Pilothouse Communications, LLC
The Pilothouse Navigator
 
Your Guiding Light to  Business Communications
April , 2009 - Vol 3 Issue 2
In This Issue
PH News
Spring Specials
Is Your Network Vulnerable?
Join Our Mailing List!
Quick Links
Greetings!

HAPPY SPRING!!!
Hi Everyone-
Hope everyone's first quarter was a good one. We are seeing things starting to turn with the renewal of the Spring season. Don't you just get a sense of hope as the tulips and daffodils push their little heads out of the hard winter ground?  We as small business owners and operators must follow these tender flowers, push through, pull our heads out of the sand, to not only survive through these economic conditions, but position ourselves to thrive. We can't wait for big business or the government to "bail" us out. I recently attended a Growth Club seminar where 35 other business owners expressed the same challenges, we are not alone in our pain, but we also all saw great opportunity. In order to thrive on the other side, you need to keep that positive attitude, look for the opportunities for your business and position your systems to be ready when the economy does turn around. You want to be there ready and waiting and not among the fallen businesses. Big business got us into this but SMALL business will get us out.

I hope you all have a profitable Q2 and seize every opportunity.

 Sincerely,
 
Sue Carlson
Pilothouse Announcements
 
We will be CLOSED on Friday 4/10 in observance of Good Friday. Call if you need us TODAY to check your holiday schedule if you are closing on Friday also.  As usual there will be a technician available for any Emergency you might have.

We are GROWING are sales force-if you know of anyone who has been laid off from the sales field, we are currently looking to fill 3 outside sales positions. Please pass along our info and ask them to speak with CJ.

CT Getting new Area Codes-more info to come over the next few months, but by December 09, CT will be adding 2 new Area codes and requiring 10-digit dialing for everyone.
 

                                                      SPRING SPECIALS

           
 
PC Tune Up- PC Running Slow? Are they up to date?
Disk clean up & defrag, Anti-Viurs Check and Service Pack Updates-$99/PC (min 5 PCs)

Server Tune-Up- Are Applications slow to open? Are you vulnerable to viruses?
System Logs checked, Anti-Virus check, Service Pack Updates and Defrag-$199/Server

Now that you've gotten everything up to date- you need to keep them that way...

Annual On-Going Monthly Server Maintenance Offer-Proactive monitoring before disaster strikes- will install updates, read system logs, defrag server and provide a monthly report on the health of your server- $1000 annually per server.

Phone System Spring Cleaning- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Call to schedule a Spring Cleaning to keep your phone system working efficiently to prevent unexpected downtime- can you afford for your customers to not be able to reach you? $90

Fax Directly To and From your Desktop!- Converts faxes to PDF or TIFF allowing you to receive faxes wherever you are a e-mails and send faxes from any application that can print. Help the environment -go paperless and get 10% off call for pricing 1, 2, 4 and 8 port units


Need Anything Else??
 
Here's a partial list of our Products and Services:
Telephone systems                                                Video Surveillance Cameras
IT/Data support                                                      Voice and Data Cabling
Computer/Server/Laptop Hardware                       Projectors/SMART Boards
Email Security (SPAM filters)                                 Telephone/Internet Service
Remote VPN Access, Internet Access                    Data Backup Solutions
Firewall/Router Hardware and set up                    and more....         


                                 STOP
Call us first we ARE your Technology Advisor.

 
COMPUTER VULNERABILITY ALERT: Conficker Worm
 IT support
 
 
If you've watched the news over the past week you've heard about this worm and how it has already infected millions of computers worldwide. 
 
The Conficker.C worm is the latest variant of the Conficker worm that infects local computers, terminates services, blocks access to numerous security related web sites and has the ability to receive new instructions potentially altering its threat level over time. Conficker.C spreads without human involvement, moving from PC to PC by exploiting a security vulnerability  in versions of Microsoft's Windows OS.  It is estimated to have infected millions of end users' machines. 

SonicWALL has monitored the Conficker.C worm as well as earlier variants of the Conficker malcode since late 2008 and has released signatures designed to protect systems behind SonicWALL devices.  

As the April 1st trigger passes, SonicWALL is monitoring the behavior of infected systems.  Infected systems have contacted new targeted domains but have apparently not yet downloaded new instructions. However, the behavior observed demonstrates that Conficker.C has the potential to transform itself from relatively benign to malicious through this self-updating mechanism, making this worm a serious ongoing threat.

Not all Router/Firewalls are created equal. You must have one with UTM in order for your organization to be fully protected. Your signatures must be continually updated as these threats are ever changing.

SonicWALL Unified Threat Management Firewalls UTM with activated Gateway Anti-Virus/Intrusion Protection/Anti-Spyware (GAV/IPS/ASW), or the Comprehensive Global Security Suite which includes the above service, block  known variants of the Conficker worm from passing through the network gateway. SonicWALL also released signatures designed to protect its Anti-SPAM/Email Security Solutions when the Anti-Virus features of Email Security are activated.


For additional information about how to protect your computers give us a call  and speak with a SonicWALL Certified Specialist.



             

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There's just one call you make and we can take care of it all and you can be assured that you will be taken care of with the same commitment to service, technical expertise and concern for your business that you have come to expect from Pilothouse.
 
Call for information on these and other communications services we can provide as your communications business partner. 203-649-6405 or toll free 866-887-5792.
 
Thank you for your continued business.