LEVEL UP: NEWS & VIEWS FROM RED LEVEL

Nine Ways to Ensure Your Company is Protecting its Employees

We all know the basics like hand-washing and social distancing, so let’s cut to the chase and talk about some topics (and solutions) you might not have considered. 1. You can’t change human behavior, but you can nudge it. The employee who was a germaphobe before quarantine began will likely continue to be the safest employee. The employee who throws dishes in the sink without washing them, and leaves empty containers everywhere will not likely change their behavior. Nothing will change here. Solution: That doesn’t mean you can make it easier for employee safety. Many companies are putting touchless hand sanitizer stations (like this one) at all entrances and in the shared dining areas. Others are requiring temperature checks upon entering. This [...]

2020-06-25T21:06:06+00:00By Red Level|Application Development|

Ransomware Attack at MSU: Keep your company safe

While we're all focused on working through COVID in the real world, hackers are working their nefarious scams in the virtual world. Their latest target is close to home – Michigan State University. A ransomware attack infected MSU yesterday stealing student data, files, and financial information. Red Level has solutions to protect your clients, data, and reputation, but there are also several simple things you can do to stay safe: Apply patches and updates. Ensure that systems are up to date and that all software updates are installed. Double-check email addresses. Watch for unfamiliar names and domains, as well as ‘spoofed’ accounts pretending to be trusted contacts. Think before clicking. Don’t click or download suspicious or unexpected attachments, or visit [...]

2020-05-29T16:10:44+00:00By Red Level|Ransomware, Security|

Tools & Resources for Returning to Work in Michigan

Michigan businesses have been given the green light to get back to work – but with many new rules, guidelines, and processes to ensure our workforce stays healthy and keeps the novel coronavirus from flaring up again. Enter the free COVID ClearPass app from Red Level which helps organizations fulfill many of these new safety protocols. On Monday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released Executive Order 2020-91 – a new order addressing how Michigan business could emerge from quarantine and gradually resume in-person work. While some of these guidelines are specific to requirements for PPE (personal protective equipment) and social distancing, many of the new rules address capacity limits, employee tracking, and emergency communication – all things the COVID ClearPass app [...]

2020-07-07T12:40:11+00:00By Red Level|Application Development, Business Intelligence, business owner|

Work From Home Readiness Checklist

Our current reality has created a big push for people to work from home. There are many applications and services that give organizations the ability to have their employees work remotely. The Work From Home Readiness Checklist consists of three main pillars that you want to be sure you cover when implementing a work from environment: hosted items, access tools, and policies. Hosted Items Software-as-a-service (SaaS) SaaS is any software or application that is hosted on the Internet and is accessible by users either from an organizational device (laptop, phone, tablet) or a personal device. Systems like payrolls services, ERPs, Office 365 fall into this category. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) IaaS is a managed computing infrastructure that is offered on-demand, meaning computing [...]

2020-06-26T14:02:03+00:00By Edward Aube|Collaboration, Collaboration Solutions, Microsoft Solution Provider|

Microsoft Teams vs Zoom, Which Should You Use?

When the FBI sends a warning to the public, it’s generally a good idea to heed it. The FBI recently issued a notice to the public citing security problems with the Zoom video-teleconferencing platform. The platform has been compromised in such a way, according to the FBI warning, that will make you reconsider the security of the system for things like remote learning of school-age children. That’s exactly what the New York City School district did. The district announced last week, due to security concerns, they will be transitioning to Microsoft Teams for their distance learning. Even SpaceX has forbidden its employees from using the tool. While the Zoom platform has good intentions, it is short-sighted for us to think a company that [...]

2020-06-26T14:12:17+00:00By Valerie Lewandowski|Microsoft Solution Provider|

Emergency Time Block of Helpdesk Services

Our work lives changed so quickly in the last 30 days. The speed of change has left many businesses looking for help. Does your company have the right tools, technologies, and talent to survive and thrive as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? The Good News: Red Level is here to help. For a limited time, Red Level is offering NEW clients an EMERGENCY TIME BLOCK of 25 or 50 hours of Helpdesk Services to set-up, secure, and maintain these critical technologies for your company and your remote workforce. This one time, no long-term commitment, discounted block of time is simple and easy to use with full access to our helpdesk team. The entire Red Level team is working to keep [...]

2020-06-26T13:23:26+00:00By Red Level|Managed IT Services, Managed Services, Managed Services Provider|

Work From Home Best Practices

The COVID-19 virus has created the new reality of working from home or remotely. We have a few best practices for you to keep communicating and collaborating, from both a technical and practical perspective. Microsoft published a letter from Lily Zheng in their Shanghai office. In this letter, she had three key points for your team and organization. Your Team: Stay Well Exercise every day, make sure you eat, and have a structured schedule Go All In Don’t put things off. Don’t cancel your standing meetings. Do everything remotely. Support your Teammates Check in on people. Instead of stopping by someone’s desk to chat for a second. Ping them on teams or a random video call to chat. Share photos [...]

2020-06-25T21:07:29+00:00By Ryan Charnock|Collaboration, Collaboration Solutions, Microsoft Solution Provider|

Red Level Is Part Of The Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce

As the nation comes together to slow the spread of COVID-19, President Trump, the Coronavirus Task Force, and Governor Whitmer have asked America's to “Stay Home, Stay Safe” and close all nonessential business. Red Level is clearly classified as a critical infrastructure operation by the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and we will stay open AND stay safe to meet our special responsibility to our clients and country. The entire Red Level team is working to maintain commands centers, secure data centers, client service centers, and infrastructure support. We're also helping companies transition employees to work-from-home operations. Red Level is also here to support new clients in need of outsourced IT support – no matter if [...]

2020-03-24T20:47:13+00:00By David King|Managed Services Provider|

Microsoft’s Response to Education Institutions

Technology can play a vital role in reducing the impact of COVID-19 on people and organizations. Many schools and universities have moved to online courses to ensure everyone is still receiving an education during this time. Microsoft has introduced extended free trials and resources for clients to use to maintain collaboration, productivity, and security. Here is Microsoft's response for education institutions: New, Extended Free Trials for EDU Customers Office 365 A1 – Free versions to all educational institutions: This version provides unlimited chat, built-in group and one-on-one audio or video calling, 10 GB of team file storage, and 2 GB of personal file storage per user. You also get real-time collaboration with the Office apps for web, including Word, Excel, [...]

2020-03-19T19:18:16+00:00By Microsoft|Microsoft, Microsoft Partner, Microsoft Solution Provider|

Achieve More with the Office 365 Cloud Immersion Experience

We’ve all been there. We've had technology dumped on us, sometimes with no explanation. What we hear most often from our clients is that they have rolled out Office 365, but people are not adopting the technology. How do we solve that? People don't embrace technology, but they embrace solutions. Office 365 Offers Many Powerful Tools In the Office 365 environment, we see all these different opportunities to work with tools inside of the product. However, that can be overwhelming, and who has time to be overwhelmed in the workplace? “Empower & Inspire peopleby creating an immersive experience where they discover for themselveswhat’s possible in a Microsoft-powered organization.” Provide a Direction with an Office 365 Cloud Immersion Experience This Office 365 Cloud Immersion Experience is a chance for your users to become empowered. It’s a hands-on session to explore how to [...]

2020-06-26T14:00:56+00:00By Valerie Lewandowski|Cloud Technology Services, Microsoft|