Newsletter | August 2024
Practical IT

MarkupHero - Your Ultimate Tool for Image and PDF Markup

Welcome to our Practical IT Tips newsletter! Today, we're exploring Markup Hero, a fantastic tool for communicating your message clearly on any image or PDF. Whether you're capturing screenshots, editing documents, or integrating with your favorite apps, Markup Hero has you covered. 

Let's explore its features and see how it can make your life easier.

Capture and Upload with Ease
Markup Hero allows you to take screenshots and upload images or PDFs effortlessly. You can even capture entire websites, making it simple to save and share long web pages. Adding multiple pages to a single document is a breeze, and with the full history and editing feature, you can track and revert changes whenever needed.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/@markuphero

Organize and Secure Your Files
Create collections to keep your files organized, and use privacy settings to control who can view your documents. This ensures that your important information is both accessible and secure.

Markup Hero offers a variety of tools to enhance your images and PDFs

Seamless Integrations
Markup Hero integrates smoothly with popular tools, enhancing your workflow:

• Chrome: Capture and annotate websites directly from your browser.
• Google Drive: Markup Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, images, and PDFs.
• Notion: Embed full website screenshots into Notion with just a click.
• Slack: Annotate images and PDFs from your Slack channels and direct messages.
  
  

Conclusion
Markup Hero is an all-in-one solution for anyone looking to enhance their communication through images and PDFs. With its robust set of features and seamless integrations, it's an invaluable tool for business owners, educators, and professionals alike. Give Markup Hero a try and see how it can streamline your workflow and improve your productivity.

Plans Overview

Source: https://markuphero.com/pricing. You can see the list of Features and Plans here:  

Want to learn more about how MarkupHero can benefit your business? Visit the MarkupHero website and start exploring today! 

ITS does NOT sell Markup Hero, but our marketing team found it to be a great tool for communicating with coders and other stakeholders. 

Of course, you will want to chat with our team to ensure that this software, or any you choose, meets your business's security standards.

Why Your Business Needs a CRM: Exploring Options and Benefits

In today’s competitive business environment, managing customer relationships effectively is crucial. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can help streamline your processes, improve customer satisfaction, and boost sales. While we don’t sell CRMs directly, we are here to help you find the right one for your business. 

Let's dive into some of the top CRM options available, their benefits, and pricing.

Why a CRM?

1. Centralized Information: A CRM stores all customer information in one place, making it easy for your team to access and update.
2. Improved Customer Relationships: By tracking interactions and preferences, CRMs help you personalize your communication and build stronger relationships.
3. Enhanced Productivity: Automation features save time on repetitive tasks, allowing your team to focus on what matters most—your customers.
4. Better Analytics and Reporting: CRMs offer detailed analytics and reporting tools to help you understand your customers and make data-driven decisions.
5. Scalability: As your business grows, your CRM can scale with you, accommodating more data and advanced features.

Top CRM Options:

1) Salesforce (Industry Standard)

• Benefits: Comprehensive features, customizable, excellent for large businesses.
• Pricing: Starts at $25/user/month.
• Learn More: Salesforce CRM
  
  

2) Zoho CRM

• Benefits: Affordable, easy to use, good for small to medium businesses.
• Pricing: Starts at $14/user/month.
• Learn More: Zoho CRM
  
  

3) HubSpot

• Benefits: Free plan available, integrates with many tools, user-friendly.
• Pricing: Free basic plan, paid plans start at $90/month.
• Learn More: HubSpot CRM

4) Freshsales

• Benefits: AI-powered, excellent for sales automation, good integration options.
• Pricing: Starts at $9/user/month.
• Learn More: Freshsales CRM

5) Capsule CRM

• Benefits: Simple and intuitive, great for small teams, integrates with popular apps.
• Pricing: Starts at $18/user/month.
• Learn More: Capsule CRM

6) Monday.com CRM

• Benefits: Customizable workflows, good for project management and CRM in one.
• Pricing: Starts at $12/user/month. (minimum 3 users)
• Learn More: Monday.com CRM

Comparing CRM Features and Pricing: Explore More CRMs:

If none of these options meet your needs, there are many other CRMs available in the market. Here’s a list of additional CRM software you might consider:

These CRMs offer a variety of features and pricing plans that could be tailored to your specific needs. Researching these options can help you find the best fit for your business. You will always want to keep data security in mind and consider whether the CRM uses your data to train any of its AI platforms. If it does use your data, that would be troubling, as then there is a place where your data lives and could give results without you being aware. 

We are finding most CRMs are really good at protecting your sensitive data.

Choosing the right CRM can transform how you manage customer relationships and drive business growth.

While we at Intelligent Technical Solutions don't sell CRMs directly, we are here to guide you in finding a CRM that fits your needs. Whether you go for the industry-standard Salesforce or a more budget-friendly option like Zoho or Freshsales, the right CRM can make a significant difference.

If you need help deciding which CRM is best for your business, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to provide advice and ensure you choose a solution that aligns with your goals.

Stay Tuned: For more practical IT tips and insights, stay tuned to our newsletter. Your success is our priority, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.

How to Check Other Team Members' Schedules in Microsoft Teams

Setting up a meeting with your team members can be seamless with Microsoft Teams. In the graphic we included, that would be a time all three people are showing availability. If people keep up on their Teams schedules, this is a nice way to schedule time without having to ask when the person you are trying to meet is available.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to checking other team members' schedules and setting up appointments. 

Step 1: Open Microsoft Teams

• Launch the Microsoft Teams app on your computer or open it in your web browser.
• Sign in with your credentials if you haven’t already.

Step 2: Go to the Calendar

• In the left-hand sidebar, click on the Calendar icon. This will open your calendar view.

Step 3: Create a New Meeting

• Click on the New meeting button in the top right corner of the calendar view.
• Alternatively, you can click on a specific date and time slot in your calendar to start creating a new meeting.

Step 4: Add Meeting Details

• In the meeting setup window, enter the Title of your meeting.
• Add the Date and Time for the meeting.
• Enter a Location if applicable.

Step 5: Add Required Attendees

• In the Add required attendees field, start typing the names or email addresses of the team members you want to invite.
• As you type, Teams will suggest names from your organization. Click on the correct name to add them to the meeting.

Step 6: Check Availability

• Once you add the attendees, click on the Scheduling Assistant tab at the top of the meeting setup window.
• The Scheduling Assistant will display a grid view showing the availability of all invited team members. You can see when they are busy or free.

Step 7: Find an Available Time Slot

• Look for a time slot where all required attendees are available. The Scheduling Assistant will highlight times when everyone is free.
• Adjust the meeting time as necessary by dragging the meeting slot or changing the time fields.

Step 8: Finalize and Send the Invitation

• After finding a suitable time, go back to the Details tab.
• You can add a description or agenda for the meeting in the Description field.
• Click on the Send button to send the meeting invitation to all attendees.

Step 9: View Meeting Responses

• Once the meeting invitation is sent, you can track responses by going to the Calendar view.
• Click on the meeting to see who has accepted, declined, or not responded yet.

By following these steps, you can easily check your team members' schedules and find the best time for your meeting. Microsoft Teams’ Scheduling Assistant is a powerful tool that simplifies the process of coordinating meetings within your organization.

How ITS Managed the Recent
CrowdStrike Incident

We wanted to share how ITS responded during the recent CrowdStrike security update incident on July 19, 2024, which caused disruptions globally. Our proactive approach, including migrating our clients away from CrowdStrike over two years ago, ensured that our clients were not directly impacted by the outage.

Important Update on CrowdStrike Security Incident and
ITS Response (July 2024)

As you may have seen in the news, CrowdStrike recently released a security update that caused many computers worldwide to become unusable. We'd like to give you the good news and details on the impacts of this incident.

Direct Impacts
Good News! ITS migrated your systems away from CrowdStrike over two years ago. This proactive step has significantly reduced your exposure to any direct impacts from this incident. Currently, your on-premises and ITS-hosted systems are online and functioning normally.

Indirect Impacts
There may be indirect impacts on your business today from this issue (not because of ITS). Airlines, shipping, web hosts, Microsoft, and other vendors have been affected by the outage, so their ability to support you may be impacted.

Please continue to follow your regular support procedures. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Virtual CIO and/or Client Account Manager.

Event Details
When a trusted software provider delivers an update that causes PCs to stop working across the world, chaos ensues. Last week's incident wasn't the first of its kind. Here's how to ensure it doesn't happen again:

What Happened?
CrowdStrike, a well-known security software provider, pushed a faulty update causing Windows PCs and servers to crash with a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The incident affected approximately 8.5 million Windows devices, causing significant disruptions worldwide.

Root Cause
The problem stemmed from a logic error in a new update deployed by CrowdStrike. This update introduced problematic content that led to memory read errors and subsequent system crashes.

Previous Incidents
This isn't CrowdStrike's first faulty update this year. A previous update caused systems to consume 100% of a CPU core due to a bug, requiring a rollback to resolve the issue.

Prevention Tips
Test Updates: Always test updates on a single machine before deploying them network-wide.

• Backup Systems: Ensure regular backups are in place to recover quickly from unexpected issues.
• Monitor Systems: Continuously monitor systems for any signs of malfunction following updates.

Microsoft's Role
Microsoft's architecture for Windows allows security software to operate at the kernel level, where faulty code can cause significant crashes. While MacOS has moved away from this approach, antitrust regulations prevent Microsoft from making similar changes without facing regulatory challenges.

Our Commitment
At ITS, your security and operational continuity are our top priorities. Our proactive migration from CrowdStrike demonstrates our commitment to keeping your systems safe and reliable. We continue to monitor the situation and implement the best practices to safeguard your IT infrastructure.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact your Virtual CIO or Client Account Manager. We are here to support you.

Stay Secure,

The ITS Team

For more information about the CrowdStrike incident and how to safeguard your business from potential issues caused by third-party hardware or software providers, we invite you to join our FREE webinar!

Register for the August 15th Webinar