Second Line Saves GraVoc a Day of Business

As described in the last GraVoc news item, the company’s website was temporarily out of service, as a car hit a utility pole a few blocks from GraVoc’s Peabody, MA offices. The accident resulted in GraVoc’s T1 line going out of service thirty minutes into what was scheduled to be a busy day of business, including Microsoft Dynamics AX training for a client.

GraVoc was able to continue business largely interrupted, however, as the business also utilizes a broadband connection that did not run through the affected utility pole. GraVoc’s systems were switched from the T1 connection to the broadband connection, and instead of delaying the training and being unable to access the Internet, GraVoc was able to continue with minimal interruption and very little lost time.

The GraVoc.com website was dependent on the T1 line and was therefore out of commission for slightly longer.

In terms of business continuity planning, GraVoc was prepared to deal with the event of the traffic accident and had workaround procedures in place to continue operations while the T1 line was disabled. While many businesses focus more on blizzards, hurricanes, fires, or earthquakes in business continuity planning, smaller and more likely events such as this accident can disrupt business just as much. A similar incident took place at a client business less than two weeks ago.

This event also reinforces the importance of having a secondary line of communication between a business’s offices and the outside world. Without the broadband line, GraVoc would have sacrificed almost a full day of business operations. Like its clients, GraVoc does not have time available to fret about communication systems being out of commission. Thanks to business continuity preparedness, GraVoc was able to salvage a productive day without a main communication line.

Among a wide range of services, GraVoc Associates, Inc. specializes in helping clients design business continuity plans so that procedures are in place to resume business as quickly as possible following a disaster. Based in Peabody, MA, GraVoc is celebrating fifteen years of serving small businesses in the Boston area and beyond with information system implementation, technological services, information security, and financial consulting. For more information, please visit GraVoc.com (which is back up and running) or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

GraVoc.com Unexpected Outage

Due to a traffic accident down the street from the GraVoc offices, GraVoc.com is currently experiencing an unexpected outage. Business is continuing as usual, however, and customers should still be able to reach GraVoc through the telephone at 978-538-9055.

The issues with the GraVoc website should be resolved by the end of the day today (Monday). Thank you for your patience.

New MGL 93-H Deadline: January 1, 2010

The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) has again pushed back the date at which the new Massachusetts General Law 93-H goes into effect. The new date is January 1, 2010.

MGL 93-H is better known as the "Massachusetts Data Protection Law."

A press release from the OCABR is available here.

Massachusetts General Laws 93-H and 93-I are generally considered the toughest laws in the nation regarding identity theft prevention. This law requires businesses containing either paper or electronic files with personal identifiable information to have a comprehensive information security policy. The specification of the information security policy are available in PDF format here.

Governor Deval Patrick announced the impending enforcement of this law last fall and GraVoc Associates, Inc. was one of the first firms to address the law’s tough standards. Starting in November, GraVoc began offering services to help small businesses safeguard its customers’ and employees’ personal information and comply with MGL 93-H. Since, the OCABR has given businesses more time to undertake 93-H compliance efforts, pushing back the January 1, 2009 deadline to May 1, 2009, and now to January 1, 2010.

GraVoc Associates, Inc, a full-service consulting firm based in Peabody, MA, is celebrating 15 years of business in Greater Boston and throughout New England. A versatile business, GraVoc offers a wide range of services in the fields of information systems, information technology, financial services, and information security. For more information on GraVoc, please visit GraVoc.com or call GraVoc’s offices at 978-538-9055.

GraVoc Software Website Unveiled

In an effort to make customers and potential customers aware of what GraVoc can do for them, GraVoc has taken tremendous strides to increase their online presence.  In the last few months, GraVoc.com got a complete makeover, the company has launched this news blog, and now the company is proud to unveil the NEW GraVocSoftware.com.

The new GraVoc Software.com has a comprehensive selection of GraVoc Software products which range from streamlining field service operations, to property management for landlords, to fourteen different add-ons to the Microsoft Dynamics GP enterprise resource planning solution.  This is by no means an all-inclusive list, as the full spectrum of GraVoc Software offerings is available on the new GraVocSoftware.com.

From the website, a visitor is able to see screen shots of various products and view the features that separate GraVoc’s software solutions from others in the market.  The website can also direct a user to contact GraVoc’s Peabody, MA-based offices to gather more information or to schedule live demonstrations.

A special thanks to DivergingSoul Media Production for spearheading the GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com projects.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, and is celebrating fifteen years of providing innovative solutions to clients in the fields of information systems, information technology, information security, and financial consulting.  For more information regarding GraVoc, please visit the new GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com, or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

GFS 2009: More Powerful, Still Easy to Use

GraVoc Field Service, the newest product released from GraVoc Software, is a powerful, easy-to-use business process management system built specifically for the service industry.  The entire service process can be managed in one program throughout the lifespan of a service call.  Thanks to this software, clients are wasting less time tracking hours and inventory, increasing customer service capacity with more information readily available, and most importantly, increasing their profitability.

Illustrating their continued desire to maintain GraVoc’s company backbone of service and support for their high-powered solutions, GraVoc’s programmers have worked tirelessly on the latest version of GFS according to the needs of our customers.

GraVoc released GFS 2009 Thursday, introducing the following added capabilities:

• Call history capabilities, making the entire call history for a customer available within seconds on both the management console and the Windows client.
• A searchable knowledge base, where GFS 2009 can search the entire database of service calls, including notes and descriptions, for desired criteria.  Users can also narrow their knowledge base search by client or by project.
• New custom reporting functionality, giving a GFS 2009 user the flexibility to create, store and launch their own custom reports from within the application.
• Increased Service Calendar capabilities on the management console.
• Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  GFS is now able to be integrated with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  GFS 2009 can be your service company’s missing link between your accounting or ERP software to your customer relationship management system.

GraVoc is extremely excited with the development of such a powerful and practical product in GFS 2009, and GraVoc’s technicians would be more than willing to schedule a live demonstration of this solution that streamlines a company’s service processes.  More details about how GFS can streamline a service company’s processes are available here on the new GraVoc Software website, and a story about how GFS has revolutionized GraVoc’s internal service operation is available here.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, and is celebrating fifteen years of providing innovative solutions to clients.  Unlike most software companies, GraVoc’s business is centered not around distribution of software, but by providing the services that turn this software into a solution.  GraVoc’s Microsoft Gold Certified professionals have experience implementing internally-developed solutions as well as Microsoft Dynamics ERP software.  For more information regarding GraVoc or GFS 2009, please visit the new GraVoc.com and GraVocSoftware.com, or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

Updates Set GCMS 2009 Apart

It has been a busy month for the software division of GraVoc, as in the coming week, the company is proud to announce several changes and updates to our existing software products.  As GCMS is not the only software product offered by GraVoc, we encourage you to visit the NEW GraVocSoftware.com to learn more about the software products GraVoc offers.  We also invite you to continue reading the GraVoc News Blog over the next week to learn about more software updates.

GraVoc Cemetery Management System (GCMS) is a comprehensive cemetery and crematory management system that was developed several years ago in conjunction with our clients.  GCMS separates itself from its competition with its familiar, user-friendly interface and short learning curve.  Screenshots and features of GCMS are available here on the new GraVoc Software website. 

Some new features to the GCMS 2009 product include the following:

• GCMS now is capable of integrating with Microsoft Dynamics GP.  The software is capable of seamlessly integrating its accounting features into Peachtree, QuickBooks, and now Dynamics GP.
• There are several new reporting capabilities available within the GCMS 2009.

GraVoc’s programmers continue to make strides to have the GCMS program keep pace with the growing needs of our cemetery and crematory customers and to keep it the best management system in the industry.  In addition to these two updates, GraVoc has further increased the software’s functionality, adding (among other things) a mapping module and increased crematory functions in the past year.

GraVoc Associates, Inc. is a full-service consulting firm located just outside of Boston in Peabody, MA, and is celebrating fifteen years of providing innovative solutions to clients.  Unlike most software companies, GraVoc’s business is centered around providing quality service, and GraVoc Software’s products not only reflect their commitment to helping their customers, but also come with the support of a group of dedicated and competent Microsoft Gold Certified professionals.  For more information regarding GCMS, including scheduling a demo, please visit the new GraVoc.com, the new GraVocSoftware.com, or call the GraVoc offices at 978-538-9055.

Personal Identifiable Information Defined

A hot-button issue in information security right now is "personal identifiable information," especially as the May 1st deadline for Massachusetts General Law 93-H (also known as the Massachusetts Data Protection Law) approaches. The law states that any business possessing "personal information" of any Massachusetts resident, including customers, employees, and the like, is required to have a comprehensive information security program, among other provisions outlined in GraVoc's MGL 93-H quick link.

Personal identifiable information, as defined in MGL 93-H is a resident's first name and last name or first initial and last name along with:

• The person's social security number.
• The person's driver's license or state-issued identification card number.
• The person's financial account number, with or without any access codes or passwords that provide access to the person's financial account.

In other fields, including forensics, personal identifiable information is defined with a broader scope; this definition is strictly for the purposes of MGL 93-H governance.

The quick link available above describes the range of services GraVoc can provide to help your business comply with MGL 93-H. However, the most popular service as of this point is the personal identifiable information (PII) inventory, where GraVoc professionals conduct interviews with your business's personnel, determining where PII is collected and how it is stored both electronically and physically.

Based in Peabody, Massachusetts, GraVoc Associates, Inc. is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary helping small businesses and financial institutions find solutions in the fields of information security information technology, and beyond. To learn more about GraVoc's services regarding MGL 93-H compliance, please consult the new http://www.gravoc.com/ or call GraVoc's office at 978-538-9055.