At the end of the day, you probably lock up valuable tools and other resources at your auto repair shop to protect against damages and theft.
Do you provide the same care for the computers at your repair shop? The computers at your auto repair shop are a vital part of your business operations. The repair shop software on your computers allows you to streamline business operations.
If you don’t protect your auto repair shop computers, you’re leaving your computers open to the threat of:
- Computer Viruses
- Hackers
- Malware
- And Other Harmful Threats
If you want to protect your auto repair shop computer, you should take the following steps.
1. Implement A Repair Shop Computer Policy – Having a computer policy for your repair shop is very important. The policy should spell out how computers are to be used at all times. Specific rules should include:
- No unauthorized downloads of any kind on shop computers.
- Computers are for work use only.
- Employees are banned from social media sites such as Facebook.
- No employees are allowed to play games on any shop computers.
The last two points will help to significantly improve productivity at your auto repair shop.
2. Install Virus Protection Software – Virus protection software for your auto repair shop computer is a necessity. This type of software will help to identify any computer virus that may be lurking on your computer. Popular brands of software include:
Before purchasing any anti-virus software, be sure to read reviews. This will help you determine the best software for you computers. PC Magazine and CNET both provide reliable reviews on virus protection software.
3. Monitor Computer Use – Even if you implement a computer policy at your repair shop, you may want to consider monitoring computer use. This will help ensure that your employees aren’t doing anything detrimental to the computers.
Computer monitoring will also help to ensure that your employees are not wasting time on the job. There are plenty of options available for you to choose online. Be sure to check the different features to see what is a fit for your repair shop.
4. Restrict Access – If you don’t want to get monitoring software, you should consider restricting access to various websites. This will help prevent employees from downloading potential viruses onto your computer.
Limit your employees to only websites that are necessary for work. This will help protect against employees abusing computer privileges and protecting against viruses.
5. Update Virus Software – Maybe, you already have virus protection on your repair shop computer. If this is the case, make sure that you regularly update it. Updating your virus protection software ensures that your software can protect your computer against the latest viruses on the internet.
Following these five tips will help to better protect your computers at your auto repair shop. You’ll also improve your productivity because employees will not abuse their computer privileges.
If you’re looking for more innovative ways to boost productivity at your auto repair shop, read the FastTrak Blog. We’ve got tons of tips that will help boost productivity, so you can spend less time at your shop, while making more money.
For the ultimate boost in auto repair shop productivity, visit the FastTrak Auto Shop Management Systems website and sign up for a demo of our repair shop software.
You can sign up for a demo here.
