Group account or Corporate Server: what to choose for the team?

Hundreds of millions of people all over the planet use messengers daily. We are all used to the convenience of conversations when any acquaintance is at the fingertips and any kind of data, be it a document or just a landscape photo, can be shared immediately, even if the data recipient is in thousands of kilometers away. As messengers became a widespread technology, enterprises got an advantage from them when they needed to coordinate a small group of people and exchange data. Still the opportunity to exchange texts and pictures is unable to cover all the communication needs of companies. Maintaining a project often requires tools that are provided by several independent services.

There is one more concern — security. Employees use personal devices to access enterprise data. When conversations go beyond the boundaries of corporate data exchange — the company no longer controls the routes of the data. This risk is considered inevitable, as employees should be always connected to stay effective. When we speak about data security, compromises won’t make business safer. Encrypted communication with additional tools for data exchange and storage may be a solution. VIPole allows to control the data on all connected devices at all stages of storage and transmission. In this post, we will showcase the opportunities of VIPole solutions for teams and enterprises that can become a part of your daily private and business interactions.

VIPole group chats, conferences and task management enable businesses to achieve more and protect sensitive data from intruders. With target-oriented interconnection both within the company and with the vendors and business partners all the communications of the company can be categorized into different flows. Exchange messages and files, make audio and video calls, arrange conferences and hold meetings, send large files in the middle of the conversation or call and get notifications when the file transfer is complete — it is all in one app.

Corporate communications made better

VIPole was built with the objectives of teams in mind and it accumulated various tools that people use for business coordination, making them faster, quicker and handier. VIPole is perfect for companies, both for small teams and for big business with complex structure. It provides space for cloud storage and file exchange. The single app is able to replace e-mail and traditional telecommunications. Give your employees an opportunity to connect quickly and collaborate easily.

VIPole makes interaction in teams easy and productive. Every user can create the unlimited amount of chats, exchange files and hold conferences. VIPole for Teams offers centralized configuration management, where data, security and team members are controlled. The Corporate Server is an independent platform that comprises all means of communications of the company. It’s like the heart in the blood circulatory system.

When every company member is able to join the conversation anytime and the messages stay encrypted, the whole business functions 24/7 and stays safe. VIPole can be run simultaneously on Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Android — stay connected in the way that you prefer. The iOS version is in beta testing and will soon be available for users.

VIPole offers two solutions for teams and companies:

• VIPole Security for Teams — a group account best suitable for companies that do not want to make additional investments in server infrastructure.
• VIPole Corporate Server — a standalone solution that is installed on independent servers for companies that prefer to control all the processes of data storage and transmission in-house.

The core difference between Security for Teams and Corporate Server is that in the first case, the data is stored on the servers of VIPole, and in the second case, the data never leaves the company. There are two editions of VIPole Corporate Server depending on the size of the company: the standalone and cluster corporate server.

Group account and when it’s advantageous

VIPole Security for teams on the base of a group Business account provides perimeter security for the communications of the company. This VIPole solution is designed for managing the team and the security of the data that the people are working with. The activity of account members is completely under the control of the Business account owner, no matter where they are located and whichever devices they use to connect.

When you purchase VIPole Security for teams, a Business account of the group is created on the VIPole server. The owner of the Business account manages centralized security settings of the team from the built-in extension that requires administrative password for access. Business account provides a dashboard with a comprehensive list of tools for team management. Your data is stored encrypted on VIPole server, with constant data backup. The administrator extension allows to monitor and manage the connections of the members, their contacts and their access to documents.

The built-in administrator extension has multiple features for team management where the security is a priority. The owner of the Business account manages the users and their contacts as well as data flows and access to files.

Security settigs:

• Configure the security settings including auto log out and IP-masking for all account members. There’s always someone who is just too busy to log out — make security the only option available.
• Manage users’ contact lists — restrict the list of their acquaintances to the business needs.
• Assign or generate passwords and encryption keys, there’s a tool in VIPole that generates strong passwords.
• Assign secret phrases to members to have full control over everything they do.
• Emergency tools include member block button and history clearing.
• Block data access if you recognize unauthorized access or in case the devices are lost or stolen.
• Data protection tools include blocking auto login, blocking file downloads and setting fixed contact lists for team members.
• Online mode — let the group members open VIPole only after authorization on the server.

Managing the users

• Add users — your team may grow and VIPole will welcome all the newcomers. It is also easy to remove people from the account or change their profile information.
• Connection log — check, who, when and from what location is connected to the VIPole server. Any unusual activity can be easily detected. The account owner may temporarily block or even disconnect members from the server.
• View the list of online users.
• Appoint several administrators for better user management.
• Manage all groups within the built-in administrative panel — the account owner is the boss everywhere.
• All the payments are centralized and the admin is responsible for every member of the team.

No more Outlook problems with reply all: you always address the people who are in the chat related to the concrete topic, and you may highlight specific people in the chat when you want them to pay extra attention to the message.

The opportunities that you get with the Corporate Server

If you don’t want your data to ever leave your company, you may install your own independent VIPole server and our team will help your IT department with deploying and configuring it. It is installed once and forever on your server and can be upgraded with additional modules and extensions in accordance with your requirements. This is another core difference from the group Business account: you do not need to pay for the subscription regularly; you make a single payment and get the permanent service.

After VIPole Corporate Server is installed, all conversations and files of the users will be transferred and stored within your company and you will have the complete control over the users and the data flows. Integrate VIPole Corporate Server with your enterprise information system for effective data management. When your company grows, new users are added easily to enable the new employees to join the conversation smoothly.

Customize the solution with additional server modules:

• SIP module to enable VoIP telephony.
• An additional Media Relay Server.
• Web module for self-registration of the users.

Every company gets individual approach in VIPole with the communication solution offered exactly to meet the needs of the concrete team. There are two VIPole Corporate Server versions, and each of them is modifiable for your objectives. Both solutions support Windows Server and Linux Debian.

• Standalone Corporate Server is best when there are less then 150 people in your team and requires a single server for installation. All the features of VIPole for teams are in. When your business grows, your VIPole server may be upgraded to the Cluster Server that is more failure-resistant.
• Cluster Corporate Server is designed for a cluster of servers with the minimum of 3 units, and the maximum is limited only by your requirements. The servers can be added or replaced anytime while the system continues working.

The Cluster Corporate server provides higher fault tolerance — if one server fails, the data is not lost and the performance of the whole system remains stable. The choice of power that will run the communication system of your business is up to you. Any solution you choose can be customized anytime.

Note, that VIPole offers discounts depending on the number of user licenses and the price is individual.

Choose the highest level of business security

Secure application with all communication opportunities on one platform is the future of workplace communication. Everyone is the participant of business conversations everywhere and on any device. Data flows and the activity of the users are controllable on different levels.

Here are the solutions that make business productive with less safety risks:

• VIPole Security for Teams is ideal for small businesses that entrust their data to VIPole to be stored and transmitted encrypted.
• The Corporate Server is for the companies with a branched structure that purchase the system once and get the opportunity to upgrade and custom it.

It’s time to reconsider data protection standards in business. Secure messaging encompasses the tools that connect the team and enable it to collaborate in a fast, safe and effective way. The server solutions of VIPole enable your business to stay independent from the providers of communication apps and make your data unreachable for all possible third parties.

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A pleasant bonus for the readers of our blog — get your free trial of VIPole solutions for teams before actually paying for them! Just name the promo code “PRIVACY” and get for free:

• A month of trial for the Business account.
• 2 weeks of trial for the Corporate Server.

VIPole offers end-to-end encrypted messaging and collaboration solutions for teams and enterprises dealing with commercially or personally sensitive information, and individuals wishing to protect themselves from hackers, identity thieves and malware. More at www.vipole.com