Phone System Services -Chicago, IL 

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!

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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.

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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.

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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:

Surely you’ve heard of the increasing threats of cyber criminals. Breaches are occurring so frequently now, it’s difficult to keep up. By now you’ve heard about the increasing threat of cyber criminals. Between trojan horses, phishing scams, malicious links in emails, and ransomware, it’s progressing in every IT field. With phone scams, the telephone category is no different.

You can’t trust the news: billion dollar companies are not the only one at risk. In fact, sometimes smaller companies have a higher risk of being targeted. most cyber criminals consider the small to midsize market a goldmine. This is the result of lower security protocols and focuses from the small to midsize business owner. The “It won’t happen to me” mentality is your worst enemy.

Business owners are getting savvier and more aware. In turn, cyber criminals are turning to other technologies such as phones, to attack your business.

We would like to share a few examples of different phone-based scams, along with tips on how to avoid them.

The “Can You Hear Me” Phone Scam:

These phone scams spread between business owners and consumers where a criminal will call you simply to get you to say “yes”. What happens is they record your voice and use this one simple word to unlawfully sign you up for services and approve purchases.
The Better Business Bureau even released an alert and warning to the public regarding this scam. They outline a few different tactics that scammers utilize to get the audio desired. Questions asked might include:

• Are you the homeowner?
• Are you over 18?
• Do you pay the household bills?
• Do you own a home computer?

Calls can come from several different sources, or at least claim to. Common ones include security companies, cruise lines or sometimes even from the government.

You may be wondering how you can possibly identify these scammers and protect yourself.

Some helpful tips to follow:

• Don’t answer calls from numbers you do not recognize. You can always leave it for voicemail and if it’s truly that important, they will leave a message.
• Never give out personally identifiable information over the phone if you aren’t sure of who is calling you and the purpose of the phone call.
• If you believe you have fallen for a phone scam like this, reach out to your bank and credit card companies to flag your accounts. Check your account daily for any activity and be alert.

The “Vishing” Phone Scam:

“Vishing” is a play on the email technique “phishing”, which you are probably already aware of. This technique is quite similar to the email version where a scammer calls you and attempts to grab personal information by claiming they are from a reputable source or business you already engage with.

For example, have you ever gotten an email from your bank claiming that your account has been compromised? The email then prompts you to click a link and login to confirm your account details or restore credibility and looks something like this:

Criminals apply this same technique to the phone.

One of the most popular applications of this scam is connected to the IRS. Your phone rings and they even have the ability to make the caller ID read IRS or some government-related contact. When you pick up the phone you may hear a recording informing you that you are under investigation, or that the IRS has located discrepancies in your taxes. They may ask for specific information to confirm your identity before connecting you to an agent such as:

• Social security information
• Birth date
• Address information
• And more . . .

Again, there are a few ways you can spot these calls and prevent yourself from falling victim to these types of phone scams.

First, never call a phone number presented to you in an email or over the phone. If your bank calls you, call them back on their official number off their website or business card. The same applies to credit card companies or the IRS.

Second, credit card companies and government agencies typically refer to you by your full name. If you receive a call and the recording or person on the other line uses anything but your full name, proceed with caution.

Third, there is no reason any credit company or even the IRS would call you direct and request information like credit card numbers, routing numbers or social security information. If someone calls you and asks for this, hang up and call their official number (for credit/bank – call the number on the back of your card). If this was a legitimate call the official reps will have knowledge of it, otherwise report the call.

Remember these tips and it will dramatically increase your chances of remaining safe. Feel free to reach our team if you have any questions.

Also – check out this database provided by the BBB where you can track local and national scam trends to stay alert and prepared. After all, the best defense is continued education when it comes to cybercrime and phone scams.

The post Common Phone Scam Prevention appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

What is Auto Attendant?

Auto Attendant is one of the most common applications we install with business phone systems.

It is a standard application that can satisfy many different tasks/needs.

In a nutshell, an auto attendant is a programmed add on for your phone system that will help answer calls and can route callers to proper destinations. Think of it as a receptionist program.

You can program the auto attendant to route calls during specific hours and you can also program different messages/directories to operate at different times of the day.

Most prospective customers will turn to the internet to do preliminary research for products and services.

But . . . once they’ve found the company or companies they are interested in, a phone call is still the most popular first step to contact your business and engage your services.

So, that means you’ve got a decision to make. You need to decide whether you want a live person to answer the phone and route your calls, or whether you would rather skip that step and have a program do the heavy lifting for you.

For many small to midsized businesses, the auto attendant is a great way to reduce overhead and make sure calls never goes unanswered.

Auto Attendant Best Practices

Proper auto attendant design and implementation is essential to the overall experience an inbound caller will have every time they pick up the phone and dial your number.

Some key factors to think about when designing your system:

• Make sure your introductory message is clear and concise – you don’t want people to get bored or annoyed with a long message every time they call in.
• Avoid too many options – nobody enjoys sifting through 14 options to find the place they are looking for.
• Keep it simple and keep it logical – prioritize your most popular departments/options towards the beginning of your message to speed up the inbound call process.
• Your directory needs to be up to date – who will be in charge of managing this?

Three Unique Ways You Can Use Auto Attendant

1. Use your auto attendant function to answer FAQs

Do people call your office often with the same questions? You can dedicate a space in your auto attendant directory to frequently requested info like your address, your hours of operation and more. This will save your receptionist and staff valuable time and provide prospects with the info they are calling to acquire.

2. Add a Directory

There are multiple different types of directory options available to you.

• Full list of staff extensions
• Search by first or last name for staff
• Department Directory

The option you choose is based on what you believe will be easiest and most helpful for inbound callers. By implementing a directory you avoid an endless list of options on your primary outgoing message and also add a layer of organization that prospects/customers appreciate.

3. Share Upcoming Event & Company Announcements

Your auto attendant program can actually be used as a great marketing tool for upcoming events and promotions. Have a seasonal promotion coming up? What about an office closing due to a holiday? Maybe there is some big news specific to your industry you want to share? All of these are things pieces of information you can distribute to inbound callers.

**Added Tip** Your Music on Hold (MOH) message can also promote events and promotions for you.

The post Auto Attendant: 3 Unique Ways You Can Use It To Improve Your Business appeared first on Andromeda Technology Solutions.

There's a new malware threat to be aware of, called "CookieThief," which is an apt name that describes what the malware does. Honestly though, the Hackers missed the mark here. "CookieMonster" would have been a much better name option.

In any case, it's part of a growing new collection of malware strains that is able to steal browser and app cookies from infected devices.

It was discovered by Kaspersky Labs. Although the researchers tracking the new strain say that they're not yet sure how the malware made its way onto infected devices in the first place.

In all, the company is tracking slightly more than a thousand infections, though that number is increasing by the day. In the cases that the researchers have investigated deeply, Facebook cookies appear to be of prime interest to the hackers, allowing them to gain account access and track user movements across the social media platform.

The Kaspersky team stressed that there is no particular security flaw or vulnerability that the hackers behind the code are exploiting. They're simply pointing out where their main area of interest appears to be. During their analysis, the group found a fork of the code. It is similar but with a few distinct differences. The forked code launches a proxy on the infected device that makes access requests appear legitimate.

The researchers had this to say about the forked code:

"By combining these two attacks, cyber criminals can gain complete control over the victim's account and not raise suspicion from Facebook. From there, the criminals can pose as the victim and take control of their social networking account to distribute undesirable content."

While there are many more destructive uses that such a Trojan could be used for, the main goal of the hackers in this case appears to be to use compromised accounts to spread fake news stories. Even so, it's something to be on alert for, as it would be easy to modify it to make it much more destructive.

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