The River Tree | Danny Chan
  • WELCOME
  • WRITING
    • DENTAL COPYWRITING
    • DENTAL BLOG PACKAGES
    • FEATURE ARTICLES
  • ONE STOP MARKETING
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
    • BOOKING

​Beefing up IT Security for your dental practice

4/28/2011

 
Picture
Protecting your computer system from unforeseen breakdowns is a full-time job. Cable-Net Technologies suggests policing it every 5 minutes – with a new monitoring system.

By Danny Chan

Computer breakdowns are one of the most dreaded occurrences at the workplace, and the dental practice is no exception. Unlike bigger-sized companies, most dental practices cannot afford to employ a full-time IT person, let alone a department, to oversee their systems.  Compounding this lack of backend support, many dental computer systems are linked to a host of equipment and devices that require specific software knowledge unique to the profession. In short, not all IT specialists are sufficiently equipped to tackle your PC issue, should you be saddled with one.

Perhaps that is why when dentists do find an IT expert equal to their tasks, they are so eager to share the discovery with other dentist friends.  In the case of IT specialist firm, Cable-Net Technologies, their dental referrals became so frequent and extensive that it developed into a niche market.

Since 1995, Cable-Net Technologies has helped numerous dental practices with their computing issues; offering a comprehensive range of services including strategic infrastructure management, IT asset and service management, IT network integration, and full PC, network and software support.

Originally established as SCE Networking in 1990, the company started out as a provider of wholesale products catering to the data and communications installation market. Noting a lack in IT customer support rendered to Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) businesses, Cable-Net Technologies was born in 1995 to fill this gaping need.
It was also around this time that the company marked its foray into the dental industry. In 1995, Cable-Net’s Director, Chris Ajaka, attended to an onsite problem, which fueled his appreciation for dental IT work. 

The client had purchased a new intra-oral X-ray unit and encountered problems with connecting it to the system network. Without prior dental experience, Chris labored over the unfamiliar clinical contraption, trying to figure out the relationship between computer and device. Three hours later, he got the system working.

“The client was so impressed,” Chris remembers, “he not only recommended my services to his dentist friends, but also introduced Cable-Net to the company that sold him the X-ray device.”

Highly Recommended
Quality service travels far and wide within the dental industry. A check with past and existing customers of Cable-Net shows that a high percentage comprised dentists, almost all of who learned about the company through word-of-mouth.

Ban Ayar of Ayar Dental, quoted both a software vendor and an industry friend as people who first introduced her to Cable-Net Technologies. 

“Since then, I have been a convinced customer. Every time we get an error message, encounter a networking problem, or when a computer dies on us, a technician at Cable-Net would patiently guide us over the phone, and talk us through the troubleshooting process.”

Ban adds: “If that doesn’t help, a technician would show up at the clinic the following day to fix the problem. Basically, whatever IT problem you can think of, just give them a call and they’ll fix it.”
For Dr Davina Kwong of Mint Dental Care, it was Cable-Net’s stellar customer service that won her over.
“A technician from Cable-Net solved an IT issue with my digital radiographs that had been festering for a number of months. I was very impressed by the technician, Andrej, who displayed a genuine desire to assist with our IT problems.
 
Dr Kwong, who was referred to Cable-Net by a product distributor, was all praise for the IT contractor, adding:
 
“The overall service was efficient and thorough. It was a pleasure working with them.”
 
Dr Scott Davis, a prosthodontist with Woolgoolga Dental Centre, was also having issues with his digital radiography system and computer server, when he was referred to Cable-Net.
 
“My PSP plate scanner system was having communication difficulties and an intermittent fault that prior attempts had not rectified. They sent an IT man up from Sydney who not only addressed the primary problem but also identified problems with the layout of files on the server and corrected those as well.”
 
Complimenting the IT technician for his thoroughness and excellent problem-solving attitude, Scott would not think twice about recommending Cable-Net’s services. 
“I would recommend them because they get the job done, and promptly as well.”
 
Alternative to ‘Break Fix’ Scenario
 
Due in part to their renowned expertise and also based on industry needs, Chris reveals that the bulk of their dental clients go to them for on-site support – and usually only after when things go wrong.
 
“We call this the ‘break fix’ scenario. Ironically, it’s the same situation as that of a patient who visits the dentist only when the pain has become unbearable.
 
“Without any ongoing maintenance programs in place, most dental practices simply wait for things to fail before upgrading or performing any sort of maintenance.”
 
Chris warns that the consequences for inaction may be more than what is generally perceived. He contends that while expensive hourly rates, call out fees and other incidental costs are unnecessary expenditure, they pale in comparison to “the big one”.
 
“The major costs of a ‘break fix’ scenario must be viewed in terms of a practice’s downtime. Just imagine the costs that a practice incurs having to shut down operations, even if it is only for a few hours. Not to mention how disruptive it will be to the patients and staff, having to re-arrange the visits and time slots.”
 
Beyond advocating regular maintenance checks, Chris encourages practice owners to take the preventive approach, much the same way they would advise their own patients.
 
“Eighty per cent of all IT problems are software related and totally preventable”, Chris writes in The Future for Dental IT, an article published in the November/December 2010 issue of Australasian Dentist. “Not only are they preventable but there are plenty of warning signs that are given before a failure.”
 
To further promote this mindset, Cable-Net Technologies recently unveiled a revolutionary IT monitoring concept from North America known as ‘Check Protect’. Driven by Managed Information Technology Service (MITS), Check Protect is a new automated IT support system that is able to perform round-the-clock monitoring of a client’s PC network and server.
 
“Every five minutes it will check your entire system, providing spyware protection and removal, virus protection, disk drive analysis, security patch management, application usage, system auditing and backup checks.”
 
Information monitored by Check Protect gets fed back to Cable-Net’s head office, appearing real-time on giant monitors. System reports are churned automatically, reflecting ongoing software issues related to the client’s system. IT specialists manning the sophisticated console are also alerted to whatever hardware issues that need attention. In response, the IT support staff would contact the client immediately to handle the issue over the phone or, if necessary, dispatch a technician onsite to fix the problem before it worsens.
 
Check Protect offers a comprehensive approach to IT monitoring that replaces the need for regular and expensive site visits. According to results in American and European markets, it reduces the incidence of down time by over 60 per cent. To be entitled for a special introductory rate on Check Protect, dentists are advised to contact Cable-Net before the offer expires in July.
 
“Having worked with many dentists, I have come to realize that most of them are reactive, rather than preventive when it comes to IT maintenance. Some probably never considered the likelihood of losing data and other bleak scenarios, which tend to accompany a laidback approach to the issue.

“In reality, we have come across many instances where dentists and practice managers panic over highly tense situations such as a system virus corrupting their entire database.”

And protecting against that “worst case scenario”, as Chris puts it, is the biggest draw card for having a robust 24/7 monitoring system like Check Protect working constantly for you behind the scenes – providing that extra layer of security that perhaps, you once thought you could do without.


Comments are closed.

    The
    ​Dental Blog Writer

    Danny Chan | Dental Blog Writer

    Danny Chan

    Danny is founder of The River Tree, a Multimedia Company based in Melbourne that provides Quality Content & Digital Marketing Services to Dental Professionals across Australia and New Zealand.

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    April 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    February 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    February 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008

    Categories

    All
    Dental Business
    Dental Fitouts
    Dental Laboratory
    Dental Plant Room
    Dental Software
    Dental Technology
    Dental Workflow & Efficiencies
    Funnies
    Interesting
    Video Production

    RSS Feed