OFFICE ASSISTANT- WEEK 3.pdf

OFFICE ASSISTANT WEEK 3- WEB CONFERENCING, DATA SECURITY WEB CONFERENCING Web conferencing is growing in popularity as a way to hold meetings with people from different locations without having to leave the office. A Web conference (sometimes called a webinar) allows the meeting to take place at a...

OFFICE ASSISTANT WEEK 3- WEB CONFERENCING, DATA SECURITY WEB CONFERENCING Web conferencing is growing in popularity as a way to hold meetings with people from different locations without having to leave the office. A Web conference (sometimes called a webinar) allows the meeting to take place at a central online location so participants can share PowerPoint slides, view software demonstrations, or brainstorm ideas using a shared whiteboard. By combining a Web conference with an audio teleconference— where participants interact over the telephone—a Web conference can almost replace the need for in-person meetings. Typically, an administrative assistant handles all aspects of setting up and running a Web conference, while his or her manager is a speaker or presenter. Having someone who focuses solely on the technology aspects of the Web conference frees the presenter to focus on the content and interactions with the participants. WEB CONFERENCING Businesses often use Web conferencing for marketing meetings, sales presentations, raining sessions, human resources announcements, employee orientations, and shareholder meetings. Web conferencing can help slash travel budgets, save travel time, and encourage more interaction between distant groups of people. The lack of face-to-face interaction can be solved by adding interactive polling, question and answer sessions, software application sharing, and video cameras. Web conferencing vendors provide the software necessary for hosting a Web conference, as well as providing the support necessary for teleconferencing. By signing up with a vendor, you can get an account, install the software, and begin hosting your first Web conference in a matter of minutes. WEB CONFERENCING Some of the most popular Web conference vendors include: Zoom Microsoft Teams Google Classrooms WEB CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS Many Web conferencing vendors offer feature-rich applications that allow for a dynamic interactive experience. Some of these features include: Application Sharing—Allows for sharing a software application on the presenter’s desktop with the participants of the Web conference. Control of the application can be passed to conference attendees to demonstrate features, make changes, or collaborate. Application sharing is often used in training sessions, where the presenter acts as an instructor demonstrating how to use new software. WEB CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS Screen Sharing—Allows for sharing anything on the presenter’s screen with the participants of the Web conference. This is often used when the presenter wants to demonstrate features of the computer’s operating system or show two or more software applications simultaneously. Presentation Sharing—Allows the presenter to upload a PowerPoint slide presentation to share with the conference participants. Whiteboard—Allows the presenter and participants to draw diagrams and write notes on the screen. WEB CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS Monitoring—Allows the presenter to see a roster of attendees, to control access to shared documents and shared applications, and to grant co-moderator status. Audio Controls—Allows the presenter to mute or un-mute the participants’ phone lines. Web Tours—Allows the presenter to display Web pages and share them with the conference participants. Annotation Tools—Allows the presenter and attendees to control an on-screen pointer, highlight parts of the screen, draw objects and diagrams, and type text on the screen. WEB CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS File Transfer—Allows the presenter to share files with the participants. Chat—Allows the attendees to type messages to the presenter or to each other. This feature is often used by the presenter to take participants’ questions throughout the Web conference. Polling—Allows the presenter to provide a set of questions with multiple-choice answers to quiz the participants or to get feedback. Recording—Allows the presenter or individual participants to record a presentation in order to watch and listen to it later. WEB CONFERENCING APPLICATIONS Web Camera—Allows the presenter and participants to add webcams to the Web conference in order to see each other. Reporting—Allows the presenter to see a report following the Web conference showing the roster, participant activity, chat, and polling results. ORGANIZING A WEB CONFERENCE To hold a Web conference, you need a computer with an Internet connection and Web conferencing software. To start a meeting, you use the Web conferencing software to schedule a specific date and time. The software then lets you send out invitations to attendees that includes information on how to join the Web conference. The attendees can then join the conference by following the instructions in their invitation to sign on to a particular website or by clicking a hyperlink that automatically connects them to the conference. The attendees may need to install the Web conferencing software, which is a process that takes only a few minutes the first time they use the service. SECURING YOUR MEETING One way to make sure that only invited participants attend your Web conference is to require a conference password. You can specify a password for each meeting and include it in your invitation. Since you may use the same account for many Web conferences, it is possible that someone who attended a previous session could attend a current session if you fail to password-protect the conference. Another way to secure your meeting is to schedule an unlisted meeting. Unlisted meetings do not show up on the meeting calendar for your account. You can also require your attendees to register for the meeting. You can then accept or reject each registration request. PARTICIPANT SYSTEMS CHECK A systems check is a quick process that participants need to go through in advance of the Web conference. This process usually involves having the participant do a pre-meeting installation of the Web conferencing software. Most Web conferencing vendors have a link on their websites that allows new users to install the necessary software before the Web conference. PARTICIPANT SYSTEMS CHECK To reduce the number of technical issues at the beginning of your Web conference, you should provide step-by-step instructions in your invitation that encourage participants to perform a systems check and to install any necessary Web conferencing software. Even if participants have attended Web conferences using the same system in the past, it is still a good idea to have them test their system. Changes to the vendor’s software, upgrades to a user’s computer, or even operating system and browser security updates could cause the Web conferencing software to suddenly stop working. RUNNING THE WEB CONFERENCE During the presentation, minimize background noise by telling participants to turn off their cell phones. Remind the participants to avoid sidebar conversations, or use the audio controls to put the participants on mute. If you will be un-muting their phones at the end of the conference to take questions, remind the participants not to put the conference call on hold. If their telephone system plays background music, everyone will hear the music. Remind everyone how to use the Web conferencing software’s features to ask questions, raise their hand, or to send chat messages. During your presentation, use the annotation tools to point to areas on the slide, highlight text, and write notes. RUNNING THE WEB CONFERENCE When you move from one slide to the next, wait a few moments for your participants’ screens to catch up. When sharing a presentation or document, open the application with which it was created and share the application. For example, if you have a PowerPoint presentation, rather than uploading the slides, you can open the presentation in PowerPoint on y our desktop and then share the open PowerPoint application. This allows you to make edits if necessary. DATA SECURITY INFORMATION = PROFIT Information about your company is valuable, not only to your company but also to unscrupulous people outside your company. Such information includes confidential records such as bank transactions or corporate credit card numbers. It also includes paper or computer files about customers, new products, sales strategies, and so on. Consider how damaging it would be to your company if such records were lost or destroyed or if they were stolen by a competitor. That’s why data security is critical to protect computer information from theft, misuse, and disaster. The misuse of computer information ranges from unauthorized use of computer time to criminal acts like sabotage. It all falls under one general category that many people call “computer crime.” Surveys show that more than half of the government departments and industrial organizations in the United States have experienced some form of computer crime. Because of this growing epidemic, it’s important that you understand the different types of computer crime in order to protect yourself and your company’s information. DETERMINING WHAT IS A CRIME There are different degrees of computer crime, from breaking into other people’s computers in order to steal or sabotage data, to making illegal copies of software to give to a friend. All of it is wrong. Probably the most often committed offense is theft of computer time. It ranges from the innocent borrowing of someone’s computer without permission to the theft of computer time from a business for personal use and gain. Theft of computer time— especially involving large computers, such as one running an office network—can easily translate into a theft of money. Besides the theft of time, unauthorized use of a computer also involves unnecessary wear and tear on the equipment and software. DETERMINING WHAT IS A CRIME The best way to judge whether a personal activity might be considered a criminal act is to compare it with the use of a company vehicle. Would it be wrong to borrow a company car or truck without asking? Would it be wrong to use the company car on the weekend for personal use? Would it be wrong to fill up one’s personal car with gas and charge it to the corporate account? We know your answer is “Yes, it would be wrong,” so keep this comparison in mind when using business computer equipment and software yourself and when overseeing others’ use of it. THREATS FROM OUTSIDE Today’s companies are using computer communications in ever-increasing ways, and these same applications are in the hands of criminals. Working from the privacy of their own homes, would-be criminals often gain access to an organization’s computers for the purpose of stealing or altering information. This electronic trespassing or vandalism has several variations, which are referred to by their own slang terms: - Hacking—Breaking into computer systems to gain access to restricted or private information - Freaking—The defrauding of a telephone company using stolen long-distance access codes or credit cards THREATS FROM OUTSIDE - Crashing—Breaking into a computer system in order to shut it down or turn it off - Trashing—The altering or erasing of a computer’s data files - Viruses—Malicious computer programs that destroy data or open unauthorized access to a computer. THREATS FROM INSIDE One of the most serious threats to the security of business data comes from insiders: those working within a company who decide to misuse computer or data files as a form of vengeance or for financial gain. This type of computer crime is extremely harmful, since it may involve information worth thousands and thousands of dollars. If a computer crime happens in your company, any insider could be a suspect. However, there are certain individuals who are likely to be investigated first: THREATS FROM INSIDE Disgruntled employees often take their vengeance out on the computer system in the form of sabotage. A competitor or an employee who has recently quit or been terminated may be responsible for theft of computer data or software. Outside users of a computer system via a communications system may attempt authorized sale of information, such as customer lists. Computer programmers may attempt to take their programs with them or to create hidden embezzlement schemes. THREATS FROM INSIDE Computer operators may alter or erase data on purpose. Computer system engineers may attempt to alter security information or passwords. APPREHENDING CRIMINALS Computer criminals have often been hard to apprehend as a result of a lack of understanding on the part of law enforcement agencies and the judicial system. However, things are beginning to change. Many states are leading the way with special legislation aimed at stopping software piracy. Other new laws make it a crime to trespass electronically on a computer system even if there is no damage or theft. Many cities are establishing special police units to combat computer crime. PROTECTING YOUR COMPANY’S DATA Audit Logs There are steps you can take to protect your company’s data from these human threats. Audit logs are a record of who has been using a computer system. As a user logs onto a computer, it records the time, the name of the user, the files that person accesses, and when the person logs off. The computer then keeps the data in a special security file. In some cases, an audit log can tell whether files have been altered. The use of audit logs is usually provided as part of security password software that can be installed on individual computers. If a computer crime occurs, the log can furnish the authorities with evidence they might need to prosecute. COMPUTER VIRUSES One type of computer crime that is a big concern to even the smallest business is the computer virus. A virus is a program developed by a computer vandal who finds pleasure in creating havoc. This program “infects” other programs, causing them to malfunction or to fail completely. Viruses are passed from computer to computer via e-mail and by copying files from one computer to another. Some viruses will only display messages; others can damage your hard drive and the files stored there. Some virus programs even try to extort money from victims in order to receive a software antidote. To combat the rapidly growing virus problem, there are a variety of virus protection software programs available on the market. (See Table 19–1.) The key to selecting and using one of these programs is to purchase the most current edition and then update it on a regular basis. A SECURITY CHECKLIST Following is a variety of ways to protect your company’s data and make it more secure from both human and natural threats. You may wish to use some of these methods for your own computer. If you have office management responsibilities, you may also want to make changes for your entire department or company. Investigate theft prevention devices, which can lock a computer to a desktop. Prevent electrical noise and power surges from damaging your computer system through the use of surge suppressors. A surge suppressor plugs into the wall, and the computer system plugs into it for power. A SECURITY CHECKLIST Get even more security with a device known as an uninterruptible power supply. It will power your computer system for a limited period of time in the event of a power outage. Then, if an outage does occur, you’d have ample warning to save your data. Make a backup copy of all data stored. The methods to back up your data range from printing out your files on paper to making regularly scheduled backups of your files on external hard drives or flash drives. COPING WITH DISASTER It is a good idea to insure your company’s computer system and software. If you work in a small company, you may want to check with your boss to see if he or she has this insurance. But in the case of a disaster, getting reimbursed for the cost of the equipment can’t ever replace the valuable data that the business relies on. Most large organizations have disaster plans that shift data-processing jobs from one location to another and protect data by storing them in two or more different locations. A small business should also have a disaster plan just in case. COPING WITH DISASTER As an office assistant, you can get the ball rolling. A good disaster plan should consider the following points: Is backup computer equipment available? Are backup software and data files available? What should employees do in the event of a disaster? What projects and tasks have priority? Are essential business supplies available? Taking the time to create a disaster plan and to inform all employees in the company about it is essential. If the company is very small, even having an extra computer system, software, and supplies at someone’s house may be a good start. It’s like an extra insurance policy, and it may help all of you keep your jobs should disaster strike.