Tag Archive for: IT support

Ready to turn the page on 2020? No matter what business you are in, you faced unprecedented challenges during the last year. The businesses that survived—and even thrived—had to adapt. Remote collaboration, sales, and customer service are here to stay. But is that enough? What else can you do to grow your business in 2021 amidst the continuing complications of COVID, uncertain economic pressures, and high levels of unemployment?

Embrace Remote Technology

Everyone is now acquainted with Zoom, Skype, Teams, or some other remote streaming platform. But just having access to an app may not be enough—at least not to distinguish you from your competition. For many businesses, the inability to interact face-to-face with clients, prospects, and teammates disrupts normal best practices. Here’s what you can do to embrace the new normal:

  • Upgrade audio capabilities so you can communicate clearly
  • Consider what background will best represent you and your business
  • Turn on your video or webcam for every professional interaction
  • Ensure your home or office has adequate Internet connectivity
  • Train every employee on the fundamentals of Zoom, Teams, and other popular platforms

Think Outside the Office

Successful businesses in 2021 may find that reducing or eliminating office space is now a cost-efficient option. While changes to your operation will present challenges, the new remote office environment can also offer new opportunities. Here are some of the benefits:

  • An expanded talent pool for new hires who may not need to live in your area
  • Greater flexibility for employees to complete projects and collaborate from anywhere
  • Face-to-face sales and customer service
  • Expanded training and outreach opportunities including webinars and online conferences

Protect Your Digital Spaces

COVID wasn’t the only plague infecting our world in 2020. The largest information breach in history took place as well, compromising many government agencies and corporations. Your online data and privacy are too important—especially in the new digital office environment—to leave vulnerable to attack. Every virtual office needs to address the following:

  • Password protocols and multifactor authentication
  • Firewalls, antivirus, and antimalware
  • Using virtual private networks (VPNs) when sharing information online
  • Phishing scam avoidance
  • Security updates and maintenance
  • Data backup and recovery

Simpleworks—Your IT Partner for the New Digital Workspace

Simpleworks IT in Colorado Springs is a leading managed IT services provider. We offer an array of services and packages for small- to medium-sized businesses who want the benefits of an in-house IT team without the overhead. The transition to digital office space has been challenging for many businesses, but you aren’t alone. Get in touch with Simpleworks today and learn more about how we can help your business thrive in 2021.

 

 

In a year that brought suffering to every community in the world, perhaps no group has been hit harder by COVID-19 than assisted-living facilities and nursing homes. Not only are residents disproportionately affected by the virus, but they have also found themselves cut off from their families and friends.

However, thanks to Zoom, Skype, and other video conferencing software, elderly residents in assisted living facilities and nursing homes can stay connected to their loved ones. This requires, though, that their facility have the necessary infrastructure and support needed to keep them connected. At Simpleworks, we are deeply concerned about the quality of life of the seniors in our community and want to reach out to administrators of assisted living facilities to offer our help and support.

Connectivity—A Requirement in the Post-COVID World

Nearly every assisted living facility and nursing home has Wi-Fi connectivity. But just having Wi-Fi available is likely not sufficient. Residents are spending much more time streaming video to keep in contact. More streaming requires more bandwidth. If your facility is not keeping up with the demands of its residents, there are several possible issues:

  • Insufficient bandwidth from the Internet provider
  • Inadequate router
  • Poor area coverage
  • Outdated technology

Many times, facilities assume that if they have slow Wi-Fi, they must need more bandwidth from their provider. But this is often not the case. The most common issue in a multi-user environment is the router device itself and its deployment.

Simplify Connectivity for Seniors

Simpleworks specializes in setting up Wi-Fi networks that ensure every user has the bandwidth he or she needs to have the best quality of life possible. Our certified technicians can assess the Wi-Fi connectivity issues at your facility, install appropriate devices where needed, and train or assist staff. We also offer managed IT services if your facility would benefit from additional IT support.

To do our part to help a vulnerable population in our community, Simpleworks would like to offer a free network evaluation to all assisted living facilities and nursing homes in the Colorado Springs area. All of us need to stay connected – we can help.

Contact us today about scheduling your free network evaluation.

Stay safe!

 

At Simpleworks, we recognize the need for our customers to have access to as many of our support services as possible. To address this need, our recently redesigned website has an advanced computer services customer portal that features customization options, communication tools, and useful information. We are already receiving great feedback about the added capabilities of our new site, especially the customer portal, so we’re confident that this improved access will benefit your company as well.

Advanced Features of the Simpleworks Customer Portal

The new portal is more than just a bill pay system. Here are some of the features of the Simpleworks customer portal:

  • Ticket submission — After logging in to the secure account area, our customers can submit a support ticket directly to our IT staff and monitor its progress.
  • Ticket templates — Many issues are common and general, so we’ve provided quick submission templates to make your submission even faster.
  • Account controls — Customers can review their plan, pay their bill, and download invoices from the Simpleworks customer portal.
  • Informational links — The portal also features links to important information about services, IT issues, and more.
  • Emergency contact — For our customers who face an IT emergency after normal business hours, submitting a ticket on the Simpleworks customer portal is the best way to contact our support staff.

Meeting the Needs of Our Customers

At Simpleworks, we continually strive to find new ways of meeting our customers’ demands. IT systems are vital to most businesses in the modern marketplace, so you can’t trust your success to a subpar IT service and support company in Colorado Springs.

Simpleworks has a proven record of providing superior IT customer service to a wide range of clients—both commercial and residential—in southern Colorado. Give us a call today to see how we can help your business to implement the IT solutions that will keep you operational, efficient, and protected.

Nearly every business today relies heavily on information technology. Computers, Internet service, servers, phone systems, email, data storage, and calendars are all necessary for most businesses, large or small. We generally don’t realize how much we rely on our IT, in fact, until something goes wrong. But a disruption to any IT system can mean a serious hit to productivity, and even lost profits. Unfortunately, no matter how many precautions are put into place, IT systems will malfunction from time to time. These disruptions strike without warning at any time, day or night.

Simpleworks understands how vital it is that companies stay up and running, which is why we offer a 24/7 IT support service. Whether you have a system-wide crash on a large network or trouble with an individual computer, we have an IT specialist standing by to assist.

Superior 24/7 IT Support

Simpleworks offers a wide range of troubleshooting and repair services 24 hours a day. We have expertise with both Macs and Windows-based PCs, hardware and software issues, as well as connectivity and communications problems.

Beyond their expertise, our Colorado Springs computer support team is efficient, friendly, and professional. We understand how vital it is to keep our clients’ IT systems fully functional, so we tackle every problem as if it was our own—promptly and efficiently. This dedication to the needs of our customers is why we are the most trusted IT support company in Colorado Springs.

How Our 24/7 IT Support Service Works

All you need to do is submit a ticket to our 24/7 computer support team at support@simpleworksit.com or through our automated phone system. You will then receive a response within one hour. Our technician will diagnose the problem and may be able to assist remotely. If not, we will come to you. If you are a larger company, you may want to set up a contract with us that includes 24/7 computer support. If not, we offer an hourly rate to cover your specific emergency.

Don’t Let Your IT Down!

Don’t spin your wheels trying to troubleshoot a problem yourself or let your IT problems lead to a loss of productivity or profits. Give the pros at Simpleworks a call today so we can get your back up and running!

 

If you are a typical customer, you have no doubt had some less than pleasant experiences with tech support at some point—or at all points. If you can find a number to call, you will probably have to traverse your way through a maze of automated options (none of which ever seem to address the specific problem). If you can find your way to a human being, there are generally five types of techs you will encounter:

1. The Robot: The robot reads to you from a script that may or may not apply to what you’re asking. It will probably make you answer a series of unrelated questions before finding a script that seems appropriate. Whatever you do, don’t ask the robot how its day is going (there isn’t a script for that question, so the robot will become disoriented).

2. The Kindergarten Teacher: The Kindergarten Teacher will talk to you in a soft, slow voice and insist that your modem is not plugged in correctly or needs to be restarted. After assuring the Kindergarten Teacher that you’ve already checked that, he or she will ask you if your monitor is plugged in. This can go on for hours and will leave you feeling like a child, but the problem still won’t be fixed.

3. The Drive-Thru Voice: The Drive-Thru Voice is saying something to you, but you have no idea what it is. Every time you try to clarify, the voice on the other end asks you to repeat it or spell it out, but you can’t be sure. After 10 minutes, you may have finally been able to explain the problem, but right about then you’ll get disconnected.

4. The Slacker: The Slacker will not know how to fix your issue and will seem quite uninterested in finding out. The Slacker will sound irritated that you interrupted his or her game of minesweeper and is perfectly content leaving you with a “You’ll need to bring it in” instead of searching for a solution. One positive, though, is that the Slacker may transfer you to the Wizard.

5. The Wizard: The Wizard gets on the phone and immediately instills confidence. The Wizard knows everything about your computer, how to explain every step, and exactly what the problem is. He is the IT professional you’ve been searching for your whole life. Make sure to keep him or her on the line as long as possible, though, because once you hang up, you may never get the Wizard again.

Now, if you’re just trying to get your tablet to unfreeze, this isn’t much more than a hassle. If you are a business, though, proactive tech support can mean the difference between profits and deficits. Nearly every business serves its customers with some kind of technology, and technical difficulties are guaranteed to arise from time to time. Without proactiveengaged, and skilled IT specialists backing you up, your company will lose money and productivity—even customers.

But you don’t just want to make sure that you get the Wizard every time you call tech support; you want the Wizard to call you before a problem even happens! A proactive IT support company will go beyond troubleshooting by:

  • Performing routine maintenance
  • Looking at statistics and trends to predict and prevent future technical problems
  • Scheduling service outages in advance for times when user requirements will be low instead of inconveniencing customers and employees with lengthy, unscheduled outages that occur due to neglect or lack of foresight.

While many IT support companies may have more wizards than slackers, they often only help their customers once a problem arises. A company like Simpleworks, on the other hand, provides proactive customer service—not just when everyone in the office suddenly can’t get online—but by helping businesses avoid service outages and other inconvenient IT problems in the first place.

When it comes time for your business to select an IT solutions company, choosing a proactive IT support company will help you to conserve precious resources while at the same time providing top-notch customer service. By properly maintaining a company’s infrastructure, proactive support will help your company save money and provide better customer service. After all, happy customers lead to profitable businesses.

So if you’re tired of going through all those other slacking IT companies in town, don’t get frustrated anymore: give the awesome guys at Simpleworks a call today! They are there to help you at any time of day and are on their toes, ready to inform you of an issue before you may even know about it. Contact them now!