Dear MSP, Your customers are breaking the law and it is your fault! Now that I have your attention I would like to discuss a fairly serious topic: text messaging. Why? With recent, stricter, regulations being placed on the healthcare, finance, legal, federal, state and local government industries, MSPs need to be aware that their customers are subject to laws requiring clear documentation and preservation of text communication. Many of your customers depend on the speed and convenience of “texting” to share business-critical information on a daily basis. This form of communication has been woven so deeply into the fabric of business it is hard to imagine how we were successful without it. When conversing with service providers about their secure text messaging strategy many times the conversation leads to technical discussions about encryption, security and managing devices.

 

The Problem:
Encryption, security and device management are easy problems to solve and most MSPs have solutions in place to address them. These solutions, while moving in the right direction, are not enough to encompass the entire compliance conundrum that all of us are facing, and failure to comply with industry regulations will cost your customers dearly. The following healthcare organizations paid significant fines to the Office for Civil Rights by overlooking HIPAA breaches that could have been avoided and addressed:
  • Advocate Health Care (Downers Grove, IL.): $5.55 million.
  • New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University (New York City, NY): $4.8 million.
  • University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS): $2.75 million.
  • Oregon Health & Science University (Portland, OR): $2.7 million.

Although HIPAA has put healthcare organizations in the spotlight for quite some time, other sectors are being hit just as hard with costly fines. FINRA continues to issue substantial penalties to companies that do not comply with FINRA Supervision Rule 3110 and SEC Rule 17a-4. If your customers are not archiving ALL electronic communications, including text messages, they are putting their organization at risk of breach, ransomware, and fines that will cripple financial performance, tarnish their brand and possibly put them out of business. The question is – how can your customers text securely and stay compliant?

The Solution:

Fortunately, there are solutions available that provide secure, confidential and compliant texting for the enterprise. By offering customers a Secure Text Messaging service, MSPs add additional MRR per user, reducing the risk for their clients and ensuring compliance, all while delivering the convenience and speed that workers require to get their jobs done. Capitalize on this opportunity and be the trusted advisor your customers have come to expect from you. Help advise your customers on how to safely leverage text in a compliant manner, lower costs and improve efficiency. Once again, you can be the hero! To find out more about how secure compliant messaging can benefit your customers, contact us or schedule a demo to see Vaporstream in action.

Contributor- Vaporstream Team