Thermal Cameras and Scanners to Keep Employees and Customers Safe

Posted on: July 26th, 2020 by admin

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We are a leading managed technology services provider (MTSP), announced today that the company is supplying small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) with thermal cameras and scanners designed to read body temperature in order to keep their locations safe for employees and customers.

As protection from COVID-19 is at the forefront of every business owner, demand for thermal technology is skyrocketing in every industry and every environment where people gather whether it be employees, customers or both. Companies are proactively adopting this technology out of moral obligation to protect their team and those they serve. Many organizations that have made the investment in thermal cameras and scanners are also benefiting from increased profits and competitive advantages over companies that have not yet made a similar investment. Customers are now choosing to conduct business with only those companies that have installed thermal technology.

“Thermal cameras have become a necessity in this new world that we find ourselves in,” stated Sanford Gladding, President of ATS Communications. “When given the choice between going to a business that conducts mandatory body temperature readings and one that doesn’t, which one do you think most customers feel safer visiting? This is having a profound impact on revenue recovery amongst SMBs.”

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How to Ensure Your Remote Workforce Is Successful in the New Environment

Posted on: July 23rd, 2020 by admin

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Companies made the switch to remote work to keep employees safe from COVID-19, and with the pandemic still affecting businesses, long-term remote work appears to be the solution. Ensuring your employees have the tools and infrastructure to be successful is critically important to your business’s continued success. Some remote employees are struggling with broadband speeds, while others are struggling with being isolated. Cybersecurity is another issue that companies are dealing with, as home computers may not have the robust cybersecurity that office machines have. At ATS Communications, we understand these challenges and have solutions to impact your remote workforce positively.

Collaboration Tools

With your employees working remotely, collaboration can be challenging. Your employees can no longer pop into an office to ask a quick question, and working on a project in a group is much more difficult. However, Microsoft Teams provides your remote workforce with collaborative tools that will enable them to work effectively. With the chat function and presence monitoring, you can quickly communicate with available employees and share files efficiently. Additionally, with Microsoft Office 365, your employees can work on files simultaneously and see real-time edits, making collaborative efforts much more effective.

Microsoft Teams also offers video conferencing, which enables more efficient communication than email or audio conferencing. Also, video conferencing provides a face-to-face medium, which can help your employees who are struggling with the isolation of working from home.

Security

Another issue your company can face is that of cybersecurity. Employees may not have the same level of protection on their home computers that they had in the office. Spam filters and email security could be lacking, as well. The importance of training your employees on best practices to avoid phishing scams is paramount. Additionally, each home office should be considered a satellite office, and your cyber protections should have robust endpoint security. Our Advanced Endpoint Detection will protect computers and data from malware, viruses, and cyber attacks.

In addition, your employees should keep their computers updated with the latest versions of software to ensure that known vulnerabilities have been patched. Where possible, your business should consider providing your employees with computers and other hardware to ensure that they are using the most up-to-date software and cybersecurity.

Broadband

In some cases, home broadband speeds are unable to handle the demands placed upon it. With VoIP phone systems requiring a high bandwidth to operate efficiently, some of your employees’ home internet may not be up to the task. If possible, your business should consider upgrading internet speeds for your remote workers to help them work efficiently.

Supporting your remote workforce presents challenges for businesses, but these issues can be solved with the right partner in your corner. ATS Communications has solutions that will empower your remote workforce and allow them to be as efficient and productive as they were in the office. Ensuring your employees feel connected to their coworkers and that they have all of the applications and tools to be successful is crucial. Contact ATS Communications today so we can help your company get your remote workforce prepared for working from home for the long term.

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5 Things Businesses Need for a Successful Long Term Remote Workforce

Posted on: June 30th, 2020 by admin

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As the mandates for isolation and closure are slowly lifting, many business are finding themselves presented with a new challenge. What do they do with their newly founded remote workforces? While some choose to transition them back into the office environment, others are trying to figure out if they can transition this short term plan into a long one. This, however, isn’t as simple as some would think, as many things would need to be addressed for a long term remote workforce plan to be successful.

We at ATS know what’s needed for a remote workforce to succeed. So we’ve compiled 5 things businesses need to address for long term remote working:

  1. Acquire Better Managed Technology – Most businesses scrambled to quickly get what they need to adapt to remote working as fast as possible. While these might have worked in the short term, in the long term a more thought-out and streamlined technology will be needed. Businesses will need to reconsider what tools to utilize, whether or not the company should provide work PCs or Laptops, cloud services to use for file hosting, and so much more. Your business needs to look at how they can build a better technological infrastructure to support long term remote workers.
  2. Proper Documentation of Work – One of the key things businesses need to have in place to make remote work successful in the long term, is a proper system to document work that is being done. Documentation will not only aid in informing team members when they are working asynchronously; it will also create an archive for organizational assessments. That’s why it’s important for companies to start looking into a system to implement that makes managing all the documenting of the data easier for them.
  3. Assess Software & Hardware Security – The threat of hackers and viruses are ever-present for many businesses, and remote workforces can present a huge security risk if not assessed beforehand. Not only does the software and network need to be assessed for potential vulnerabilities, but hardware being used to work remotely also needs an assessment. Your companies cybersecurity is only as strong as the weakest link, which is why it needs to ensure that workers are using a pre-setup work computer or they are provided what is needed to secure their hardware for external threats. Things like email protection and firewalls should be looked into heavily for long term protection.
  4. Solidify Your Virtual Collaboration Tools – Without proper communication setup for remote workers, they are doomed to fail. You need a way for them to communicate back and forth with each other and with management. Businesses need to have tools in place that allow for instant messaging, video conferencing, and instant collaboration. You may end up with a singular app that has functionality for everything you need, or you may have multiple applications that serve different purposes being used in tandem. That’s why it’s important to solidify what applications or systems are going to be used by your remote workforce.
  5. Update Policies and Procedures – Not only does your business need to adopt new policies and procedures for working remotely, but they also need to adopt ones that work. While you can look to other businesses’ pre-established policies for inspiration, there are many things your business needs to consider when making new policies:
    • Can all roles remain functional and equally productive when performed from an offsite location?
    • Which roles, if any, will require job description or job performance updates in order to transition to telecommuting positions?
    • Will any roles require new resources, equipment, or software in order to be performed remotely?

    Not to mention other things like the chain of command, administrative functions, and reporting need to be outlined as well.

While building up a remote workforce for long term success can be challenging, it can ultimately lead to great growth and prosperity fo many businesses. That’s why we here at ATS are here to help, contact us today and get started on planning a successful plan for a long term remote workforce.

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ATS Communications Provides Cybersecurity for a Remote Workforce

Posted on: June 9th, 2020 by admin

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With businesses moving to a remote workforce, they face different challenges that they didn’t deal with before. One of those challenges is how to keep your network secure while operating under a remote model. Here are some recommendations to ensure your business avoids a network breach.

Be Vigilant Against Phishing Scams

Hackers have been exploiting the increase in remote work by sending out phishing emails. They have been sending out these emails posing as health or government officials to prey upon people’s fear or curiosity over the coronavirus. One mistake by an employee could cause massive issues with your company.

To help with this, we offer email filtering services, which leverages more than 20 separate filters to protect against a wide range of dangers. We continually update this service so you can rest assured that you will be protected from the latest threats.

Password Strength

Making sure that your company uses strong passwords is a critical requirement to ensure your business is protected. Unfortunately, the top passwords in 2019 were ‘12345’ and ‘123456’ which offers little protection against a motivated scammer. A mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols and a length of at least ten characters is ideal for a strong password.

Additionally, enabling multi-factor authentication will further strengthen your protection against hackers. Multi-factor authentication adds an additional layer of protection, so if your password is compromised, your data will remain protected.

Training

Train your employees on the best practices for remaining safe. An educated workforce is an essential part of your business’s defense against cyber threats. If your employees know about data security and phishing scams, they will know how to identify them and avoid any issues. We offer a web-based training solution to educate your employees, and we can help define your security policies.

Protecting your network is critically important to your business’s success, and even more so now that employees are working remotely. Contact ATS Communications today to ensure your network is protected from the latest security threats.

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Empowering Companies to Combat COVID-19 with Microsoft Teams

Posted on: June 3rd, 2020 by admin

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CONCORD, CA – ATS Communications, a leading managed technology services provider (MTSP) is empowering business owners to accelerate innovation within their companies through Microsoft’s new software, Teams. Microsoft Teams is a tool that dramatically enhances every employee’s ability to collaborate by integrating the functions of chat, meetings, calls and collaboration into a single platform. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, mandatory precautions have forced small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) across the country to innovate after being thrust into an immediate need to keep their operations running, remotely. ATS Communications is proactively helping customers transition to their staff to a remote workforce leveraging Microsoft Teams.

While working remotely is the “new normal” among many businesses, some companies are reluctant to change, often citing intangible benefits of working in a shared physical location. However, according to the Forrester Study: The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Teams, those assertions lack data. In fact, according to the study, “information workers were able to save 4hrs/wk through
improved collaboration and information sharing,” thereby giving many employees the extra time they needed to finally catch up on all the loose ends that often interrupt operations. Furthermore, the Forrester Study also concluded that “an average of 150 overnight trips [were] replaced with online meetings by year 3.” Regardless of industry, every business stands to benefit greatly from the dramatic reduction in costs associated with decreasing travel budgets as well helping to combat COVID-19.

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ATS Communications Helps Companies Transition to a Remote Workforce

Posted on: May 8th, 2020 by admin

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CONCORD, CA – ATS Communications a leader in managed technology services, announced today that the company is proactively helping small to midsized businesses (SMBs) rapidly transition to a remote workforce. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19, mandatory precautions have forced organizations to adopt a work from home policy. ATS Communications has been setting up remote workforces for years and their expertise has enabled the company to be in the leader in their community and enable organizations to make a successful transition in a very short period of time.

Working from home is just as productive as working in the office if you have the right technology and the right provider guiding you along the way. Today’s technology that is a must for collaboration, communication, and productivity includes voice, videoconference, instant message, Office365, Microsoft Teams and access to files whether cloud-based or via VPN. Cybersecurity solutions is a necessity as well because there has been a substantial increase in cyberattacks. Hackers are sending a flurry of COVID-19 phishing attacks and are preying on workers sitting at home hoping to gain access to personal and company information.

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We Are Working Hard to Educate Customers on Cloud Technologies

Posted on: May 5th, 2020 by admin

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As more companies are switching to a remote workforce, there is a learning curve to using the new technology. Whether it is adjusting to the unified communications (UC) software or learning how to communicate over a video conference efficiently, ATS Communications is working hard to ensure that our customers are trained on the new technologies.

Training

During these difficult times, we are using all of the tools at our disposal to ensure our customers are able to get the most out of their cloud technology. We have been handling training sessions by doing screen shares to walk our clients through the UC software capabilities.

As our customers grow accustomed to the UC software, they are beginning to see the added value. The increased mobility and collaboration afforded by the cloud is offering real benefit to their business. With Microsoft Teams, collaboration is easy and efficient. Our customers can hold on-the-spot meetings, share files, and sync calendars. Having these tools at their fingertips makes working remotely much less stressful and allows their employees to be efficient and productive.

On-site Calls

Our technicians are still going out to calls at essential businesses. Before they go out, we ensure that the company is set up for social distancing, and all of our technicians are wearing masks and carrying wipes. We are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of all employees involved.

Help Desk

Our help desk is still available 24/7/365, and we will work diligently to resolve any issues that may arise while your business is working remotely. We are able to troubleshoot most issues, including virus and malware issues, desktop performance problems, email applications, and more.

ATS Communications is working hard to ensure that all of our customers are set up and able to work from home efficiently. We offer a variety of services and tools to keep them collaborating and able to hold effective communication amongst themselves and with their customers. It is not too late to transition to a remote workforce and get set up with cloud technologies. Contact ATS Communications today!

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ATS is Your Business Technology Partner – Use Us!

Posted on: April 9th, 2020 by admin

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As we face together the reality of needing to work remotely for an extended period, rely on the ATS team to help you make the best total decisions for your company and your staff. We can help navigate all the technical offerings being made by multiple vendors and find the right fit for your company to maximize your daily business operations.

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Guidance: There are a multitude of options for businesses to connect their voice and data infrastructure to a remote workforce. Work with us to identify your specific short-term and long-term objectives so we can match the right technology for your team.
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Advice: A successful deployment has multiple components necessary to create a stable and secure environment. ATS will advise you on all the specifics for your environment to ensure a successful deployment the first time.
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Recommendations: We are already familiar with your technical environment. Leverage the ATS expertise to get recommendations on which platforms will be the best fit so your staff can work as efficiently from home as they do in the office. With our vendor agnostic approach, we will create and implement a strategy that will provide short-term and long-term solutions. Whether the need is to address the current COVID19 environment, a permanent remote worker or to better prepare and position the business to mobilize instantaneously, the ATS team can design the right solution.

Guidance, advice and recommendations are the values the ATS team can provide you as your business technology partner. Please use us a that resource. Contact your Account Manager or Technical Advisor directly or call (800) 995-4287, Option 1 or email service@teamATS.com for support.

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ATS Communications Offers Cloud Solutions to Work Remotely

Posted on: April 2nd, 2020 by admin

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With the growing COVID-19 crisis, it is becoming increasingly necessary for your employees to be able to work remotely. At ATS Communications, we have cloud solutions that will give your company the mobility to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape. From presence-based awareness to video communication, your company will remain productive and be able to maintain all of the necessary communication needed to run efficiently.

In order for your business to continue running smoothly during the COVID-19 outbreak, it is critical that your employees are able to maintain collaborative efforts. Our cloud solutions offer video conferencing, so meetings and customer communications can still take place. Having the ability to convey information is essential, and video conferencing will allow your employees to remain efficient and productive.

Additionally, our solution delivers a single communications portal that displays consistently on desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. The single communication portal will allow your employees to communicate effectively from any device.

Other features that are included are:

  • Unified Messaging
  • Flexible SIP bundles
  • Contact center solutions
  • Direct Inward Dialing

If your company is already using some cloud applications, such as Office365 or IP phones, the transition to working remotely can be done quickly and easily. If your company is using older technologies, we will still be able to migrate your company relatively quickly and cost-effectively.

Adapting to this situation is critical for your company to survive. Contact ATS Communications today, so we can take the necessary steps to get your business migrated to the cloud. We will work diligently to ensure your business operations are back up and running as soon as possible.

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Coronavirus (COVID19) Update – Our Concord Office Remains Open and We Are Here to Help!

Posted on: March 16th, 2020 by admin

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To our valued clients:

The spread of the COVID19 (Coronavirus) is requiring us to rapidly adapt and change our work routines and our personal lives. This afternoon the Contra Costa County has issued a mandate that all county residents “shelter in place” and that Contra Costa businesses cease normal business operations until April 7th, 2020.  Our corporate office operates in Concord, a Contra Costa city. There are exceptions for businesses that provide essential services during this timeframe. ATS meets the requirements for providing essential services in supporting our client’s voice and IT infrastructure.

This means our Concord office can stay open. We will have essential personnel only in this office while other staff work remotely. Additionally, our Sacramento and Redding offices remain open with no restrictions as of this email (subject to change, and probably will).

We are committed to making sure your systems continue to operate in a safe a stable environment. Our service center and technical team continue to be fully staffed and fully operational. Our technical advisors are supporting clients remotely whenever possible in lieu of traveling to sites, but if required and safe, our team will travel onsite to support your systems. Our objective is to continue to provide our best to you, our clients, in these unique circumstances.

Our account management team is also available via phone and email (or in person in some cases) and can assist with any transitional projects that you may need to set up your own remote workforce or add new cloud applications.

If you have a pending project currently scheduled, our operational team will contact you directly to review the timeline and determine if any modifications to your project are needed.
The safety and health of our staff and their families remain a top priority.  Even with offices open and our ability to go to client sites remain intact, we have a social responsibility to follow the recommendations of the CDC to help minimize the exposure and spread of COVID19.  We are asking all team members from all offices to limit in person meetings and service tickets until April 7th.  We will look to conduct meetings online using our tools and complete service requests remotely.  If any ATS team member does conduct a site visit, we will ask for confirmation from you that in person meetings are acceptable.  While onsite, our team members will be accommodating to any specific safety requests you have in place and follow the proper safety protocols (no handshaking, social distancing, washing hands before and after meeting). 

ATS team members are going to do our part to “flattening the curve” and limit our exposure so we can be sure our staff is able to protect themselves, their family as well as our fellow community members.

As always, we appreciate your partnership and we stand ready to assist as we navigate these unprecedented circumstances together. 

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