What Could Possibly Be Wrong with Your Computer?

Slow computers are one of the small annoyances in an office that can implicate a much larger issue is hidden. The frustration stems from not being able to get anything done, whether it’s because the computer isn’t responding to your commands or it’s so slow that you can’t accomplish anything noteworthy in your day. Thankfully, you can take some steps to check the speed of your computer so as to take proper action when it’s not working at expected.

Try Turning it Off and On
In a lot of ways, a computer is kind of like the human brain. If you don’t give it some rest every so often, it starts to grow sluggish. Imagine a good, proper reboot is a good night’s sleep for your computer, giving it a chance to restart functions that have been constantly going for the past several days. First, save any open files you’re working on. Next, click or tap on the Windows symbol in the Start menu, select the power icon, and hit Restart.

Determine What’s Slow
If restarting the computer doesn’t help, you need to figure out what is making it move so slowly. Narrowing down the issues can help with finding a resolution. Here are some tricks to try:

• Check if certain programs are moving slowly. If everything else feels normal, there might be an issue with a particular software.
• Click between your web pages to see if the Internet is slow, or if the pages are loading slowly. You can also try clearing your web browser’s cache and see if that helps.
• If you are having troubles accessing files on the network, then the issue is likely network-related.
• If the PC slows down at a specific time of day, then perhaps there is a virus scan occurring, or some other resource-intensive task.

Run an Antivirus Scan
If there isn’t a specific issue that you can identify, there’s the possibility that your computer has been infected by a virus or malware. Viruses and malware frequently utilize a lot of system resources, even if you can’t identify a specific problem. Try running a scan and see what results you get. You might be surprised at what you find. If you don’t run these scans regularly, you could potentially be leaving threats on your network for extended periods of time. You also want to make sure that your antivirus is properly maintained and updated with the latest threat definitions.

Close Programs Running in the Background
If your computer isn’t running as fast as you like, you can check the Task Manager to see which programs are eating up all your resources. You can open this up by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Escape. The tab you’re looking for is Processes. You’ll see several columns labeled CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network. These columns are filled with percentages telling just how much of it is being used. The Disk and Network columns are probably going to be either at or close to zero as long as you’re not saving or rendering files. The Memory and CPU columns will vary more, depending on how many applications you have opened up.

If there are any columns that are consistently high, you might have an issue on your hands–particularly if CPU or Memory is at 90% or higher. You can sort these columns to determine which one is eating all your resources. Once you’ve found it, you can right-click on the application and click End Task (though this won’t save any work being done in the application, so be sure to do this first).

Also of note is that some programs are required to keep your computer at optimal performance, one of which is your antivirus. You should always consult IT before ending a task that you think should be running.

Upgrade Your Hardware
If you’ve tried all of the above and still haven’t resolved the issue, perhaps it’s just a case of your hardware being out of date. If it’s an older computer from early Windows 7 era, and it’s not running Windows 10, chances are you could stand to perform a hardware upgrade. While computers tend to last longer today than they did a decade ago, this doesn’t mean they are immune to the effects of aging. After all, no technology lasts forever. There are plenty of low-cost ways to upgrade your PC, so it’s just a matter of having the right connections. Laptops and smaller, less intensive desktops might be a bit more challenging to upgrade though.

Switch to a Solid-State Drive
A solid state drive doesn’t use mechanical parts, unlike the hard drive with its moving parts. SSDs tend to be faster and energy-efficient, and since they don’t build up as much heat, they are less prone to failure. Furthermore, SSDs have decreased in price over the past few years, making them more affordable as a whole, but high-capacity drives are still as expensive as ever. Swapping out a hard drive will require some work, but it will be well worth the effort. Just work with your IT department to make the change.

For more assistance with fixing up your slow computer, Net Activity is happy to help. To learn more, reach out to us at 216-503-5150.

How Proactive is Your IT Security?

prevention systems, and data encryption? If you’re not a managed IT services provider (MSP), you probably don’t. Instead, you’re probably looking for a business partner to manage those nitty-gritty details for you. However, there’s one thing you really ought to know: What exactly are “proactive cybersecurity” measures?

Understand the threats you’re facing

Before any small- or medium-sized business (SMB) can work toward preventing cyberattacks, everyone involved needs to know exactly what they’re up against. Whether you’re working with in-house IT staff or an MSP, you should review what types of attacks are most common in your industry. Ideally, your team would do this a few times a year.

Reevaluate what it is you’re protecting

Now that you have a list of the biggest threats to your organization, you need to take stock of how each one threatens the various cogs of your network. Map out every company device that connects to the internet, what services are currently protecting those devices, and what type of data they have access to (regulated, mission-critical, low-importance, etc.).

Create a baseline of protection

By reviewing current trends in the cybersecurity field and auditing your current technology framework, you can begin to get a clearer picture of how you want to prioritize your preventative measures versus your reactive measures.

Before you can start improving your cybersecurity approach, you need to know where your baseline is. Devise a handful of real-life scenarios and simulate them on your network. Network penetration testing from trustworthy IT professionals will help pinpoint weak spots in your current framework.

Finalize a plan

All these pieces will complete the puzzle of what your new strategy needs to be. With an experienced technology consultant on board for the entire process, you can easily synthesize the results of your simulation into a multi-pronged approach to proactive security:

• Security awareness seminars that coach all internal stakeholders – train everyone from the receptionist to the CEO about effective security practices such as password management, proper mobile device usage, and spam awareness
• Front-line defenses like intrusion prevention systems and hardware firewalls – scrutinize everything trying to sneak its way in through the borders of your network
• Routine checkups for software updates, licenses, and patches – minimize the chance of leaving a backdoor to your network open
• Web-filtering services – blacklist dangerous and inappropriate sites for anyone on your network
• Updated antivirus software – protect your data and systems against the latest and most menacing malware

As soon as you focus on preventing downtime events instead of reacting to them, your IT infrastructure will increase your productivity and efficiency to levels you’ve never dreamed of. Start enhancing your cybersecurity by giving us a call for a demonstration.

A Busy Staff Isn’t Always a Productive Staff

Productivity is one of the most vital parts of running a business, as without it no work can get done. Even if your employees look like they are keeping themselves busy, a study from the Harvard Business School suggests they may not be as busy as you think they are. How does this work, and what can you do to resolve this issue?

Idle Time in the Office
The study conducted by the Harvard Business School showcased that employers lose $100 billion each year to time spent by employees remaining idle in the office. Even the researchers were shocked by the sheer magnitude of this number. Professor Teresa Amabile and Professor Andrew Brodsky expected significant loss from idle time, but were floored by the actual sum.

For the purposes of the study, idle time is defined as time when an employee is ready and able to work, but something keeps them from being productive. Some of the primary causes of this idle time range from poor task allocation to equipment management availability, with everything in between.

One method of research used by Amabile and Brodsky involved running a series of experiments that tested the effects of being idle. The subjects would copy over sentences (including typos) without having access to the Internet or their phones. The researchers found that participants would draw out their tasks to fit the time they had to complete the task rather than just complete it as soon as possible. On the other hand, if they had the chance to use the Internet or their devices, they would instead complete the task as soon as possible so they could get to something less menial or more enjoyable. Going slower didn’t result in fewer errors–only more time spent on the task. The researchers dubbed this tendency to slow down the “deadtime effect,” noting that the “deadline effect” is different in that it causes an increase in productivity as the deadline draws near.

Fighting This Trend
According to the research, Amabile and Brodsky found that some strategic “leisure time” (time spent not working on something productive) was beneficial to keeping idle time to a minimum. If you can promote transparency and base evaluation of employees on outcomes rather than the road to those outcomes, managers can make the lives of employees much easier while still benefiting from all the work being done.

Thanks to the increased productivity such a policy can bring about, management can obtain a better perspective on how long specific tasks can take to accomplish. Consequently, tasks can be allocated more efficiently, allowing employees to get more done throughout the workday without sacrificing quality.

What are some methods you’ve used to improve productivity in your workplace? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to our blog.

How to Choose the Right Mouse

If you’re tired of using an uncomfortable mouse or struggling with your laptop’s trackpad, it’s time to buy a new one. But with so many brands and models out there, where would you even start looking? Here are a few tips that will help you decide on the right mouse.

Cable or wireless?

Choosing between a wired or a wireless mouse is a factor you have to consider if you’re planning on purchasing a new mouse. Wireless mice are generally more comfortable since your range of movement isn’t limited by a cable and they’re usually travel friendly. However, they tend to be less responsive, which can be frustrating.

In some cases, wireless mice can also interfere with other wireless devices nearby, and most require batteries, which can create problems when they run out of juice. And, if you use the same mouse for both work and home, you run the risk of losing the tiny USB receiver for your wireless mouse when you travel.

On the other hand, wired mice are cheaper and easy to plug-and-play. The only problem you’ll have to worry about is dealing with tangled wires. So when you’re deciding on a new mouse, think about whether you’re looking for comfort or convenience.

Ergonomics matters

You’re going to be using the new mouse for a while, so it’s important to choose one that feels comfortable in your hands. When deciding on the right mouse, focus on the size and the grip of the device. The size of the mouse usually comes down to hand size. For example, someone with smaller hands might find larger mice quite unwieldy.

Certain mice can also accommodate different types of grips — fingertip grip, palm grip, and claw grip. Users who want high-precision control of their cursor should opt for a mouse with fingertip grip, those needing comfort should get a palm grip mouse, and if you want both control and comfort, the claw grip mouse is the way to go.

DPI (dots per inch)

Higher sensitivity is necessary for precise mouse movements, especially if you’re editing images, videos, or audio files. Mice with 1200 DPI or greater guarantee finer control.

Although mouse specifications like DPI might be the last thing on your mind when it comes to buying new hardware, your comfort is important. A good mouse with the right fit can make you more efficient and reduce the risk of injury.

If you need assistance setting up the best hardware for your company, give us a call. We’re happy to help.

Your Technology Will Inevitably Need to Be Replaced. What’s Your Plan?

Replacing your aging or broken-down hardware is a part of doing business, and one that few business owners want to think about before it must be done. Hardware is expensive and tricky to replace without experiencing at least some downtime. That’s not to mention arguably one of the most important questions you have to ask yourself: What do you do with your old technology that’s filled with sensitive data?

Nobody likes talking about impending disasters or expenditures, but the failure of your mission-critical technology is something that you need to keep in mind, especially when planning your IT budget and expenses for the next few years. What happens with your old technology is of equal importance.

Plan for Your Technology’s Inevitable Replacement
When it comes to your mission-critical technology, having a plan can go a long way. You don’t want to be caught unaware, as a hardware failure can strike at any given moment. It helps to be prepared for untimely technology troubles by having an IT roadmap; a plan which details your technology expenditures over the next five or ten years. You should account for regular technology tune-ups and replacements, as well as emergency maintenance that’s impossible to predict.

Wipe All Hard Drives and Devices
It takes a lot more than a traditional factory reset to ensure that all of your business’s data has been removed from a hard drive. Before throwing your old PC out, make sure that this data concern has been addressed. Only a trained technology professional can provide the thorough scrubbing that a used hard drive needs before it’s thrown out. Palindrome Consulting can give you a hand with this delicate task.

Properly Dispose of Your Devices
Once you’re confident that your data has been removed from your hardware, it’s time to get rid of it. This is easier said than done, though. The world has a serious e-waste problem, especially in some developing countries. Hardware components contain precious metals that, in great quantities, can cause damage to the environment. Furthermore, developing countries that receive the bulk of this e-waste will use dangerous methods of isolating these materials, which further damage the atmosphere. It’s recommended that you contact Net Activity to properly and safely get rid of your e-waste for you.

Of course, if you’re just routinely upgrading your workstations, and there’s nothing really wrong with your old hardware, you might consider donating your outdated technology to local charities or nonprofits. Doing so gives your reputation a boost within your community, and can open the door to potential clientele. You can even keep it hanging around your office for use in the event that a workstation becomes unusable.

Does this process sound like too big of a pain? Whatever you do, don’t just throw out your old and ailing technology. Instead, contact Net Activity at 216-503-5150. We can work with your business to build an IT roadmap to plan out future technology acquisitions, as well as help you wipe your old technology and dispose of it in an environmentally-friendly manner.

3 Ways VoIP Can Enhance Your Employees’ Collaboration: Here’s How

It’s not every day that you encounter a business technology solution that’s capable of connecting all of your employees together in a quick and easy way. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, is a great way for your business’ employees to collaborate, both in and out of the office. We’ll go into three reasons why your business should invest in VoIP now to further improve operations and efficiency regarding employee collaboration.

VoIP Improves Inter-Department Communication
If you’re relying on traditional landline telephones to get in touch with your employees, there are countless events that can make this more complicated and time-consuming. What if the employee isn’t at their desk and you have to leave a voicemail? Furthermore, what if the employee doesn’t see the voicemail until much later on in the day? While this might be fine if the issue isn’t immediate, it doesn’t help urgent situations where you need a response as soon as possible. VoIP doesn’t rely on your traditional handset, as it can be used on multiple different devices even while away from the desk, making it more likely that your calls won’t fall on deaf ears.

VoIP Allows for Flexibility
Many organizations these days have at least a couple of employees who work out of the office, even if it’s only from time-to-time. If you give these employees options for how to stay in contact with your office, you create more opportunity for collaboration when it matters most. Like we said, VoIP can be used on many different kinds of devices, including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, bringing in a level of flexibility that you could only dream of with a traditional landline solution.

VoIP Takes Advantage of Additional Features
Can your landline phone service give you access to video conferencing to make remote workers or prospective clients feel like they’re right there in the room with you? What about instant messaging? How about all of the features that a traditional phone service has (conference calling, forwarding, etc.) in addition to all kinds of additional services that enhance the way your team collaborates? VoIP is so dynamic that you can add in any additional features you need as you see fit. It’s not like cable television where you have a bunch of channels you don’t need, but are still paying for–we only want you paying for services you find value with.

Does your business want to get started with a quality VoIP solution that can save you money while improving the success of your employees? Net Activity can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 216-503-5150.

Don’t Let Negative Reviews Ruin your Brand

Negative reviews on sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Ripoff Report will damage your brand’s online presence . So how can you protect your company from defamatory and false reviews that show up on search results for your business? Here’s the best strategy.

Don’t engage site or users directly

Don’t send emails demanding to have the content removed or engage with the person who posted the content in an attempt to resolve the issue. The main reason: both users and content posted are not verified.

There have been reports of users posting fake reviews in an attempt to solicit money from businesses they criticize. A few of these sites also claim to offer paid services to remove bad reviews but business owners should be extremely wary of any site offering to remove or edit a review in exchange for cash.

Get on social media

If one of these negative reviews makes its way onto the first page of Google’s search results, create social media profiles to bury it. Not only do active and relevant social media profiles outrank negative reviews, they also provide your past, present, and future clients with better information.

Even if you already have a Facebook and Twitter account, don’t be afraid to expand beyond that to Instagram, LinkedIn, and even Quora. It’s also a good idea to get on Foursquare, Google+, and any other sites where reviews are verified by real users and not nameless people who don’t have to be accountable for what they say. Remember to update these regularly to ensure they stay at or near the top of the search result rankings.

Encourage positive reviews

You need to encourage customers to post positive reviews on verified review sites. Like social media profiles, positive reviews from credible review sites will outrank negative reviews from defamation sites.

Depending on what your business does, sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Angie’s List, or even Facebook are great places to have satisfied customers leave reviews. Of course, getting them to do that can be difficult.

Consider offering a discount to customers who post a review of your business on any of these sites. Doing this will help you climb up in search rankings while increasing customer loyalty.

Combine efforts with an SEO strategy

To optimize your brand’s search results, you will have to create positive content that is search engine optimized. Aside from social media profiles and good reviews on verified sites, optimizing search results for your brand start with its website. Promote a positive message about your brand with benefits and customer reviews.

Strengthen your website with regular content such as newsletters, case studies, and blog articles. Content is about building consumer trust by being helpful. An informative blog is the best way to start.

Avoid “selling” your brand on every piece of content. The best practice is keep this down to 20% of your overall content, or two out of ten blog articles.

Try posting helpful videos on your company’s YouTube and be active on all your social media. It also won’t hurt to partner with influencers on social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram to spread positive comments about your brand.

These are just a few strategies companies use to manage their online presence. For more ways to get positive search results, call our team of experts today

How to Use Your Smartphone as a Productivity Enhancer

There is no shortage of useful devices that a business could benefit from, but the most popular is undoubtedly the smartphone. As a communication tool, it is effectively unparalleled – you can use your device to conduct business and communicate from anywhere. However, this is neglecting many of the other abilities that make the smartphone a smart choice for your business productivity, especially when you’re mobile.

Alternate Communications
Sure, the ability to make and take calls on-the-go is spectacularly beneficial to business processes, but what if your needs aren’t communicated well by voice? What if your information will need to be referenced for hours to come… are your employees (or you, for that matter) able to retain lots of information for that long?

Probably not, which is why a smartphone is such a great communication tool–it isn’t limited to just voice. Information can be input and shared through many different outlets with these handy little devices, whether you choose to send an email or text, access a document in your company’s drive, or record instructions aloud that your employees can play back as they need.

It is important to remember that we now have plenty of means to communicate, and that our smartphones can handle them all, not just one.

Management
Any business will require no small amount of management to remain up and running, and this includes much more than the activities performed by “management.” For instance, when it comes to project management, many team members may need to have collaborative capabilities to go in and make changes at odd times and from odd places. Furthermore, in the interest of productivity, some employees may want to take a spare moment and arrange their upcoming day. If this impulse strikes them at home, their smartphone could very well allow them to do so.

Learning Tool
Of course, not all time spent productively necessarily has to be spent on a specific task. One great way to improve how you work in general, is learning better methods and strategies to do so. Smartphones are excellent learning tools, with access to plenty of materials that are delivered in a great variety of ways. Whether you read a quick blog post on your phone with your morning coffee, listen to a podcast during your commute, or squeeze in a quick video sometime during your day, you can learn new skills and strategies to use to benefit your business’ operations.

Organization
There is no question that even the smallest business is a fairly complex machine, filled with moving parts and interwoven tasks. As a result, keeping your business organized is a prerequisite to its success. Your smartphone will have a variety of tools and features that ultimately make this much easier, from calendars that integrate with other services and task lists to keep you on schedule, with access to cloud-based tools making it easier to manage and organize your company’s documents and files.

A smartphone essentially combines the communicative powers of a telephone with the access of the Internet and the capabilities of an assistant (which we’ll dive into more in a moment), so it only makes sense that its organizational tools would be one of its strongest offerings.

Personal Assistant
Who among us hasn’t dreamt of a personal assistant? While they may not be able to do laundry or feed your cat, the various assistants that smartphones feature are more than capable of offering a helping hand in quite a few situations. Need to make a quick call? Tell the Google Assistant to call a particular contact. Need to add a business meeting with your team to your calendar? Windows 10’s Cortana is on it. Want to set a reminder to start the laundry once you get home, and to feed Sir Fluffington promptly at 6:45? All doable with your smartphone, allowing you to focus on your other, pressing business (and personal) matters.

Establishing “Me” Time
How often are you trying to work on something, only to have your smartphone interrupt you with an “SOS” that really wasn’t, or another group chat that doesn’t currently pertain to you? Fortunately, the average smartphone has a few key features that help to eliminate these frustrations, as long as they are used responsibly: the capability to silence your ringer, and the nuclear option, enabling Do Not Disturb.

Some tasks just require you to take the interrupted time to complete them, and sometimes, this is impossible to do without effectively taking the source of interruptions away.

While you should always go back and catch up on what happened during your reserved period of uninterrupted productivity, some tasks are just too pressing and/or important to have extraneous concerns come butting in. While the customizations that a smartphone offers can be fun, sometimes it’s better not to hear notification after notification, whether you picked the sounds or not.

How to Securely Eke the Most Productivity out of a Smartphone
Of course, being productive is one thing, and sacrificing your business’ security for the sake of productivity is quite another. That’s why, if you plan on allowing smartphones to be a part of your company’s toolkit, you need to ensure that your company’s security isn’t lacking as a result.

Net Activity Inc. can help you to leverage mobile devices in your business securely, with our mobile device management services. We can take you through the process of implementing MDM, and help you come up with a Bring Your Own Device Policy for your employees to follow. Call us at 216-503-5150 to learn more.