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As a child I remember the excitement of taking a car ride to Abraham & Strauss in downtown Brooklyn with my parents to visit Santa and shop for holiday gifts.  For those of you that have never heard of A & S, it was a massive 10-story competitor of Macy’s.  The elevators had white-gloved attendants that would announce each product group as the door opened.  The store was decorated with fake snow, music playing, holiday scenes in the window, and the aroma of baked goods from the bakery on the first floor filled the air.  

Unfortunately, this generation will never experience the same excitement of shopping during the holiday season.  I may be a little nostalgic… but how does it compare to clicking on an item and it magically appearing a day later at my door.  As an adult I love it!  I relish the idea of not fighting crowds, traffic on the expressway, and searching for a parking spot for what seems to be hours, while wishing not to get towed. Ah, Holidays…good times…good times!

I digress… with the holiday season coming into full swing, many shoppers are taking to online shopping to discover the best deals. While this can be a great way to save money, it’s important to stay safe while shopping online. 

The Holiday season should be a happy experience and it will be… as long you take some steps to stay cybersafe while shopping online.  We have put together some tips to help you protect your information and avoid scams.

Stay Safe this Shopping Season 

1. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is.

Traditionally, Cyber Monday is all about extreme discounts, but don’t let that drive your smart choices. If you’re uncertain about a link or a voucher code, or a price just seems too good to be true, take this simple step before clicking.  Go to the retailer’s website and confirm pricing. If still unsure, call them to verify the price. 

2. Remember, your personal information is yours.

Never share personal information with vendors you don’t know or trust. Never provide your name, address, phone number, credit card number, and social security number via an email.  Only provide it through a secure verified checkout.

3. Beware of Social Media marketplaces. 

When buying a product from a social media open marketplace, check the profile of the person who created the listing.  Be sure it’s been around for some time and the members are familiar to you. Verify that the reviews on the page are coming from actual users.

4. Only use secure payment carts. 

The website must have a secure checkout process. Look for websites that have “https” in their URL and a lock symbol on the left side of the browser bar.

5. I’ve been scammed, what do I do? 

Call your credit card company or bank immediately. Put a freeze on your account, replace all your debit and credit cards. Your online passwords including banking, social media accounts, and shopping profiles must be reset.

6. Your package has been delivered “Delivery Confirmation Scams”.  

You will receive emails that ask you to confirm delivery.  These are fake delivery confirmation emails if it requires you to provide any personal information or requires you to click on links.  

7.  Give to Charities not Grifters.

Many holiday scams will take advantage of goodwill and take advantage of donations to charities that don’t exist.  Be sure you verify a charity prior to donating.  You can easily check the authenticity of a charity at  CharityNavigator.org

8.  Bogus gift cards

Defrauders love to send out gift cards that have no value.  Beware of the gift card scam.  Never buy gift cards online or through the infamous gift card phishing email scam.  Only purchase gift cards from established businesses.  

9. Imitation Store Fronts

Only shop on reputable sites.  If you find a great deal on some random website, chances are it’s fake.  The adage if it’s too good to be true… don’t be fooled! 

10 Amazon Merchants 

Only purchase from Amazon merchants that have an extensive track record.  Make sure the seller has many positive reviews before purchasing anything.

While I find myself being nostalgic about the experience of going shopping with my parents, I realize it was about just spending time with them.  With all the paranoia and negative news about scams, online shopping does provide you with more time visiting friends and family.  

So be cybersafe and have a wonderful Holiday Season!

iQmedia Technology Group has started a Podcast called Nerdtoolz which can be accessed on Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and Podcastaddict.

Managing Partner, Marc Peritore has pioneered this new show with the goal of removing technobabble while providing simple answers to complex problems.

You can listen to the first episode and subscribe to the channel by clicking here.

According to the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy (SBA) there are about 30.2 million small businesses in the United States.  That’s 99.7% of all businesses in the United States. 

These 30.2 million small businesses have very few options when they consider transitioning to the cloud.  Although they may need to adhere to the same compliance regulations as larger organizations, they are unable to due to the expensive options of a Private Cloud.  They are forced to subscribe to a public cloud service which costs are difficult to predict from month to month.  

What is the difference between Public and Private Cloud?  Simply stated, Private cloud is a service that is fully controlled by your organization.  The infrastructure, applications, and your data are all controlled and secured on your own private platform in the cloud.  You are physically and logically isolated from other customers. Public cloud is a platform that hosts multiple customers on the same platform.  

Imagine a private cloud as your own private house and public cloud as an apartment in a large building.

The biggest barrier to Private Cloud for many small businesses has always been the cost of entry. Many small businesses think they are unable to afford or manage their own private cloud, until now.  

iQmedia provides Managed Private Cloud Services for the small business.  We provide a secure managed private platform.  This allows small businesses to adhere to compliancy regulations, data integrity, and cloud accessibility.

Our private platform allows businesses to migrate any application to the cloud.  There is no need to change to a different “cloud App” …we take your existing applications and convert them to cloud apps for you.  

For example, a 25-person law firm was considering migrating their Practice Management Software to the cloud.  They were given a project quote by a software as a service provider for $45,000 to migrate the software to a new cloud platform.  This did not include the monthly costs of the software and were told there is no guarantee that all the data could be migrated.  

The law firm reached out to our iQmedia team, and we moved the existing Practice Management Software migration to our Private Cloud Platform at no cost.   The application did not change, therefore there was no learning curve for the staff.  The benefit of moving the legacy application to our platform was a seamless move over the weekend and little downtime for the organization.  We also offer a flat monthly fee which allows them to predict monthly costs.

Here are other benefits of Managed Private Cloud?

• Regulatory Compliance
• Stronger Security
• Managed Monthly IT Services Included
• Reduced IT Costs
• Flexibility and Customization
• Resource Availability
• No Infrastructure Costs
• No Hardware Upgrade Costs
• Maintenance included in monthly fee
• Flat Monthly Fee, control IT expenses
• Business Continuity
• Scalable
• Private Data Storage
• Secure Remote Access
• Business Analytics
• Secure Document Management
• Simple and Easy to implement

So, if you think you can’t afford Private Cloud…think again!  

Let us take you on our cloud journey.  

It wasn’t so long ago where working remotely was an allowance for the normal business environment. If you worked remote you were most likely “given permission” due to unfortunate circumstances such as your job function, a family situation or out of medical necessity. 

This concept of “given permission to work remotely” looks so strange to us now that we have navigated through a pandemic.  The pandemic forced us to learn how to work remotely out of the need to keep companies and jobs viable. 

Global disruptions, shifting marketplaces, and other unexpected situations have created a need for flexibility and new ways of working. The ways in which we work has changed drastically. Quickly adapting to a fully remote workforce is one of those critical transformations needed to survive abrupt changes we have seen with the pandemic. Remote work offers untapped possibilities to ensure businesses operate without interruptions.

Remote work enables agility and creates competitive advantage. By implementing the methods, policies, and technologies required for remote work, companies are prepared to pivot and adapt as needed to global situations or are poised to respond to new opportunities as they arise.

Although remote work has been steadily gaining traction for the past decade, it’s not surprising that in a recent Gartner Group study, 74 percent of CFOs said they plan to make remote work, a permanent part of their workforce- and cost-management plans.

We learned almost overnight that building a remote work strategy may be good for the company’s bottom line. It can save costs such as absenteeism, infrastructure, office leases, travel expenses, and turning on the lights.  While this is good news for the bottom line, organizations need to look beyond the bottom line and see the reality of a remote workforce. 

Creating a culture for all employees to thrive is key to a successful remote workforce. Employees appreciate flexibility, and enabling remote work is one of the best ways companies can provide it. Not only has remote work been shown to increase productivity, but it also goes a long way toward building a healthy, safe, happy, and engaged workforce.

While all this sounds positive there is the other side of the coin we must address.  There are surprising challenges many remote workers face.  Digital transformation and emerging technologies have brought people together across regions and time zones in ways that weren’t even imaginable a few years ago, it has also isolated us and underscored the need for social connections.   

We are social beings. Our need for social interaction and connection is intrinsic. A study by Alex Pentland coined the phrase “the water cooler effect”.  This found that informal conversations around office hallways and the watercooler was critical in forming social bonds, innovation, and aligning business goals. The study found that the cohesion among colleagues is critical factors for increased productivity and job satisfaction. 

Although employees like working remotely it can produce a sense of missing out, isolation, and a perceived lack of information. When employees work remotely or from home they can fear being perceived as absent or inaccessible. Most people working remotely experience having a hard time turning work “off” at the end of the day, especially if they work with teams across different time zones. Remember, longer hours don’t always equate to greater output. 

The latest Quartz survey shows 67% of employees believe being “always on” has a significant negative impact on their health and wellness.  The same survey revealed that 81% of employees believe being “always on” has a significant negative impact on their health and wellness.   Also, 40% of the day is spent switching between apps and actual work, and it’s killing productivity.

Remote employees often work extended workdays. In a recent poll, 77% of respondents said they work the same hours or more when working from home. But always being on can quickly lead to employee burnout—and studies show that extra hours don’t   improve the amount of work being produced. 

In fact, productivity quickly drops after 50 hours a week. That’s according to analysis by Stanford economist John Pencavel.

The good news is that there are a few simple things you can do to minimize those challenges — and many of these are a benefit to all employees, not just those working remotely.

1. Communicate Often- a little extra communication will ensure all employees know what’s happening in the company and where to find important resources.
2. Lead with Trust and Transparency- Be clear about expectations for remote employees and then back those up.
3. Give employees flexibility- When employees have flexibility, they’re able to adjust their schedules somewhat to accommodate other life priorities—without having to sacrifice work quality. This helps fosters gratitude in employees, which drives loyalty and retention
4. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing- Remote work doesn’t have to mean employees are never in the office. A lot of companies now offer some flex days and have all employees come into the office on specific days of the week to get face time.
5. Encourage physical wellness– Physical wellness helps improve stress, decreases isolation and burnout, and keeps employees feeling good.
6. Support digital wellness- Apps that streamline controls, automate administrative tasks, and enhance mobility go a long way toward boosting productivity.
7. Prioritize the right tools and tech– That means integrated and consolidated solutions that give remote employees the same access to tools, people, and data as those in the office.
8. Value what your employees value– Corporate responsibility is more important than ever. That’s because today’s employees want to work for companies with values that align with their own.

In the end, the initial lesson has taught us that through cloud services, collaboration apps, remote technical support, and the willingness to allow flexible work schedules, we can work remotely and thrive.  Business owners quickly learned not to concentrate on how many hours employees work at home and began considering how productive the employee is.

The real lesson is that while we can work alone in separate virtual pods, human beings are not meant to be alone.  Social interaction with others is essential for us to thrive in the workplace.   I’m certain as we navigate through what everyone is calling the “New Normal”, we will definitely find a “New Balance” when it comes to our hybrid work environment. 

We all know that Covid-19 affected everyone in a major way. The health crisis brought terms like “lockdown” and “quarantine,” once reserved for science fiction movies, into our modern vernacular. People from all walks, groups, and industry were affected; most even brought to a halt. One of the most affected organizations in our society to be affected though were houses of worship. Places intended for community, fellowship, and worship were grounded to a halt from one week to the next. However, as humans do, we adapted. 

Like many, the pandemic affected me personally. I serve as the technical director for my church where my week-to-week duties were to ensure all our systems were running smoothly for Sunday worship services. Then suddenly, Sunday gatherings were no more, and our team was left wondering what to do next. 

My personal history lies in audio systems. It is something I have practiced for many years and am to this day fascinated by. But audio alone was not going to cut it in the pandemic. I quickly had to pivot and learn the other side of the coin for AV, video. Our church at the time had a couple of cheap cameras and mediocre audio setup for our small streaming community. Mainly intended for the elderly or those who were not able to make it to church for various health or personal matters. I, like most others in my position, had to quickly get myself up to speed in March of 2020 when that became the only option for attending Church. 

Now Television has been around since the late 1920s-early 1930s.  It is a technology nearly 100 years old yet houses of worship who used it as a tool was reserved for only a few with large budgets. Local houses of worship either did not find a need for broadcasting their services or just simply assumed it was out of their budget. The jury was also out on streaming due to fear that it would compete with in person attendance and possibly affect donations, the main source of operating income needed for a non-profit house of worship to operate. 

However, these notions are contrary to the reality.  As the pandemic raged on, the house of worship sector needed a solution to continue to keep their communities fellowshipping together. Many congregations looked to video conferencing solutions such as Zoom to keep their congregation connected. Others explored the broadcasting technologies deeper, mimicking what you may see in a professional television studio on a smaller scale. I do feel that as the exploration happened, most houses of worship saw that these systems were more obtainable than they had initially thought.  

Like most new technologies, there is always some hesitancy. Telegram to telephone, horse and buggy to automobile.  There will always be speculation on what is truly going to last as well as what will a new technology replace. In our case, much of the house of worship sector has gone from in person worship services, to full blown multi camera setups with volunteer operators and online communities. What happened was a shift in the mindset of using this video technology as a tool for the local church, rather than something you are competing against. 

The good news is that many of my experiences working with local churches has been quite pleasant. They realize they have a great new way of communicating to a congregation both known and unknown. People watching from out of state that may or may not have ever attended the service in the past. A greater opportunity to get their message out beyond their geographical location. There is even the element of online giving which is easily obtainable in an age where electronically transferred funds is getting easier by the day. 

In the end, video streaming technology and its benefits in the house of worship sector is here to stay.  The tides have turned after the pandemic and video is a tool that should be considered at the top of the docket in any board or parishioners meeting.  When the purpose of houses of worship is to bring together a community of people, why not consider casting that net wider?

Nick Hreczny is the owner of Resound Technologies, a firm focused on integrating audio and video systems with a major focus and expertise in the house of worship vertical. For more information, please visit www.ResoundTechnologies.com