Soaring Technology

Technology and Managed Services Blog – A WingSwept Production

Archive for October, 2009

NCTA Selects WingSwept for Customer Service Company Award Finalist

Oct 21

Posted by molly.moore@wingswept.com in Press Releases | Comments off

GARNER, NC (October 21, 2009) – WingSwept was selected as a finalist for North Carolina Technology Association’s 21 Awards in the category of Customer Service Company. The winners will be announced at the annual awards gala on November 12, where over 500 business and technology leaders are expected to attend.

The NCTA 21 Awards are given out annually to an array of businesses who qualify as the best in each of the 21 categories. In WingSwept’s category for customer service, there are three other finalists.  Finalists will join together at the awards gala to celebrate each other’s unique accomplishments and overall excellence in North Carolina.

WingSwept’s submission focused on their Vertical Marketing division and its commitment to their customers.  The division creates quality websites for the automotive repair and body shop industries, and finds innovative ways to exceed customer expectations and differentiate themselves from competitors.

 “It’s an honor to be chosen as a finalist for this award among so many great companies,” says Jay Strickland, WingSwept CEO. “We’re blessed to have a really awesome customer service team that goes out of their way to make every customer and partner relationship a success!”

ABOUT WINGSWEPT

WingSwept is a full-service information technology consulting company based in Garner, NC. WingSwept’s services focus on areas of government services, network support, web application development and vertical marketing. The staff of more than 20 serves a diverse set of clients in all 50 states and around the world. The companies maintain separate divisions with dedicated staff for Web/database development and information technology consulting. For more information on WingSwept’s services, please visit our Web site at www.wingswept.com.

The vertical market division currently has two brands that offer functional websites, which are search engine optimized and can be customized for each dealer. WingSwept is experiencing overall growth due to the success of this division. The expansion of one vertical market brand has led to development and launching of another. WingSwept has invested heavily in the resources needed to offer a world-class product. Our company has dedicated Customer Service and Sales staff on site, as well as our own in-house sales force. To learn more about RSW and BSW services, go to www.repairshopwebsites.com and www.bodyshopwebsites.com.

ABOUT NCTA

The North Carolina Technology Association’s mission is “Making North Carolina #1 in Technology and Technology #1 in North Carolina.”  The organization does this through three main focus areas: executive engagement, public affairs, and enabling member transition to a technology-enabled workforce.  For more information, visit our website at www.nctechnology.org.

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Microsoft and New York Times Get Scammed

Oct 20

Posted by molly.moore@wingswept.com in Industry News | Comments off

The NY Times Digital Advertising department unknowingly placed a malicious ad for fake antivirus software on the newspapers website.  The scammers claimed to be Vonage, the Internet phone provider, and posted an ad on the site. During the weekend, the advertisements were switched to pop-up ads that made website visitors think that their computers were infected.  This was done over the weekend so to make it harder for IT staff to respond. Click here to read the entire article. WingSwept suggests you beware of all pop ups and even be careful when closing it. Use the key Alt + F4 to close windows, because sometimes a ad has a “close” link but clicking it may actually be triggering it perform another action.

Around the same times, Microsoft filed five charges against scammers that put malware that was mistaken as legitimate advertisements on their AdCenter network. By clicking on the advertisements, one was led to a website that claimed his/her computer was infected and that the individual needed to purchase the anti-virus product (which was fake). They are unsure who is behind the exploitation, but hope that filing the five civil lawsuits will help uncover the criminals. A Microsoft representative said that, “Microsoft works vigilantly, using both technology and the law, to fight illegal activity that undermines people’s trust in the Internet and online services.” Learn more about malware and Microsoft’s lawsuits.

These stories shows how creative hackers have gotten and that their tactics have proven it possible for anyone to be tricked.

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What Small Businesses Need to Know About Hard Disk Failure

Oct 12

Posted by molly.moore@wingswept.com in Industry News | Comments off

What Small Businesses Need to Know About Hard Disk Failure

WingSwept found that this study done by Google to be  informative and useful to those interested in hard disk failures. Google only released some of their results, but three major conclusions are below. To read an article about this study click here.

The Surprising Truth about Temperature!

Despite what most believe, high operating temperatures aren’t the worst things to happen to your system. Disk failures are more common in LOW temperature environments.

Tracking Performance

Google found that tracking four specific SMART counters (scan errors, reallocation count, offline reallocation, and probational count) were clearly associated with subsequent hard disk failures. But, they also found that more than HALF of the failed drives in its sample of over 100,000 disk drives showed no problems in these four categories before failure occurred.

Does Age Matter?

This is one thing Google could not pin-point in their study. There seems to be a slightly higher failure rate during the first three months; disks that survive this burn-in period are then uniformly reliable for around a year.  The manufacturer of a three year-old drive has a bigger impact on reliability than the fact that the drive is three years old. Unfortunately, Google was unwilling to share WHICH manufacturers they found to be the most reliable.

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WingSwept Selects Customer Service Representative

Oct 5

Posted by molly.moore@wingswept.com in Press Releases | Comments off

After filling multiple sales positions, WingSwept has gained a new customer service representative. Sylvia Burleigh will be directly working with Repair Shop Websites and Body Shop Websites, WingSwept’s Vertical Market brands.

Both brands deliver a leading-industry product to automotive repair and body shops to help them bring in and manage business. Both brands have helped over a thousand customers increase their business and decrease their stress level through professional yet affordable websites.

Sylvia has experience in both web design and customer service, and the WingSwept team is excited to have her skill set. At WingSwept, customer satisfaction is the number one goal, which is why they were waiting for the ideal candidate to hire. WingSwept reviewed over 700 of applicants, and Sylvia’s personality and experience made her their first choice.

“I’m excited about the team experience of working with Repair Shop Websites and Body Shop Websites brands of WingSwept. Also, it is great to have the opportunity to combine and contribute my knowledge in web design and service,” says Sylvia, when asked what she is looking forward to.

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Identity Theft and Internet Security

Oct 2

Posted by molly.moore@wingswept.com in Industry News | Comments off

According to a Javelin Strategy and Research survey on ID theft, there has been a 22 percent increase from 2007 to 2008.

The Javelin survey also estimates that 9.9 million Americans became victims of identity fraud last year, resulting in the loss of $48 billion. A growing number of these cases are the result of stolen junk mail. Pre-approved credit card offers, fliers and specially marked envelopes are not only a nuisance, they are an easy target for ID thieves.

Other threats are electronic based such as spam and viruses received on any device you can access the Internet. Computer and data security are more important than ever. Ask WingSwept how we treat customer’s data as securely as we do our own.  WingSwept has been trusted by the government and legal firms that cannot afford data threat. We are an IT provider with experience you can trust.

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