Office work has been the norm for decades; commuting back and forth to jobs and leaving projects in your office or cubicle at the end of the day. However, in the post-COVID world, remote work and remote technology support have catapulted to the forefront of many businesses. During the pandemic people were forced to work from home or remotely, and even now that it’s becoming safer to return to offices, many companies are continuing to embrace the remote style. Some have allowed all of their staff to keep working from home, while others have adopted a hybrid style with some remote and some in-office teams.
With this shift comes a wave of adapting to change, especially in information technology (IT). Businesses are suddenly faced with keeping their networks secure when employees use home WiFi, making sure their staff can be as productive at home as in the office and continuing the technical support that was accessible in-person before the world went remote. It can be a tremendous task to handle on your own, which is why hiring remote IT support might be the best thing you can do for your team this year.
Most companies spend a significant amount of money to make sure their onsite networks are well-protected. This key component of cybersecurity can be complicated by remote work, though. Businesses have to consider the security risks of employees logging on to public internet connections or unsecure networks to complete their work tasks. When you allow an outside network access to company devices, you could risk malware or viruses that would compromise sensitive information.
In addition to connecting to potentially vulnerable networks, employees might skirt some other IT security rules when working from home. If teams can no longer meet in person, they may be tempted to send sensitive information via email. If no one is looking over their shoulder, they might recycle common passwords, fail to update their company passwords regularly or log in on mobile devices that aren’t secure. It could even be as simple as leaving a program open on their computer when they step away in a public place. All these practices can put your company’s data at risk.
Another common issue with work-from-home employees can arise when they utilize their company devices for personal use. Logging on to their personal social media accounts or using a company computer for online shopping could put your company data at risk. They might even allow a family member to borrow their device, and that person could accidentally download a virus or visit a dangerous website. For these reasons, it’s important to educate employees about the IT security risks of remote work and create ways to try to avoid these situations.
Remote technical support can help you mitigate these challenges and prevent future IT issues. When there’s a team of IT professionals in your corner, you have access to a treasure trove of remote support tools—antivirus services, endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication, advanced security monitoring and even end-user coaching to teach employees how to protect your company’s data.
You’ve seen how IT service providers can help protect your internal network against external threats, but did we mention they can also help boost your team’s productivity? One way they do this is by providing remote desktop support to every member of your company, no matter if they work on a Mac with iOS issues or a PC with a frozen Microsoft application. Remote technicians can easily patch into any device to help your employees resolve problems and get back to work.
Another way remote support professionals can help your team is by advising you on what technological equipment employees might need in their ever-expanding home offices. When everyone switched to working from home, most people probably thought a laptop and their iPhone or Android would be sufficient to stay productive. At Daystar, we know this isn’t the case. Having remote tech support to help everyone get their new desktop or extra monitor working can be invaluable to maintaining productivity and reaching company goals.
No matter where in the world your employees are, at some point, they’re going to need technical support. One of the benefits of using remote managed IT services like Daystar is that the support teams are also remote. This makes it easy for support representatives to connect with your employees and start solving problems right away.
All kinds of technical issues can happen when working from home, just like in the office. The benefit of having a remote support team is that an employee just has to submit a help desk ticket, and a support technician will reach out to start troubleshooting the problem. They often call the employee and talk them through the process of allowing remote access to their device, sometimes through remote desktop software like TeamViewer, Connectwise Control, or RemotePC . From there, with screen sharing, the technician can diagnose and solve a problem in real-time while also teaching your employee how to solve it themselves next time.
With remote IT services, you can rest assured employees in every city, state, country and time zone have a support professional waiting to help them.
Onboarding can be a hassle on its own, much less with the added headache of doing it remotely. Many companies have found reaching out to their IT support services provider is a great way to smooth the onboarding process and make it less painful for everyone involved. One way you can accomplish this is by setting up remote support sessions where a support representative teaches new hires all about working remotely.
Many remote managed IT services can help train employees to make the most of remote work in a variety of areas, such as security protocols, time management tips and even software training for things like remote computers. The IT company can work with a business to create a comprehensive plan or engage directly with employees to answer their questions.
Another benefit is that remote support professionals can set up new user logins and give access to company programs without anyone needing to meet at the office. These services can make it easy to onboard employees from across the country with minimal hiccups along the way.
It’s easy to feel like you’ve lost the human touch when you switch to a remote work environment, but Daystar can help you stay connected with remote technology support. Whether your business is in the office, across town or across the country, we can provide you with a wide range of remote IT support to manage your hybrid environment. See how we can keep your team thriving in their home office.
Daystar is a managed IT services provider and business technology integrator serving businesses and organizations in the tri-state area throughout New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.
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