Phone System Services -Bolingbrook, IL 60440,60490

Whether you need a legacy phone system maintained, or an entirely new communications system for multiple offices, Andromeda Technology Solutions is the answer you have been looking for. As our expertise also includes complete data network solutions, you can rest assured that we can fully integrate a communications system that will best leverage your existing or future IT infrastructure.

In many cases, your telephone system is the first thing people will experience when dealing with your business.

• Does it show your company in a good light?
• Is it set up so your clients have a good experience?
• Does it help maximize employee productivity?

Let us show you how a phone system should be set up!

Experience the simplicity of having an experienced company to handle all aspects of your communication systems, letting you focus on running your business.

Contact us or fill out the Request form on this page now to ask us to contact you!

^
Hybrid PBX and IP-based Phone Systems

We support a host of major phone systems—from Avaya, NEC, Panasonic to Toshiba— and are a certified Panasonic dealer for both a traditional PBX system, as well as a true IP-based VoIP system. The beauty of these systems lies in their very extensive feature set (over 800 features) and their mix-and-match capabilities. Each system can mix analog, digital and IP phone sets to match almost any application. Also, each system has extensive functionality built-in for incorporating branch offices, work-at-home employees and other remote workers.

We spend a great deal of time understanding all your requirements, so we can select the system and functions that are exactly what you need.

^
The Phones Become the Network

If you are considering an IP-based telephone system, it is important to understand these systems are more data systems than phone systems. Unlike a traditional PBX system, a VoIP system puts a significant burden on your data network, and requires specific equipment and configuration to ensure everything is running properly.

Many traditional telephone service companies lack the skills to properly install and maintain a VoIP system. Andromeda Technology Solutions excels in all aspects of voice and data, and will ensure you get the system that is right for you.

Whether Cloud-based, Hosted/virtual PBX, or completely on-premises, we have the knowledge AND experience to guide you and implement your voice communication system to perfection.

^
Replacement of Legacy Phone Systems

We have many years of experience upgrading/replacing legacy phones systems from: ComDial, Nortel, Toshiba/Mitel, and Samsung just to name a few. If you would like to experience service from a truly customer-focused organization, call us when you are ready to replace and upgrade your existing legacy telephone system.

			KX-TA KX-NCP KX-TDA KS-TDE
			IP Office Definity Magix Legend Partner
			Aspire Elite IPK I-Series DS/DSX

AndroPedia Tech Library

As part of our service, it is important to keep our client-partners well informed on Telephone system developments, news, and best practices. Here is just a sampling of typical items from our AndroPedia^SM library archive:

It’s that time of year. The winter holiday season is prime time for criminals and scammers. In fact, it is estimated that fraud attempts increase upwards of 30% during holiday shopping season. There are multiple different techniques and we covered a few of the more popular smartphone scams last year too. You can find our two part series here:

• Popular Phone Scams & How to Avoid Them
• Popular Phone Scams & How to Avoid Them – Part 2

Now, let’s dig into some scams we are seeing in 2018 including some smartphone scams you’ll want to avoid.

Verify Information Smartphone Scams

Criminals and Identity Thieves know that your personal information is valuable. A criminal can use it to open up fraudulent credit cards, empty your bank accounts, impersonate you or they can even steal it and sell it on the dark web for a quick profit.

With this in mind, criminals are always looking for new ways to get ahold of your data.

This popular phone scam begins with a criminal impersonating a representative at a company you probably already do business with or subscribe to. Many times, criminals will impersonate your insurance provider (Blue Cross Blue Shield is very popular).

The criminal calls you and informs you that they are making a routine call to update and verify information on your account . . . sounds innocent enough . . . but don’t fall for it!

Some ways you can defend yourself:

• Most of the time these big companies automate this process through pre-recorded messages. If you get a call from a real human being asking to verify your information – this is your first sign of fraud. Your best bet is to get off the phone and call the company direct. Confirm that they are the ones actually trying to update your info that way.
• Don’t fall for threats or bullying! Often, when you resist these criminals they will begin threatening you and try to intimidate you into giving the info over. “You can lose your insurance” “You will face fines” If these kind of threats and bullying techniques are being used, you’re almost certainly being scammed.

The Tech Virus/Issue Scams

This scam has been around for a while but it tends to pick up traction during the holiday season.

You get a call from a tech company of sorts letting you know about some issue with your equipment or software. The criminal on the phone may direct you to download a ‘patch’ or the solution to your problem. In reality, the criminal just got you to download and open a file with a virus attached. You weren’t infected before but your equipment is now.

The criminal, still impersonating a tech employee or customer service rep, now explains that they can fix the problem for a fee.

The most popular version of this is a Microsoft scam where criminals call you to inform you that your computer is infected (wouldn’t that be some awesome customer service!). Once they get you to your computer they either have you change settings that will allow them to wreak havoc on your comp and steal data from you, or they prompt you to download a file/visit an infected website.

Once you are infected they extort you to get the outcome they desire.

At the end of the day, there are very few companies who are going to call you and tell you about a virus or an issue on your computer or smart device. If you get a call like this . . . disregard. If you want to make sure you don’t have a virus on your computer, contact your IT support staff instead.

Text Message Phishing or SMShing Smartphone Scams

With smart phones at our fingertips most hours of the day, criminals have turned their focus to these devices as a great way to steal information and cause trouble.

These text message phishing scams and SMS phishing (SMShing) smartphone scams use the same techniques you’ll see in an email phishing scam. They will send you messages via text designed to get you to click links, download programs/apps and they try to trick you into handing over personal information.

There are some techniques you can use to discover and avoid these scams:

• If you don’t know the person texting you or don’t recognize the number, don’t click links in their text messages.
• Your bank and other financial institutions aren’t going to text you to verify password info – if you do get a text from someone claiming to be from your bank etc. go direct to the website and handle things that way.

Fake or Look-alike Apps

A big new scam on the market, fake applications are designed by criminals to look like real applications you’d download and use on your smartphone. These applications are designed with malicious hidden code designed to steal your personal information, access your contacts, send spam messages from your phone to your network and even track your location via GPS tracking.

These bad applications are more common on Android devices because the application marketplace is a bit easier for criminals to navigate but that does not mean that you don’t need to be on the look out if you are an iPhone user.

• Make sure you only download applications from trusted web stores and application stores.
• Take a look at the developers of the app and do some research. Make sure they are reputable and trustworthy.
• Read through the terms and conditions of applications before you download. Be sure you know what permissions you are giving developers and programmers when it comes to the data on your phone and usage.

These scams are some of the more popular ones in the market but there are many more including popup smartphone scams, IRS scams, Utility scams and the ‘yes’ scam.

The key to defending yourself is educating yourself and others on these criminal tactics as well as the techniques used to identify and outsmart them.

The post Beware! Popular Phone and Smartphone Scams And How To Defend Yourself appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

When we discuss security at your office and safety, often times that points to a discussion about professional access control, security camera systems, burglar alarms and integrated security solutions. But, your professional telephone system plays a very important role in the safety of your office and your employees. Accidents and incidents happen and one of the first things any person says or does in an emergency is call 9-1-1.

There are important functions and settings within your telephone system for emergencies and some of these settings are now mandated by federal law.

In February of 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law H.R. 582 (commonly referred to as Kari’s Law), which requires that all multi-line phone systems allow for a direct dial of 9-1-1.

This means that instead of dialing an 8 or a 9 first like your system may require for typical outbound calls, an employee or guest at your business must be able to pick up a phone, dial 9-1-1 and be connected.

Additionally, your phone system “must be configured to notify a designated central point of contact when someone initiates a call to 9-1-1 using the system”. So, your system must notify a specific person with the location of the call when a 9-1-1 call is made. This way your designated contact can communicate with emergency responders and let them know where help is needed at your building, campus or complex.

The law has certain implications for the VoIP market, as many cloud based or hosted VoIP phone systems haven’t been approved for 9-1-1 dialing to begin with because some VoIP solutions aren’t capable of alerting emergency dispatchers to the location of the caller.

Kari’s Law will make the sale, lease and/or installation of phone systems without required functionality illegal after February 16, 2020 so you can anticipate manufacturers and telecom professionals to adapt their solutions accordingly.

So . . . what does this mean for your business and your existing system?

What do you need to do to make sure you are compliant with Kari’s Law?

First, check with the company who services your system. Ask them if the solution at your business is configured to dial 9-1-1 without requiring a prefix.

Second, make sure that you have your system configured to alert a designated contact in the event of an emergency. It may make sense for that contact to be your reception staff but if that is not the case, be sure to discuss this internally and let your telecom vendor know who you’d like to be alerted. Then, make sure your system is configured to do so.

Additionally, this is a great opportunity to review your company emergency response protocols. Do all of your employees know what to do in the event of an emergency? A building evacuation? A lock down?

Andromeda is here to assist you with set up and configuration of your phone system. We should also mention that our VoIP solutions are compliant with this new law and offer all required functionality.

So – if you have any questions, give our team a call at (815) 836 – 0030 or send us an email at Contact@WeNetwork.com and we will get them answered. If you’re looking into a phone system, please make sure to ask potential vendors if their solution is compliant as well.

For Reference:

• https://www.commlawblog.com/2018/04/articles/cellular/multi-line-telephone-systems-and-enterprise-communications-systems-karis-law-and-other-911-related-developments/
• https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr582/summary

The post 2018 Telecom Law: Kari’s Law and What It Means For Your Business appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

Hackers and scammers have a new tool in their toolbox, and they're making rapid use of it.� Recently, researchers from Confiant have discovered a new campaign involving a Chrome for iOS exploit. They discovered �an unknown group of attackers getting around the browser's built in pop-up blocker to deliver fake ads. This happened to half a billion users from the US and Europe in less than a week.

The group has been named 'eGobbler' and they're not picky.� Since Confiant began tracking their activities, they've targeted iOS devices as well as Windows, Linux and macOS desktops in one of the most far-reaching malvertising attacks we've ever seen.

The researchers had this to say about the matter:

"This time around...we were in fact experiencing redirections on WebKit browsers upon the 'onkeydown' event.� The nature of the bug is that a cross-origin nested iframe is able to 'autofocus' which bypasses the 'allow-top-navigation-=by-user-activation' sandbox directive on the parent frame. Also noteworthy is that the campaign behind this payload had specifically targeted some web applications with text areas and search forms in order to maximize the chances of hijacking these keypresses."

The long and the short of it is that this represent a new attack vector.� Hackers can now inject malware into completely innocuous ads, hijacking them for their purposes.

Both Google and Apple have taken swift, decisive action to address the issue. Google addressed it in a WebKit patch that was released on August 12. Apple addressed the matter in their release of iOS 13 on September 19, and via Safari 13.0.1 on September 24. The bad news is there's no guarantee that the hackers won't find yet another workaround to exploit, so this is probably not the last we've seen of the issue.

In any case, if it's been a while since you updated your browser, given the above, now is a great time to do so.

Aggregated