Pearl Website Echo - DBL Software Limited

What is Pearl Echo Employee Internet Management?
Pearl Echo is a software application that is installed on an organization's network to enhance productivity and protect and conserve Internet resources by allowing employers to monitor, filter and control their employees' Internet use in the workplace.

What type of Internet activity can a company manage?
Pearl Echo manages Web Browsing, file transfers, News Groups, Chat and E-mail. Pearl Echo also manages the content of Web-Chat, Web-Mail, Exchange E-mail and the most popular Instant Messaging products. Pearl Echo can also be set to monitor keywords and phrases to protect privacy and the dissemination of confidential information.

Why would a company want to monitor its employees' Internet use?
According to the Computer Crime and Security Survey conducted by the Computer Security Institute (CSI) and the FBI, seventy-eight percent of respondents detected employee abuse of Internet access privileges (for example, downloading pornography or pirated software or inappropriate use of e-mail systems). Pearl Echo offers employers a tool for encouraging responsible Internet use by employees during the workday.

Can you give me an example of how Pearl Echo might work with a company's Internet Acceptable Use Policy?
A company notices that many of its employees are shopping online during work hours and the CEO is concerned because the shopping occurs during hours when customers need assistance. As a solution, the company introduces an AUP specifying that employees can access the Internet for personal use between the hours of 12:00 to 1:30 PM, thereby minimizing employee misuse during peak business hours. Pearl Echo gives the CEO the "teeth" to enforce the company's Acceptable Use Policy.

Is it mandatory that a company institute an Internet Acceptable Use Policy when it installs Pearl Echo?
No, but it is strongly recommended that an AUP be developed and communicated to all employees when a company begins using Pearl Echo. Pearl Echo includes a copy of a generic Acceptable Use Policy that companies can adapt for their own use.

Can Pearl Echo help me monitor Internet activity of remote offices and field sales reps?
Yes, Pearl Echo allows you to manage all Internet activity from a central location, anywhere on the globe. Pearl Echo also allows you to set up access levels and control lists based on your existing network user and group names. Users can be on your network or remote at wireless hotspots, home office, etc.

Do users know Pearl Echo is running on the Network?
Each supervisor or administrator can customize Pearl Echo to display a message when a user tries to access a forbidden resource, and/or to warn the user periodically that Pearl Echo is running. This can be a simple warning message or a summary of an Acceptable Use Policy. By default, Pearl Echo is configured to run in stealth mode where warning messages do not appear.

Can I watch what a user is doing without blocking activity?
Yes. The philosophy behind the development of Pearl Echo is to promote responsible Internet usage by monitoring all Internet activity. Additionally, Pearl Echo provides the flexibility to configure access filtering and monitoring to meet desired objectives.

Does Pearl Echo need to be configured with a list of block sites before I can begin monitoring?
Pearl Echo does not require any blocked sites to be listed if you want to operate in monitoring mode or complete block mode.

Can I block all sites with the exception of an acceptable list I create?
Yes, many companies have found it useful to be able to specify a known list of web sites, mail groups, news groups, etc. that they would like their users to be able to access. In addition, any entry in a Profile's Allow List, will override all blocks set for the profile. This is useful for allowing access to sites, e-mails, etc. that may occasionally present "iffy" material but do so in a manner that does not violate your Internet Acceptable Use Policy.

Can I allow Internet access during certain times of the day?
Yes. Each Pearl Echo profile can be configured to allow access during hourly intervals for each day of the week. A number of privacy options are available in this configuration.

I do not want to violate my employees' privacy by reading the content of their e-mail correspondence. Is there a way for Pearl Echo to ignore the content of e-mail?
Yes. Pearl Echo can be configured to log Internet activity without actually restoring content of E-mail, News, Chat or Instant Messages. Pearl Echo can also be configured to exclude a specified list of Internet addresses from being logged. This is useful if you need to protect communications that may be considered privileged or protected as confidential.

The Pearl Echo log window has so much information. Is there a way to easily identify inappropriate activity?
Yes, Pearl Echo can be configured to compress the log file to show a single entry per web site visited. Pearl Echo can automatically identify attempts at accessing restricted sites by color. A quick sort on keywords, including words from a block list, can also be done very easily.

Can I get a graphical representation of Internet usage?
Yes. Pearl Echo contains over seventy five standard reports that can be customized for your use. Pearl Echo reports categorize surfing habits and provide insight into the amount of time, cost and bandwidth users spend on the Internet. The Report Manager allows you to run reports interactively or in "hands-off" mode where reports are scheduled to be automatically generated and distributed. The Pearl Echo Report Manager allows you to save reports in a wide variety of file formats for deeper analysis and interactive filtering and drill down. Reports can be published to any accessible directory including your organization's intranet so users can easily access reports through their web browser. In addition, the Pearl Echo Report Manager can distribute reports via e-mail using Pearl Echo's built-in email feature.

I have many employees who use a single machine. How do I know who is being logged?
Pearl Echo monitors access by user name, as well as, machine name. Pearl Echo will display the activity of the user name assigned during the Windows login in the Activity Log. You can also create different profiles for different users who have unique Pearl Echo security configurations.

Is Pearl Echo difficult to install and use?
The Pearl Echo installation is a self-guided process that takes very little time. Installation was designed with simplicity in mind. Pearl Echo has an intuitive Windows interface that is very easy to learn. Pearl Echo's online help, tutorials and user guides are extensive and easy to use.

How is Pearl Echo licensed?
Pearl Echo is licensed by the number of workstations on your network. Pearl Echo licenses may not be shared or used concurrently on different computers. In a Terminal Server environment, your Pearl Echo license count should mirror your Terminal Server license count.

What is the Pearl Echo return policy?
Pearl Software provides a fully functional, 250-user trial version of Pearl Echo as well as free technical support during the evaluation period. Technical support is also freely available for 30-days after the product is licensed. Once a Pearl Echo license is created, the product cannot be returned.

How does this investment affect my bottom line?
The cost of implementing Pearl Echo can be recouped in just a few days. A salaried employee earning $40,000 per year earns roughly $20.00 per hour. It's not hard to imagine each employee in your organization losing two or three hours on the Internet over the next year or two. How about over the next day or two? With the implementation of Pearl Echo, you will maximize responsible Internet usage as well as increase employee productivity - and that positively affects your bottom line!

Does Pearl Echo require a separate proxy server or firewall?
No. Pearl Echo runs as an independent service on your Windows NT, 2000, XP or 2003 platform. Pearl Echo will run with or without a separate proxy service or firewall and thus places no restrictions on your existing and growing network infrastructure.

How Does Pearl Echo differ from your desktop product?
Pearl Echo allows you to manage all Internet activity from a central location, anywhere on the globe. Managed users can be connected to your local area network, wide area network, or be completely detached from your private network. Pearl Echo also allows you to set up access levels and control lists based on your existing network user and group names.

Can Pearl Echo work in a Terminal Server/Citrix MetaFrame environment?
Yes. Pearl Echo enables organizations to set user-level monitoring and Internet access policies in MetaFrame, Presentation Server and Terminal Server environments. The software is fully functional and has been optimized for this resource-conscience environment.

Will Pearl Echo function in a Novell environment?
Yes. Pearl Echo automatically monitors Novell login names when installed in a Novell environment. Pearl Echo also monitors and controls GroupWise Email and GroupWise IM.

Can Pearl Echo be used with Network Address Translation (NAT)?
Yes. Pearl Echo's Mobility Monitor™ works with a Firewall or NAT device through a specified group of ports. The Pearl Echo workstation agents establish an initial connection with the Pearl Echo Server on a Control Port. Additional command and control communications occur on three supplemental IP ports. The Control Port Number and three additional IP ports need to be opened for direct pass-thru on your Firewall device to monitor and control users as they roam outside of your network.

Does Pearl Echo work with Microsoft Exchange Server?
Yes. Pearl Echo is designed to monitor any e-mail client using the POP3, SMTP or IMAP e-mail protocol. Pearl Echo can monitoring and control Exchange activity either at the workstation or at the Exchange server.

Does Pearl Echo require that I install software on every workstation?
A small agent must be installed on each workstation. This can be done with a no-touch automated installer provided with the product. In addition, all agent updates and upgrades are managed automatically at the Pearl Echo server.

How are Pearl Echo files secured?
Pearl Echo files are protected by your Operating System's security. In order to view or administer Pearl Echo settings, the user must have Administrator privileges and must have access permissions to the server.

How does Pearl Echo affect network performance?
Pearl Echo adds negligible overhead to your network traffic. Each Internet transaction performed by a workstation is authenticated at the workstation. Only compressed log data and control settings are sent over your private or public network (see Pearl Echo System Architecture).

How does Pearl Echo affect Internet performance?
Pearl Echo has evolved into an extremely efficient product. There is no noticeable performance degradation in Internet access rates. If Internet access times have increased, this is usually an indication of some deeper issue or conflict that can typically be resolved by Pearl Software's support staff.

Can Pearl Echo monitor two web browsers running on the same machine?
Yes. Pearl Echo will monitor all Web, Ftp, Pop-3/SMTP/IMAP E-mail, NNTP News, IRC Chat, and the most popular IM applications that load Microsoft's Winsock communication software. These applications can be running concurrently on the same machine.

Can users get to the Internet if the Pearl Echo Service is not available or an attempt has been made to subvert the workstation agent?
You can configure your managed workstations to have either low, medium or high tamper detection. Access to the Internet can be blocked if Pearl Echo components are not available.