First Class Technologies (FCT) is delighted to be continuing to help The Community Foundation for Staffordshire with its Donate IT Digital Scheme.

First Class is helping The Community Foundation for Staffordshire by reviewing the donated PCs, laptops and tablets to establish whether they can be successfully factory reset and reformatted to extend the life of each device, before undertaking the process in our Lichfield premises.

So far, the company has invested over 150 man hours to review and refurbish over 200 redundant computers, laptops and tablets.

For most of us, being online is an everyday part of life. However, there are still a significant number of people who don’t have access to such technology. As a result, some of the everyday tasks that most of us take for granted, like online shopping and internet banking, are unavailable to those without access.
For those who are able to live their lives using the internet, the ever-changing improvement in the technological capabilities of such equipment provides a temptation to keep upgrading to the latest and greatest device, leaving a plethora of unloved electronic units that could end up in landfill if they can’t be rehomed.

It’s for this reason that a number of recycling centres have been set up around Staffordshire for people to donate pre-loved equipment so it can be refurbished and offered to someone in need.

If you would like further information or wish to donate some equipment, please email office@staffordshire.foundation for more details.

Have you heard about Cyber Essentials?

It’s a UK certification scheme designed to show whether an organisation has cyber security protection in place.

This Government-backed scheme can help protect organisations of all sizes against some of the most basic, common cyber-attacks.

There are many benefits of getting a Cyber Essentials certification, including:

• The ability to show customers and prospective clients that you are cyber-aware and working to protect your IT systems against cyber-attacks.

• The chance to use the Cyber Essentials certification as part of your marketing efforts to attract new customers, by showing that you’re a professional organisation that takes cyber-security seriously.

• The peace-of-mind of having a clear vision of your organisation’s cyber security status.

• The chance to tender for any Government or other contracts that may involve handling sensitive or personal information, as many may require a Cyber Essentials certification in the future.

Cyber Essentials helps organisations put controls in place that can prevent some of the most common attacks. Quite often, cyber thieves are opportunists looking for easy targets, such as those organisations who aren’t cyber aware and don’t have even the minimum level of protection in place. It’s a bit like a passing thief trying your front door, just in case you left it unlocked!

It’s possible that, going forward, insurance companies and other such providers may start to ask for proof of cyber-security awareness, such as a valid Cyber Essentials certificate.

There are 2 levels of certification – Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. The main difference is that Cyber Essentials Plus involves a hands-on technical verification.

First Class Technologies offers a consultancy service to help organisations with Cyber Essentials, by running a necessary audit across a company’s IT network to review the current set-up and then advise and support any remedial action required. For more information contact us.

Heard of 3CX phone systems, but not sure whether the technology is relevant to you and your business?

3CX is a robust, fully equipped communications system that allows you to communicate with your clients, customers and colleagues anywhere, at any time.

It’s a software based VoIP (Voice over IP) system that works with a range of hardware and offers many business benefits.

One of the benefits is that it can be hosted either on-premise on a local server, remotely in the cloud, or even both for extra belt-and-braces security!

It’s popular with growing businesses because of its cost-efficiency, as it helps save on phone bills, add-ons and hardware.

It’s also flexible, as it offers the ability to choose phones and provider. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 and CRM (customer relationship management) systems, so helps business departments manage their communication needs, giving access to important numbers and contacts.

A 3CX system includes many benefits over and above just the traditional telephone services. For example:

• The telephone services include web client and mobile apps to help with remote working.
• Video chat options are included in the system.
• Live Chat is available, giving you the chance to talk to your customers in real time via your website or social media
• And there’s the ability to SMS, so customers can interact with you instantly.

In today’s world of flexible working, the ability to be able to make and take calls from anywhere, call from your browser or smartphone, video conference at the touch of a button, launch calls direct from your CRM, integrate your telephone system seamlessly with Microsoft 365, view the work-status of your colleagues and answer customer queries from Facebook, live chat and SMS is a real game-changer.

If you’d like to know more about 3CX, or even try out a fully equipped 3CX system, just contact us.

Do you know what data is being viewed and used in your organisation?

Are you aware who is accessing any sensitive files, and performing what action on them?

Every business has a responsibility to protect its data. And if your business is ISO 27001 certified, keeping sensitive data secure is a core area for compliance.

The problem is, manually monitoring and auditing file access and access attempts can be complicated and time-consuming. However, there is a fast, smart and efficient way to do this, by using a piece of software called FileAudit, which provides a bird’s eye view of all the file activity in your business, both on-premise and in the cloud.

FileAudit monitors all data in real-time, to identify all access, access attempts and usage of files, folders and file shares, and then pinpoints the IP address and machine name to know exactly where the user has accessed the file from.

It can provide a data audit to help keep your sensitive data safe and assist with compliance with any of your industry regulations. Even more importantly, it helps keep your data safe because the real-time insights give you the opportunity to immediately react with an automated response to help protect your information.

Using FileAudit provides the following benefits:

i) Reduces the manual workload involved in monitoring access to data folders.
ii) Helps to secure your information against theft or improper access that could lead to potential alteration or deletion of data.
iii) Automatically responds to emergency situations.
iv) Protects files stored on-premise and in the cloud.
v) Performs accurate IT forensics, as FileAudit offers a centralised audit trail, with interactive access reports about the audited data.
vi) Helps your business meet compliance regulations like GDPR, FISMA, HIPAA and SOX.

FileAudit is easy to install and configure, so if you’d like more information, please contact a member of our friendly team on 01543 414152.