Telecom Brokerage (News - Alert), Inc. is always on track for keeping up with new technologies and keeping customer happy. The company aims to provide as much of a complete solution as possible, as well as offering services that pay commissions and enable its agents to keep touching customers that might be under contract but still in need of new products, according to Senior Vice President Ken Mercer.

 

As the company broadens its efforts to provide customers with as many resources as possible, TBI – one of the nation’s largest telecom master agents – is turning its attention to security.

 

“Blended threats are essentially attacks on multiple fronts. They could be through email, network hacking, malware on Web sites or even something sitting on the flash drive you bring from home,” explained TBI’s Mark Garcia, the company’s IT director.

 

“That being said, they require multiple defenses,” he continued. “For example, e-mail-borne viruses require a good e-mail filter, either through software, hardware or an external service. Web based attacks require filtering, usually through hardware and good group or network policies. If a company only has one form of defense, they usually aren’t fully protecting themselves.”

 

TBI recently blogged, “In the case of attacks, these threats need to be addressed by multi-faceted means. There are dozens of combinations that will help stem the tide. For example, virus and malware attacks, sometimes referred to as ‘blended threats,’ require both hardware and software solutions.”

 

The company recently partnered with ADTRAN (News - Alert) to help channel partners drive revenue growth and become more competitive in this space. ADTRAN’s Netvanta 7100 will help control access to and from the Web. All can be monitored and controlled from the server by IT personnel, company officials said.

 

“Network based anti-virus will help stem the tide of email based attacks, while a solid piece of firewall hardware, such as the Netvanta 7100 or another device, will help control access to and from the Web. All can be monitored and controlled from the server by IT personnel,” the blog stated.

 

The Chicago-based company represents more than 60 industry providers and over 800 independent channel partner agencies.

 

From the agent perspective, knowing about the potential issues can help agents target client solutions and help them build good habits, which company officials called being an “all-in-one solution” for clients.

 

“I think it’s important for master agents to encourage their agents to become more than just sales outlets to their customers,” Garcia added. “Knowing more about a client’s issues and concerns, including security, backups, etc., opens the door to not only new sales opportunities but grows trust. As we’ve stated before, building that trust ensures that an agent will always be thought of before the competition.”