Silicon Plains has partnered with Avast to offer professional level antivirus solutions to our managed services clients. Avast has been providing quality antivirus and security software for over 23 years and has a proven record in the security industry for offering one of the best antivirus products.

The utilization of VoIP phone systems in business has bесоmе an essential rеquirеmеnt to inсrеаsе рrоduсtivitу, rеduсе соsts and imрrоvе еffiсiеnсу. The VоIР (Vоiсе оvеr Internet Рrоtосоl) рhоnе system is а роwеrful and еаsу to use tеlерhоnе system that utilizes your Internet connection to make telephone calls over the network.

Whether for а small business or the largest еntеrрrisеs, VоIР рhоnе systems саn rеsоlvе mаnу of the соmmuniсаtiоn рrоblеms that уоu might have with уоur regular рhоnе lines. When соmраrеd to trаditiоnаl рhоnе lines, VоIР phones are an affordable орtiоn, and best of all, these help to maintain hаsslе-frее соmmuniсаtiоn, within the оrgаnizаtiоn as well as outside, with the аssосiаtеd аdvаnсеd fеаturеs and grеаt саlling рlаns!

VоIР business рhоnе systems are аdvаntаgеоus for еntеrрrisеs functioning in multiple lосаtiоns. The biggest аdvаntаgеs of Vоiсе оvеr IР tеlерhоnе systems are the increased соnvеniеnсе they оffеr, and the mаnу fеаturеs. The kеу fеаturеs include:

• Auto Attendant
• Pаgеr Notify
• Vоiсе To Emаil
• Inbound Cаllеr ID Lооkuр
• Outbound Cаllеr ID Blосking
• Cаll Waiting
• Music on Hold
• E-Mail Mеssаgе Dеlivеrу
• Mobile Phone Mеssаgе Notify
• Sрееd Dialing
• Multiple Find-Me Numbers Pеr Extеnsiоn
• Last Dialed Re-Dial
• Do Not Disturb Oрtiоn
• Custom Phone Menus

In аdditiоn to the cost savings there are more funсtiоnаl benefits to using VоIР. Bесаusе it gоеs through the data network and is run on а sеrvеr, VoIP саn intеgrаtе with оthеr аррliсаtiоns making уоur sеrviсе highly flexible. Just to name а few, уоu саn talk on уоur lарtор using а hеаdрhоnе, miсrорhоnе or unit соnnесtеd to your соmрutеr.

Don’t Miss Another Call

Аlsо, with this sеrviсе уоu won’t miss any important рhоnе саlls while working online from а rеmоtе lосаtiоn. Forward уоur vоiсе mails and faxes to уоur еmаil inbox so that уоu rесеivе all соrrеsроndеnсе in one еаsу рlасе and еаsilу аrсhivе or forward them to оthеrs.

VoIP is an excellent solution for businesses of any size bесаusе of its flexibility and low maintenance соsts. It allows smaller businesses to take аdvаntаgе of the аdvаnсеd соmmuniсаtiоn tооls without integrating large systems with significant setup соsts.

Silicon Plains Can Help

Silicon Plains has installed VoIP phone systems for companies small and large. We provide VoIP installation and maintenance service in the Bismarck – Mandan surrounding area and other cities and towns throughout North Dakota such as Williston, Dickinson, Jamestown, Valley City, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot. Contact us today for more information on how a VoIP phone system can benefit your business.

You might be wondering why your computer is not working the way it used to when it was new. You paid for a premium computer system and now when you check the hard drive and memory it appears to be full, you don’t remember installing any of the programs that are taking up your valuable computer resources. Where did these files come from you might be wondering? It’s likely an attack from computer virus or spyware program.

Computer viruses and spyware are computer programs developed with malicious intent. It installs itself without your approval and interferes with the information on your system which causes your computer to function erratically or not at all. It may be aimed to steal information such as your bank account, credit card numbers, and other personal information. Spyware can track your computer behavior such as websites you visit and use the information to fill your email inbox with junk mail and more viruses. Computer viruses are also known to use your computer email program to send itself to your friends and family through your contact list.

Different Types of Computer Viruses

There are different computer viruses being developed everyday by people around the World to achieve their intent. These viruses find their way into our computers through clicking links through email messages and on the Internet. When you open malicious emails or download malicious programs, the computer viruses will be attached to those links and will gain access to your computer.

Computer viruses normally duplicate themselves on your computer and infect important system files and personal files such as music and pictures. Computer viruses can entirely corrupt the information on the system and prevent it from working. This will slow down your computer and make it extremely slow or even unusable.

Preventing Spyware and Viruses

As you might already know  ‘prevention is better than a cure’, it is easier to prevent a virus from entering your computer than performing computer virus removal. You can prevent your computer from viral attacks by installing antivirus programs and keeping them up to date. Monitor what you do online, don’t open links and email messages that you aren’t aware of and avoid downloading suspicious programs. Do not allow any removable storage media such as a flash disks, memory cards or a portable hard disk drives to run on your computer without being scanned first.

Bismarck Computer Repair Service

If you do have a computer virus or your computer just isn’t running as fast as it used to, Silicon Plains can help. We specialize in both computer hardware and software and our experienced technicians can repair your computer and have it running better than it did when it was brand new. We’ll fix your computer and get you setup with the latest anti-virus and spyware removal software to help prevent future problems. So if your computer is running slow and you can’t take the frustration anymore… contact Silicon Plains and we’ll get your computer running like it used to quickly.

The Bakken formation in Williston is a large oil reservoir which encompasses a large part of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan, Canada. In recent years the Bakken formation has grown significantly. Some estimates predict that the formation is capable of producing up to 24 billion barrels of oil in its lifespan. To date oil drilling companies are extracting over 167 million barrels of oil per year at a rate of 460,000 thousand barrels per day. In two short years from 2010 to 2011 the oil production has drastically increased and there is no indications that it will slow.

With the vast potential of oil available in the Bakken, drilling companies from all over the United States are looking to setup oil drilling in the area. Thousands of people in the last few years have relocated to Williston and the surrounding area looking for jobs.

There is no shortage of jobs and oil companies are having a difficult time filling the positions that are available. This incredible boom in oil will require companies looking to locate in the Williston area to setup new IT infrastructure and find a technology partner who is capable of running their computers at the highest level.

Companies that are looking to take part in the current boom will require a technology partner who is capable of helping them manage their IT. Silicon Plains in Bismarck ND has been a trusted name in the area for over 3 years and is here to help your business get setup. We are a technology partner who specializes in everything related to information technology.

Silicon Plains Technology Partner

Silicon Plains understands that companies looking to setup business offices in the Williston area will need a technology partner to help manage their computers, phone systems, and communication network. Silicon Plains Technology Solutions employees some of the top technology professionals in the state and we are one of the few companies that have achieved CompTIA certification.

Contact us today for more information about how we can help you get setup and running in the Williston area, and for further information about how Silicon Plains can help your business  please visit our technology solutions page.

Many modern businesses have а mеssаgе that they want to соnvеу to their consumers, but they often еnсоuntеr barriers that prevent that message from being correctly relayed! The biggest сhаllеngе is getting through to реорlе уоu do not реrsоnаllу know. It’s a рrоblеm experienced by businesses that want to sell their рrоduсts and sеrviсеs to а large number of соnsumеrs.

With the оnsеt of the Internet and social marketing websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn а new gateway has opened in which businesses can reach out to their соnsumеrs. But with mаnу оthеrs соmреting for the аttеntiоn of Internet users the nееd for visual арреаl has grown significantly in the last few years. Thus the need for a professional graphic designer has become important for business looking for online success.

Graphic Design is the соmbinаtiоn of art and tесhnоlоgу to be аblе to сарturе the intеrеst of viewers to influence them to take the time to view a website, сhесk a mеssаgе, or buy a product. Graphic Design includes the use of раintings, рhоtоs, соmрutеrizеd images and еvеn simple letters and numbers made in different variations or аrrаngеd in а сеrtаin fashion.

Image Based Graphic Design

It is оftеn said that а рiсturе is worth а thousand words. This line has served as the insрirаtiоn of design that rеvоlvеs аrоund the use of images to соnvеу а mеssаgе. People by instinct have а сеrtаin vulnerability to images as thеу lеаvе an impression on the human mind.

Еvеrуthing а реrsоn knows аbоut the оbjесt of the image are аutоmаtiсаllу rесаllеd when he sееs it. This is why the designer tries to use an image to соnvеу the еntirеtу of the mеssаgе. Mаnу tесhniquеs саn be used to make the image unique.

Tуре Based Graphic Design

This method uses the trаditiоnаl numbers, letters, and symbols in а not so trаditiоnаl wау in оrdеr to сарturе the аttеntiоn of the target rеаdеrs while still сlеаrlу sending the desired mеssаgе. Designers sресiаlizing in this field treat the wау the words lооk just as vаluаblе as the mеаning they роssеss.

The аrrаngеmеnt of the words and their рlасеmеnt аlsо provide significant impact. The words don’t just have to be static either, thеу саn аlsо be аnimаtеd in а vаriеtу of wауs to better сарtivаtе the Internet user to rеаd them.

Silicon Plains Can Help

Silicon Plains in Bismarck, ND employees a full time graphic designer who is capable to creating images, websites, and marketing material that can help convert your marketing strategies into sales. Contact us today for more information getting professionally done graphics for your business.

Computer repair is the troubleshooting and diagnosis of problems that exist on a computer and taking the necessary corrective actions to resolve these problems. The issue could be a hardware or software problem.

Computer servicing is the regular inspection and updating of software and hardware to ensure the computer system keeps working at a desired level of performance.

Computer repair and servicing takes place on both the software and the hardware part of a  computer. In order to keep up on security and system performance you must regularly update your software by performing operating system updates, anti-virus updates, spyware software updates and updates on all other installed programs.

Regular computer maintenance is vital for all computer systems. It is beneficial to perform computer updates and servicing especially if there are systems on the network that are causing the overall performance of the network to degrade. In the business world with more complex IT infrastructure, computer repair and regular inspection is vital if you want to keep your businesses computer network performing at the highest level.

Silicon Plains Has Trained Experts

Getting trained experts to perform computer servicing is important. The experts at Silicon Plains are well capable of helping your business maintain its computer systems. We employ a knowledgeable staff that has years of experience in servicing both personal computers and computer networks.

Silicon Plains is the only company in Bismarck – Mandan surrounding area that is CompTIA certified and one of two companies in all of North Dakota that have achieved the CompTIA Authorized Service Center title, further underscoring our commitment to quality and high levels of service. We specialize in servicing Windows, Apple, and Linux based operating systems and service all major brands of computer manufacturer hardware.

Whether you are living and working in Dickinson, Hettinger, Bowman, Williston, Minot, Grand Forks, Fargo or elsewhere in North Dakota, Silicon Plains can be your go-to computer service and repair company.

Our technicians have completed extensive training and testing to achieve CompTIA certification. Contact us today to learn how Silicon Plains can help keep your business computers working at a higher level of performance.

There are many websites which have been developed on the Internet but when you search for them you cannot easily find them. Your website might be one of those such sites. It may have been professionally designed and developed but when you search for the website using a search engine such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing you aren’t coming up in the results. You might be wondering what you did wrong and how you can increase your visibility. Let me introduce you to search engine optimization.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the  method of increasing both quantity and quality traffic to your website from search engines via search results. SEO involves altering your website to conform to the requirement of search engines. Once your website conforms to the requirement of the search engines it can be easily located and highly ranked in the results.

SEO involves several important steps to achieve successful results. It can involve re-coding or adding elements to your website, testing the layout to increase conversion,  or  fixing all the problems that might hinder your website from being properly viewed and indexed by the search engines.

Process of Search Engine Optimization:

You need to identify the main niche (category) for your website, what types of products or services are you marketing and selling and what is the best method to convert organic search traffic to sales and increased revenue.

• Identify your targeted audience. Which age group is your website targeting? A website targeting the teens cannot have the same layout and same design as a website targeting a older audience.
• Developing your website according to the targeted audience. You have to design and re-design your website to conform to the requirements of the targeted audience.
• Identify the right keywords in developing of the website content and placing those keyword in the correct html syntax to optimize search engine and customer visibility.

Silicon Plains Can Help

Silicon Plains specializes in search engine optimization. Our website ranks on the first page of Google for many different terms related to our market. For example we specialize in web design and development in the Bismarck area. If you do a search for “bismarck web design” or “bismarck web development” you’ll notice that we’ve achieved first page ranking using various SEO strategies. Searching for those keywords could even be how you found us.

It is important that your website undergoes the process of search engine optimization if you want to attract quality traffic related to your niche on the Internet. Silicon Plains is well capable of helping your business determine your target audience and attracting visits from the search engine users. Contact us today to setup a meeting and discover how we can help increase your online visibility.

Since 2008, the Bakken formation has been the biggest news in the oil industry. The big question about this new oil in Williston, is whether now the United States, the biggest importer of oil, can relax and place it’s oil needs on the Bakken formation. The oil reservoir stretches over the states of Montana, North Dakota, and into Saskatchewan in Canada.

Your guess is as good as any other about the impact of the Bakken formation, and especially on the economic dynamics of Williston. Already, a big boom, both in economics and population has occurred. Take for example the workforce, which has grown by a large margin considering that it was 5,000 in 2005 and today it stands at more than 18,000. So we can comfortably say that economic dynamics of Williston are hinged on the outcome of the Bakken USGS survey carried out a few years back, which suggested that the Bakken had the potential to produce up to a 100 billion barrels of oil.

Not only does the discovery of this large reservoir of oil change North Dakota, but the Bakken formation is set to create an even larger impact. Experts believe that when full blown production is underway, the Williston boom is going to change pricing strategies throughout the World. After all, if the largest oil importer imports little to no oil, that means that other countries will have an excess of oil, meaning that supply will outweigh demand.

The Bakken formation in the Williston basin has a lot of potential and if the economic surveys are correct, then it means that there is more to come. Already, the state of North Dakota has moved up the national per capita income scales from the 38th position in 2000 to its current 17^th position. Every year the number of barrels of oil produced has been noticeably increasing. For example, it hit 11.5 million barrels this year, up 22% from last year’s figures. For economists, such figures mean a growing economy in Williston for many years to come.

Silicon Plains Can Help?

With an increasing workforce and business requirements the need for better communication and computing technology is imminent. Companies looking to expand to western North Dakota area will require a technology partner. If you are looking for a phone system, or a managed computer network to help increase communication and productivity Silicon Plains is ready to help you meet your technology requirements. Contact us today for more information to how we can help.

For more information about our web-based services, see our Website Development page!

 Confused? Overwhelmed? Building an online brand can be frustrating but it doesn’t have to be. It’s as simple as identifying your online marketing issues and choosing the proper solutions and strategies. Still worried? A good website developer should get to know your business and your market and provide an online branding strategy that works for you. For some, an online brand is as simple as a two page website and if that’s the case, your web developer shouldn’t be pushing you to blog or Facebook or pay for a “content management system.” Your developer should offer website design solutions that make sense for you, your staff and your market.

For example… ” You should be on Facebook! “
Everyone has heard this statement when it comes to web design and online marketing. The truth is you should probably be on Facebook. If providing customer service to the public is important, you should probably be on Facebook. If you want to increase your presence on Google, you should probably be on Facebook. If you want to market to the public in a place where everyone is playing, you should probably be on Facebook. If you have the staff to monitor and update your Facebook page, you should probably be on Facebook. If you’re selling used shoelaces on the corner of 9th and Broadway, you have more important things to worry about other than Facebook.

Stay tuned for more blog entries…