Tag Archives: Computer Network Willow Grove

Hiring an External Team for Your Internal IT Help Desk

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A nurse speaking on the phone in the nurses station to an internal IT help desk

Having your own internal help desk is costly and not efficient compared to hiring a MSP

If your business doesn’t support a piece of software or offer online services, then there’s a good chance that you don’t have an IT help desk team. Hardware stores, insurance brokers, and dentists offices — as a few examples — usually wouldn’t include an IT help desk among their departments or full-time staff. Many manufacturing companies, 3PL suppliers, retail, and financial services don’t include IT. Real estate agencies also probably don’t have an IT help desk either.

So if your business doesn’t have one, it’s certainly no surprise. After all, why would you? If you never have customers calling in for help with computers and programs, then there’s no need for a customer-facing IT help desk. But… that doesn’t necessarily mean that your business -never- needs IT support or wouldn’t benefit from a little IT expertise from time to time. This is why many companies that have no outward facing IT still have a team on board to handle internal IT challenges.

Internal vs External IT Help Desks

Not all companies understand the difference between internal and external IT help desks. An external help desk would be a team of people who take calls and emails from customers. This is only necessary if your business results in a significant number of customers who need technical help, like a company that produces software and then has a help desk to help customers use that software.

But an internal help desk is an entirely different story. Even if the products/services you provide aren’t very technical and don’t require IT support, there are still dozens of computers and technological processes going on inside the business itself. And employees don’t always know how to handle their own IT.

An Internal IT help desk isn’t for the customers. It’s for the employees. This kind of service gives your team members someone to call if their computer breaks, if they can’t access their email, or if the business wifi appears to have dropped. And to have someone with solutions on-hand in case of a malware attack. These are not things customers need to worry about, but your employees do.

Outsourcing Your Internal IT Help Desk

Now comes the question of cost and convenience. Most small to medium businesses don’t actually have the resources available to add an entirely new team to the mix. Or the space to give them a separate office area. Even if your business uses enough technology in a day to need an internal IT help desk, you may not be in the right position to hire one onto your core staff.

In fact, in many cases, it would not actually be beneficial for a business to hire their own full-time IT staff. Why? Because they don’t have enough IT problems to justify full-time work. The beauty of a help desk is that they are there when you need them and, presumably, working on other things when you don’t.

This is why outsourced IT has become such a rising trend in the current business community. Both for managed services and on-call help desk support. If you need an internal IT help desk to solve email and software problems but don’t have the demand or infrastructure to hire internally, you don’t have to!

Outsourcing your internal IT help desk is a great way to both provide your team with the IT support they need and minimize the burden on your company for adding this new layer of support.

If you have been struggling to keep up with internal IT demands, there’s no need to go on this way. With outsourcing innovations, you can easily hire the time and expertise an IT help desk when you need the support without worrying about keeping your technicians busy when everything is working perfectly. Or paying for a new full-time department. For more insights into the possibilities of outsourced IT services, contact us today!

Microsoft Product Releases: What’s Going On With Windows 10?

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Microsoft Product Releases

If you’re on our Managed Service Platform your already covered on how and when this rolls out in your environment

Windows 10 was released over three years ago, and the latest reports show that it’s now used on approximately 45.5 percent of all PCs that run Windows. This makes it the operating system with the most widespread usage around the world.

Since its release, it has also regularly undergone updates that have introduced new features and fixed various bugs. What’s the status of the latest update, and what can we expect in the near future?

Version 1809 Getting Rolled Out

Version 1809, the latest of the Windows 10 updates, was initially released in October of last year. Unfortunately, some users experienced problems with it, including file deletion and incompatibility with various applications.

Over the last couple of months, Microsoft has tackled these problems, and in the middle of January it began to roll out the Version 1809 update automatically. However, you may not have yet received the automatic update on your devices. The roll-out is phased, and the first devices to receive this latest version of Windows 10 are the ones that Microsoft has deemed most likely to run it without major issues.

If you don’t want to wait for the automatic update, you could try installing Version 1809 on your own. However, this may not be advisable, because it may not be a good fit with your device at this point; there’s a possibility you’ll experience frustrating performance issues. With a phased roll-out, Microsoft can carefully monitor the effects of the update and keep fixing it as needed. By the time it gets to you, you’ll receive the benefits of the improvements.

Exciting New Features for Windows 10

Along with monitoring the automatic updates of Version 1809, consider the upcoming features of Windows 10 explored in previews.

What are some of the highlights?

Intelligent Active Hours. Speaking of automatic updates, it can be terribly frustrating – and sometimes quite costly – when your computer starts an update when you’re in the middle of work. Windows 10 already lets you set Active Hours, telling your computer when not to initiate an update. Let’s say you’ve made your hours 9 am to 7 pm. What happens on days when you need to work later (or earlier) than usual? It’s unlikely you’ll remember to manually change your Active Hour settings. That’s when Intelligent Active Hours come into effect. Windows, on its own, will sense whether you’re still using your device outside of the Active Hours you personally set. This smart feature makes it less likely that an untimely update and restart will interrupt your work.

Windows Sandbox. This feature allows you to open an untested application on your computer without fear that it will destroy your device through malware or by other means. As you figure out what the application does, it will remain within the sandbox until you choose to dispose of it.

Windows Defender Antivirus Tamper Protection. Given the ever-present threat of viruses and malware, it’s critical to not only have Windows Defender Antivirus but to also limit who’s controlling its settings on your devices. Tamper Protection is a new feature that restricts the changes you can make to Windows Defender outside of the Windows Security app.

Cortana and Search Split. Cortana, the voice-activated digital assistant unique to Windows, has so far been integrated with Search in Windows 10, but Microsoft now plans to have them separated in the taskbar. What are the advantages to a separation? As discussed in an article at WindowsCentral.com, the rationale is that Microsoft can continue to develop the capabilities of both without having them interfere with each other.

There’s little wonder that Windows 10 is a popular operating system. Microsoft keeps coming out with improvements and is quick to tackle the bugs that crop up along the way. If you have any questions or concerns about Windows 10 installations, updates, and features, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll ensure that Windows 10 runs smoothly on your devices and that you make the most of what it can offer.