Author: Casserly Consulting

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Google Is Increasing Security For High-Risk Users

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Wouldn’t it be great if you could take advantage of a built-in security feature that could lock down your Google services in the event of a potential data breach? Thanks to attacks on high-profile users, Google is now offering this service to those who are at considerable risk of having their accounts hacked. This type of advanced service, called the Advanced Protection Program, is only available to a select few, but it promises to assist in the challenge of protecting sensitive information.

Specifically, the Advanced Protection Program will be designed to help those who are most likely to experience troublesome hacking attacks, including those who work as election and campaign officials, those who are victims of domestic violence, and others who find themselves to be at risk. The service is marketed as greater security, while trading off some of the convenience that might be found with the base-level Google services.

Among the affected Google services are Gmail, Google Drive, and YouTube. Once someone has been onboarded into the Advanced Protection Program, their accounts will automatically be updated with all of the latest and greatest security solutions available for Google’s services. The implementation of this service is in light of the various high-profile hacking attacks associated with various officials during the 2016 United States presidential election. Google was forced to endure plenty of backlash in the aftermath of the John Podesta controversy in which his Gmail account was hacked via a phishing attempt. This new initiative by Google is an attempt to ensure that they don’t have to deal with this backlash again.

The tactic used by Google’s Advanced Protection Program is a security key. While a USB key is generally considered a better two-factor authentication practice, Google is also equipping users with a Bluetooth key verification process that can be used on both a smartphone or a laptop.

At the moment, Google’s Advanced Protection Program blocks access to information on your Google account by any third-party source–that is, any program that’s not developed by Google itself. Furthermore, it implements a slower account recovery process that’s more difficult for a hacker to replicate. While it takes away from some of the ease of recovery that Google users know and love, it makes for a more secure experience overall.

Would you take advantage of this new service from Google if need be? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Tip of the Week: Seven Extensions to Add to Chrome

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Google Chrome is the most popular web browser in the world, and for good reason. The browser has many useful features, largely due to the user’s ability to install ‘extensions’–applications that add to the browser’s functionality or the user’s experience. Once an extension is added to the browser’s toolbar, it is ready for the user to use whenever they need.

Here are a few examples of Chrome extensions that offer a user a useful function.

Select and Speak (SpeakIt!)
By leveraging the human-quality text-to-speech abilities of iSpeech, Select and Speak (SpeakIt!) can read out any text that has been selected in the browser. The user can select a language from a considerable list and adjust the voice and speed of the program to make the best use of the reader for their needs. However, this extension is clearly annotated as being for personal use, so make sure to contact the developer to obtain a license to use it in any other fashion.

Download Select and Speak (SpeakIt!) here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/select-and-speak-text-to/gfjopfpjmkcfgjpogepmdjmcnihfpokn?hl=en

Readism
It isn’t uncommon for many jobs to require an employee to read articles online. It also isn’t uncommon for a user to suddenly realize that the article they’ve committed to reading is considerably longer than first estimated. Readism takes the guesswork out of the user’s hands by scanning a page for content and delivering an estimated reading time.

Download Readism here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readism-article-reading-t/bmiolhceebkeljaikojgcoeefblcihje

Honey
How often do you do your shopping online? If you’re like many people, it’s fairly frequently. Honey gives you an added bonus as you shop online by providing you with coupon codes for the site you’re browsing. Honey currently supports retail sites in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and India, plus global websites–and more websites are always being added to their databases. For the avid online shopper, Honey helps keep money in your pocket and the balance on your credit card down.

Download Honey here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/honey/bmnlcjabgnpnenekpadlanbbkooimhnj?hl=en-US

Unshorten.Link
Shortened URLs can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they make it more convenient to browse the Internet, but they can also be used to hide URLs that could put you and your system at risk. This extension, as its name states, will un-shorten shortened URLs and check them for malware, giving you a clearer picture of exactly where the link will send you. This extension even removes known tracking cookies from the URL, keeping you that much safer.

Download Unshorten.Link here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/unshortenlink/gbobdaaeaihkghbokihkofcbndhmbdpd

ColorZilla
ColorZilla is a comprehensive tool for analyzing the color of web content, giving you the code for the precise shade and hue you find. With a color picker, eyedropper and gradient generator included in the same tool, ColorZilla gives you a clearer view of what you’re looking at, without taking up too many of your resources.

Download ColorZilla here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/colorzilla/bhlhnicpbhignbdhedgjhgdocnmhomnp?hl=en

SessionBuddy
As a session and bookmark manager, SessionBuddy helps to avoid browser clutter and frees up your computer’s memory. By saving open tabs, this extension allows you to restore your tabs after a crash or unexpected shutdown.

Download SessionBuddy here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/session-buddy/edacconmaakjimmfgnblocblbcdcpbko?hl=en

MightyText – SMS from PC & Text from Computer
This extension effectively turns your Chrome browser into another means of sending SMS and MMS messages. Any messages and texts you send will still be transmitted using your phone, and therefore, its number. What makes this extension different is the fact that you can still use your smartphone to text as well.

Download MightyText – SMS from PC & Text from Computer here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mightytext-sms-from-pc-te/dkfhfaphfkopdgpbfkebjfcblcafcmpi?hl=en

Google Chrome is constantly improving with each new extension that is added to help its users. Which extensions do you feel are most valuable? Which ones should have made our list? Leave a comment to let us know!

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For Better Business Communications, Choose VoIP

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VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, has become the only practical choice for a forward-focused business’ telephony needs. Any one of those who have adopted it could share a reason that they leverage it. But what is VoIP, really? How does it work, and why is it so popular among businesses? Read on to find out.

To understand VoIP, it may help to understand how the traditional telephone operates. When someone speaks into the receiver, the vibrations from the sound energy hit a part of the phone called the diaphragm and are converted to electrical energy. This energy is transferred through the phone lines to its destination: the recipient’s telephone handset. Once the energy is there, it is reverted to sound, and the first person’s voice can be heard.

VoIP works in a similar way, albeit more advanced. There are actually multiple methods to using VoIP, but we’ll focus on using VoIP through an IP phone.

Just as with the traditional telephone, the process begins when someone speaks into a receiver. However, instead of being converted into electrical energy, the sound of your voice is compressed and compiled into digital packets, which are then sent to the recipient via the Internet. By sending it over the Internet in this way, there is no longer a need to pay the phone company additional funds, lending VoIP its first benefit of cost savings through consolidation.

VoIP phones also allow you a better means of control over your telephony as a whole. With a plethora of features included that would only be available from a phone service provider for a premium price, you have considerable management capabilities. From voicemail to contact lists to conference calling to so much more, the right VoIP solution can lend you advanced business communicative abilities without the advanced prices.

Clearly, there are cost savings to be enjoyed through a VoIP system, but the benefits don’t stop there. Reach out to us at PHONENUMBER to learn about some other ways that VoIP can augment your business operations.

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“It Redirected Where?” — A Case Study in Security Precautions

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Imagine what it would be like to discover that your website was suddenly redirecting to content that was decidedly more… adult... than what should be representing your business. For a company in Phoenix, Arizona, this was the unfortunate reality after they had let their IT administrator go.

The administrator, Tavis Tso, created a web in which he attempted to snare a client in an extortion scam. After lying to the client, claiming that he didn’t have their credentials to login to their GoDaddy domain registrar account, Tso changed the credentials to the GoDaddy accounts and created a separate Microsoft account that gave him considerable power over his target. His first steps were to block employees from accessing their email accounts and to redirect the company’s home page to a blank webpage. Tso then demanded $10,000 from the company to fix the problem that he had caused.

The company did not comply with his demands.

Once it was clear that the company wasn’t going to cooperate with Tso, the cybercriminal upped the ante. Rather than just redirecting the company’s home page to a blank site, Tso redirected all of the website’s traffic to a pornographic website. This redirect took several days to resolve.

Tso was ultimately sentenced to four years of probation, in addition to $9,145 as restitution for a count of wire fraud. While it is nice that a cybercriminal has been brought to justice, the damage done will be hard to undo, as he had considerable access to his company’s systems.

Would your business be able to recover from an incident like this? A good first step is to ensure your recovery is to reconsider the permissions of the users on your network–and more importantly, the permissions of former users. There is no reason to grant access to your IT where it is not needed, and there is no reason to keep an IT resource on your system once they are no longer part of your organization.

COMPANYNAME can help you to make these changes, as well as many others that will benefit your IT and your network security. Reach out to us at PHONENUMBER to start a discussion.

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: Use Google Doc Tables to Organize Your Writing

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Do you use Google Docs for your business’ word processor? It functions in largely the same way as Microsoft Word, and as such, there are various features that carry over between programs. One of these features is the table of contents, which can help you organize and sort your documents into consumable sections.

To use the table of contents, you’ll need to use the preset heading and formatting options that are located in the toolbar next to the font options. Take note that anything formatted as the title won’t be included in the table of contents.

Title Heading

You can use Heading 1 for major divisions of subject matter, including phases, chapters, and sections.

They are set to use a predetermined heading size and font, but you can change that yourself by clicking on the arrow next to the selection in the table of contents dropdown. You just have to select Update Heading to Match.

Heading 1

Once you’ve updated the heading information, you’ll see that the drop-down menu has also updated the heading options for your selection.

 Heading 1 Update 2

Just repeat the two previous steps for your other subheadings.

Header 2

Once you’ve finished changing your settings, you can tell Docs to create a table of contents. You can use Insert > Table of Contents to select a table that fits your specific needs. You can pick an option with page numbers:

Page Numbers

Page Populated

And one with hyperlinks:

Anchor Links

Anchor Links Populated

Once you’ve selected the formatting, you’ll have a simple and easy table of contents in your document.

For more great tips and tricks, subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.

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9 Ingredients to Creating a Winning UCC Strategy

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If there is one thing that supports everything a successful business does, it has to be communication. Any company relies on its communications to ensure that its clients are satisfied with their services, and as communications have improved, it has only become easier for a unified communication and collaboration, or UCC, strategy to take form.

With these strategies, businesses have been able to expand upon their capabilities to enter and embrace the digital age. What follows are ten elements that a UCC would commonly feature in a business setting.

Collaborative Software
It is essentially guaranteed that you have some experience with collaborative software in this day and age, even if you haven’t personally used it to its full potential. With Microsoft Office and the G Suite available almost anywhere, the idea of collaborative software is not a new one. However, there are many more solutions out there that allow for many people to pool their skills and talents into a particular project in real time, regardless of how far away they are from each other. Many of these solutions also enable video conferencing and instant messaging, which will be discussed in greater depth later.

Podcasts
Imagine giving a presentation where the audience could pause you and wait until a more opportune time to listen to the rest of what you had to say. This is exactly what a podcast delivers–an on-demand lecture on a topic that an audience can listen to at their own convenience. Podcasts are also a more personal method of communication, as many listen through the intimate channel that is the headphone. If you are considering delivering your own podcast, you should be sure that you have these five needs planned out beforehand:

  1. Topic
  2. Length
  3. Frequency
  4. Format
  5. Distribution

Instant Messaging
When it comes to rapid communication, you don’t get much faster than ‘instant.’ Businesses have picked up on this and now leverage instant messaging as a communications method. With utility as a communication device between individuals as well as among groups of people, instant messaging lives up to its name with the capability for near-instantaneous response times as individuals communicate with each other. In addition, companies that have used instant messaging in the workplace have seen increased efficiency and collaboration, as well as a reduction in email.

Video Conferencing
While it is certainly not a new technology, the practicality of video conferencing has increased significantly over the past few years. Better technology and improved Internet speeds mean that communications can happen in real time from almost anywhere in the world. Not to mention that, according to the IDG Enterprise Video Conferencing Trends in 2016, 96 percent of those surveyed agreed that video conferencing improves productivity and can reduce travel costs by 30 percent.

Discussion Forums
Sometimes a user would rather crowdsource their answers from their fellow users than bother the original source. Providing these users with an outlet to share their issues with each other allows them to identify their most pressing concerns, and also tells you what needs to be resolved or addressed first. You and your team can also step in and provide a solution to these issues, establishing yourselves as thought leaders.

Another benefit of discussion forums is that you are able to collect demographic information from your visitors here as well, enabling you to create a more complete idea of who your visitors are, and which groups seek information on which topics.

Email
While email may have once been seen solely as a means of sending and receiving messages with an individual or group, it is now relied upon as the primary record for over three-quarters of business correspondence. Archived emails help businesses keep track of their transactions, and incomplete email records have been the downfall of some companies in legal matters.

Clearly, email needs to be a component of your UCC. However, you will want to ensure that your selected email solution is properly secured, has searchable archives, is mobile-friendly, and integrates with your other solutions as much as is possible.

Enterprise Social Networking
While social media may have a less-than-shining reputation as a distraction in a workplace setting, Enterprise Social Networking works to the opposite effect. A company can leverage social media to help develop external business opportunities and to promote internal collaboration and communication. Furthermore, employees can be encouraged to act as brand ambassadors, using social media to share company culture posts and boost audience engagement–a strategy that more and more businesses are adopting.

With a UCC, a business has a variety of collaborative and communicative solutions to choose from, and many line-of-business applications incorporate enterprise social media platforms.

ChatBots
ChatBots can serve as a very helpful communication tool for the modern business and its website. Often structured in a way that is similar to an instant message, a ChatBot combines AI and human intelligence to improve the customer’s experience through a few common features.

  1. Engagement – One of a business website’s key roles is to engage with its visitors so they will interact with the website. A ChatBot is an always-present opportunity to engage, with the benefit of providing your site visitor with information and assistance.
  2. Personalization – As one of your visitors uses your ChatBot, they will likely give you a pretty good idea of why they are visiting. This allows you to customize your sales approach for their company, as well as to track and evaluate user behavior to deem which types of content are the most impactful to your strategy.
  3. User Experience – Most businesses have an unofficial list of the questions that everyone asks. ChatBots can make that list official, with set responses that are activated by certain keywords in your visitor’s inquiry.

Project Management Software
In order for a business to be successful, it needs to be successfully managed. This is why 77 percent of businesses leverage project management software, as it encourages collaboration among team members, improved organization, and an overall boost to performance. This variety of software is also used by 66 percent of organizations to communicate with their clients.

UCC has grown significantly in popularity as the technology that supports it has developed. For more information on Unified Communication and Collaboration solutions and their place in your business, call us at PHONENUMBER.

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Cost Savings Are Just The Start of VoIP’s Benefits

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Business owners and managers are always looking to save a buck. Since the cost of doing business continues to climb, looking to the cloud for their business-critical applications is one way to spread computing costs out over time. The cloud offers several solutions to help the modern business keep their costs down, and nowhere can these costs be mitigated more than with a business’ communications.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), specifically hosted VoIP, can help you reduce your communications costs in many ways, including:

Hardware Costs
A hosted VoIP solution makes it possible to get a powerful business phone system without having to go through the headaches and expense associated with installing new phone lines. Anyone who has ever run telephone wire from a distribution hub through the walls of a building knows that, in certain cases, it’s an arduous job. By hooking directly into your company’s broadband network, you can easily add and remove VoIP users on demand.

Additionally, deploying a hosted VoIP system removes the need for PBX hardware altogether. As the major expense in any traditional business telephone system, a PBX system can have huge costs, even thousands of dollars, per user. Even for a smaller PBX roll out, you are looking at a substantial capital investment that is transformed immediately into an operational expense once you choose to introduce a hosted VoIP solution.

Fee Structures
The largest expense for any telephone system is the minutes the phone is being used. Every traditional phone bill will feature costs for long distance calling, which the way it is set up most of the time, are calls that can often be local. Getting rid of this recurring expense is one of the most effective ways hosted VoIP is able to present any business with cost savings.

Broadband Internet is relatively inexpensive, basically mandatory, and available through multiple regional carriers, allowing your organization to buy the resources you need, again, as operational expense, not capital outlays. Moreover, the VoIP service rates are very competitive with the rates that you’d pay if utilizing a traditional phone system, without the need for constant management and maintenance of the system as a whole. A VoIP subscription is typically paid per user, which also provides efficient scalability and organizational flexibility in regards to your telephone system.

Mobility
Another way VoIP helps the modern business stretch its dollar is by adding a mobile aspect to their phone system. Many VoIP systems have mobile applications available through the Android or Apple App Stores. This provides organizations the mobile flexibility they need from their business phone system without paying a pretty penny for individual phones and service plans. Since these applications can be run over Wi-Fi, or through the organization’s virtual private network (VPN), it can save plenty of financial resources normally spent on the deployment of a typical mobile strategy.

VoIP provides all of the most important options that traditional phone systems provide, while adding mobility, and removing the enormous upfront capital costs, long distance fees, and operational maintenance that traditional business telephone systems bring. If your business is looking to cut costs, considering a VoIP system is a good place to start. For more information about VoIP or for to learn more on how to leverage other enterprise communications systems for your business, call the IT professionals at COMPANYNAME today at PHONENUMBER.

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Tip of the Week: Give Your Desktop Some TLC

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Maintaining a network of PCs can be a lot of work. We wouldn’t blame you for having trouble keeping your business’ computers up-to-date–especially if you don’t have a dedicated IT department on-site. It doesn’t have to feel impossible, though. With proactive technology maintenance and the following tips, you’ll be sure to stay productive throughout the workday.

Update Your Devices
Microsoft issues updates that are meant to improve the performance and security of its operating systems. It’s recommended that you implement these updates as soon as possible so that they can do what they were designed to do: help your computer’s performance. To check if your device has potential updates, just hit the Windows key and navigate through Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for Updates. If your device needs an update, this page will tell you. Once you’ve done this, all you need to do is restart your computer and complete the installation process.

Restart Your Device
One of the best ways you can improve the performance of your computer is to restart it completely. This gives your computer a moment to catch its breath. It’s just like trying to push your body too hard–sooner or later, you’ll crash and need to take a break. If you don’t, you run the risk of working your technology too hard, which could result in your technology breaking down prematurely. To restart your PC, click on the Start menu or press the Windows key. Next, select Power and click Restart.

Disable Startup Apps
Some programs will start as soon as you power up your computer. A couple examples might be Microsoft Office, antivirus, Spotify, or anything else that is set to do so. If your computer takes too long to start up, you can disable applications so that they don’t run automatically when you turn your computer on. To do this, open your task manager by using the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keyboard shortcut. Select More Details for the option Startup and Disable any programs that you don’t want to initiate on startup. Just be careful of the ones you actually disable, as some of them might be required to keep your computer running properly.

Have these three tips helped out your PC performance? To learn more, reach out to us at PHONENUMBER.

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Swipe With Care: Your ATM Might Be Controlled By A Hacker

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One of the most enticing credentials that hackers desire is your credit card number, along with its expiration date and the code on the back. Hackers are also willing to go great lengths to achieve their goal of stealing these credentials, even so far as to make physical changes to automatic teller machines (ATMs) to do so. In fact, hackers will often install skimming devices on ATMs that are so subtle that they can be difficult to detect.

Take, for example, this news article from July 2017 that showcases a rather specific case of ATM skimming. The device in question simply slips over the ATM card reader in a discreet way to give the user the impression that they are using a legitimate machine. Any unsuspecting user could accidentally throw their credentials right to a hacker.

Furthermore, there have been cases of hackers implementing custom hardware into ATMs designed to harvest credentials. These devices are often installed onto ATMs so that they can wirelessly transmit credentials, to perpetrators lurking nearby. Either way, the result is the same; stolen credentials and upset victims.

Imagine waking up, checking your bank account, and noticing that you’re missing the entirety of your checking account balance. Or, even worse, finding out that your account has sunk into the red because someone in a foreign country has purchased your information and used it for their own purposes. How can you keep this from happening to you? The easiest way is to be wary of ATM skimmers in the first place. You should keep the following in mind when using an ATM.

  • Cameras surrounding the machine: If you are in an area where there are plenty of cameras, there will be less of a chance that the ATM will have been tampered with. In fact, most ATMs actually have built-in cameras, but it helps to have some extra caution to take a look around whenever you want to use one.
  • Tampering with the device: Examine the device before you use it. Are there any issues with the way it looks? Are any faceplates removed or devices plugged into it? If there are, you know that it’s not a machine that you can trust.
  • Additional “testing”: Before you insert your card into the device, try jostling the slot to see if it’s something that was artificially placed over the actual reader. Carefully inspect the machine before you insert your card. Spending a few moments to check the device before using it can save you a whole lot of pain in the long run.

What are your thoughts on ATM skimmers? Are you confident that you can identify one that has been tampered with? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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TheDarkOverlord Solutions Is at It Again! This Time the Hacker Group Is Targeting Schools

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While many youngsters enjoy it when their school shuts down, this was likely not the case in Flathead Valley, Montana, where the cybercriminal group ‘TheDarkOverlord Solutions’ targeted the entire Columbia Falls school district. This attack caused the three-day closure and otherwise disrupted over 30 schools, and the personal information of teachers, students, and school administrators was supposedly to be released if the group didn’t receive a ransom payment.

Furthermore, and more alarmingly, parents received reportedly graphic death threats against their children from the group. These threats alluded to an infamous, and still painfully recent, school shooting. This is the first time that TheDarkOverlord Solutions have gone to these lengths as far as is known.

The district server for Columbia Falls was ultimately targeted; records detailing the addresses, medical history, behavioral history, and other pieces of information valuable to cybercriminals were accessed that detailed the personal data of current and former students, their parents, and the school’s staff members. As a result, the 30 schools closed (as referenced above) and weekend events and activities were cancelled. With a heightened security presence, students returned to classes on Tuesday, September 19th.

TheDarkOverlord is no stranger to the news, or to targeting vulnerable individuals. In July of 2017, there was an online sale for a tantalizing data set that would allow cybercriminals to leverage information harvested from healthcare providers, just weeks after putting almost nine and a half million records for sale. These records came from a clinic, a healthcare provider, and a health insurance provider.

Somewhat less threateningly, the same group also took credit for releasing the fifth season of the Netflix hit series Orange is the New Black before its official release date, despite receiving about $50,000 worth of cryptocurrency in ransom from an audio post-production studio.

This piece of history shows why the Columbia Falls school district is right in their decision to not pay the ransom, as it in no way guarantees that the cybercriminal (or group) responsible will hold up their end of the bargain. Even if they do, it only proves that the victims are willing to pay, designating themselves as the perfect target for repeated attacks.

The key to your safety is to ensure your data is secure against the entire spectrum of threats. COMPANYNAME can help you to do so. Call us at PHONENUMBER to get started.