Increased Productivity

One of the most important mantras for a business is paying for employee education is a short-time cost, but having an untrained or poorly prepared employee hurts your business for years to come. If an employee inadvertently utilizes an inefficient or improper method, their actions can not only be costly and inefficient, but dangerous. Further, many businesses are quick to spend the time and money to purchase new technology but are hesitant to put forth the capital needed to properly train employees on that technology. Remember: Technology is useless in the hands of employees who are improperly trained.

If your business is willing to spend the time and money to adopt new technology, it must also be willing to train the needed employees. Even seemingly simple technology, such as point of sale systems, can have learning curves. Thus, according to Celerant, courses as fundamental as POS training can help your employees close learning gaps when it comes to managing technologies in the workplace.

It’s Cheaper Than Replacing

One of the most common mistakes that businesses make is choosing to replace an employee rather than train an existing one to perform a needed tax. This is a risky practice for numerous reasons. First, according to Zenefits, the cost of onboarding an employee can be a surprisingly expensive proposition. Not only does finding a new employee take time, but the interview and initial intake processes take up vital resources. Beyond these surface-level concerns, choosing to replace an employee rather than train them fosters a workplace environment lacking in loyalty and pride. By taking the time to invest in your employees, they will take the time to invest in you.

Your Employees Might Need Less Help Than You Think

Modern technology courses are often extremely flexible and tailored to a variety of skill levels, lowering cost. When a business examines the cost of continued training, there might be an initial aversion to the cost. However, investing in your employees is the best way for a business to maintain efficiency, safety, and profitability.

For many small businesses, the cost of worker’s compensation or insurance constitutes a significant part of their overall expenses. This is why it is important to think of training not only as a benefit to productivity but as a way to reduce your business overhead as well.

Here’s another article you might like: Advantages of Managed IT Services

As I was reading the story I thought to myself, “am I bold enough to publish my job history for the world to see”? And then I thought to myself “Yes, I am”.

Here’s my list:

1. Can & Bottle Collector – I collected bottles and cans and sold them back to the store (yes, they had a real recycling plan back in the days).
2. Farm laborer – as a young teen, my siblings and I would catch the local bean field truck early Saturday morning to go out the local farms and pick beans so we could have some spending money for the week.  It was hard work, but it built character at 4 Point.
3. Car washer – I went to work with my dad (Roscoe Harris, SR) on the weekends and he taught me how to wash and clean a car the right way to get paid.
4. Lawn & Leaf – I went around the neighborhood on weekends and knocked on doors to see if anyone needed their lawn cut or leaves raked.
5. Front counter clerk – while still in elementary school I worked at the front counter taking orders at the local bakery (best glazed donuts ever). Harold’s Bakery!
6. Bag Boy – working at the local grocery store I quickly learned that being on the bottom of the ladder was not a good spot for me.
7. Produce Clerk – Ok, I left the bag boy job and told a little white lie that I was a produce clerk at my last job.  It worked!  Luckily, the manager had a few days off and before he came back to work, I knew how to do the job.
8. Dish washer – my brother would bring me to his job where he was the dishwasher. He showed me how to wash the dishes and then he would leave and return a few hours later (Thanks Johnny, for my 1^st illegal job at the age of 13, Boca Lago).
9. Bell hop – me & 1 of my best friends (Byron. H) worked at a local hotel bringing the guests bags to their room when they checked into the hotel (HoJo).
10. BETA Summer Job – in the 70’s, when you turned 15 the government hired kids to work during the summer.  If you got in early you got the best jobs (not me).  I worked as a custodian cleaning and scrubbing the desks and floors at the middle school (which I probably helped deface during the school year).  Lesson learned!
11. Electronic Repair – I started repairing everything from old tube tv’s to washer machines for people in the neighborhood.
12. Car radio installer – I started my 1^st business as a car radio & accessory installer.  I printed my own business cards in my printing class, and I offered my installation services to the shop owners at the local swap shop and flea markets.
13. Cabinet Maker – I learned to make custom wall units by hand from a master craftsman at Advance Wall Systems (thanks Walter Vance).
14. Marble bath tub and sink installer – I learned to manufacture and install custom marble bath tubs and sinks.
15. Print Press & Delivery – I ran the printing press and did the local deliveries for a local print shop (Sir Speedy).
16. Telephone installer & technician – I worked as an installer / technician installing PBX telephone systems (Nation Business Communications).
17. Two-way Radio technician – I learned to install two-way communications radio and towers and the 1^st versions of cell phones (which weighed a ton, at Bob’s Two-Way Radio in Pompano).
18. Bench technician – I worked as a bench technician testing and repairing measuring equipment for navy ships (Weschler Electric / a division of Westinghouse).
19. Cable TV technician / installer – I learned all aspects of cable television systems from a retiring engineer / I was hired to learn what he knew so that I could be his replacement when he retired. (Thanks Nancy S. & Al Levine, UTA Cable)
20. Satellite / Cable TV technician – cable company (UTA Cable) was purchased by Florida Power & Light so I learned both satellite and cable tv engineering while working Dade, Broward & Palm Beach counties every day running service calls for satellite head ends and cable tv customers. (TeleSat Cablevision, Nancy S.)
21. Cable TV – General Manager – I oversaw the entire cable tv operation for Coconut Creek and then Pembroke Pines area building future cable systems. (Tele-Media Corp, Thanks Tony S., Nancy S.)
22. Operations Area Supervisor – I was the manager / leader of 50 maintenance technicians in the Alpharetta, GA area overseeing service and maintenance of cable tv operations for AT&T Cable Operations, which later became known as Media One.
23. Applications Engineer – I was the engineer responsible for developing and deploying powering equipment used by cable tv operators and telephone companies (Antec, later known as Arris)
24. Senior Applications Engineer / Product Manager – I was responsible for managing and growing the powering division of Arris.
25. Product Manager – I handled all aspects of the customer relationship to develop and sell network products to cable tv and telephone companies. (AFL Communications, Thanks Jim F.)
26. President / CEO, Founder – Founder of AVS Technologies Inc, – I started my own technology company where we work to help other business owners with their technology needs.

If my list is not all that impressive to you, then Chart Your Own Course!

Vernon Harris, President / CEO

AVS Technologies Inc.

He also didn’t have the make, model or serial number to provide the police department; however, we were able to pull all that information from our cloud monitoring control panel.  This at least gave him a better chance of getting the laptop back if the laptop turns up at the local pawn shop.

After a quick look into our cloud control panel we verified that the client was using our ShareSync cloud service.

WHAT IS SHARESYNC? ShareSync is an enterprise-class cloud file backup and sharing service. ShareSync allows you to back up your files in real-time to protect against data loss due to computer issues or accidental file deletions. ShareSync also allows you to securely access all of your files from any computer, the ShareSync web portal and mobile devices whenever and wherever you need them.

Thanks to our ShareSync data service, all of his important files had been backed up to our cloud in real time and they could be easily retrieved from any computer via web browser.  The ShareSync had backed up his My Documents, Desktop, Pictures and several other key  folders that the client selected when he first signed up for our ShareSync service.

It goes without saying how happy the client was to find that he had lost nothing but the laptop.   We could only dream that all data loss stories ended this way; but they could when you have the right service protecting your valuable data.

Not protecting your data could cause you to lose everything!

Link to our ShareSync here

After some investigation and troubleshooting with Savin we discovered that the server had been updated with a Microsoft patch to stop the spread of the WannaCry ransomeware virus that was infecting computers world wide. Our troubleshooting included rolling back the server and removing the upadates as well as shutting down the antivirus and firewall to find the root cause. None of these worked to restore the scan to folder operation.

We turned to the Microsoft Forum and discovered that one of the patches for the WannaCry virus turned off the SMB v.1 protocol on the server and even if we removed the patch it did not reactivate the SMB v.1 protocol again.

After a search on the Microsoft Tech Forum we found the solution for turning the SMB v.1 protocol back on here: Enable and Disable SMB in Winows and Windows Server

The Savin MFP is only capable of communication via SMB v.1 which is probably the case with most older MFP’s. We turned the SMB v.1 protocol back on using the powershell command in Windows Server 2012 and now we are scanning to folders again.

Hopefully, this will help save someone a lot of time and headaches. YOU’RE WELCOME!

Our new office opens today in downtown Atlanta.  We are located at 235 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 400  Atlanta, Ga 30303

The new location downtown will allow us to better serve our clients located in the Atlanta metro area.  This location is convenient to the airport and can be easily accessed via Marta from most locations from around the city.  We are happy to be in Atlanta and we look forward to developing more business relationships in the Atlanta metro area.

Vernon Harris,
President, AVS Technologies Incorporated 

The good news is that we have just added Cirius 365 Encryption to our cloud service offerings to help you get over this senders remorse.

Cirius is a simplified yet powerful email encryption solution that enables businesses to protect and control their email directly within Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Businesses worldwide depend on Cirius to communicate securely on any device, control what happens to messages even after they have been sent, exchange large file attachments securely and protect against data loss. This makes the Cirius 365 Encryption service a perfect fit for Health Care, Law Offices or any business that sends sensitive information via email.

No Technical Expertise Needed
As a cloud-based solution, Cirius has no hardware to install, deploys in minutes and requires no outside IT expertise to implement. Cirius integrates rapidly into the existing email infrastructure without changing it and using existing email addresses.

The Cirius 365 Encryption will be offered as a monthly service with a starter package minimum 5 users and additional users can be added as needed.

We look forward to offering this service to our customers and feel free to inquire for more information.

Welcome, and thanks for visiting.

My career path has taken many different roads to end up in the world of IT support.  My last career stop before starting AVS Computer Services was at Arris International in Duluth, GA  where I worked as a Senior Applications Engineer and then Product Manager developing products for the technology industry.
AVS Computer Services was founded in Alpharetta, GA in 2001 after I was laid off my job at Arris.  After looking at several career options I chose to leave the corporate world and start my own IT services company.  After all the years that I had spent in the technology sector; I came to the conclusion that it was my hobby of building, fixing and repairing computers and networks that was my true passion.

How are we different?  In the world of IT services there are many who claim to know everything (stay away from them) but rarely do you come across an expert that knows the world of computers and technology from the early days of DOS to the complex systems being delivered today.  No, I didn’t invent the internet but I can make your technology work the way it was intended.  You can view some of my work here.

At AVS COMPUTER SERVICES, We meet all of our clients on the technology continuum where they are today; and help get them to where they want to be.