The Bay Area IT Experts

Exact Phrase Searches

Google can search for phrases verbatim, seeking out the exact words in the exact order they are written out. All you need to do is enclose your search query in quotation marks. For instance, you could find out exactly how to best protect your business by searching for “business security best practices,” which would only return results that contained the phrase “business security best practices” somewhere in them.

Searching a Specific Website

If you want to use Google to search a particular website, it is super easy to do so. All you need to do is start your search with the specific website’s URL and a colon before you input your search term.

For example, if you wanted to invest in a new case for a laptop while taking advantage of your Prime account, you could do a quick Google search for amazon.com:laptop case. Your results page will appear as a collection of relevant product listings on Amazon.

Excluding Search Results

There are many potential results that you don’t want included in any given search, as it just makes it more of a hassle to find the information you need. You can tell Google to eliminate these results from the list by typing a dash after your search query and specifying a term that would return an unwanted result.

For instance, if you wanted to find out who in your area offers IT services but wanted to avoid quick-fix repair-focused services, you could search for IT services near me -break/fix.

Search in a Range

Google also allows you to restrict your search to results that fall within a specific range, making it easier to seek out results that would fall within a searcher’s preferences. This can be accomplished by including two “dots” between numbers in your search. Need a new office chair? Search for office chair $50..$125, and you’ll see results that fall within that price range.

Searching for Multiple Queries

While it may not be the most used capability, Google can be used to run multiple searches at once. All you must do is split up your different searches with a vertical bar.

Let’s assume that you needed comprehensive IT services to businesses. You could type in the assorted offerings you’d be interested in, like services|backup|disaster recovery, to find the provider who offers the most in your area.

Chances are, it’ll be us that pops up anyway, so while you’re here, reach out to us to learn more about the IT solutions and services we provide for businesses. Give us a call at (415) 295-4898 today!

“What’s working? And, just as critically, what isn’t?”

If you want your team to be invested in the successful operations of a business, you must recognize that this investment comes with some level of ownership. While there is no “I” in “team”, there is one in “collaboration.” Listen to your team as they celebrate their individual accomplishments. Not only will this help build morale, you’ll get some deeper insights into which tasks your employees—your boots on the ground, so to speak—see as noteworthy.

On the flip side, you also need to hear out their grievances in terms of your established processes and procedures. As the ones with hands-on experience, your end users will likely have the most pertinent perspective of how work can be done most effectively. Whether it is presented as a need for more support or simply a solution that doesn’t work for them, you can learn a lot from hearing them out.

Maybe they make it clear that they need more coaching in how to use a given tool, or perhaps there’s a better alternative that they could be using. Either way, it also helps to involve them in brainstorming a better way to accomplish these goals.

“What do you need from me in order to help you succeed?”

This is one of those questions that will need to be repeated over time, as the evolving situation will cause the answer to change with regularity. However, the important thing is that this question will help you to change your employee engagement for the better. By opening the door for feedback, suggestions, and requests, you are giving your employees the power to bring their input to you.

This is also a good way to collect the insights we discussed above, helping you better evaluate where your team stands and improving your processes that way.

“What are some things your teammates accomplished recently?”

This question is really about mindset, as well as encouraging a more collaborative and communicative workplace. Phrasing your question in this way preempts your employees to look to the positives, leading them to see the benefits of keeping communications open with each other.

Furthermore, by priming them to think in this way, you’re making sure that this focus becomes a part of your company culture. Wouldn’t you rather your different team members share their success, and as a result, seek to support each other in its pursuit?

“How would you improve what we have to offer our clientele?”

Again, returning to the theme of collecting input from those with first-hand knowledge on the subject, asking your team to identify shortcomings that they may be dealing with each day can help you to optimize whatever it is you may be offering. After all, your team members are likely the first to answer the phone when someone calls the company, whatever the call’s purpose, and so will be the first to hear any negative feedback. As such, they’ll have first-hand knowledge of where the biggest and most impactful deficits exist in your service delivery.

“What would you do differently if you were in my shoes?”

While this question has obvious value in terms of evaluating the biggest pain points within the company, it also helps you encourage your team members to think from more of a leadership perspective. It isn’t enough anymore to just have people at their workstations, businesses today need to have innovative and engaged workforces with high prospects for upwards mobility. Asking this question puts some of the power in the end user’s hands, even if only for a moment, reinforcing the employee’s worth to the company.

Now, if any of your employees’ feedback should ever reference insufficient technology resources to effectively complete their tasks, that’s where 415 IT can come in to help. We offer a wide variety of services and solutions designed to improve your workplace’s efficacy, security, and productivity.

Reach out to us for more information by calling (415) 295-4898.

Network Security Essentials

Protecting your network will require you to implement a variety of critical tools, including dedicated appliances, virtual private networking (VPN) clients, and firewalls. Doing so will help you shore up your potential vulnerabilities.

Of course, this isn’t all that you need to do. Here are some of the other protections you should have in place:

Network Monitoring and Threat Management

Just in case your assorted defenses don’t keep a threat out, you will want to be sure that you can detect them once they’re inside and isolate them. Implementing the tools that enable you to monitor your network’s health will help you to accomplish this goal. A managed service provider can help you do so, proactively monitoring your network to ensure that any threats or potential problems are detected before they materialize into issues. Using today’s tools, a trustworthy provider can keep most threats out, and resolve the ones that make it in.

Mobile Device and Endpoint Management

Remote work is exceptionally popular right now, for a very good reason, so you need to be sure that your business’ data remains under your business’ control. Tools like mobile device management and endpoint management can help you maintain this control by moderating what different devices can access in terms of your data and applications.

Security Training and Management

Finally, we must address one of the biggest threats to any organization’s security: the employees who work there. User error and phishing are two of today’s biggest cybersecurity problems. To minimize their impacts, you need to be sure that your team understands cybersecurity best practices and how to react to potential security events. We recommend that you regularly evaluate their knowledge and practical capabilities through simulated security events and other means. On top of this, you also have to make sure that your business (and everyone in it) is abiding by the assorted compliance requirements that have been established, especially those pertaining to cybersecurity.

Need help implementing these solutions? 415 IT can help. Reach out to our team to learn more by calling (415) 295-4898.