Keep It Super Simple: A Dental Technology Integrator's Mantra
Nothing is more frustrating for a dental technology integrator like myself than going into a new network that is just a complete mess
. I just did a basic install of some digital x-ray sensors in an office that already had prof.suni and dentrix. As I am going through the workstations loading drivers I see that windows firewall is on, anti virus real time scan is on with no exclusions set, and the current IT guy has like 5 mapped drives all mapping multiple ways to get to the same location. It was just a big mess!Keep It Super Simple, the K.I.S.S. method.
Every week the opportunity to gain a new client due to poor IT work presents itself to my company. As I've mentioned in prior posts, its not that the average IT company is bad at what they do, it's simply that they are not specialized to the needs of your dental practice.
You can always tell when you arrive in an office that has had a typical IT company: computers are locked down like a fortress, Norton anti virus everywhere with no exclusions set, firewalls are on, every workstation has its own user on the domain, permissions on shared folders aren't set properly, it just blows my mind. Don't get me wrong, I can totally see where these IT companys are coming from, they're used to managing large corporate networks with 50-100 + users, multiple servers, etc. A dental practice just doesn't need the same treatmant that a 50+ user corporate environment needs.
Take for instance this recent x-ray sensor install I mentioned. Not only did they have a massive anti virus program like Norton on each machine, firewall on, multiple users, etc, but they ALSO shared out each workstation's My Documents folder and than mapped drive's on each workstation for every other workstation's shared My Documents folder and this is was their universally shared document protocol!
Instead of all of this shared My Documents mess they should have just put a single folder on the practice's file server, shared it out, and than changed the directory of each workstation's My Documents to simply point to this shared folder, clean and simple. This way every one is using the same folder, it minimizes confusion, maximizes production, AND gets backed up with each nights backup!
As for having different user names, (for each computer or even for each person in the practice), I feel that this is completely unnecessary. Some of you may disagree but here's my thought process. The only people that would need their own user name is the Office Manager and the Doctor/s. Clinical and non-clinical staff can just use a universal user name all across the board. This way will keep the Office Manager or Doctor/s user items safe and secure from prying eyes while providing a simple, hassle free way for the rest of the staff to log in every day.
I can go on for days but I think I'll leave my other items (Anti Virus, Exclusions, Firewall, etc) for another blog post! Keep yourself posted for when these blogs debut ;)
If this is how your dental practice's network is set up than feel free to contact me for a technology consultation!
by: Jake Scheiterlein Guardian Dental Insurance - Obtain The Real Truth Family Teeth Whitening Get That Hollywood Dazzle With Dental Veneers Dental Restoration For Your Teeth Teeth Whitening Pen Bad Eating Habits That Can Harm Your Teeth What Can Happen When You Don't Have Dental Insurance Good Dental Hygiene Can Prevent Some Types Of Heart Disease Perfect Smile Spa Give The Best Solutions For Teeth Straightening A Cosmetic Dentist In Nyc Can Tell You, What Makes Your Teeth Go Yellow? Part 2 All On 4 Implants: Revolutionary Teeth Replacement Protocol, Part 3 Teeth Hair Treatment Operation Are You One of The Thousands of People Who Grind Their Teeth at Night?