ThinkTech IT Blog

As a business owner today, you are now facing unprecedented challenges to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic. You are asked to self-isolate and practice social distancing to “flatten the curve.” You are asked to allow your employees to work from home to reduce possible exposure and slow the spread of COVID-19.

These are all reasonable requests. However, as a business owner you also need to maximize productivity, bring in revenue and try to grow your business in these demanding times. How can you accomplish these goals when your office is now a ghost town and productivity has fallen off a cliff?

The answer lies in setting up your office to function remotely. If you’ve never implemented a work-from-home policy before, it may seem like a whole different world. Managing an entirely remote workforce goes far beyond giving your employees a laptop and reminding them to check in every once in a while. After all, there are many factors most business owners haven’t ever had to consider, such as:

• What technologies do I need?
• How can my employees work from home without compromising the security of our network?
• How can I make this new work environment as easy, comfortable and productive as possible?

We understand these are unique times. We know that “business as usual” is going to be quite different for an undetermined amount of time. But together we can help you adjust to today’s new normal by giving you the tools, technologies and insights to create a secure and productive work-from-home business environment. Here are three important considerations to getting you set up and running a successful work-from-home business:

1. Don’t allow employees to use home computers or devices. Their mindset may be, “Well, I’m working from home so I may as well use my home computer.” This is a dangerous mistake. Our team works hard to ensure your company computers and network are secure and protected from malware, viruses and cyber-attacks. Their home computers and devices could be littered with tons of downloaded music, videos, images and more. Because it’s more exposed, it can invite malware into your network. Rather, provide a company-approved and secured computer/laptop for employees to use at home.

2. Secure their WiFi access point. Without a secure WiFi access point, you’re essentially leaving a back door open to hackers. That’s because WiFi signals are often broadcast far beyond your employees’ homes and out into streets. Yes, drive-by hacking is popular among cybercriminals today. A few tips for securing your employees’ WiFi access points:

• Use stronger encryption and a more complex password
• Hide your network name
• Use a firewall

These security measures are not difficult to set up. But if you have any questions or need assistance, we will be happy to help get your employees set up remotely.

3. Use a two-factor authentication VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network. It’s essentially a private, encrypted tunnel that goes direct to your IT network in your office. Ideally, you’ll want your VPN to support two-factor authentication. This means it’s doubly secure because your employees will need to call in to access the network. If you don’t have a VPN for your employees to use, you can consider other services, such as GoToMyPC or Zoho. While these products are not as secure, at least they keep your home network from being exposed.

As business owners ourselves, we too are having to pivot and work differently than we ever have before. However, because we have the technology and infrastructure in place, we are still surprisingly productive.

Our team wants to help your business survive and thrive during today’s unique environment. If you and your IT team need extra hands right now…or solutions to help your employees work SECURELY from home…we have software tools, expert staff and resources we’d like to offer you to keep your business as productive as possible.

Here’s a link to our booking page if you wish to book a quick 10- to 15-minute call to discuss: https://www.thinktechit.com/free-consultation 

Please know that this is not a sales call but simply an outreach to help a fellow business stay afloat.

It’s the perfect time for hackers to send e-mails with dangerous malware and viruses. Right now, your inbox is probably filled with “COVID-19” subject lines and coronavirus-focused e-mails.

Hackers are even using a fake cdc-gov e-mail address that’s not legitimate and spamming inboxes.

How can you tell a phishing e-mail from a legitimate one? Here’s a few telltale signs:

• Look closely at the e-mail address to make sure it’s spelled correctly.
• Hover over any links in the e-mail (but DON’T CLICK) to see the ACTUAL website you’ll be directed to. If there’s a mismatched or suspicious URL, delete the e-mail immediately.
• Watch for poor grammar and spelling errors.
• Never download an attachment unless you know who sent it and what it is.

When in doubt, call the person who supposedly sent the e-mail on the phone to verify it’s legitimate.

Want more tips for setting up safe Work From Home networks? Check out our Free Tech Support Offer blog post or learn more at our Understanding IT Resource Center. 

Of course, if you have an immediate IT need, you can always reach us at 888-574-6365.

IT COMPANY OFFERS FREE TECH SUPPORT TO HELP BUSINESSES IN NEED DURING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

ThinkTech IT is providing free tech services to support the surge of remote workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NEW YORK, April 7, 2020—ThinkTech IT, a leader in Managed IT and Professional Services, is offering free tech support to businesses during the coronavirus outbreak. While the NYC-based company provides services in and around New York, New Jersey and Maryland, they’re extending support to businesses across the country with the unified goal of ensuring that technology helps, not hinders, a business’s ability to succeed during this global pandemic.

For businesses that were forced out of offices and into homes, adapting to remote work can present an unexpected and aggravating obstacle course. To ease that transition and help businesses stay productive and operate seamlessly in the face of uncertainty, ThinkTech IT will provide key technology support, including video conferencing, screen sharing, email, printing, document sharing and more — to new clients free of cost.

The new normal born out of the COVID-19 outbreak is challenging small and large businesses alike. With the sudden rise of remote work, companies are struggling to onboard employees and anticipate their technology needs as fast as possible. Managing partners Anthony Lisciotto and Steven Chencharik hope their company’s philanthropic efforts will serve as a way to help businesses adjust to the learning curve of remote work and alleviate the stress associated with any technology barriers they might face at this time.

“We were looking for a way to give back and it just felt like the right thing to do,” says Lisciotto. “Fashion companies are knitting masks, landlords are waiving rent, and we’re here to help small businesses get connected and stay connected.”

As both the nation’s current necessity and overall trend of remote work continue to climb at a rapid pace, ThinkTech IT is driven to play a critical role in supporting the growing number of employees at home — bridging a gap between the physical and virtual workplaces. In a recent national study that poled 5,000 American adults on their experiences working remotely, 80% reported feeling helpless and that things were out of their control — underscoring the need for technology support that empowers employees more than ever.

“Everyone could use a break right now and we wanted to do our part by ensuring small businesses keep running through tough times,” says Chencharik. “We’ve never seen more of a need for remote collaboration and at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.”

 About ThinkTech IT

ThinkTech IT is a Managed IT and Professional Services company located in New York City that functions as a technology partner to support its clients’ growth and safeguard its stability with proactive care, around the clock maintenance and live help desk support. Founded by Steven Chencharik and Anthony Lisciotto in 2017, ThinkTech IT is driven to make IT support as simple and hassle-free as possible, giving companies the ability to focus on their business and not the security and reliability of their networks.

In January 2020, ThinkTech IT closed its most profitable year, proudly continuing the company’s 100% client retention rate since it began in 2017. To celebrate its 100% increase year-over-year, ThinkTech IT launched “ThinkText” as the company’s signature personalized service. This allows clients to connect with a network of IT experts who are trained to provide guided support via text messaging—a true culmination of the company’s promise to provide 24/7/365 availability and individualized treatment, redefining the live help desk experience as a seamless extension of managed IT support.

To learn more about what sets ThinkTech IT apart from other providers, visit thinktechit.com/about-us/our-difference or thinktechit.com.

CONTACT:

Samantha N. Olson

888-574-6365

Best,

Anthony

Anthony Lisciotto

Managing Partner

ThinkTech IT

Main 888-574-6365

thinktechit.com

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