Artificial Intelligence is one technology that garners excitement and fear. People’s imaginations tend to run away with them when they have conversations about AI. Businesses of all types are starting to figure how they can utilize advanced artificial intelligence platforms and machine learning to facilitate better business, but is it working? Let’s take a look at how AI innovation is changing business and see how ready AI is for primetime.
DETROIT, September 2, 2016 – Smart IT Services, a leading independent agency technology provider, today announced the opening of its Mackinaw City office to serve its clients in Northern Michigan, Mackinac Island, and the Upper Peninsula. The branch office is located less than a half mile from the Mackinaw Bridge at 711 S. Huron Ave.
According to Jerry Fetty, CEO of Smart IT Services, the creation of a second office in Northern Michigan came about as a result of growth of Smart Services’ footprint in Northern Michigan.
“For 25 years, Smart Services has provided businesses and independent insurance agents across the country with proactive, fast, and expert technology services,” Fetty said. “Our Northern Michigan office is an expression of that ongoing commitment to provide the best strategic IT services to our many clients in this region.”
The new office will provide existing and new clients with:
• Local presence in the area with skilled technicians on site and nearby.
• Faster response time for on-site needs.
• myAgency Cloud, the most complete cloud solution available in the industry
• Network monitoring and management
• Backup and disaster recovery
• Email and spam protection
• VoIP phone systems
• Mobile device security
• Strategic IT assessments,
• Plus much more
“We’re excited about our new office and the potential for growth in this area,” Fetty said. “We look forward to helping our current and future clients to maximize their IT investment so they are more competitive and successful.”
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About SMART Services: SMART I.T. Services, Inc. is an information technology services provider founded in 1991 and focused on serving independent insurance agencies throughout the nation. The company recently was recognized as one of the Top 20 Most Promising Insurance Technology Vendors of 2016 by CIO Review magazine.
Laptop touchpads can be difficult to work with. If you’ve ever been stuck in a frustrating situation where your touchpad isn’t working properly, you know what this feels like. In a worst-case scenario, touchpad problems can cause data loss and a loss of productivity, leading to downtime that directly affects your ability to work properly. If you’re having touchpad problems, try these five troubleshooting tips.
By its nature, technology is always changing, evolving, and moving forward. Organizations that understand this and plan for these changes end up making the most out of their technology. Those that don’t, get left behind. Here are three ways to make sure that your company’s technology will best serve your future needs.
New consumer technology, he LG Rolling Bot, looks like it will be a nifty little device to leave either in your office or at home. Basically, it’s a rolling security camera that can be controlled remotely through a smartphone.
Many businesses see the value in allowing their team to work remotely, which sounds great on paper. Workers don’t have to be at the office to get work done, so long as they have an Internet connection. Most important of all, though, is how much money a business can save by allowing its workers to work remotely. Thus, the primary objective should be to make it as easy as possible for remote workers to perform their jobs.
Have you ever been glued to the computer monitor while compulsively hitting your browser’s refresh button? You might have done this while waiting for an online sale to drop, or while waiting for someone to respond in an online forum to your witty comment. Did you know that you can set your Google Chrome browser to refresh itself automatically?
While it is not one of the flashier IT topics to discuss, the issue of administrator privileges.is critical to your agency’s network security plan. In fact, one recent study found that the majority of Windows operating flaws were due to mismanaged administrator privileges.
The world might not see widespread use of artificial intelligence for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean developers aren’t taking baby steps in that direction. Take for example Google and its automated vehicles. If Google successfully makes a self-driving car that’s aware of its surroundings, we might see them on the roads as early as 2020.
Your agency’s data is its lifeline. Without it, you can’t hope to continue functioning, especially if you’re unable to recover it following a data loss disaster. Businesses that experience a devastating data loss and are unable to recover, are likely to go out of business within one calendar year following the incident. Is your business prepared to tackle a data loss disaster?
Hackers are always seeking ways to infiltrate unsuspecting businesses. Arguably, one of the most difficult to identify is a social engineering attack, in which the hacker exploits the end user, rather than cracking the security of technology systems.
Thousands of gadgets are produced each year designed to work with existing technology and to deliver marginal-to-significant increases in an individual’s productivity. Each year, many of these gadgets fail in some way or fall out of public consciousness, becoming nothing but an answer to a trivia question a decade down the road.
Whether it’s stealing credentials or completely taking over someone’s computer, a hacker has a plethora of targets and methods that can anger the average PC user or business executive. In fact, hackers are so crafty that they can even hack into hospital equipment.
Whenever you receive an email, there’s the possibility that it’s a spam message sent to infect you with viruses or malware, or to just waste your time. This chance isn’t just negligible; in fact, it’s enough to warrant concern for anyone utilizing email as a communication medium, including business owners. Thankfully, users of Gmail will soon be having a much easier time knowing the origin of their messages, and whether or not they were sent over a secure connection.
Windows 10 is making its rounds in the business environment, which is hardly surprising. Microsoft is known for making great operating systems that are ideal for both consumer use and workplace productivity. Though Windows 10’s adoption rate has been somewhat slow, it’s expected to be on par, or even surpass, other Windows OSs in terms of sheer usability over the next few years.
Nothing can damage a computer quite like user error. It’s sad when this happens because it’s often the case that the resulting issues could’ve easily been prevented if the user simply knew of PC best practices. Take for example these three easily-preventable PC mistakes that will do your computer harm.
One minute you’re browsing trusted sites on the Internet, the next, your PC freezes up and displays the dreaded blue screen of death, along with a fake tech support message. The unsuspecting computer user calls the provided phone number, not realizing he or she has just fallen for a very expensive scam. So what are you to do if faced with this situation?
Mobile devices in the workplace are a complex conundrum that many organizations don’t know how to face properly. On one hand, they allow workers to stay ahead of their schedules, and let them stay productive even when they’re not in the office. On the other hand, they present a serious security risk that needs to be addressed. How does your business handle mobile devices in the workplace?
Cloud computing is a normal part of today’s business landscape. In fact, in a recent poll of IT and business executives by Harvard Business Review and Verizon, 84 percent of respondents said they increased their use of cloud services in the past year-- 39 percent said they had “increased significantly.” However, with more users accessing cloud data, business owners must be mindful of employee permissions.
Cloud computing is an important game changer for businesses, but some are dragging their heels when it comes to implementing this new concept into their strategy. One of the biggest reasons why businesses hold off moving to the cloud is because they are not certain of what the cloud does.
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