015, Safety Check was activated a total of 328 times over the following six months. That is a significant number of crisis situations that would have been overlooked if Facebook alone was at the helm.

Rest assured, Facebook is still involved in Safety Check’s activation process. Otherwise, jokesters and Internet trolls would surely abuse the tool and “cry wolf” every chance they get, which would effectively render the tool useless. To prevent this, Facebook has a two-step activation system.

Step 1: A user submits a crisis event to Facebook they deem to be worthy of Safety Check activation.
Step 2: Facebook checks on the validity of the event by analyzing the chatter over its social network, along with third party organizations.

If the crisis event makes it through rigors of this automated process, then Safety Check is activated and those affected can begin “checking in” that they’re okay.

Of course, the Internet being the Internet, there will always be those who make light of a crisis situation by “checking in” on Safety Check events that have nothing to do with them. However, this annoyance aside, society can only benefit from the public having a tool like Safety Check to quickly notify scores of friends and family of one’s status during a crisis.

Have you used Facebook’s Safety Check to notify your friends that you’re okay? If so, then share with us in the comments if you’ve found this tool to be useful or not.

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