Dealing with IT in a growing business and need advice? Well below we address some of the issues which you need to think about to make sure your IT has the resilience to see your business to the next level. So are you Dealing with IT in a growing business and need advice? If so read on…..

After a business has been established and begins to grow there are several considerations which need to be addressed regarding the IT set up that the business uses. Many new businesses begin on a strictly limited budget and this can mean that some of the important considerations can be overlooked at the start. Once the business begins to expand this is the time to ensure that the IT platform is stable and robust enough to cope with adding users and computers to it, while ensuring that it is protected against the threats and risks that come as a natural part of the computer network.

Consider the following areas

• Implementation of IT Backups including management of offsite protection against fire, flood and theft;
• Disaster recovery planning to minimise business interruption,
• Security of your system against external threats
• Seeking advice if you are wanting to move to the cloud
• Consideration of other Cloud Solutions
• Applying Device management if you decide to allow your staff to use their own devices
• Protection of sensitive data relating to vulnerable individuals
• Getting Advice on computer hardware: servers, desktop computers, notebooks, tablets and apple macs to ensure they integrate into the business fully
• Consider formal Computer network design, installation and management
• Make the most of the broadband connectivity available to you.

These are only a few of the key areas you need to consider. Make sure that equipment is looked after properly to get the most from it which will help your business to grow. Most importantly have someone reliable to be on hand to make sure it functions properly.

Computer Support

Look for a reliable IT support company who can help you to plan and roadmap your IT journey. They must cut out the jargon and be on hand to help you with key decisions. It might be tempting to use the services of a friend or an individual who works alone. If you do this you need to ask yourself what will happen in a crisis. Will they be able to respond quickly and get your system up and running quickly in the event of a disaster? If they are away on holiday will the result be business disruption?

We recommend that you look to employ the services of an established support company with more than one engineer. Check out their track record, take up references and speak to their existing customers. Any reputable company will not mind giving you access to many their existing clients.

Take advantage of local seminars and business support services who can help you. There are many across Somerset and Wiltshire – you could take a look here for  Somerset or here for Wiltshire. Be sure to work out where the  weaknesses in your network are and work to reduce the risks over time. Work with someone who will take the headache away and as a result help you continue to grow.

So still Dealing with IT in a growing business and need advice? We are happy to help and advise you on the next step on your journey – take a look here for our business products and services or call and speak to one of our friendly team

The post IT in a Growing Business appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

Do you know where your company’s confidential data is being stored, where it’s being sent and who is accessing it?

Data Leakage Prevention technology provides you with a good overview of the location and usage of data within your business. It checks network actions against your business security policies, and allows you to protect and control sensitive data, including customer information and financial data . Once you have this information you can change your internal policies accordingly and change user rights where necessary

Do you have a policy to protect you against theft and accidental disclosure of sensitive information by employees and partners?

Not all data loss is the result of external, malicious attacks. Accidental loss of  confidential data by internal employees is a significant factor. Data Leakage Prevention software can prevent confidential documents leaving  the network. It can block sensitive data transfers to Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives and other removable media. Data Leakage Prevention also offers the ability to apply policies that safeguard data on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a security event is detected, access to a specific workstation can be blocked instantly. Policies can also quarantine or encrypt data in real-time response to events.

Are you are concerned about your next audit and want to maintain compliance with complex regulations?

More than 50 countries now have data protection laws that require organisations to safeguard sensitive information. Penalties for noncompliance with strict privacy regulations and breach notification laws continue to grow. Requirements reach beyond the simple provision of written policies to prove compliance. By using technology to control usage you can help maintain compliance and will have the ability to prove what you are doing.

Do you need to protect your information against threats caused by mobile workers and social media channels?

Many employees are now using social media  to keep up with consumer trends. Data Leakage Prevention software will help  prevent the accidental exposure of confidential information across  unsecure lines of communication. You can of course allow social media  for appropriate uses. With the rise in use of mobile devices and more remote based employees, corporate data increasingly resides both in and outside of the organization. Wherever data lives in transit on the network, at rest in storage, or in use on a laptop or smartphone, DLP can monitor it and significantly reduce the risk of data loss.

Would you like to monitor your organization for inappropriate employee conduct and maintain forensic data of security events as evidence?

Insiders represent a significant risk to data security. An employee who emails a work-related document to his personal account in order to work over the weekend may have good intentions. However, he or she poses a big threat when there is confidential data involved. With Data Leakage Prevention software you can limit and filter Web surfing, and control which applications employees can access. It is an invaluable tool in the effort to stop dangerous or time-wasting activities, and helps to detect problems before they can damage your business.

Are you uncertain of your organization’s level of protection for confidential data in cloud applications and storage?

Large amounts of data are being moved to applications in the cloud—an environment in which it is not always clear where data will be physically stored and processed. Protecting sensitive information in virtual and cloud models is critical. Data Leakage Prevention software recognises confidential data and automates its encryption at rest, in motion and in use, preventing its transmission to third-party infrastructures.

Would your organization  like to proactively prevent the misuse of data at endpoints, both on and off the corporate network?

DLP technology monitors all endpoint activity—whether on smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktops, on the corporate network or off. It can block emails or attachments containing confidential data, enforce policies on the transfer of data to removable media devices such as USB thumb drives, and even prevent activities such as printing, copying and pasting. DLP offers complete data visibility and control, ensuring that employees, third-party vendors, contractors and partners are prevented from leaking your data—intentionally or inadvertently

would you like to gain a competitive advantage, in both brand value and reputation?

When organizations fail to take the necessary steps to identify sensitive data and protect it from loss or misuse, they are risking their ability to compete. Whether it’s a targeted attack or an inadvertent mistake, confidential data loss can diminish a company’s brand, reduce shareholder value, and irreparably damage the company’s reputation. DLP facilitates the protection of valuable trade secrets and other vital intelligence, and helps to prevent the negative publicity and loss of customers that inevitably follow data breaches

Do any of the above apply to you? If so, call us now to discuss how you can increase your protection and ensure your data is secure

The post Why consider use of Data Leakage Prevention Technology in your Business? appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

Few of your staff would actually threaten your data maliciously. More likely they may not have strong passwords, leave data on unsecured devices or share computers with housemates, family and friends with the same account even.

So what data is most at risk?

Client lists with contact details are particularly common with financial details belonging to you or your clients along with your pricing matrix, products currently in design phase and even your manufacturing processes.

It is very true that when a member of staff is going to resign, it is no good acting to prevent data loss once they have tendered their resignation. If they intended to take details of your client base with them you can be sure that they already have this at the point of handing in their notice.

What is the Consequence?

There is obviously a potential financial loss from a data breach. If a competitor gets hold of your client database this can be extremely damaging especially if they are employing an ex member of your team

Reputational damage is important to mention here especially if there is a leak of client data or their financial data. There is no way of minimising this and we all know that a solid reputation takes years to build and a single instance to destroy.

How can we make sure our Security is adequate?

Regarding minimising the risk from the above perhaps we need to look at internal policies and procedures and make sure that our implementation is universal across the organisation.

• Identify what data the business holds and consider who can access it. If only a certain number of personnel need to access sensitive information then make sure the other members of your team are denied access.
• Assess your internal password policy. Be sure that they are strong enough, unique, regularly changed and make sure no one shares their password with a colleague.
• Make sure your staff know what your security processes and policies are in order that adhering to them becomes easier.
• Do your staff have the ability to download any content with no restrictions? This could introduce spyware or malicious code into your systems.
• Be sure to regularly update your staff as to what active threats are an issue. This could take the form of additional training with regards to opening email attachments in particular.  

More Questions?

Call us at Labyrinth Computers for help to implement any of the above in your own business environment on 01935 421299

The post Is the biggest threat to your data from inside your organisation? appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

In this the latest blog in our series about backups and their importance we progress to how to backup your PC and achieve the protection against data loss that we all want to have

Some users believe that by backing up their data to a separate folder on their computer is enough to say that their data is backed up. But what if your hard drive fails? Well the data is all in the same place so it will all be lost

Other users store files in Dropbox. Is this really a backup? Well no it isn’t. Why? Because if you accidentally delete from your Dropbox storage then the file will be removed. If you then have a failure then there is no file to recover. Be aware also that if you are running a shared Dropbox for a small business and there is a virus/ransomware infection then all the shared files could be affected leaving a total data loss.

The same can be said about OneDrive. Although generous on space be clear that this is an online storage area and not a backup.

Onsite or Offsite Backup?

Onsite backup to a different computer may be all you feel necessary. The risk which you are left with if you take this option is protection against fire, theft or flood. This can of course be minimised by using a fire proof safe or lock box or otherwise if the property is a large one you could place your backup device in another part of the building.

Offsite Backup however is the method of choice if you want to eliminate multiple risks. You can choose between a scheduled backup which requires no intervention or otherwise a manual backup solution which requires input from someone onsite.

All of the following options can be stored offsite and physical devices can be stored onsite also.

USB Memory Stick

By far the cheapest solution this is the most common form of backup for most users.

Pros: Cheap, Easily portable and easy to use

Cons: Can be broken easily, because they are so small they are also easily lost.

USB Hard Drive

Still relatively cheap and quite common. Easily available and economical

Pros: Choice of size up to large sizes, easily portable

Cons : If dropped there is an internal hard drive so can be damaged easily, if using a scheduled piece of software to perform your backup you have to remember to plug it in to transfer data and critically remember to unplug it and take it offsite when the backup of your pc finishes

Cloud Backup

Totally easy to schedule and leave to someone else to monitor or look after yourself

Pros: No user input required, complete offsite protection assured

Cons: costs can be expensive, still need to monitor that the backup is passing

So obviously there are many solutions to be had with some not costing very much at all. Now that we have covered how to backup your pc is there really any excuse not to protect yourself from data loss?

We think the answer is no! Still have questions? Feel free to contact us on 01935 421299 to take the next step and make sure that your files are protected and especially your photographic memories are preserved for the future.

The post How to Backup your PC and protect your data appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

We hear all the time people advising us to back up our computers but why is it so important?

“My computer runs fine”; “I don’t keep anything important on my computer” or “I have never backed up my files” I hear you say. But does this mean you don’t need to back up? In this article we look to think about the type of data we actually keep on our computer systems and how we might feel if we lost any of our files. Then we try to answer the golden question : should we back up our computers?

Photographs

In the age of digital photography and even using our smartphones to take photo’s most of us have at least one photograph in our pictures folder on our computer. So what do we photograph in order to keep? Maybe it is photographs of family, creating a record of our children from birth and as they grow up. Perhaps it may be photographs of a family gathering, wedding, christening, birthday or holiday. In any event our photograph storage has moved away from the traditional photo album to albums created on our computers.

How would we feel if all these photographs suddenly disappeared never to be seen again? Most people would be devastated at the loss of so many important memories.

Music

With many of us using digital downloaded music we typically store this on our computers. Whether we are using ITunes or another music program. Sure if we had a disaster we could probably get it all back in the end. If on the other hand we back up our computers this risk goes away. Otherwise it  might mean having to buy our music again which would be at best annoying and at worst unaffordable.

Documents

Many of us keep our own household accounts on our computers. This may not be too important if we lost it. We should though consider why it might be lost. If it is because the computer is stolen we might feel differently. Personal data is exactly what it says – personal. The thought of a stranger looking through our private belongings is not a nice one. It should be no different for our private documents. Remember also that private documents can be used in identity fraud just as discarded mail can be if not shredded. The question here is not only should we back up our computers but how else can we protect our data. See here for ideas on how to do this

So what is it exactly that can happen to mean that our photographs, music or documents are lost? Well there is a fairly complete list of risks.

• Electrical power surges. Although many of us use anti-surge protection within our homes, there is still a possibility that we could experience a power surge which can break the computer. If we suffer this and back up our computers then it should not affect us too badly.

• Common failure. Your hard drive where all your data is stored can just simply break. In this instance it is a lottery whether your files can be restored or not. Obviously if we back up our computers the data can be restored easily

• What happens if your house catches fire? All that it needs is for the computer to be caught in the fire and the contents will obviously be lost.

• Theft. What happens if your computer is lost or stolen? With many of us switching to more portable devices they can easily be misplaced or stolen giving our data to the person who steals or finds our device. Again see here for more ideas

• Have you ever accidentally deleted something from your computer? Sometimes you can of course undo what you have done but again if you haven’t noticed you could be in trouble. With a backup you can restore just the files you deleted.

• Operating system corruption or update issues. Especially now where we are being urged to upgrade to Windows 10 whilst it remains free until July 29^th there is a danger to our data. Not all upgrades go smoothly and with a big update if it goes wrong it might be that the only solution is to clean install the operating system. This will mean that although your computer works still, none of the data is preserved during the process.

• Ransomware. This is the newest threat to all of us. It can be transmitted in many ways but effectively your files are encrypted and you have to pay large sums to gain access to them once more. A good solid backup is the only way to get back to where you were. If we back up our computers we will not be affected by these threats to our files

So the advice is sound.

To back up our computers is complete common sense.

Do we want to move out of the 20% of people in the UK who do not back up at all? 

If so, call us now to make sure you have the right backup option for you

If so contact us now to discuss options for your own data protection. It really isn’t as expensive as you believe and think about the peace of mind you will gain. Knowing that our precious data and in particular our photographs are safe is so important.

After all losing our memories is a complete disaster

The post Back up our computers? Why should we? appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

Working in the current climate means more and more that having the ability to work from anywhere is a key factor for any business however large or small

Flexible working is becoming more popular and with personnel spread out geographically it can be difficult to organise meetings and collaboration in a simple manner. Well now you can. Using Office 365 is at the heart of working from anywhere and means cutting down on travel time and office rental or equipment

How can Office 365 help me work from anywhere?

By choosing the right product for your organisation you can implement flexible, remote working easily but still collaborate holding meetings via Skype for Business, Sharing company documents using a single Company SharePoint Site, share calendars using Business class email and work effectively on a variety of devices from your smartphone to your computer and many in between.

On top of the company SharePoint storage each user has a generous 1TB data storage allowance for storage of their own documents which should take care of all your storage needs.

So what are the real benefits to my business?

There are many benefits which come directly from using Office 365 with the key ones outlined below:

• All users work on the current Office release and everyone uses the same version. This eliminates compatibility issues across the business
• Clear costs are laid out year by year.Easily scale up or down the number of users as your business grows or contracts.
• The ability to hold Skype Conference calls with video means you can keep in touch with all employees wherever they are
• Shared documents are available via the company SharePoint Site anywhere and at any time via internet access
• Synchronise Calendar data between users easily – have full visibility of personnel availability when making appointments. With active Sync more than one person can access calendars.
• If there is ever an issue with staff getting to the office there is now no issue. As long as there is connection to the Internet you can truly work from anywhere, getting to any documents or emails  you need. And if all this is not enough for you, no longer will you have to book expensive meeting rooms but can run a video conference using Skype for Business which is part of your subscription already. This can save significant amounts of money for the business
•  By allowing your employees to work from anywhere, they can perform more efficiently knowing that workplace flexibility is encouraged. Happy staff can mean better productivity for any business.

The Value of Meetings in Office 365

If you need further information either call us or visit the Microsoft Office 365 website for more information.

Click Here for more on how to work from anywhere

And remember, anyone who attends the meeting via Skype for Business can take notes during the meeting using OneNote as this comes as part of your subscription too!

 Ready to implement a new subscription?

Get in touch today for us to arrange a trial with no obligation to purchase or to discuss your requirements.

The post Work from Anywhere with Office 365 appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

Applications close on Monday 7th September at 12 midday so email or call us for more details on what it is like to work in this busy, vibrant environment where each day is different!

The post We are recruiting! appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

HOW CAN MY SECURITY AND PRIVACY BE DAMAGED?

There are 3 main ways that users can become affected from breach of security and privacy.

Emails

These are by far the most common reason for being caught by spammers and scammers.

Emails asking you to reset passwords that you are not expecting. Generally these emails are not genuine. The only time you are asked to reset a password is when you have genuinely forgotten it and this is via the website account you are trying to access.

Emails with attachments. There are many common attachments being sent by email to people at the present time. They are usually labelled as .zip or .exe files on the actual attachment. Common current titles are Invoice.zip or Resume.zip. These emails contain viruses and the most dangerous one is Cryptolocker virus. This encrypts your files and the only way to get them back (if you do not have a current backup) is to pay the writer money to decrypt your files.

Sometimes these emails are hard to spot. They purport to come from common retailers or organisations such as P&O Ferries, Amazon or HMRC. It is important to be aware that none of these retailers will email you attachments but will communicate with you via email with the information readily visible in the body of the email. The best way to protect yourself is to delete the email without opening it and empty your deleted items folder.

Emails telling you have won a competition or a prize. We all know that these offers are usually too good to be true. It is dangerous to answer these emails as it may result in you ending up on a “Victim List”. These are sometimes known to scammers as lead lists or sucker lists. Victim lists are directories of people who have previously responded to an offer or fallen victim to a scam. These lists contain personal information and contact details and are compiled for the purpose of approaching those listed with other scams.

Lists may have initially been compiled by direct marketing companies or list brokers for genuine marketing purposes. Increasingly however these lists are created and traded by scammers on the black market. Lists also increasingly identify individuals who may be particularly vulnerable to deceptive offers and scams.

Victim lists can contain a variety of sensitive personal and financial information including:

• Name
• Income
• Occupation
• Home address
• Work, home and mobile telephone numbers
• Personal e-mail addresses
• Financial account/credit card numbers.

Protect yourself from being added to a Victim List by following the simple steps below: 

• Be cautious—if you receive any offer which seems too good to be true, it probably is. Delete the email!
• Do not respond to scam emails, even to unsubscribe or to say you know it is a scam! 
• If you have fallen victim to a scam or you receive a lot of unsolicited emails consider changing your email address.
• Never give your details to any company or provide them through a website, regardless of what they are offering, unless you are sure they can be trusted.
• If you are considering providing your details to a company via their website, read their privacy policy/terms and conditions first.  If you do not agree with how they will use your details, do not provide them. 
• When subscribing to a service or completing an application form, most companies will give you the option to tick a box requesting that your details are not shared with any other companies. Be alert – this option may be hidden at the end of the form or in small print.

Phone Calls

There is an increase at the present time due to computer users being aware of the need to protect against viruses.

Scammers are taking advantage of this by calling end users under a variety of different guises pretending to be calling to help you. The most common ones are as follow:

• Microsoft – the caller tells you they are from Microsoft and have found a problem with your computer and that it has a virus.
• Apple – similar to above but Mac Users need to be aware that the most common viruses do not affect Apple products
• Antivirus software vendors – callers pretending to be from Symantec, Kaspersky or McAfee or similar.

None of the above would call an end user but even if they did they cannot tell what is happening on an individual computer.

The point of the call is to get remote connection to your computer. Once this happens the caller can install “software” onto your computer or even transfer a virus to enable them to find out your credit card or bank details

If you ever receive a call of this nature the advice is simple – hang up the phone!

Websites

Sometimes you can be unlucky and visit a website which has itself been attacked. This can happen to many popular websites and even they are not immune to security breaches. If you visit a website and it does not appear to be working correctly navigate away from it and try it later on.

If you are shopping online be sure to look for a symbol stating that the website payment gateway is secure before entering any card details.

HOW CAN I PROTECT MYSELF AGAINST THE THREAT OF SCAMMERS?

The main way we can all protect ourselves is by modifying our behaviour towards emails, websites and phone calls from strangers.

Scammers trade on being convincing and making you let down your guard. But there are things we call all do to make it harder for them.

 Emails

As stated earlier in this article, never, ever respond to suspicious emails including opening attachment or clicking on unsubscribe buttons if you know the email is spam or a scam.

If you do receive a suspicious email do not open it. Simply delete it and then ensure your deleted items folder is also emptied.

Phone Calls

Treat any unwanted call with suspicion. No one should have a reason for gaining remote access to your computer unless you have asked them to. Simply hang up the phone.

Antivirus Software

Make sure you are running an up to date, effective antivirus software program. Users often use a free antivirus software program but it does pay to get one of the premium products which have extra features such as mail filtering and credit card security built into them. Remember that these programs run on a subscription and it needs renewal in order to best protect you going forward.

Backup

Always make sure your important files are backed up. This can be done by a variety of methods such as external hard drive, Cloud backup, etc. Find the solution that works best for you and make sure that your backups run regularly so that if the worst happens you can recover your documents and photographs.

Update your Computer

All vendors release updates for their software. The updates are free of charge and you can set your computer to install these automatically. The main vendors recognise that scammers and spammers will try to exploit their software and they spend a lot of time releasing security patches for their software to counteract this. Take advantage and be sure to install patches and updates frequently.

WHAT IF I NEED HELP WITH THIS?

Find a local independent computer expert to help you if you are unsure. Good computer support companies should be more than happy to help or answer your questions.

If you don’t already have someone to ask then feel free to call and we will be very happy to help you.

The post How To Stay Protected And Ahead Of The Scammers appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

“Office 365” refers to subscription plans that include access to Office applications plus other productivity services that are enabled over the Internet (cloud services), such as Skype for Business, Exchange Online hosted email for business, additional online storage with OneDrive and Skype world minutes for home.

Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of the latest Office applications, which users can install across multiple computers and devices. The Office 365 plans that are online-only are a great choice for certain business needs, and they are compatible with desktop versions of the latest version of Office, Office 2010, Office 2007 (with slightly limited functionality), Office 2011 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac.

All Office 365 plans are paid for on a subscription basis, monthly or annually.

“Microsoft Office” is the name still used for the familiar productivity software. Office suites have traditionally included applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. All the new Office suites (for example, Office Standard 2013) include the latest versions of these applications. These suites can be installed on only one PC and do not come with any cloud-based services included in Office 365.

Will Office 365 work with my existing copy of Office?

Office 365 works best with the latest version of Office, Office 2010, and Office 2011 for Mac. Office 365 works with slightly limited functionality with Office 2007. If you have an earlier edition of Office, you will need to update to a newer version of Office in order to use Office 365; or you can subscribe to one of the many Office 365 plans that include the latest version of Office. In addition to getting the latest version of Office as part of your subscription, you will also get automatic updates, so your Office will always be up to date

Is Internet access required to use Office 365?

Yes. Internet access is required to install and activate all Office 365 plans and to manage your subscription account. Internet connectivity is also required to access Office 365 cloud productivity services, including email, conferencing, IT management, and other services.

Many Office 365 plans also include the desktop version of Office, One of the benefits of having the desktop version of Office applications is that you can work offline and have the confidence that the next time you connect to the Internet all your work will automatically sync, so you never have to worry about your documents being up to date. Your desktop version of Office is also automatically kept up to date and upgraded when you connect to the Internet, so you always have the latest tools to help you work.

What is the Cloud?

“The cloud” is a friendly way of describing web-based computing services that are hosted outside of your organization. When you use cloud-based services, your IT infrastructure resides off your property (off-premises), and is maintained by a third party (hosted), instead of residing on a server at your home or business (on-premises) that you maintain. With Office 365, for example, information storage, computation, and software are located and managed remotely on servers owned by Microsoft. Many services you use every day are a part of the cloud—everything from web-based email to mobile banking and online photo storage. Because this infrastructure is located online or “in the cloud,” you can access it virtually anywhere, from a PC, tablet, smartphone, or other device with an Internet connection.

What mobile apps are available for Office?

• Office for Android™: View, create and edit documents with touch-friendly Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps. You can count on Office for Android to keep your content and formatting intact so the document looks great when you’re back on your PC or Mac. In Word, add comments or track changes while you work together with others. Review and update Excel spread sheets and easily add formulas or charts. Make changes to PowerPoint presentations and project them wirelessly on a big screen. You can view documents for free with Office for Android. Editing and creating documents requires an eligible Office 365 subscription

• Office for iPad®: View, create and edit documents with touch-friendly Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps. You can count on Office for iPad to keep your content and formatting intact so the document looks great when you’re back on your PC or Mac. In Word, add comments or track changes while you work together with others. Review and update Excel spread sheets and easily add formulas or charts. Make changes to PowerPoint presentations and project them wirelessly on a big screen.
  You can view documents for free with Office for iPad. Editing and creating documents requires an eligible Office 365 subscription

• Office Mobile:Office Mobile is preinstalled on Windows Phone 8 and is available for select models of iPhone® and Android phones. Office Mobile offers great Office content viewing and on-the-go content editing capabilities. And you can count on Office Mobile to keep your content and formatting intact so the document still looks great when you’re back on your PC or Mac. Office Mobile for iPhone and Android phones can be used for free for non-commercial use, simply download the app from the store on your phone.
  In order to edit or create documents or to access documents stored in SharePoint and OneDrive for Business on premises, you must have a qualifying Office 365 plan

• Outlook Mobile:Windows Phone 8 includes a pre-installed version of Outlook that you can use to access your Outlook.com, Office 365, or Exchange email.

• OneNote:You can use the mobile OneNote app to access your notes while on the go. This app is available on Windows Phone 8, iPhone, iPad, and Android phones.

• OWA:If you have an Office 365 subscription that includes Exchange Online, you can use the OWA app to sort, scan, and respond to email, and stay on top of your schedule. This app is available on iPhone and iPad.

What if I already own a domain name and want to use it with Office 365?

You can add the domain name you own to Office 365 to create domain-based email addresses.

Can I switch to other Office 365 plans?

Yes. If you need to upgrade, you can transition your account to a different plan.

Can I mix and match different Office 365 plans?

Yes, you can mix and match Office 365 plans. Please note that there are some license limitations at the plan level. The Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, and Business Premium plans each have a limit of 300 users, while the Enterprise plans are for an unlimited number of users.

Can I cancel my subscription at any time?

You can cancel your subscription at any time. However, depending on the product and the type of subscription you have, there may be a penalty for cancelling before the end of your contract. For subscriptions with a monthly commitment payment, there is no penalty for cancelling your contract at any time. Annual commitment subscriptions that are paid month to month may incur some penalties if cancelled early.

What happens to my data if I cancel my subscription?

Your data is yours. If you decide to cancel your Office 365 subscription, you can download your data—for example, your email and documents on team sites—and save it to another location. You should save your data before you cancel. After you cancel your subscription, data associated with your Office 365 account will be available to your administrator(s) in a limited function account for 90 days.

I’m running Windows Vista or Windows XP. Will I have any limitations?

Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, and Business Premium support Windows Vista and Windows XP for most web-based functionality. However, they do not support the download and use of the latest version of Office software, and you cannot substitute Office 2010 for the latest version. You can connect your existing Office 2010 or Office 2007 software to the Office 365 service, but if you are running Windows Vista or Windows XP, you cannot install Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, and Business Premium software, and you cannot replace Office 365 Business, Business Essentials, or Business Premium software with a download of Office 2010.

I want to get going. Who can help me with this process?

We can. At Labyrinth Computers all our staff are trained in guiding you through the sign up process and setting up your new account. We are with you every step of the way.

The post Office 365 for Business – Frequently asked Questions appeared first on Labyrinth Computers.

We are really very proud to be sponsoring the Best Website Category in the upcoming Western Gazette Business Awards 2015

This is the 2nd year we have sponsored this category and we are looking forward to seeing  many strong entries this year

Have you recently launched a new business website? If so enter now – you only need to provide 100 words initially and you never know what might happen

As previous finalists at the awards we have seen the value of entering first hand

Labyrinth Computers gained several valuable business contacts from last year both via entry and via sponsorship which have led to valuable business being completed and signed off

To Enter click here

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