Why Businesses Need Password Management

As digital technology becomes more advanced, so do the risks of online security breaches. Cyberattacks continue to be a problem, so businesses need to implement reliable security measures now more than ever. There are many security solutions available. One of the simplest yet most effective is a first-rate password management solution.

What Is Password Management?

Password management is a general term that refers to the steps a business uses to keep passwords secure. It includes everything about passwords, from knowing how to pick a good one all the way to using advanced software to store and regularly update all the passwords.

We all know how important it is to choose passwords that are hard to decipher and to make sure no one knows your passwords. But this is easier said than done. It happens very often that people forget passwords. For this reason, you might have a digital file where you keep all your passwords, or you might write them in an actual notebook. However, these kinds of password storage solutions are not very secure. This is where password managers come in.

Why Using a Password Manager Is Necessary for Businesses

Every business would benefit from a password manager, especially if the operations and transactions happen online. There are a few different managers in use today: browser-based, portable, desktop-based, or cloud-based. Of these, the latter is the most highly advisable and necessary for business use with password management. Why so? Here are some excellent reasons.

You don’t need to remember every password you have

Practically everything we do online requires us to log in for security reasons. This means the average person today would have at least a dozen different passwords to remember. Perhaps you can use the same password for all accounts so you will have fewer to remember, but that is not secure.

With password management, you don’t have to remember so much because the software will remember it all for you. This allows for less clutter in your mind and, ultimately, higher work productivity. One password you have to remember is the one to log into the password manager.

You can access your passwords from anywhere

Since we store the password manager in the cloud, you can access it from anywhere that you have internet access. It’s not just you, either. Any individual with permission will also be able to get access to the passwords.

Password management gives you more security

As with many cloud services, a cloud-based password manager comes with dependable security features that you can trust. Also, if you use the password manager to generate passwords, it will give you something more secure than your birthday for a password. It will generate complex combinations that are virtually impossible to crack.

An Extra Boost of Security

A password manager is of great help in terms of convenience and security. But there are other modern solutions that you can take advantage of as a business owner to ensure your data is secure. One solution today is using biometrics as an alternative login method.

Biometrics uses physical attributes, like fingerprints, facial recognition, or voice recognition, that are unique to the individual, making it impossible for anyone else to access their account.

Another way to elevate password security is via multi-factor authentication. The added layers of verification will reduce the chances that unauthorized individuals might get in.

Protect Your Business by Protecting Your Passwords

To help you understand further the importance of password management in business, we invite you to Watch our Webinar on Digital Estate Planning and why Password Management is a must. It seems like such a minor thing, but keeping your passwords protected is essential to the overall security of your business. Call us today so we can get started!

10 Reasons Why Businesses Need a Digital Estate Plan

In the last two weeks, we have talked about digital estate plans and why it is crucial for businesses today to have one. Since most business data is now stored digitally, it makes sense to protect these digital assets in the event the business owner passes away.

If you still don’t have one and are still on the fence about whether creating one is worth your time and effort, we have listed 10 excellent reasons to encourage you to get started soon.

1. Protection of Digital Assets with a Digital Estate Plan

This step is the primary purpose of planning—it ensures that your business and all its digital assets are adequately protected after the owner dies, especially if they are the only ones with access to the business accounts and other online information. Instead of being lost in cyberspace, they will pass the digital assets on to the owner’s chosen successor.

2. Business Continuity with a Digital Estate Plan

The death of the owner doesn’t mean the end of the business. With a well-prepared digital estate plan, you can show your long-term goals for your business and assign individuals to carry on these goals. Hence, your business can continue to prosper years after you are gone.

3. Better Control of the Business

Sometimes a business may carry on after the owner’s passage, but in a direction that differs from what the owner had originally intended. You can prevent this so your business follows your intended path by specifying how you want your digital assets managed in the digital estate plan.

4. Legal Compliance

The law requires businesses to follow specific regulations regarding data protection and privacy. Compliance with these legal requirements is one of the high-priority items in a digital estate planning checklist. When creating your plan, check for local regulations that might apply to your business.

5. Intellectual Property Protection

Most businesses own several digital assets that are intellectual property. These include company logos, brand names, trademarks, and patents. Digital estate planning ensures the protection of all these intellectual properties by enabling the business owner to decide on the manner of their eventual management or distribution.

6. Identity Theft Prevention through Digital Estate Plan

When a business owner dies, the company’s digital assets might become susceptible to data breaches or identity theft unless there is a proper delegation of management roles, which a digital estate plan can help ensure.

7. Dispute Prevention

Just like in a regular will, those left out sometimes fight over the inheritance. The same can happen in a business when the owner passes. As a business owner, you can prevent these kinds of disputes by creating a digital estate plan that shows the roles you want your business partners, stakeholders, and family members to play in the business after you have gone.

8. Tax Liability Reduction

Turning over the ownership of a business can come with hefty taxes, but a plan can significantly help reduce these taxes.

9. Legacy Preservation

Even if you completely trust your successor to do well in your business, it is still something else to preserve your legacy after your death. A plan lets you specify the direction you want to go with your business and gives your successor a guide on managing the business how you would have wanted them to.

10. Smooth and Seamless Transition

With everything laid out in the plan, transferring ownership can go on without hiccups. There will be no wasting of time, money, and other resources. All that has to happen is the execution of the estate plan.

Create Your Digital Estate Plan with Our Help Today

There they are – 10 compelling reasons to prepare a digital estate plan for your business. If you are ready to take the next step, we are always here to assist in any way we can.

For more information, download our free Digital Estate Planning Checklist and Password Cheat Sheet right here. Contact us if you have questions! We will help you ensure that your business stays protected, now and after your passing.

Business Cloud Migration, The Best Move to Make Today

The past few years have been all about business cloud migration. As the needs of businesses continue to grow, it has become more tedious and expensive to keep up if you rely only on your on-site business resources. But thanks to cloud technology, you can outsource many business processes to cloud-based providers. This freedom means you can grow your business with less effort and expense!

Why Some Business Owners Are Reluctant to Migrate

The more courageous business owners have immediately leaped since the cloud was first introduced in 2019, while many others have gradually followed suit. But to this day, many businesses still stick with their on-premises resources for their operations. Why is this so? It’s because of fears about the cloud, many of which are unfounded.

The most common fear is that the business cloud migration might put security and privacy at risk. Many business owners think the cloud is a public domain where hackers roam freely. While there are cybercriminals everywhere, cloud providers have tight security measures to help keep you and your data protected.

Other business owners hesitate because they fear cloud services will be costly to maintain or too confusing to use. Again, these fears are speculative. Cloud solutions are much less expensive than investing in on-premises equipment and services. Most of it is very easy to navigate, particularly when you work with a reliable MSP.

What Businesses Can Gain from the Cloud

Once you get past your fears, you will see the wealth of opportunities you can gain from business cloud migration. For many who have already migrated, the number one advantage is scalability. Scaling your business up or down is so much easier with the cloud. Because of the flexibility of the cloud options, you won’t have to worry about having insufficient funds or resources.

There is also the matter of cutting back on significant spending. A cloud service provider will typically charge you for the services that you use. You won’t end up paying for a whole package, most of which you don’t even need, which is what often happens with conventional operations.

Also, there is perpetual access to the latest software, hardware, and infrastructure. When a new version comes out, you can ask your provider to upgrade you, and you don’t even have to pay extra fees. In addition, the cloud also gives you better data and network security, more efficiency for your business, and improved overall business performance.

How to Go About Business Cloud Migration

Cloud migration is moving all your company’s digital resources, applications, databases, and servers into the cloud. Yes, it can be a colossal operation, especially if you go for a full migration. But the good news is that you don’t have to do it alone. If you have a trusted MSP, you can sit back and let them complete the process for you. That is exactly what we can do for you.

Whether you want to go the whole nine yards and do a full cloud migration, or just partially, we will help you with the transition in a way that meets all your business needs.

To learn more about the cloud and find out more details on how it can benefit your business, download our FREE Infographic, “5 Fears and 5 Benefits of the Cloud.” Are you afraid of the Cloud, or are you open to cloud solutions and how to use them to grow your business?

How Do MSP Mergers and Acquisitions Impact Your Business?

We have seen a significant rise in the number of MSPs and solution providers selling out to larger corporations. They are also selling to hedge funds in recent years. This trend of MSP mergers has been going on around the world. With this trend, there is no sign that it is going to turn in a different direction anytime soon.

Why Are Big Corporations Buying out MSP Companies?

Large IT companies are actively gunning for mergers or acquisitions because the MSP business is currently highly lucrative. The market is currently at a value of $223 billion and said it will reach $330 billion by 2025. Corporations recognize the strong growth potential of the MSP industry, but they don’t necessarily want to start a new company themselves. Indeed, why build one from scratch when MSP Mergers can find many MSPs out there willing to sell?

Also, these corporations are banking on the illusion of choice and keeping their current customers. They take control of multiple MSP companies while retaining their original names. People mistakenly believe that they have a wide selection of MSPs to choose from when, in reality, the majority of them belong to the same conglomerate.

Take Accenture, for instance. In 2023 alone, they will have acquired 8 different IT provider companies. It appears to the public that these MSPs are industry rivals. In truth, they are all bringing in revenue for Accenture. Trailing at a close second is The 20 MSP, which has already acquired seven MSPs so far this year.

Why Are MSP Owners Choosing to Sell Their Companies?

From the MSP owner’s perspective, selling the company could indeed be the best course of action considering the situation at hand. The most common reasons that they cite for doing so are burnout, health, retirement, partner disputes, or shifting to a different line of business.

It does seem like a win-win situation for everyone until you take a look at how the situation impacts the client companies of the MSP that has just been bought. Yes, we are talking about businesses like yours. Where does it leave you if a sizable corporation suddenly acquires the MSP you had chosen to work with?

Effects of MSP Mergers on Client Businesses

IT companies have their valid reasons for selling out; oftentimes, it has to do with money. But regardless of what good it might have done for them, the acquisition typically leaves their clients in the lurch. Of course, the big corporation promises to take care of all the clients in the same way that they have always been taken care of. But the truth is that everything will change, and not necessarily for the better.

As a business owner, you rely heavily on your MSP to take care of your digital operations. You’ve probably been staying with them all this time because they provide excellent service. You are happy with the IT guy working for you, and their location is near you.

But what if you wake up one day and everything is different? It is pretty normal for service quality to drop after an acquisition. You might go from being a highly VIP client to just one of the hundreds or even thousands.

With the change of management, you will likely have a completely new IT team that did not work with you before. But what’s even worse is that these professionals are usually miles away from your physical location and can only serve you remotely. They can go to you but their travel expenses will go on your bill. That is something you do not want at all with MSP Mergers!

What to Do If Your MSP Is Getting Bought Out By MSP Mergers

There are two main choices you can make once you find out your MSP is up for acquisition. One is to stay with them and hope things settle down quickly. In all likelihood, the new owners will want to hear your feedback because, after all, they want to keep your business. Take this opportunity to air your concerns and give them time to make adjustments to better serve your needs.

Now, if things have changed to the point that you are no longer satisfied with the service, you can always switch to a new provider. Despite the continuing M&A trends in the IT industry, there are still plenty of local MSPs that have not sold out.

Check out a few and see what else is out there. Here at our company, we would be very happy to help you sort things out, discuss your needs, and maybe even provide you with the services that you are looking for. Check out the MSPs that big businesses have acquired just in 2023. It will surprise you if you find out where these large corporations’ locations are. It’s no wonder why small businesses are suffering from acquisitions. 2023 MSP Acquisitions

And if your agreement confuses you and want to know how you can get out of it, call us today, and let’s talk!

The Importance of a Reliable BDR Plan for Business

In every business, there is an element of risk involved. In addition to operational risks, there may be hidden threats that can arise suddenly. One of the best defenses a business can wield in these situations is a reliable bdr plan.

In the last few weeks, we have been covering BDR solutions. What BDR solutions are, what they can do for your business. Talked about how to gauge the quality of a particular BDR plan. Indeed, it’s worth all the discussion because we can never overemphasize the importance of a reliable BDR plan for your business, your employees, and your clients.

Benefits of Having a Reliable BDR Strategy

what Is BDR

Our series of blog posts on backup and disaster recovery began with an article called What Is BDR and How Does It Impact Business?In this first week, we covered the key benefits businesses gain from a good BDR strategy.

A good BDR strategy will give you protection against data loss and damage. Specifically, the data backup component of the BDR will safeguard your information in the face of a data breach, a system failure, a natural disaster, and so on.

A secure data backup system with the most innovative security measures and encryption tools offers better security, which is another significant benefit. With such a system, all your business information will remain safe and untouched. Also, a sound BDR will ensure higher customer retention even after a disaster.

Why is a BDR a Necessity?

BDR Plan

In week 2, we published a blog post on the Top 5 Ways Your Business Can Be Impacted Without a BDR Plan.

This blog talks about what could happen to your business if you operate without a reliable BDR strategy.

There are more events that can cause the collapse of a business than most business owners realize. Other than the publicized cyberattacks, factors like cloud-based threats, the increasing number of remote employees, and any natural disaster can damage an unprotected one.

Most of these are events that no one can predict or prevent. Using a robust BDR solution is the only way to keep your data secure from current external threats.

Signs of a Reliable BDR Solution

solid BDR plan

By now, we have established the importance of having a backup and disaster recovery plan for any business. But then, not all BDR plans are equal. How do you know if the one you have will work for you? In week 3, we tackle this concern in our blog post called “How Do You Know If Your IT Provider Has a Solid BDR Plan for You?“.

If you have a reliable IT provider, there’s a chance they have designed a great BDR solution for your company. But if you want to know how effective your BDR strategy is, check if it includes the five vital components: proactive measures for disaster recovery, priority for critical functions, emergency response procedures, secure data backup, and routine testing.

How a Managed IT Provider Can Help with a Reliable BDR Plan

Now that it’s clear how crucial a BDR plan is for your business, the only thing left is to bring in the right IT provider. So that they can design and implement a suitable plan. We have provided reliable backups and disaster recovery strategies for small and midsize businesses for years.

If you want a system that will give you the most protection, call us, and we will set you up! And don’t forget to download our FREE BDR infographic. It’s full of tips to help you learn about the BDR solution we offer.

Top 5 Ways Your Business Can Be Impacted without a BDR Plan

A backup and disaster recovery plan is crucial for every business, regardless of industry or the size of the enterprise. Disasters can stem from many situations, from natural calamities to online attacks or even a simple human error. Without a proper BDR plan, your business might easily get destroyed, possibly with very little hope of being able to get back up at all.

With the prevalence of online and offline threats, we cannot emphasize enough that a small business needs as much protection as possible. So if you are stubbornly resisting the call to put a reliable BDR plan in place, this is the perfect post for you. Keep reading to discover the drastic ways that may impact your business if you keep going without a BDR plan.

BDR Plan for Natural Disasters

No one can tell when or where a natural disaster will occur or how severe its effects will be. What will you do if your business records get caught in a raging fire or your servers get damaged beyond repair in a Category 4 typhoon? Without a BDR plan, you might as well sit in a corner and weep because there is no way you can recover the lost data.

Cloud-Based Threats

Businesses have been taking advantage of cloud solutions for multiple applications, which is a good thing. But with this trend also comes a horde of new online risks. In migrating your business to the cloud, it becomes one more target for relentless hackers searching for the next victim. A modern BDR plan takes these threats into account and lists actions with suitable security measures to minimize the risk to your business and your cloud-based data and processes.

Data Protection

A company’s data is one of its most valuable assets and must be protected. The backup should include transaction records, legal contracts, customer information, and a horde of data that would put you in a very unpleasant situation should it fall into the wrong hands. To keep your data safe, keep an updated copy in a secure location in case your primary storage gets compromised or damaged. Only a professional BDR solution can give you the data protection and security your business needs.

Remote Employees

Remote work has become very common because of the pandemic. While it has many perks for both the workers and your business, there is also the added risk that remote employees are inadvertently adding to the company. Often, remote employees use their networks at home while working, which are not very secure. If a hacker infiltrates your business, you can roll out your BDR plan to stop the damage and get back to normal operations as quickly as possible.

Ransomware

Almost all the million-dollar data breaches reported this year involved ransomware. This is one of the easiest and most effective attacks hackers use to conduct their illicit affairs. Many companies that have been the victims of ransomware attacks could recover, but only because they had an effective BDR strategy. And if you don’t have one, who knows what terrible fate awaits your business following an attack?

Protect Yourself and Your Business Today with a BDR Plan

According to statistics, about 40 percent of small and midsize businesses do not have any BDR plan. All they have is antivirus software and some data backups on an external hard drive, and that’s about it.

Danger will always lurk around, and there is no better time than now to prepare yourself. You should include a solid BDR strategy in the list of your small business needs. You can familiarize yourself with the many benefits of a BDR plan by downloading our FREE Infographic.

When you are ready to take the next step, we are standing by. Call us today, and we will create a robust BDR strategy to keep your business as secure as possible.

What Is BDR and How Does It Impact Business?

Businesses these days conduct most of their processes digitally. On one hand, this is great because it speeds up transactions, improves data accuracy, and so on, allowing for faster and more efficient IT business development. But the heavy reliance on digital data brings new risks of data loss or damage. All businesses should have a good backup and disaster recovery plan to lessen these risks. We will explain to you what is BDR and how it impacts businesses.

An Introduction to What is BDR

BDR stands for “backup and disaster recovery.” It is a set of solutions that make sure data is safe and can be recovered after a disaster. A BDR plan aims to protect a business and maintain the continuity of operations despite any mishaps.

We often consider BDR solutions a defense against cyberattacks, which are becoming more frequent in recent years. But they are also beneficial in other circumstances, like keeping a business safe after a natural disaster or in any situation where the company’s data is at risk.

What a Sound BDR Strategy Can Do for Your Business

The lack of a proper BDR solution can have a negative impact on your business. At the very least, it can cause disruptions to your operation as your staff scrambles to recover all your data. In worst-case scenarios, you might not only find yourself with a destroyed business, but you may also face lawsuits as a repercussion of the disaster.

But if you have a tried-and-true BDR solution protecting your data, more than likely, you won’t have to face these dreadful scenarios. In addition, there are multiple other benefits that you can enjoy, such as the following.

Protection against Data Loss and Damage

There are so many ways for digital data to get lost, stolen, or damaged. It can happen through a data breach, a cyberattack, a system failure, human error, or a natural disaster. But if your business has a trusty BDR plan, it will protect your data despite any of these unfortunate incidents.

Better Data Security

Data security is integral to IT business development. A good BDR system makes sure of this by keeping a copy of all your business data, like contracts, transactions, client profiles, and so on, in a safe and remote location. Through high-tech encryption tools and physical security measures, we should protect data backups both physically and digitally.

Customer Retention

If you are not prepared for a disaster, you could lose hours or even days of downtime as you try to get everything back in order. Your clients will not be very forgiving of such situations and will probably leave and take their business to your competitors. With a sound BDR plan, you can have a quick and complete recovery, and your customers can have peace of mind and will not have a reason to leave.

Evaluating Your BDR Strategy

If your IT provider has already set up a BDR solution for your business, that’s great. But do you know how dependable it is? If disaster strikes, are you sure your defenses will hold up and keep your system and data protected?

Discover the impact that a BDR plan has on your business. Learn how the BDR plan affects your employees and the growth of your enterprise. For ideas and tips on creating your BDR strategy, download our FREE infographic or watch the video HERE.

We can also assess your existing BDR plan and make the necessary adjustments to make it perfectly suitable for your business needs. Call us today for a consultation!

The Role of Current Technology in Business Growth and Expansion

Business growth and expansion entail a lot of work in all the different areas—logistics, finance, research, and technology. Technology plays a key role because practically all aspects of business rely on it.

In our last few blogs, we have been talking about some benefits that small business owners can get out of integrating the right technology into their business, especially during expansion, downsizing, or switching from a remote work setup to a hybrid work environment.

Attracting and Retaining Talent for Business Growth and Expansion

how to attract large enterprise talent

For any SMB, attracting and keeping enterprise talent is quite an achievement. But, of course, it is rarely easy to do because most competent professionals prefer to work with global companies that offer better perks and higher pay.

Using technology, you can not only pique the interest of top candidates for your open positions, but you can also convince them to stay for your business growth and expansion.

These strategies, as described in our blog on Week 1 called “How Small Businesses Attract Large Enterprise Talent”, can range from simply making the hiring process pleasant or partnering with local community groups to something more proactive like offering a hybrid work environment that is much more attractive to potential new employees.

Installing Self-Help Kiosks

Self-Help Kiosks

In week 2, we covered one of the most popular technology trends for business growth and expansion. Our blog post entitled“Self-Help Kiosk vs. Human—What Are the Pros and Cons?” he self-help kiosk has been appearing in a growing range of industries. We can find them in fast-food restaurants, bus terminals, banks, and more.

We also covered how these kiosks can help business growth and expansion. especially as remote workers switch to working in person or in a hybrid way. Some benefits we covered were contactless transactions, higher profits, faster service, and better connections. We also discussed the special significance of self-help kiosks in a hybrid workplace, where companies make do with a much lower employee population in the office.

Better Customer Service

How Your IT Company Affects Customers

Technology and customer service are two things people would not automatically relate to each other. But as you will quickly realize after reading our week 3 blog, “For Better or For Worse: How Your IT Company Affects Your Customers”, IT and customer service are closely connected.

Ensuring that the quality of your customer service is up to par is vital regardless of the work setup you have in the office. Whether your employees work from home, in the office, or a combination of both, be sure they always give great customer service. This can help improve your business growth and expansion.

With the help of a reliable IT provider, this should not be a problem. For example, we offer IT services that give your clients a better experience. Some services that we would be happy to provide for you are multichannel communications, live chats or chatbots, exemplary CRM software, personalized offer recommendations, self-service portals, advanced POS systems, and a trusty remote-to-hybrid system.

Choosing the Right MSP for Business Growth and Expansion

As you can see, technology is vital in many aspects of business growth and expansion. This step means one thing: you need to choose the right IT provider because they can make or break your business!

Fortunately, you don’t have to look too hard. We have the experience, expertise, and passion to provide you with the best IT service you require. We are very good at what we do but don’t take our word for it. Call us today, and we will show you what we can do to help take your business growth and expansion to the next level of success!

For Better or For Worse: How Your IT Company Affects Your Customers

How Your IT Company Affects Customers is very important to keep your business operations in good hands. Most processes today rely on technology, so you need a provider to keep up with the times and ensure everything goes smoothly.

But do you realize how your choice of IT company also affects your customers? The level of customer satisfaction might be one of the most revealing gauges of how efficient your IT company is.

How Your IT Company Helps Affect Your Delivery of Better Service to Customers

Although your IT provider does not have direct contact with your customers, the tasks they take on influence the quality of service you can provide to your clients. Here are some examples of how your IT company can enable you to deliver better customer service.

Multichannel Communications

Accessibility and convenience are vital factors for better customer service. When a customer wants to get in touch with you for any reason, they should be able to do so through multiple options. Make sure your IT provider offers many communication channels, including email, live chat, text, social media, and SMS.

How Your IT Company’s 24/7 Customer Response Affects Customers

When customers reach out to you, they expect timely responses. Of course, it wouldn’t be too practical to have someone come in to answer calls in the wee hours of the morning. You can use chatbots to handle customer concerns outside of regular business hours.

Customer Relationship Management Software

Employing a CRM or customer relationship management software gives your customers a much more pleasant experience. Why? Because with it, you don’t have to keep asking them to repeat the same information every time they get re-routed to a different agent, which can be extremely frustrating.

Faster and More Efficient Transactions 

Customers dislike waiting in long lines at the grocery checkout, when ordering fast food, and so on. There are many solutions that an IT company can provide for all these situations, like better POS systems, automated order-taking, self-service portals, and many more. Incorporating these features into your business will lead to much better customer service.

How Your IT Company Personalized Recommendations Affect Customers

Advertising emails or marketing offers sent to potential customers at random can be very annoying. Most of the time, they will just get ignored or deleted. With the help of an IT company, you can easily tailor recommendations to your target market’s specific needs and wants. This increases the chances of them taking notice and taking you up on your offer.

Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR)

The risk of online attacks is very prevalent these days. In addition, there is also the danger of other disasters that can lead to system failures and data loss. Such events can compromise the safety of customers when their data is exposed.

To keep this from happening, you should have a proper backup and disaster recovery plan in place, courtesy of your IT provider. With a reliable BDR, your customer’s data is protected. This will give them peace of mind, and they will have no qualms about putting their business in your hands.

Find the Right IT Company that can affect Better Service to Customers

Your IT provider can provide a variety of services for various aspects of your business. But in the end, all of it has something to contribute toward better customer service. So if you want to draw more customers and give them the most pleasant experience, you must establish a long-term partnership with a reliable IT company.

Here at our company, we have mastered optimizing business processes so that they lead to the best customer service possible. We can assist you with anything from communication and sales transactions to transitions to a Hybrid workplace. By calling us, you can give your customers the most pleasant experience, and your business can enjoy continued growth and success.

Self-Help Kiosks vs. Human—The Pros and Cons

Self-help kiosks are becoming more commonplace by the day. There used to be a time when a business would consider it extremely high-tech if they had touchscreen monitors installed. But today, you can find these kiosks in many establishments.

A self-help kiosk is an interactive screen that gives information or provides a service with a simple touch. They are extremely versatile and used in a wide range of applications. They are popular in fast-food chains, bus stations, and banks.

What Are the Pros of Self-help Kiosks?

There are plenty of benefits to self-help kiosks, which is why companies are all eager to get them for their store or office. Here are the top three that come to mind.

Contactless Transactions

This benefit is the biggest reason for the rise in popularity of the self-help kiosk. During the COVID pandemic, direct contact between people was avoided as much as possible. Kiosks allowed businesses to continue despite the restrictions.

Increased Profits

Kiosks can give you huge savings on a lot of resources, especially on manual labor. Much of the work is easily automated, which reduces operation costs for our business. You can also give your employees’ new jobs, which is a great way to make them more efficient and productive.

Faster Service

Your business will serve more customers because of the faster transactions and the shorter line. This would also ultimately translate to a much more pleasant customer experience.

Adaptability and Connectivity

You can adapt kiosks to perform multiple functions. For example, you can add a way to pay to your self-ordering kiosk so your customers can buy right away. You can also connect your kiosk to a cloud-based CMS that lets you display any content on your kiosk screens.

What Are the Cons of Self-Help Kiosks?

Just like any piece of technology, there are also some concerns you can encounter with a self-help kiosk.

Customer Frustration

Even in this digital age, many customers will not be comfortable using kiosks. Some might find it difficult to navigate the channels, while some will be hesitant to touch the screen altogether for fear of making a mistake.

Maintenance Downtime

When your system shuts down for whatever reason, maybe a power failure or an error, the kiosk will shut down with it. Also, there will be the need for repairs and maintenance. During these times, your kiosk will be temporarily out of commission, and business will be at a standstill.

Significance of Self-Help Kiosks in the Hybrid Workplace

A hybrid workplace is a convenient blend of remote work and in-house operations. The exact setup depends on the company. There might be days when employees work remotely, and days when they must physically be in the office.

No matter what the specific schedule, a hybrid work environment means fewer employees working in the office or the commercial establishment compared to a 100% in-house setup. This brings up the significance of the self-help kiosk. These machines can provide information or perform transactions for employees, clients, or visitors without human interaction. A business can go on as usual despite the reduced staff.

Setting Up Self-Help Kiosks for Your Business

It is possible to install your own kiosks, but the process can be complex. In most cases, it is advisable to seek the help of a managed service provider with relevant expertise. Here at our company, we can set up your kiosks and integrate them seamlessly into your system. We have already helped dozens of clients set up kiosks as part of the transition to a hybrid workplace.

To learn more about kiosks and how they can benefit your company, just call us. We can schedule a consultation where we can discuss the best kiosk solutions for your business.