Cooking Up Easier PCI Compliance with National Restaurant Association and ANX eBusiness

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Pamela O'Connor

At the National Restaurant Association (NRA) tradeshow that kicked off this weekend and runs through today, the NRA, EarthLink and ANX eBusiness announced an exciting new relationship designed to make it easier for restaurateurs to meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. The PCI Compliance solutions offered by EarthLink and ANX provide a single trusted source for the IT and communication services they need to effectively run their restaurant and point-of-sale systems while safeguarding customer data. Working with the NRA as the exclusive PCI compliance and secure connectivity solution for their members, EarthLink and ANX will actively market the offering to NRA members, including via email campaigns, educational webinars and blog posts, networking events, and participation in NRA’s educational programs council. Click here to read the press release. EarthLink also exhibited at the event, and the team met with many prospective new customers. Restaurateurs are an increasingly important focus for EarthLink’s retail sector, as our solutions are an ideal fit for multi-site, distributed enterprises.

L. to R: Chad Leedy, ANX; and Chicago-based EarthLinkers Chris Johnson and Amos Biggers..

Restaurants continue to be a primary target for hackers, with the vast majority of data breaches occurring at small operations. Restaurants are targeted for a number of reasons, including outdated Point of Sale systems, operating systems, and security, and because they lack the time and resources to effectively manage security and achieve PCI compliance.

“We are excited about our relationship with the National Restaurant Association, because for the first time their members will have access to simple, affordable, and comprehensive PCI compliance solutions from a trusted source,” said Greg Griffiths, Vice President of Retail Solutions at EarthLink Business. “Together we can strengthen data security, for NRA members, their customers, and for the restaurant industry as a whole.”

Watch for more news and views from EarthLinkers at the NRA show in coming posts!

Hosted Voice Services – Be Heard

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Scott Yelton

It is impossible to duplicate the power of the human voice via text, email or online chat,and many experienced salespeople swear by the strength of closing a deal (or answering questions) over the phone.

At EarthLink Business we know the value of the human voice and we place a high value on delivery of high quality voice transmission over our nationwide IP network. Whether your business requires Hosted Voice services and mobile devices, or relies on traditional telephony communications EarthLink has a full voice product suite delivered with quality of service second to none. So if you want your voice to be heard loud, crisp and clear reach out to an EarthLink Business representative today.

Disaster Recovery in the Cloud…

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Kris Scheetz

You are already backing up your data so you can rebuild it when your server crashes and be up and running in a few hours. But what happens when you lose two servers?…three servers?…four, the network, power, and more? More importantly, are you prepared to continuing running if you lose everything all at once? Disasters happen, more often than you think. Are you prepared? Many organizations have a backup strategy but not a true IT disaster recovery strategy. How long would it take you to get IT back up and running if you lose everything?

So you already have a disaster recovery plan. Have you tested it recently? When was it documented? Updated? If you answered “No” and “It’s been a while,” then your plan may be ineffective. Most organizations don’t have a disaster recovery plan…and those that do may not know how to use it correctly.

The good news is EarthLink Business can help with our new Cloud Disaster Recovery solution. Disaster recovery in the cloud offers companies quick data restoration and effective IT recovery faster than any traditional disaster recovery model. Using the cloud for offsite recovery means your business will have the ability to recover your servers in the cloud environment (as opposed to simply using the cloud for offsite storage). With no capital expenses and subscription pricing, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is low. Don’t build it yourself and incur an enormous amount of up front expenses when you could pay an affordable monthly fee and use cloud based servers?

Here are some additional key benefits for utilizing disaster recovery in the cloud:

Data protection: Recovery in the cloud assures your data is recoverable and protected from man-made accidents, power outages, natural disasters, and server crashes.

Scalability and Rapid Implementation: By replicating your primary server environment, the Cloud environment can be quickly scaled to fully replace your primary servers and get your business back up and running in hours, not days.

No hardware requirements. No need for large server rooms and hardware specialists, saving money on power, energy and personnel expenses.

Leverage existing IT: EarthLink’s Cloud-based data recovery solution inter-operates with your existing hardware, applications and operating systems protecting both physical and virtual servers.

Get some additional sleep at night knowing that your information is safe, secure, and can turned up in a moment’s notice should a disaster strike. Contact your EarthLink Business representative to learn more.

Hosted Voice Services Can Unify Your Team!

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Scott Yelton

Hosted Voice systems are an important part of modern-day business. In the past, businesses have had limited ways of unifying office employees, multiple location workforces, and remote employees into a team environment. This is a major concern, as teamwork is what allows individuals and office locations to back each other up during outages,emergencies, and cover clients in different time zones.

And managing the calls and activities of each location was difficult, due to a lack of visibility and reporting possibilities. Each location (or remote employee) was stuck in its/his own communication bubble using separately-managed, low-end communication solutions (and we use that word loosely).

With the advent of call routing, network based auto-attendants, and communication portals that provide online visibility, all that can be left in the past! Businesses can now unify all of their locations, provide call routing based on single or multiple numbers, and run detailed reports; this gives leadership visibility into how their business is functioning, and the tools they need to assign responsibility and ownership to call functions. Being able to have all phone communications “under one roof” is even more important when you consider the growing number of remote employees in the workforce.

EarthLink Business wants to provide your company with the hosted voice solution it needs; contact an EarthLink Business resource today to find out how the EarthLink Hosted Voice product can change the way you do business!