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And the winner of the Cisco Flip MinoHD camera giveaway at Homeland Secure IT is…

And the Winner of the Cisco Flip MinoHD camcorder is

And the Winner of the Cisco Flip MinoHD camcorder is

Now for the moment you have been waiting for…   Drum roll please…..

Well first I will explain what we were doing for those who don’t have a clue.

A few months ago, Homeland Secure IT entered a contest on Brickfish.com that was put on by Cisco…  It was called “Heros of the Human Network”, which had businesses and organizations put up a reason why they should win something from Cisco. We entered, and then posted that we had entered on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, and a few websites… We asked that everyone go vote for us, and they did.  Not only did they vote, they reposted our request, and though we didn’t win the 5 thousand dollars from Cisco, we won a Cisco Flip MinoHD  camcorder!!!!

We decided that since we already have a Flip, we would give it away to the same people who had supported us and helped us win it!

These are cool little cameras. Full 720p digital camcorder that you can slip in your pocket with built-in software to allow you to make quick edits and upload to your favorite site like YouTube.com. I have a lot of fun with mine, and the winner will also have fun with theirs I am sure!

To determine a winner, I took the list of people who are on our mailing list, and those who subscribe to this blog, and ran a random number generator to pick a number that corresponded to the list of subscribers. 15 was the lucky number!

Andrea Bennett was lucky number 15 and she has been notified via email.  Should Andrea not respond, we will just give it to someone else, but my money is on a quick response from her!

Thank you to everyone for playing along in our little game! Who knows, maybe we can do it again sometime soon!!!!   Have a great week…

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The Homeland Secure IT office is closed today in honor of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country

United States of America Flag

God bless America and those who protect her!

Like the title says – our office is closed in honor of Memorial Day and those who have fought for the many freedoms we have in the USA!

We ARE available via phone (864-990-4748) and email (johnh@homelandsecureit.com)… Should the need arise, do not hesitate to call or email us!

America is an amazing country, with a rich (though short) history, where individuals of any race, sex, religion or belief have more freedom than in any other country in the world. That didn’t just “happen”… Many wars have been fought to protect our way of life, and in those wars, unimaginable numbers of soldiers who fought in the countless battles died. We should never forget those soldiers and their loved ones who made that sacrifice so that we can continue to live the American dream.

I urge you to take a few moments today to give honor to the people who have given YOU and ME so much.

All of you who have served in the US Armed Forces or have family who have served, or maybe are currently serving, have my respect and appreciation!  God bless you and this country!

Finally, Microsoft IE6 is scheduled for euthanasia!

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 IE 6

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 finally going to die!

Internet Explorer 6 has served us well. So well that people are still using it instead of the updated versions or the alternative browsers that are available. Estimates are that IE6 has a share of the browser market of around 20-25%, but a review of our own web logs which keep tabs on which browsers are used to view our site indicate that of the Explorer users only 6.69% viewing our site are using IE6. ( 18.4% are using IE 7 and 74.91 are using IE 8 )

That said, IE6 is also full of holes that cannot be easily fixed, nor is it worth it to MS to try to maintain IE6 when IE8 addresses these issues. So upgrade your browser…  Upgrade to IE8, or try an alternative browser like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc…  Just dump IE6! Need more incentive? Many websites have planned for the demise of IE6. They will no longer offer support for it soon. And Microsoft has pledged to kill off IE6 themselves just this week.

Here is an entertaining link from Microsoft Australia about IE6, which says “You wouldn’t drink milk that was past its expiration date” – Gotta admit, that’s a great point!

If you require help in installing a new browser or want to discuss this further, email me at johnh@homelandsecureit.com or call us at 864-990-4748 – Or optionally, reply to this post.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend with your family. Please remember that if you are an American, many people have fought and died for your freedom!

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Additional security cameras at Homeland Secure IT

PTZ or Pan Tilt Zoom camera

PTZ or Pan Tilt Zoom cameras can change your outlook on life!

We have been using Panasonic network cameras which feature PTZ, or Pan, Tilt and Zoom here at Homeland since we moved into this building. They are awesome little cameras and I even use them at our home because they will email me when a car or person is in our driveway or front door, etc.

Earlier this week, I ordered a new system to install at our office. Not network cameras this time, but 8 channels of standard CCTV goodness with 600 hours of real-time recording time on the DVR (Digital Video Recorder). They *are* reachable via the internet using Microsoft Internet Explorer or a 3g phone like a Windows Mobile, and thanks to our great bandwidth here, we can view all 8 cameras in real-time at once from remote, as well as our Panasonic network cameras.

We opted for several different styles of cameras to use in this system. Four enhanced color dome cameras with night vision and 580 lines of resolution, a couple “bullet” cameras with 100+ft of infrared illumination for night viewing outside, and two PTZ cameras that will allow us to change what we are looking at from remote. We also purchased a heavy duty power supply to power all of these devices.

This system was not expensive, though it costs a bit more than some of the budget packages that are out there. We will be using it as a demo system to show potential clients what video surveillance can offer them.

What are you doing for physical premises security at your business? Could a small investment in a video surveillance system like this give you peace of mind or even lower your insurance rates?

Should you have questions, or would like to see a comparison between a standard CCTV system and a network camera system, give us a call at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com!

We offer a full line of CCTV and Network camera systems from Panasonic, Cisco,  Sony, Digimerge, and many others!

Live Help Test – Ignore This

This is a test… You can safely ignore it =)

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Should your business use an automated attendant on your VoIP phone system?

Automated Attendant

Automated attendants can be annoying or useful - In most cases they are both!

Let’s talk about the dreaded Automated Attendant for a minute. Every time you call a larger business you get the “Thank you for calling xxxx, please press 1 for sales, 2 for……” message and curse under your breath waiting to finally get to the option you want.

Honestly, I used to hate them, until I participated in a networking event and overheard some people talking about the pesky automated attendant, multi-message, digital receptionist, or whatever your favorite term may be. The conversation was about how much time was wasted talking to the wrong people, and everyone agreed with the point the person made after he explained his case, which went something like this:

You call company XYZ, simply wanting to inquire about a problem you are having, and a receptionist or switchboard operator answers the phone with their sing-song, cheerful greeting and asks who you need. You explain that you have a widget that is not working and she mistakenly sends you to the wrong department, where you describe your issue again, and they say, “oh, you need the doohickey support person, I’m the widget guy, let me transfer you”…  So you just told your story twice to people who don’t matter. Then they went on to discuss smaller businesses who only have a handful of people working there, and the phone rings, and whoever is handy gets it, where you tell the person you were talking to someone earlier about an issue but can’t remember their name. So they go through the names one at a time and finally you recognize the right one and are connected.

Sure, you got the “human touch”, but you also were delayed.

So, should *your* business use an automated attendant? I’ve stuck to my guns that if you have only a handful of employees, you don’t need it, it will only cause you to be out of touch with your customers and potential clients, until now. Now I am seeing that a well structured, easy to maneuver automated attendant could serve your customer’s better. I’m considering using it at our office right now.

Most VoIP (Voice over IP) phone systems support interactive automated attendants which allow you to program them fairly easily, you don’t even pay for this feature in most cases, it is built right in!

The first thing you have to do is to determine if the AA is for you, and if it is, then draw up a flow chart of how it would work, for instance, you have two main departments, sales & service… You could simply have it answer with a greeting, followed by “Press 1 for sales, 2 for service”. Then it would ring the appropriate department, totally bypassing the inexperienced receptionist and causing the caller to only hit one additional button to go exactly where they want. You can, of course, expand upon that and add key persons to the menu, “3 for John Hoyt, 4 for Greg Varner”… Then what to do if they don’t press a button or give them the option to find someone to answer a different question… “Press 0 or stay on the line for assistance”.

All these things are possible, and I believe a small business needs to evaluate what will serve them and their customer’s best. If you are using an automated attendant to save manpower, then be considerate of the caller… If I think a better approach is to look at it from the start as a way to better serve your client base, instead of what it can do for you.

Want information on purchasing or installing a VoIP phone systems? Need help finding professional voice talent to record your company prompts? Want to bounce a phone system automated attendant question off of someone? Give us a call at 864-990-4748 or email us at info@homelandsecureit.com – We are resellers of Cisco, Digium, and other VoIP products!

Give your clients OUTSTANDING customer service whether you work with shoes or computers! #greenville

I heart Zappos

OUTSTANDING customer service is what people have grown to expect from Zappos and Homeland Secure IT!

Did you hear about the mess-up at the Zappos site 6pm.com over the weekend? EVERYTHING in the online store was accidentally marked as $49.95… A ton of orders, amounting to a loss of 1.6 million dollars were placed before the error was detected. What did the company do to recover their lost money? Well believe it or not, nothing at all…  They honored the $49.95 price, regardless of the loss.

I would have to say, this probably built some serious customer loyalty! Imagine had they gone the other way and adjusted the billing to charge the customers the correct price, after they had already been told it was $49.95 and got billed the actual $75 dollar price for instance. That would have gone over like a lead balloon – MOST people would have understood, but some would be seriously upset and feel ripped off, never buying from 6pm.com again.

At Homeland Secure IT, we hope to provide the same kind of customer experience. When we quote servers, network cameras, etc, should we underestimate the time required to complete the job, we “eat it”… On at least two installs recently, we went over by many hours, and the clients were never charged an additional dime. In the two instances I am thinking of, we could have charged the client, they would have understood, but that was not the original deal. We offered them a turn-key solution, and that is what we provided. Total customer satisfaction is what we demand of ourselves!

We often give away labor… We will get a phone call and provide an instant solution to a client that gets them operational, instead of sending out a technician, and many times, we will not charge for the assistance. Another common occurrence is when a tech is on location and takes a little over an hour to fix the problem and instead of writing the ticket for an hour and a half, the technician will make the determination that the client deserves a break and writes it for an hour.

Our philosophy is this: If there is a question about how much to give – give a little more. Sure, you can make more money by recouping losses, but will you win clients? Maybe. Chances are good you would not lose a client, but giving a little more might mean the client will not hesitate to call you again, even for a small problem they might not ordinarily call about, simply because they got a fair deal!

My tip of the day: If you want a great customer experience, select a great provider! If you are a business owner and you want great clients, provide that great experience!

USB flash drives being used to distribute malware. IBM demonstrates unintentionally at a security conference

Kingston DataTraveler 200 USB flash drives

Any flash drive can auto-load a virus onto your system if you have not taken precautions

Last week, IBM became the latest large corporation to receive major press over unknowingly distributing malware on USB drives. Unfortunately for them, they passed out these infected thumb drives at a security conference in Australia! A full link to one of the stories is HERE.

As the story states, it is best to disable AutoRun in Windows, or if you are using Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security Standard or Advanced you can enable that anti-virus package to disable auto-run across your organization. In environments where a Microsoft Windows Server controls access on your domain, a security policy may be set that will disable AutoRun on all computers.

How to disable AutoRun:

For those using Microsoft Windows XP w/SP2 or SP3, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 w/SP1 or SP2, Microsoft provides the following information for insuring AutoRun can be disabled: Link to HOW TO DISABLE AUTORUN

Running Windows 7? (Good for you!) – By default, AutoRun is disabled for USB drives.

Save yourself and your company the horror of getting infected with viruses, worms, trojans and other malware via the USB flash drive by disabling the AutoRun. We remove viruses and fix computers all the time because of this type of situation here in Greenville / Upstate, SC…

If you get lost and need help for disabling AutoRun on your system, please shoot me an email and I will give you some pointers. Should you not feel secure in making changes, we can assist with that as well.

What happens when you recycle a PC or other electronics?

I’m often asked how to dispose of an old PC or hard drive. Most people are improperly disposing of electronic equipment, and then there are some who think they are doing the right thing and give it to a “PC recycler”, who might do this with it: (long video opens in new window)

If you need help insuring that your old hard drive is destroyed and not harvested by criminals, we can assist with that! We have multiple ways to render the drive 100% unreadable from performing “DoD” writes to it, to physically damaging the media. Should you need an audit trail to show the drive and/or the complete computer has been destroyed, we work with a company who will take the unit, log it, transport it, and shred the entire drive or computer itself and provide you with a certified copy of that destruction, including a video of the destruction. You can even take it to their facility and watch it first hand.

Now, what to do with the rest of the PC, CRT, LCD monitor, etc – You can take small amounts to your local recycling center, however, be warned, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will not end up like you may see in the video above. Those who wish to be the most environmentally responsible may want to find a re-builder of equipment who will attempt to refurbish your old PC, or scavenge an inoperable one for parts to make one good machine.

I will try to post a follow-up with links to responsible and guaranteed PC & Electronic Recyclers.

Questions? Email me or call us at 864-990-4748

Go Gigabit! It’s like steroids for your business network! #GoogleOnMain #LuckyGVL

Cisco Gigabit switches, routers and firewalls

Cisco offers a full line of Gigabit and switches, routers and firewalls

Have you noticed retrieving files from your server is feeling slower? Accessing a database on your network is sluggish? Moving large files takes a long time? Chances are good that you are using a 10/100 Megabit infrastructure, and that by simply replacing a few components, you could move to Gigabit speeds, possibly a 10x increase in speed, or more if you are using really old hubs and not switches! It’s like steroids for your business network!

As more and more data is stored, and multi-media files become larger due to better resolution and sampling rates, and reliance on server or network based storage increases, the network that you have used reliably for years may be showing its age.

Did you know that gigabit ethernet technology has been around for many years? In fact, your computers and servers, if purchases in the last few years probably already feature Gigabit NICs (Network Interface Cards), and all that may be holding you back from greater speeds on your LAN may be a change in hubs/switches and possibly some wiring & cabling upgrades?

Most business owners are not aware of that fact, nor has it been brought to their attention by their network support specialists. There’s good news too! Gigabit components have dropped in price considerably and it is not that much more to upgrade a piece of hardware to Gigabit than it is to replace a failing piece with a 10/100 component!

But be warned, there are some gotchas…  You might be purchasing a Gigabit switch and think that will be all you need and the wiring may not support the throughput, or you might find if you maintain a mixed mode, that some 10/100/1000 switches may not work with certain 10/100 cards, and the most popular is purchasing a cheap component and actually seeing a reduction in speed because it doesn’t support “jumbo frames”. So if you have any questions, consult your computer service professional or network support professional. Also, if you planning on a VoIP (Voice over IP) phone system, you may want to take that into consideration so you do not have to upgrade switches again to PoE (Power over Ethernet).

Homeland Secure IT offers a free evaluation, so feel free to call us if your business is in Greenville or the Upstate and let us look over what you have and see what it takes to get you up to speed! With Google high speed fiber internet possibly coming to the Upstate, wouldn’t it be nice if your computers/servers could actually use that speed?

We offer Cisco, Linksys, TRENDnet, NetGear, SMC, D-Link, SonicWALL, WatchGuard, HP ProCurve, Dell, ZyXEL, Intel, Sun, Belkin, 3Com and many other Gigabit network products!