Consider the Customer Experience When Selecting a Business Phone System

Mistake: Your phone system isn’t just about how you connect to others. Your phone system is about how others connect with you. When selecting a phone system, you must consider what your customers will experience when they call. Do you want to provide them with a dial by name or department directory? Do you want to give priority for certain customers? Do you want to be able to reroute your customer calls instantly to insure that they always get the best service even if one of your offices is closed or your customer service manager is out sick.

 

How to Avoid: Put yourself in all users’ shoes – including your customers. Test the system from every perspective. Make a call and try navigating your phone directory from their point of view. Be sure to test this during business hours and after hours. Consider the differences in how you would be able to service customers.

To find out what solution is best for you and your budget contact a Wilson Technology Group representative at:  352-796-9891; cs@wilsontechgroup.com  or visit our web site: www.wilsontechgroup.com    

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Selecting a Business Phone System –

 The phone allows your business to flourish. It’s your lifeline to the outside world and is critical to the image you project to customers. It’s your connection to your customers and millions of prospective customers who will reach out to you. That is why selecting the right phone system is important. You need to be sure that the system you choose is reliable and adaptable to the changing needs of your growing business. There’s no need to waste time with trial and error when you can learn from other businesses like yours. To help, we’ve compiled five common mistakes people make when selecting a business phone system; and, more importantly, how you can avoid making these mistakes.

Avoid the following:

1. Going with your residential provider
2. Buying solely on price
3. Discounting the customer experience
4. Over/under estimating growth
5. Forcing a square peg into a round hole

We will elaborate on each of the above in upcoming blogs.

For further information on Wilson Technology Group’s Services (business phones/computers/security cameras/cabling and more) call today  or go to our website at:  www.wilsontechgroup.com.

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Cloud Based Compliance: Legal Liability and Third Party Validation

Whenever access to shared resources is constantly changing hands, ensuring the company is secure and compliant is like monitoring children in different rooms at the same time.  It takes extra effort to keep everyone safe and happy – otherwise, chaos ensues.  This applies with all shared resources, including hardware, software, or storage mediums.

Unless you have complete control of your cloud-based assets, it is unlikely you can do much about how a cloud provider secures the data in their care.  There are many data centers that make great efforts to obtain compliance certifications; however, you will probably be acting on faith that they remain secure and compliant.

Wilson Technology Group is an IT and Telecommunications firm serving the Tampa Bay Area.   Services include:  computers; business phone systems; CCTV; wired and wireless networks; audio visual; access control; and more.

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Cloud Based Compliance: Disclaimers of Liability – Laws and Regulations

The terms of a cloud provider’s service-level agreement (SLA) normally states that the provider accepts no liability for data breaches.  This is understandable from their perspective because the cost and effort to manage and track everyone involved in the hosting and use of the servers would be incredibly challenging.  The bottom line is, when there is a data security breach, the cloud provider is not at risk but your company is.

Many regulations and laws, such as HIPAA, require that access to private data be limited to the minimum number of necessary data fields required for a specific purpose.  This level of granular detail is not a function of the cloud, but instead a function of the cloud-based application.  Many such applications, particularly if they were originally designed for more general-purpose use, are not capable of meeting such compliance needs.

Moving data between secure systems and data bases can create points of greater risk or exposure.  Standardization can help solve this problem, but we find that a large number of of system interfaces are still custom-built and often lack security that is as robust as the applications themselves.

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HIPAA: New Requirements for Business Associate Agreements

An organization’s Business Associate (BA) Agreements may need to be amended or updated to comply with the Final Rule.  Under the new regulations, BA Agreements must now require that the BA will do the following:

1)  Comply, where applicable, with the HIPAA Security Rule

2)  Report breaches of unsecured PHI to the Covered Entity as required under the breach notification rules

3)  Make certain that any subcontractors that create or receive PHI on behalf of the BA agree to the same restrictions and conditions that apply to the BA (there must now be a BA Agreement in place between a BA and its subcontractors in these circumstances)

4)  Comply with the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule whenever the BA is required to perform the Covered Entity’s obligation under the Privacy Rule.  BA Agreeements entered into prior to 1/25/13, between Covered Entities and BA’s (as well as BA’s and their subcontractors) that are not renewed or modified between between 3/26/13 and 9/23/13 and that met the requirements of HIPAA and HITECH prior to 1/25/13, will be granted grandfathered status and deemed to continue in compliance until 9/23/14 or the date the contract is renewed or modified, whichever occurs first.  All other BA Agreements must be in compliance with the new regulations by 9/23/13.

Taken in part from:  Miller & Martin, PLLC   3/8/2013

HIPAA: Fundraising

The Final Rule sets new limits on how information is used and disclosed for marketing and fundraising purposes and prohibits the sale of individuals’ health information without their permission.  The final Rule tightens the rules about providing individuals the opportunity to opt out of receiving future fundraising materials and requires clear instructions on how to opt out.

 

Wilson Technology Group services include:  business phone systems; computers; networks; security cameras; wired and wireless networks; and more!

Data Breaches Damage Relationships

Consumers clearly feel very strongly about the perceived betrayal of trust that a data breach represents.  A global study of consumer attitudes towards company stewardship of personal data conducted by gthe Economist Intelligence Unit shows that data breaches can cause major damage to the business of the companies affected.  In the following article , http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=14779, more than 32% of the respondents in the study said they “strongly agreed” with the statement that, in the event of a data breach, they would cease to do business with the organization concerned.