Coleman Technologies Blog

We like to talk about the major security problems that could come from using public Wi-Fi networks. Data security can be severely compromised by using some unsecured wireless connections. Then you have the issue of unpredictable (and often unreliable) network speeds and the need to routinely give over your personal information to sign in that can be plenty annoying. In the future, these considerations should dissipate as 5G technologies and new ways of sharing information begin to take hold.

There are three technologies looking to change wireless network access forever. They are Wi-Fi 6, 5G, and Hotspot 2.0. 

5G

5G just stands for the fifth generation of wireless technology. 5G, which started rolling out in 2019, is promising gigabit speeds to every user. For reference, gigabit speeds are approaching (and sometimes surpassing) the speeds delivered by fiber optic cable. By being able to broadcast wireless signals at those speeds will allow for an unprecedented level of innovation.

In fact, the capabilities are virtually endless with this type of networking speed. At the very least, it will highlight the capabilities of emerging technologies that require fast data speeds such as augmented reality and autonomous cars/trucks as viable technology for the very first time.

Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi 6 is the newest version of Wi-Fi. It is said to provide up to 40 percent higher available network speeds as compared to current Wi-Fi. For the vast majority of people, the data caps, data speed throttling, and overage charges are unfortunate realities when purchasing wireless platforms. Wi-Fi, therefore, is needed to bridge the gap to help us all avoid the major costs associated with wireless networking delivery. Wi-Fi 6, like Wi-Fi 5 before it, will be an essential part of doing business in the future.

Hotspot 2.0

So unfortunately 5G won’t eliminate the need for Wi-Fi. As a result, Wi-Fi hotspots will continue to be an important part of computing on the go. Hotspot 2.0, also referred to as Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint, removes a lot of the agita from using unsecured wireless networks by improving security and taking the actual connection out of the network deliverer’s hands. Essentially, when your phone comes in contact with a Hotspot 2.0 connection it will connect your phone automatically, using encryption to keep your data and the connection more secure. 

Over the next few years you will begin to see public places switching over to Hotspot 2.0. It will become the standard for wireless hotspots, limiting the need for third-party software that often confronts users of today’s hotspots or hospitality visitors. 

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How the Cloud Helps Businesses Communicate

Having a strong communications strategy for your business can go a long way. With the options that are now available through the cloud, your business can significantly cut your communications costs by utilizing technologies like Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video conferencing. Today, there are complete communication platforms that integrate all necessary communications into one easy-to-control solution.

This comprehensive platform, called Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS), combines your business telecommunications and messaging with your web and video conferencing and collaboration. UCaaS gives your business the technology it needs along with the following options:

• Disaster recovery
• Managed support
• Thorough analytics
• Management software integration
• Regulatory support
• Global service delivery
• Available support 

...and more!

Available Technology

Below are some of the technologies a UCaaS platform offers:

Telephone

A powerful and feature-rich telephone system is one of the most important parts of a business’ communications platform. A VoIP system uses your organization’s bandwidth to deliver reliable voice services at a substantial cost reduction. Each VoIP platform can offer a whole cache of features, including:

• Call Management/Auto Attendant
• Call Queue
• Call Routing/Screening/Transferring
• Call forwarding/Voicemail
• Call Park/Presence/Pulling
• Call Recording
• Custom In-Call Music
• Custom ringtones
• Do Not Disturb
• Three-way calling
• Extensions
• SIP Trunking
• Find/Follow Me
• Voicemail services

...and more.

Aside from these features, a hosted VoIP platform offers users the ability to use the system on their own mobile phones through the use of a mobile app, effectively making any smartphone a work phone. 

Text and Instant Messaging

The UCaaS also integrates a lot of other useful messaging features. Many people would rather get a text than a call, and with a UCaaS, your organization’s messaging will integrate with other software to provide a useful collaborative option.

Video Conferencing

Today, having a video conferencing solution is a must. With more people working outside of the office, and with businesses outsourcing work to remote contractors, having a solution to run meetings over the Internet is extremely useful. 

Collaboration/File Sharing

Collaboration is the name of the game in the information age and a UCaaS can provide a solution for secure file transfer and document sharing. 

With integrations with CRMs and other management platforms a UCaaS can make your business be more efficient and productive. To talk to one of our IT professionals about the possibility of integrating a unified communication solution into your business, give us a call at (604) 513-9428 today.

In a society where getting over on other people is the quickest way to the top, people are constantly looking to take advantage of others. We create security systems for this purpose. Since every person’s identity is unique it is often used for authentication into these secure systems. Nowadays, with the advancement of biometric technology, many organizations are pushing the envelope and using unique physical identifiers as authorization methods, and it is causing problems with the security/privacy equilibrium most people favor. 

Biometrics Trending Up

Biometrics are being used everywhere from the digital security of mobile devices all the way to border security and identification. Biometrics include:

• Fingerprint identification
• Iris and retina scans
• Facial recognition
• Gait measurement
• DNA
• Handwriting recognition
• Voice recognition
• Brainwaves

...And more.

These technologies are used to effectively identify and authenticate people simply by pairing the information with existing database information. With this technology being more accessible due to falling prices, it is now being rolled out all over the world for a multitude of purposes. Across the world you can find biometrics being integrated into systems. The US FBI has a massive fingerprint database they use to help identify people. China’s Social Credit system is run on facial recognition. Businesses, like your bank, may be using your voice to authenticate who you are over the phone. With so much data being captured, and with the seemingly endless ways this technology can be used to secure almost anything, it turns out that it really isn’t securing much of anything.

The Illusion of Security

The immense scale of biometric data systems makes securing this extremely personal information nearly impossible. The question has to be asked: can a system be a human identification system and also work as an authentication system? It turns out that with all the challenges people use biometric security systems for, the only thing that it is truly good for is identifying who a person is. That’s not to say that systems can’t work in small doses, but a main problem with these systems is that the information captured--the data that is being used for the security of these physical and virtual systems--has to be saved somewhere. Moreover, with organizations mining data left and right, this very private and extremely sensitive data ends up as just another piece of data captured by corporate entities looking to turn it into a quick buck.

If that doesn’t scare you, consider that organizations and governments possessing this data and losing it to hackers, who much like these massive corporate entities, will be using it to gain a monetary advantage. Losing your identity to a hacker is a traumatic experience, but with these biometric systems, it takes on a whole new meaning. Even scarier yet is that artificial intelligence has been proven to compromise biometric indicators, leaving biometrically-protected systems accessible without physical authentication. 

A Complete Lack of Privacy

We touched on this a little above, but the lack of privacy that a biometric reliant system would provide the individual would be frightening. You see, the biometric security system isn’t designed to allow for invasions of privacy, but because this technology is just in its infancy, and organizations are using it in ways that it may not be designed for, the minute a person puts his/her information into a biometric system, privacy is out. The production of the data, the way it is stored, the way it is compared to database data raise big concerns for the individual and his/her privacy.

Additionally, with changes to physiology, these biometric systems have to have some deviation built in. This poses a lot of questions about what is secure and what isn’t. These systems are definitely state-of-the-art, but if you compare the effectiveness of the security to the systems that we’ve been using (Passwords, PIN, Two-factor authentication), it’s hard to say that these advanced biometric systems are any better at keeping data or infrastructure secure. 

Biometrics are definitely here to stay, but before you implement a biometric security system into your business, call the professionals at Coleman Technologies to discuss the benefits and detriments of doing so; and, the strategies where biometrics will excel. Call us at (604) 513-9428 today.

Today, there is a shift in the ways that people are entering a contract. Using blockchain technology, businesses are using the technology to solidify their contracts, reduce process conflict, and save time. Blockchain offers faster, cheaper, and more efficient options in which to enter a binding agreement with someone. Let’s take a look at how companies are going about using smart contracts.

What is a Smart Contract?

To understand how a smart contract works, you first need to understand how it is smart. Smart contracts are designed to work on clearly defined and conditional principles that work to resolve ownership only after those conditions are agreed upon. Think about it this way, you have a product that you want to sell, but the buyer can only pay over time. You agree to hand over the product under the condition that the buyer pays four equal payments. After the third payment is made, the buyer doesn’t send another payment. It will be evident to the buyer, the seller, and any intermediary or arbiter that not all the conditions of the contract have been met because each action made by either party creates an individual block in the blockchain; and, that information is not only encrypted, it is completely transparent. This means that it can be seen by all parties involved because the information is stored on every system that is in on the contract. 

Why Would You Want to Use a Smart Contract?

The most advantageous part of the smart contract as compared to normal contracts is the speed in which agreements can be completed, but there are almost an endless number of superlatives when compared to traditional contracts. They include:

1. Accuracy - One of the best features of a smart contract is that it records all of the information that needs to be known in explicit detail. 
2. Communication clarity - The explicit nature of the smart contract leaves no room for miscommunication, removing much of the liability, and cutting down on inefficiency that comes as a result of misinterpretation.
3. Transparency - All relevant parties would have a fully visible set of the terms and conditions set forth in the contract.
4. Security - Smart contracts use the highest level of encryption available. 
5. Redundancy - Smart contracts save every transaction in explicit detail. If data were to be lost, it is easily retrievable. 
6. Trustworthy - Since smart contracts are made with some of the most secure, transparent, and reliable tools available, there is no room for outside manipulation and error. 

Where Will You Find Smart Contracts? 

These contracts will be found in some of the most important transactions humans undertake. Some of the industries you may find smart contracts popping up in include banking, insurance, healthcare, and real estate. In fact, anywhere you find the need for a lawyer, you may only need the use of a distributed smart contract.

Emerging technologies are changing the way people do business. For more information about blockchain or smart contracts, subscribe to our newsletter and visit us at www.colemantechnologies.com.

Bandwidth Defined

Bandwidth is one of those terms that you think you understand until you try to explain it to someone else. Basically, bandwidth is how fast data can be transferred through a medium. In the case of the Internet, millions of bits need to be transferred from the web to network attached devices every second. The more bandwidth you have access to, the more data can be transferred. 

Speed vs Throughput

Network speed--that is, how fast you are able to send and receive data--is typically a combination of available bandwidth and a measure called latency. The higher a network’s latency, the slower the network is going to be, even on high-bandwidth network connections. Latency can come from many parts of the network connection: slow hardware, inefficient data packing, wireless connections, and others. 

Throughput is the measure of the amount of data that is transmitted through a connection. Also called payload rate, this is the effective ability for any data to be transmitted through a connection. So, while bandwidth is the presumed amount of data any connection can transfer, throughput is the amount of data that is actually transferred through the connection. The disparity in the two factors can come from several places, but typically the latency of the transmitting sources results in throughput being quite a bit less than the bandwidth. 

What Do You Need Bandwidth For?

The best way to describe this is to first consider how much data your business sends and receives. How many devices are transferring data? Is it just text files? Are there graphics and videos? Do you stream media? Do you host your website? Do you use any cloud-based platforms? Do you use video conferencing or any other hosted communications platform? All of these questions (and a few not mentioned) have to be asked so that your business can operate as intended. 

First, you need to calculate how many devices will connect to your network at the same time. Next, you need to consider the services that are being used. These can include:

• Data backup
• Cloud services
• Email
• File Sharing
• Messaging
• Online browsing
• Social Media
• Streaming audio
• Streaming video
• Interactive webinars
• Uploads (files, images, video)
• Video conferencing
• Voice over Internet Protocol
• Wi-Fi demands

...and more

After considering all the uses, you then need to take a hard look at what required bandwidth is needed for all of those tasks. Obviously, if you lean on your VoIP system, or you are constantly doing video webinars, you will need to factor those operational decisions into your bandwidth decision making. 

Finally, once you’ve pinpointed all the devices and tasks, the bandwidth each task takes, and how many people on your network do those tasks, you total up the traffic estimate. Can you make a realistic estimate with this information?  Depending on your business’ size and network traffic, you may not be able to get a workable figure. 

Too Much or Not Enough

Paying for too little bandwidth is a major problem, but so is paying for too much. Bandwidth, while more affordable than ever before, is still pretty expensive, and if you pay for too much bandwidth, you are wasting capital that you can never get back. 

That’s where the professionals come in. Coleman Technologies has knowledgeable technicians that can assess your bandwidth usage and work with your ISP to get you the right amount for your business’ usage. If you would like more information about bandwidth, its role in your business, or how to get the right amount for your needs, call us today at (604) 513-9428.