Hawaii Tech Support Blog

With smartphones becoming more expensive every year, the top offerings from major manufacturers price some out of the market. This provides an opportunity for these companies to offer budget smartphones to a growing market of people who don’t want to drop a $1,000 on a new phone. Today, we discuss options from Samsung, Google, and Apple that can be had for a fraction of the cost of today’s flagship smartphones. 

If fortune smiles on your company, you won’t ever have to deal with what we are about to discuss: ransomware. For the past several years ransomware has been a major issue for businesses, governments, and individuals. Today, we will talk about ransomware, how there are different strategies, and how some people want to put a ban on ransomware payments. 

As the business world remains restricted in their operations, costs have been a consideration that organizations need to put some serious thought into. Fortunately, there are many ways that you can invest in technologies that significantly benefit your business operations without breaking the bank. Let’s go over five ways to maximize your benefits, without maximizing your investments.

In last week’s blog we took a brief look at the best phones money can buy. This week we take a look at some devices that cost more than the flagship devices and don’t necessarily have the specs that back up the price. These devices, however, have something else: an innovative new twist or two. Let’s take a look at some of the most innovative new devices that you can find on the market right now.

Of all the contentious topics in the workplace, employee monitoring is among the most divisive. As an authority figure in your business, it is only natural that you would want to make sure that your team is working diligently—especially as they are working remotely. That being said, there are some lines that cannot be crossed you should be aware of. Let’s discuss the concept of monitoring your employees and what cannot be done.

As technology has become smarter, artificial intelligence has evolved into a more and more applicable solution that businesses of all sizes can use. Let’s take a few minutes to consider the various ways in which AI can be used to support businesses.

The average person checks their phone 58 times a day. With so much use, many users want to know that they have a powerful smartphone that will give them the best chance of having the proper tool when they need it. The flagship smartphones—being the best devices each manufacturer releases each year—typically give users all the bells and whistles they need to be successful. Let’s take a look at some of the top smartphones available right now.

Nowadays, a business’ network security needs to be amongst its top priorities if it is to have any chance of operating without undue risk of data breaches and other incidents. Admittedly, managing this sounds like a Herculean task, but a few relatively simple implementations can help give your security a considerable advantage as you lock down your business’ future. Here, we’ve reviewed four such areas you need to focus on.

Having success in business often relies on developing trustworthy relationships. You have to trust your vendors and suppliers to get you the resources you need, you need to trust your staff to complete their tasks without putting your business in harm's way, and you need to trust your customers to buy the products and services that you offer. Running counter to these necessary bonds of trust are people actively soliciting people’s time, energy, money, and attention for their own selfish purposes.

When it comes to ransomware, we have always stood firm in our recommendation not to pay whoever is responsible for locking down your systems. However, due to the globalized nature of technology and cybercrime, it is even more important that companies don’t attempt to placate their attackers with the demanded funds. Otherwise, warns the United States Treasury Department, these victimized businesses could very well pay severe fines for doing so.

If you’ve been following us for any amount of time, it is very likely that you have already heard us talk about the importance of a comprehensive data backup strategy. Recent events have made such preparations no less important for you to have in place. Let’s go over some of the key steps that you need to undergo.

If there’s one trend that is going to continue having an impact on a business’ technology, it’s mobility. People are simply doing more while mobile, having the technology to shop, manage their finances, and yes, work productively. Let’s pause and consider how a small business could leverage this mobility to its benefit.

As a communication tool, the video conferencing app Zoom saw a considerable bump in its popularity with both personal and business users as the coronavirus pandemic made other means of meeting no longer viable. However, this sudden increase in its user base also revealed some serious security issues with the platform. Let’s examine what Zoom has done to resolve these issues since then.

Owners of Nintendo’s Switch console should know that, as per an announcement from Nintendo, the battery life of their device could be negatively impacted if the device isn’t charged up at least every six months. While this may not be the kind of news you’d expect to find on a business technology blog, it does open the door to a bigger, more pertinent topic: should devices that aren’t used very often be kept charged up?

Business relationships, especially between you and a service provider or you and a coworker, are crucial to a business’ success. However, maintaining these relationships can be challenging when there’s a good chance that your actions might create more work for another person. Let’s go over why your relationship with IT may be strained, and offer a few tips to help fix it.

Unfortunately, we are not yet rid of the concern of COVID-19 and the impact that it has had on business survivability. With “business as usual” requiring a few drastic adjustments to continue, it is important that small businesses are able and willing to embrace these changes. Research conducted by Salesforce presented in their fourth Small & Medium Business Trends Report shows that many businesses are seeing the importance of these changes.

While it’s hard to say anything positive about the COVID-19 pandemic, it has given many business owners the motivation to pick up a few more technical skills. Many have sought to improve their own grasp on the software, marketing, and telecommunications that their business relies on each day. As these business owners have done so, they have often turned to a very popular resource: YouTube.

Many business owners understand the benefits that technology can have for a business, but just can’t bring themselves to commit to implementing that technology due to the cost, either in capital expenditures or in the shift in operations. The fear of not being able to successfully integrate certain technology will, over time, hold your business back. Today, we’ll describe why it’s essential to have a technology strategy, and how to stick to it. 

The world isn’t the same as it was at this time last year. With months of question marks surrounding business, and with more people than ever searching for their place, companies have had to make some operational concessions that, if we were to assess the situation today, don’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. 

Traditionally, the business telephone system is one of the most expensive operational costs, especially if you take into account a business’ expanding mobility. Today, there is an option that changes the way that businesses look at their phone platform. That option is VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol. Today we’ll tell you a little bit about VoIP and tell you how it can drastically improve your business’ communication.