Tag Archives: internet usage management

Wavecrest Computing: Fourteen Years of Internet Monitoring and Filtering

Wavecrest Computing, a leading developer of Internet usage management products, has now been in business for fourteen years. Since 1996, from their base in Melbourne, Florida, Wavecrest Computing has developed, marketed and supported a spectrum of innovative Internet monitoring and reporting solutions. Their products help all types of organizations manage employees’ online activities and ensure compliance with acceptable use policies. Starting fourteen years ago with a single customer, their client base has grown to more than 3,000 organizations, many of them Fortune 500 companies and high profile government agencies.

What makes Wavecrest stand out from competitors is their on-going commitment to customer service. When customers call, they talk to a real person from Wavecrest’s Melbourne, Florida location, and they get personalized attention. Their support personnel know that customer satisfaction is key to the company’s (and their own) success. For years these dedicated men and women have listened to Wavecrest customers and made sure that Wavecrest consistently delivers the products and services needed to meet the many dynamic challenges associated with use of the Internet in the workplace.

Those challenges have certainly evolved over the years. Examples include the very real and seriously increasing risks of social networking, video streaming and other Web 2.0 technologies that produce productivity losses, bandwidth drains, legal liability, and network security threats in the workplace.

As the Internet grows and the challenges escalate, Wavecrest has kept pace every step of the way.

Taking a look at Wavecrest’s product history, they started with a basic software application called ProxyReporter. It read and analyzed employers’ outbound Web logs. From that data, it then produced reports that helped management and IT monitor employees’ use of Web access.

As the Internet became more sophisticated, Wavecrest went on to develop a series of increasingly robust Web-use monitoring and filtering products designed to suit a variety of customers and network infrastructures. Their monitoring products now include Cyfin Reporter–a highly sophisticated and scalable logfile analyzer/reporter–and Cyfin Proxy, a standalone Web proxy/monitor/reporter. Their combination filtering/reporting products include CyBlock for ISA/TMG–a combination filter/reporter system for use with Microsoft ISA and TMG products–and CyBlock Proxy, a standalone proxy/filter/reporting solution.

Wavecrest’s latest innovation is CyBlock Appliance, a hardware based Internet-usage management device. Designed to monitor and help control use of all Internet protocols, CyBlock Appliance is a standalone proxy, monitor, filter and reporter.

Through the years, Wavecrest products have been well received and proven to be highly reliable and cost-effective. They are all backed with a 90-day money-back guarantee. Wavecrest frequently incorporates new features to keep up with the ever-changing Internet and marketplace demands. Dennis McCabe, VP of Business Development, states, “Our main goals at Wavecrest are to provide outstanding customer service and a reliable and robust product that stands above the competition.”

About Wavecrest
Founded in 1996, Wavecrest Computing is a recognized B2B leader in policy-based Web-use management solutions. The company’s products are relied on by IT personnel, HR professionals and business managers around the world to proactively address issues of Internet abuse, legal liability, security threats, workforce productivity and misuse of bandwidth. Wavecrest has been profitable since 1997, and sales have increased steadily since then. Among their more than 3,000 clients are Procter & Gamble, British Telecom, US Department of State, Edward Jones, IBM, IKEA, MillerCoors, Siemens, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and a growing list of global enterprises and government agencies.

March Madness, Again

It’s baaaacccccckkkkkk! Happens every year. March Madness, that is. Everybody loves it. (Well, almost everybody.)

The excitement! The fun! The astounding fast breaks, slam dunks and three-pointers! And oh yes, watching it all unfold on your office computer.

Who could not like it? Well, for openers, the overworked folks who have to worry about workforce productivity, bandwidth costs, security issues and legal risks.

Here’s just one of many worrisome predictions, “FIRST WEEK OF TOURNEY COULD COST $1.8 BILLION.” It comes from the Challenger March Madness Report. The report also states, “The men’s college basketball tournament, better known as March Madness, marks the arrival of several other annual rituals: employee-organized office pools, a potential dip in productivity and a marked decline in Internet speed, as workers soak up bandwidth watching live streaming broadcasts of the tournament games during office hours.”

Not exactly good news for businesses and government agencies during this time of troublesome economic conditions and serious budget worries.

Maybe it’s time to revisit your AUP and rebrief your workers on the negative impact their fun could have on the organization and ultimately on their own job security. And if your organization doesn’t already have a robust Internet usage management solution in place, it may just be time to look into it seriously.

Wavecrest’s Control List includes CBSSports.com and NCAA.com under the Sports category, and for those using Cyfin, access to these sites will be monitored under Sports. If you want to only block and/or monitor the live video, you can create a custom category to block and/or monitor www.ncaasports.com/mmod/player.