Technology Solutions

COVID-19: Keeping Up with Your Technology Challenges

The United States and the World are in a fight the likes of which we have not seen in many years. The struggle is no different for businesses right now. More and more it looks as if most companies will be dealing with these challenges for many months or longer and some things may never return as they were before. Van Ausdall & Farrar wants to help you prepare for these challenging times by providing you with technology solutions that address your new challenges including assisting in keeping your employees safe. Technology is an essential part of every business and we at Van Ausdall & Farrar stand ready to provide solutions that help you stay in business and stay competitive.

Learn more about Van Ausdall & Farrar’s COVID-19 Procedures

We are actively collecting a list of all of our related solutions, announcements and manufacturer offers that may help you through these challenging times.


FBI Sees Rise in Fraud Schemes Related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

The FBI has issued a cautionary announcement that email users should be on the lookout for scams that are related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Companies should protect themselves by alerting their email users to take precautions when they receive emails claiming to be from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) or other organizations making claims related to the virus. As always, users should not click on links or open attachments from sources they do not recognize.

Users should also be skeptical of possible phishing emails related to the following:

Barracuda Networks, an email security industry leader reported coronavirus phishing scams increased 667% in March.

Spear phishing emails are difficult for email security filters to restrict because they are targeted to a small number of recipients, and use other techniques, to evade detection.

View the FBI’s Announcement for Additional Details


Free Crisis Management Application

The OnBase crisis management Workview configuration export is available for all customers on OnBase 18 or higher, free of charge

In the midst of a crisis, you need to ensure your organization can respond proactively – not just re-actively.

Our quick-to-deploy crisis management tracking app empowers you to track and support affected individuals (including employees, students, teachers and citizens) and supplies such as medical equipment and vehicles during an emergency situation.

If an individual becomes infected with a contagious virus like COVID-19, they may self-report their health status to their HR staff, educational institution or local government agency via the app. The organization can then track the life cycle of the incident – from initial self-report all the way through any actions that need to be taken to close the case, such as working from home until healthy or needing additional constituent services, as well as any follow-up with other individuals with whom they may have come in contact.

By tracking individuals, events and equipment, your organization can better respond to immediate needs and maximize assistance, allowing you to better care for your most important asset – your people. Ask your account manager for more information.


Free 8×8 Secure Video Conferencing

8×8 is offering a FREE, fully featured, secure video conferencing solution.. There is no obligations whatsoever. Web, desktop app (more features) and mobile app (more features) options.

Visit 8×8’s Web Site for More Details


Mitel Is Offering Its Cloud Phone Platform for Free until 2021

Mitel, the industry leading unified communications provider, is offering its cloud telephone platform to new customers and existing customer that do not yet have remote cloud services, in an effort to help companies comply with stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. For more information, please contact Trent Smith at Van Ausdall & Farrar, 317 974-7222.

MiCloud Connect Services FREE until 2021 Information (PDF)


Remote Scanner Bundle Saves Money during COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Order

Many people that are working from home currently are finding it necessary to do some light or ad-hoc scanning. For those people, Van Ausdall & Farrar has put together a Remote Scanner bundle. Buy any desktop scanner from Van Ausdall & Farrar and receive free shipping to the residence of the affected worker, plus free remote installation and support. This offer is good until June 30th, 2020. Ask any Van Ausdall & Farrar Account Manager and say you the web site offer.

If you only have a few pages a day to scan, try using your iPhone as a scanner. Here’s how: Scan Documents with Your iPhone.


New imageFORMULA DR-S150 Office Document Scanner for $895

The Canon imageFORMULA DR-S150 is a flexible, easy-to-use office document scanner. Built in Wi-Fi, wired Ethernet and USB connections for networked and local operation allow the scanner to be used with desktop computers, compatible smartphones, or tablets, and shared among multiple users. And the large, user-friendly, color touch-screen makes it easy to select destinations or shortcuts. With the DR-S150, document information can be converted, processed, and shared efficiently for improved collaboration and productivity. Contact Brian Courtney for more information.

Canon imageFORMULA DR-S150 Scanner Brochure (PDF)


Special Offer: Free Unlimited Storage for the Life of Any Square 9 C2 Business Essentials Subscription

Up to a $325 value/month with any 5-user system or greater – PLUS, customers also get:

Offer expires May 31st, 2020

Square 9 Works From Home Offer


Microsoft Teams Allows People to Stay Connected during COVID-19 Pandemic

Microsoft has created a number of offers to help people stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future. If you have Office 365 Business, Education or Enterprise and want to know how you can use it to setup multi-party audio visual conferences.

If you work in education and want to set up teachers, students, and administrators on Teams, use Office 365 A1. This free version of Office 365 is available to all educational institutions. Sign up here.

If you work for a business that isn’t currently licensed for Teams, we’ve got you covered with a free Office 365 E1 offer for six months. Contact you sales representative to get started today. (Note: the same offer is available in the Government Cloud, but not available in GCC High and the Department of Defense.)

For individuals, if you want to get started with Teams, we can get you up and running right away. If you have an email address through work or school, sign in here. We’ll get you into Teams in no time. If you’re using an email address like Gmail or Outlook, you can sign up for the freemium version of Teams.


Acronis Offers Cloud File Sharing Platform Free to Users until End of July

The world has changed dramatically during the past few weeks as we all respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. While companies are having employees work remotely, we know that ensuring the secure collaboration of documents creates challenges for service providers like you.

As our valued partner, we want to assist you as you help your clients make the necessary transition to remote work, so we are offering you Acronis Cyber Files Cloud – our secure, enterprise-grade file sync and share solution – for free until July 31, 2020. During that period, you can deliver this solution to your customers and you won’t be charged.

As people work from home to contain the coronavirus, they’ll be outside corporate networks, frequently on their personal devices. This will increase the surface of attack, making protecting an organization’s data more complicated. Acronis Cyber Files enables you to offer clients a collaboration solution that ensures the control and security of their information.

As a cyber protection company, we believe strongly in the protection of all data, applications, and systems at all times. As your clients transition to remote work, we want to ensure you have the tools you need to help them remain secure while being productive. Contact your account manager for details.


Fortinet Offers Free SSL-VPN Licensing on Its FortiGate Products

If you’re company finds itself with workers at home due to the stay-at-home orders, a secure corporate virtual private network may be exactly what you need to allow them to have access to your network resources like shared files and line-of-business systems. FortiNet’s line of FortiGate products offer this functionality and comes with no licensing charge. Some setup fees may be required for firewalls that are not yet configured for SSL-VPN. Please contact your Account Manager for more information.

Enhanced security can be added for small additional investment such as Multi-Factor Authentication, and Directory based authentication.

More Information about FortiNet’s Secure VPN Feature Sets (PDF)


Van Ausdall Now Offering Personnel Management Kiosks

As the summer months approach, some businesses are considering how they will keep their workers safe when they return to the office. Van Ausdall & Farrar can help. We are partners with Meridian Kiosks and are providing temperature monitoring kiosks that provide companies with a way to take your employee’s or guests body temperature upon their arrival to your office. It is a touch-less system.

More Information on Temperature Detection