On episode 30 of TechTalk Detroit, Chuck and Brian walk you through 3rd party spam filtering, data backup, Vision’s managed email service solution, multi-factor authentication, advance threat protection (ATP), and the value they will bring to your existing technology set-up.
Microsoft 365 Add-On Services You Should Be Utilizing
1. Spam Filtering (2:10)
One thing people don’t think about because there is already a base spam filtering service that comes with Microsoft 365.
- Doesn’t Microsoft 365 have their own spam filtering service built-in? (2:10)
- Yes. While Microsoft 365 spam filtering is better than nothing, there is a lot of benefits to having a third-party spam filter as well.
- Why? Usability (3:32)
- A lot of companies offer spam filtering wither easier and more efficient usability. Microsoft 365 doesn’t have the one-click availability just yet.
- For example, with Vision’s Clearmail solution, you’re sent an easy-to-read daily held-mail report so you can see what’s getting blocked everyday – and with one click, you have access to allow those messages through.
- Why? Flexibility (4:37)
- We find that within Microsoft’s spam filtering, there is a huge learning curve that leads to a lot of tweaking here and there to get things just where you’d like them, which causes messages to get blocked more often than necessary, or causes too many messages to get through. Third-party spam filters have a more detailed level of thresholds you can set in regards to sensitivity. You can easily turn these up or down on the fly, and the learning curve is a lot quicker and simplified.
2. Backup (6:45)
Most know that backups are needed for servers, but what most look over is that they also need one for their Microsoft 365 data.
- Microsoft’s Retention Policy (7:22)
- You may think that Microsoft is backing up. your date, but it’s not technically true.
- Microsoft’s retention policy is 30 days. Meaning, if you delete something today and 29 days from now need it back, as long as you haven’t emptied your trash or recycling bin, you can recover it. However, if it’s been 31 days, it is gone forever.
- Our Third-Party Recommendation (8:25)
- This is why we recommend using a third-party back solution. From our experience, Datto does it best.
- Datto is backing up your Microsoft 265 accounts, your email, any SharePoint sites, Teams conversations, files, and data.
3. Email Signature Management (12:47)
Vision’s Managed Email Solutions is an inexpensive way to standardize all of your employee signatures across the company, along with many other benefits.
- Branding Capabilities (13:28)
- Our email management can tie right into your Microsoft 365 active directory; pulling titles, addresses, and phone numbers per user.
- Use the correct logo, branding colors, and fonts to ensure signatures are consistent and stay within brand guidelines.
- Use the Same Signature Across Platforms (14:00)
- The same signature will be used whether you’re on your mobile device or desktop. They will be consistent regardless of what device you’re using.
- Marketing Campaigns (14:46)
- In your signature, you can run campaigns such as specials you’re offering, or include holiday messages or office closings.
- You can set up timed email campaigns that will upend different things based on when an email goes out.
4. Multi-Factor Authentication (16:50)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should be turned on with anything you are doing. If you have the option, always say yes. MFA and 2-Factor Authentication are the same thing.
- Last Line of Defense (17:35)
- Using MFA is one of the best ways to be alerted when there is potential activity going on in any of your accounts.
- Without the feature enabled, at that point in time, you’ve already been hacked. If you’re getting a code, someone already has your password.
- Microsoft Benefit (19:30)
- Microsoft has a bit of an edge here, allowing you more control over your policies.
5. Advance Threat Protection (ATP) (21:18)
ATP provides an overlap with spam filtering which is great. This gives you a machine-learning element to how data comes in. It will study and memorize your patterns of use, and when it starts to see activity outside of your norm, you can do things such as flag accounts as potential risks which in return can trigger workflows for someone to validate.
If you have any questions on Microsoft 365 add-on services, or are interested in more information, contact us!
Check out some of our past TechTalk Detroit episodes:
TechTalk Detroit EP 28: IT Budgeting and Planning
TechTalk Detroit EP 27: Is it Time to Switch Your Managed IT Service Provider?
