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Cyber Essentials Plus - the next chapter

sites@tailorbrands.com — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:22:13 GMT

As a Cyber Essentials Plus certified organisation, you've demonstrated a commitment to ensuring that your systems and processes are top of the tree, so what are the business benefits to you?

The national cyber database

All businesses who have achieved Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus are listed on the national database, so you can check your certification, or that of another business at any time. You can access the database here

According to a recent IASME study, small businesses are 75% more likely to choose to deal with an organisation who has implemented a security standard like CE plus than one that hasn't, so perhaps it's worth starting to raise awareness of your new status, or even reviewing your supply chain to make sure take things as seriously as you.

Email stationary

Many people use email stationary these days, and this can be a good place to start your awareness build. You can now use the two logos above on any of your outbound communications - feel free to copy from this post or contact your relationship manager if you need something else.

Cyber Insurance

Your CE plus certification gives you free of charge cyber insurance up to a maximum of £25,000.

The cover is underwritten by AXA XL, a division of AXA, and administered via Sutcliffe & Co Insurance Brokers

What's covered?

Liability: claims made against you arising out of media activities and privacy and security wrongful acts.
Event Management: costs, including emergency costs, following a data breach, including the costs of notifying data subjects. These might typically include payment for Legal, IT, Forensic & PR specialists.
Extortion Demands: ransoms and other cyber extortion.
Regulatory Investigations: defence costs & regulatory fines (where insurable by law).
Business Interruption: Loss of profit and / or operational expenses caused by a network compromise.
Loss of Electronic Data: costs of remedying the issue that allowed the loss or damage to your data and costs to replace, restore or update your data.

If you suffer a security breach, the quicker you take action the better, so please ensure you alert your IT provider, any regulatory bodies and the appropriate insurance companies immediately. AXA offer a 24 hour helpline for this cyber policy, the telephone number is 0800 085 9483

Maintaining your certification

The renewal of your certification will be completed annually, according to the latest version of the standard which is released by IASME each year. The certification is constantly evolving to adapt to new risks, so you be confident that your business remains robust.

Maintaining your certification will be easier than achieving it initially, as the vast majority of project and administrative work has already been done.

Prism now have 3 fully qualified Cyber Essentials assesors, and this that we can deliver the entire certification process internally, ensuring that we can deliver your certification inside a one, pre-arranged business day.

Latest Tech Trends - How AI can Benefit SME's

sites@tailorbrands.com — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 15:54:56 GMT

In the first of our quarterly updates on the 2023’s emerging tech innovations, we’re looking at how Artificial Intelligence can be your business’ new best friend.

AI is in the news a lot these days. What was once the province of science-fiction movies is now a daily reality in the business world. However, you may think that it is restricted to Silicon Valley or financial giants. In reality, AI has a lot to offer small and medium businesses, and you may not want to miss out.

What do we talk about when we talk about AI?

In the scientific world, AI is a hugely complex question. It reaches into the world of physics, quantum computing and philosophy. Don’t worry though, when it comes to how you can use AI, it’s a much simpler proposition.

AI hinges on the concept of ‘machine learning’ – the ability of a computer to access, use, and draw conclusions from a huge amount of information. Given enough time and data, an AI system is able to refine how it handles that information, and deliver better results.

In SME terms, this doesn’t mean submitting to some robot overlord or spending a fortune on a pulsing electronic brain. Rather, there is a raft of affordable software already available, that will provide a fantastic ROI in helping you gain an edge in the marketplace.

How can AI help me?

In the broadest sense, AI increases efficiency and reduces cost. AI tools can handle information thousands of times faster than the human brain, delivering results that were previously impossible. Or, more mundanely but just as importantly, AI can free your people from time-consuming manual tasks.

Here are a few examples of how an SME can implement AI.

I mprove sales

AI can be used within your CRM to gather and analyse customer data. With this information in place you can ‘learn’ what individual customers are looking for, better understand how they engage with your company, and set up personalised marketing strategies. This includes making timely approaches and reminders, based on previous order dates, and promoting relevant advertising based on what the customer has shown an interest in.

This level of AI understand can then be put to even better use when engaging with your customers directly, which brings us to AI comms, or the ‘Chatbot’.

Chatbots

A huge number of businesses have begun offering chatbot services as an effective communication stool. It’s a customer service department that can be available 24/7. Some AI chatbots have become so sophisticated that it can be hard to differentiate them from a human representative.

For a small business who does not yet have the scale for a dedicated customer service team, a chatbot could be a cost-effective way to fill this gap. Alternatively, larger retail or services companies who receive a huge number of calls may find that AI helps them deal with the bulk.

An added benefit of chatbots is data they are able to gather. By mining information from calls, the AI is able to ‘learn’ how to better resolve queries in the future.

Hiring

Unexpectedly, AI has crept into the world of Human Resources in recent years. If you have hundreds of candidates for a role, AI software is able to scan applications, picking out keywords and relevant data to inform a faster shortlisting process.

Though this automated process may be strict it can actually lead to increased numbers of quality applicants. Whereas a human hiring manager may not get chance to consider every application form, AI software will look at every single one – ensuring that those who match your set criteria are not missed.

Chatbots can also come in handy here. There are versions that can be tailored to ask some basic qualifying questions of job candidates – freeing up more time for the hiring manager to get into the nitty gritty.

Machine learning is the future, it seems. Not just for the tech giants, but for everyone.

A survey by Capital Economics reveals that by early 2022, 15% of all UK business had adopted some form of AI technology. As we head into 2023, this number is only going to rise.

Keep an eye on this trend, it may be worth thinking about incorporating your own AI sooner, not later.

The Big Analogue Switch Off

sites@tailorbrands.com — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 15:56:57 GMT

The Landline is Dead – Migrating Your Telco to VoIP

Decades of traditional cabled telephone services are coming to end. Going forward, businesses must be ready to embrace the challenge … and benefits … of moving to an integrated system. Here’s how and why.

2023 is the year that major telecoms companies stop taking new orders to provide access to traditional phone networks. By the end of 2025 Both the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) will be switched off, once and for all.

For the 2.4 million UK businesses that still use the older network, there is a short window, then, to update their telecoms for the next generation. The changes will impact every aspect of how a business operates, from internal comms, to how staff communicate with clients, vendors and anyone else who isn’t literally sitting at the next desk. This may seem like a technical hurdle, or an unwanted distraction from the day-to-day. But a modern integrated telco network can actually make life a lot easier.

What is an integrated network & importantly its benefits?

An integrated network brings IT and Telco together, as twin halves of a joined-up

communication strategy. By using the same provider for all, an integrated network is cheaper, more efficient, and much more flexible.

VoIP is the standard approach for integrated Telco. It stands for “Voice over Internet Protocol”, sometimes referred to as Internet Telephony – and it supplant landline technology by migrating both voice and video communication online. When making or receiving a VoIP call you will retain all the key functions, such as voicemail, call-forwarding and caller ID, but there are plenty of additional benefits:

An integrated network brings IT and Telco together, as twin halves of a joined-up

communication strategy. By using the same provider for all, an integrated network is cheaper, more efficient, and much more flexible.

 Better Value – landlines are more expensive because demand outpaces the available infrastructure. By making calls online you aren’t competing with the same demand. Plus, overseas calls are a fraction of the price.

 Scalability – with no need for hardware or extensions, you can bring in additional staff, or open new locations without needing to physically upscale your infrastructure.

 Accessibility – VoIP networks are cloud-based, meaning you can make calls from anywhere, on any authorised device. This agility is more important then ever in a newly fragmented, highly mobile workplace.

 Versatility – many VoIP services are highly-suited to collaborative working. You can make conference calls and visually share files, images, calendars and presentations during the call.

 No surprise costs – you can arrange a flat monthly fee with your VoIP provider, meaning you know exactly what your system is costing.

How to Go Digital?

Installing a VoIP telco system is relatively straightforward and need not disrupt your productivity. However, that relies on doing it right and working with the right partner to implement.

Step One is to ensure your internet connection is strong and stable enough to support VoIP. Remember, you will be making all of your voice and video calls online; that can take a lot of bandwidth. Check with your internet provider.

You can search for a VoIP provider that will offer the functions that your business needs. Different providers offer different services, including analytics and CRM integration. This can be extremely helpful because integration with you customer data means you have all the necessary information at your fingertips to provide the best possible customer care in the moment.

There are lots of options out there and it’s all about finding the right provider for you.

Prism can provide you will a fully integrated, hosted telco system. We consider the details of what you need – the size of your team, future scalability, and the specific features your business requires. For a simple insight into the options, take a look at our Telecoms Selector Tool . This short series of questions provides the information we need to tell you what you need.

If you would like to explore the benefits of fully integrated telecoms, Prism can provide both

advice and installation. Call 0345 121 7770 for and let us help you understand your options.