SMART Blog

Smart Services has been providing independent agents with proactive, fast, and expert technology services since 1991.

Tip of the Week: 6 PC Troubleshooting Guidelines that Every User Should Know

Tip of the Week: 6 PC Troubleshooting Guidelines that Every User Should Know

When was the last time that you ran into a computer problem that was easily solved just by simply restarting your computer or unplugging a device from the wall, then plugging it back in? Oftentimes, simple troubleshooting tactics are enough to resolve a problem. But more often than not, there are issues that can’t be easily resolved.

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Why So Many Agencies Outsource Their IT to the Pros

Why So Many Agencies Outsource Their IT to the Pros

How often does your technology experience trouble? If your business is constantly dealing with technical hiccups, your assets, which are meant to help your agency grow, can quickly become a nuisance that holds you back. How can you take better care of your technology, and use it to usher in a new era of productivity?

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How Agencies Stay Connected When a Local ISP Goes Down

How Agencies Stay Connected When a Local ISP Goes Down

Virtualization is changing the way agencies access information, to the point where many organizations simply choose to store their data infrastructure in the cloud and access it as needed. While this is extremely convenient and helps to keep your in-house wiring to a minimum, it also puts you at the mercy of your business’s Internet connection, which means the slightest Internet hiccup could spell trouble.

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Tip of the Week: How to Find Out and Track Your Net Worth

Tip of the Week: How to Find Out and Track Your Net Worth

When money is tight and you start feeling down about your financial situation, it’s important to keep the big picture in mind. This can be done by reviewing your net worth. Having this big picture will help you to worry less and allow you to better focus on your goals.

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Most Organizations Support BYOD

Most Organizations Support BYOD

While most organizations allow the use of employee-owned mobile devices in the workplace, many don’t put proper security measures in place to prevent a hacking attack or data leak.

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Threat Spotlight: Brute-Force Attacks and How to Defend Against Them

Threat Spotlight: Brute-Force Attacks and How to Defend Against Them

One of the most popular methods of online hacking attacks involves what’s called a brute force attack. This is when a hacker overwhelms a login system with multiple attempts until the hacker is able to log in and access the system. They are dangerous attacks that could expose not just sensitive information, but also leave you vulnerable to ongoing hacks.

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Tip of the Week: 4 Power Tips for Windows 10 Users

Tip of the Week: 4 Power Tips for Windows 10 Users

Since the release of Windows 10 almost a year ago, people have found many ways to leverage this great new operating system to their business’s advantage. But have you failed to take advantage of some of the basic new features that got everyone so excited in the first place?

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Tip of the Week: How to Download Everything You’ve Posted to Facebook

Tip of the Week: How to Download Everything You’ve Posted to Facebook

If you’ve had your Facebook profile since the dawn of social media, chances are it’s accumulated an immense amount of personal information. While you might have felt uneasy handing over all of this data to Facebook, the company has made it surprisingly easy to take it back.

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Microsoft Enters the Technology as a Service Market

Microsoft Enters the Technology as a Service Market

One of Microsoft’s latest moves to appeal to business owners is its Technology as a Service program, allowing small businesses to purchase Surface products, accessories, and support via a monthly payment plan. The plan allows for upgrades, although some fees may apply as dictated by the lease.

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2,000 Year-Old “Computer” Discovered Off the Coast of Greece

2,000 Year-Old “Computer” Discovered Off the Coast of Greece

When you think of a computer, you think of a machine that makes your life easier. You can look up events, check facts, record data, and so much more. However, the first computer might be something extraordinarily unexpected; a submerged treasure off the coast of Greece called the Antikythera mechanism, which was used to predict and track astronomical events, like the movement of the planets or the occurrence of eclipses.

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Is Unplugging From Technology While on Vacation a Good Idea?

Is Unplugging From Technology While on Vacation a Good Idea?

Vacations are an important part of maintaining one’s sanity, especially if you’re an agency owner. However, unless you have a reliable staff that can handle the management of your business, chances are you might feel you can’t get away from the office long enough to relax. While it might seem tempting to disconnect yourself from the office entirely while on vacation, it’s actually better for your business if you don’t.

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Tip of the Week: 4 Steps to Troubleshoot a Weak Wi-Fi Signal

Tip of the Week: 4 Steps to Troubleshoot a Weak Wi-Fi Signal

Your wireless router is critical to your business’s online infrastructure, providing your team precious wireless Internet connections throughout the office. You need to ensure that the signal can reach your entire office. Here are some tips to help you figure out where to put your router to ensure its signal is as strong as possible throughout your office.

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One Wrong Click Can Delete Your Company's Data

One Wrong Click Can Delete Your Company's Data

It’s every agency owner’s worst nightmare: one mistake, and all of their data is wiped out. This very situation happened recently to a hosting provider, and his story serves as a cautionary tale regarding data storage best practices.

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3 Talk-to-Text Apps that are Well Worth the Money

3 Talk-to-Text Apps that are Well Worth the Money

The development of mobile platforms has led to the development of hundreds of apps that give users the ability to capture websites, take notes, and help with a person’s daily business tasks. Some users of modern smartphones (and other mobile devices) routinely complain about the reliability of the on-screen keyboard interface, as communication is as important to the development and outcome of projects as ever. For this reason, some developers have begun creating applications that allow users to dictate to their devices; turning spoken words into text. Here are three of the most reliable options to turn your voice into text.

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How We Know that Mark Zuckerberg Has Never Seen Spaceballs

How We Know that Mark Zuckerberg Has Never Seen Spaceballs

Twitter recently experienced a major hack where it saw 33 million user login credentials stolen. What may be more alarming than the hack itself is what the stash of stolen credentials reveal about users’ password security habits. Or, to put it more accurately, the lack thereof.

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This Breakthrough By MIT Will Propel Artificial Intelligence to New Heights

This Breakthrough By MIT Will Propel Artificial Intelligence to New Heights

No security solution is perfect. Each one has its own set of pros and cons. For example, relying completely on an automated solution is thorough, but it will flag plenty of threats that aren’t really threats (aka, false positives). Meanwhile, a human overseeing security is great for spotting worrisome trends, but a human can’t possibly catch every single attack. With this dynamic in mind, a team of researchers from MIT has successfully blended the two.

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Adoption of Cloud Services Continues to Increase in 2016

Adoption of Cloud Services Continues to Increase in 2016

There’s no denying that your business’s productivity suite is one of its most valuable software solutions. Cloud services like Google Apps for Work and Microsoft Office 365 continue to be huge game-changers in the business environment, and it’s been found that their increasing popularity is thanks to the convenience of providing mobile access to important data and applications.

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4 Fun Facts That Will Make You See Smartphones in a Whole New Light

4 Fun Facts That Will Make You See Smartphones in a Whole New Light

Smartphone technology is currently experiencing cool innovations. Plus, there are some crazy reasons behind what these devices can and can’t do that you may not have known about. Check out these four cool smartphone factoids from List25.

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Tip of the Week: Tired of Those Windows 10 Lock Screen Ads? Here’s How to Turn Them Off!

Tip of the Week: Tired of Those Windows 10 Lock Screen Ads? Here’s How to Turn Them Off!

If your business is using Windows 10 on your workstations, you might have noticed that there are plenty of advertisements geared toward marketing some product or service to users. These advertisements can get annoying. We’ll show you how to turn off the lock screen ads that appear before you log in.

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If You’re Running Older Versions of Internet Explorer, Java, or Flash, Your PC is at Risk

If You’re Running Older Versions of Internet Explorer, Java, or Flash, Your PC is at Risk

It’s important that your business uses the most recent version of any operating systems and software solutions used by your workforce, but Internet Explorer “fans” have had a rough start to 2016. Nearly a quarter of all Windows PCs are still using unsupported versions of Internet Explorer, half of which are still running Windows XP.

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