Productivity Archives | Page 2 of 3

Microsoft Teams icon shown on phone screen

How Does Microsoft Teams Work?

TheCompuLab Aug 27, 2020

As remote work continues as the current business norm, Microsoft Teams has become one of the most-used business tools in recent months. It had over 75 million daily users in April 2020, and it has likely gained even more in the months since.

Microsoft Teams is a collaboration app that helps professional teams stay organized and communicate remotely. It includes channels that can be used for on-the-spot meetings, to share files, and numerous other processes. If you haven’t started using it yet, here are some basics to know.

To Zoom or not to Zoom?

TheCompuLab Aug 6, 2020

With COVID-19, videoconferencing has become a daily routine for most businesses. Anyone who has had to work from home lately understands and appreciates the importance of communication through videoconferencing with their clients or teams, some companies even take it a step further to host social gatherings. After this pandemic, video conferencing has become a way of life for most businesses. Zoom is easy to set up, easy to operate, and provides free access to up to 100 users at a time. But there are several downsides regarding its security. The ease of use of Zoom makes “bomb” an opening in Zoom conferences, easy for troublemakers. Information-security experts say that the protection of Zoom has had several security holes.

Improve Your Business With Office 365 Forms

TheCompuLab Aug 11, 2017

Forms are a very common business practice for many organization, both SMBs and Enterprises. Forms can facilitate collecting data, save time, reduce mistakes and helps in creating a systematic recording of information. The problem is that they are not easy to create and once the data is collected, it is not easy to analyze.

Office 365 Forms is an easy-to-use tool that helps businesses create surveys, quizzes and polls and see results as they become available.

You can create forms in minutes, send and collect data and use their built-in analytics to evaluate responses. Forms can be private (only internal users with an Office 365 account) or public. Once the form is crated, it can be embedded in your website or simply sent in an email with a link; it even gives you the option to generate a QR code. Forms are also mobile friendly, so they can be filled out from mobile devices as well.

Office 365 Forms also gives you the option to collaborate and share this form with colleagues so that they can also make changes to the forms or use them as templates.

What is your current I.T. provider doing to make your business better?

Talk to us today and see what we can do for you!

Why Hybrid Clouds are More Than Just Another Trend

TheCompuLab Jun 9, 2017

Why Hybrid Clouds are More Than Just Another Trend

It should come as no surprise that many small to midsize business owners take pride in overseeing every aspect of their startup business. Naturally, many are apprehensive when it comes to surrendering control of their servers, their data, and their applications.

The downside of this need for control is that operating and maintaining everything onsite can be time consuming, super expensive, and it can make your business more vulnerable to failure related downtime and cyber threats.

Although everything can be stored in the cloud at a fraction of the cost, many aren’t responsive to the idea of sharing the infrastructure their technology runs on.

The great thing about the cloud is it’s not an all or nothing thing. This is exactly why so many small to midsize businesses have turned to hybrid cloud solutions. Just as they name implies, hybrid cloud solutions are both on and off premises. It’s the best of both worlds. An entrepreneur can still control certain aspects of the business on-site, but simultaneously exploit the cloud’s cost effectiveness and overall scalability.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Mobility and BYOD

TheCompuLab May 19, 2017

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Mobility and BYOD

There are a lot of advantages to mobility in today’s workforce, but the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) movement has also brought its share of headaches as well.

We live in a society where everyone must have the newest technology. We are inundated with ads reminding us that the smartphone or tablet we just bought a year ago is laughably outdated and inferior to the upgrade that just hit the market.

3 Things to Consider Before Jumping Into BYOD

TheCompuLab May 5, 2017

7 Must Haves for Your Small Business Website

3 Things to Consider Before Jumping Into BYOD

You’ve read it time and time again. “Bring Your Own Device” isn’t a trend, it’s the future. Workplaces where companies let workers use their own devices for work purposes are the new normal. BYOD attracts new hires and lifts employee morale and productivity. But this doesn’t mean a small business owner should recklessly jump right into BYOD just because everyone else is doing it. Data and network security concerns have to be thought out, defined, and addressed in a comprehensive BYOD policy. Here are three things to consider.

A Smarter Approach to Mobile Device Management

TheCompuLab Apr 28, 2017

More people today use personal mobile devices like smartphones and tablets for business purposes. Such devices, coupled with greater Wi-Fi accessibility and cloud services, have empowered us with the ability to access data and do business from practically anywhere at anytime.

Needless to say, many small-to-medium sized business owners have embraced the BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) revolution. The benefits are obvious; increased employee productivity, enhanced services to customers/clients, and better overall customer and employee satisfaction.

But what about the potential consequences associated with this mobility revolution? Are small business owners doing enough preemptive planning to address potential risks that could arise with the use of BYOD devices?

4 Essential Pieces to Any Small Business BYOD Strategy

TheCompuLab Apr 21, 2017

4 Essential Pieces of Any Small Business BYOD Strategy

Believe it or not, once upon a time, kids at the bus stop didn’t have cell phones and the mobile device strategy of many businesses was typically “you’ll take what you’re given, refrain from using it for any personal use, and the data may be scrubbed clean whenever we please.”

We’ve come a long way. Today, businesses really have no choice but to let employees use personal devices for work purposes. Blurred lines now make it difficult to differentiate between what is professional and what is personal. A company or organization may partially pay for an employee’s tablet computer or smartphone, but that same device is used to upload photos to Facebook or download torrents of this season of Game of Thrones.

Naturally, security and privacy issues are a concern since these devices sync to the company network. Larger corporations may be able to hire IT support or produce sophisticated BYOD guidelines for employees to adhere to, but smaller businesses have limited resources.

Keep Your IT Guy and Outsource IT Services, Too

TheCompuLab Apr 14, 2017

Everyone in the office loves Eric. Sporting a different ironic t-shirt everyday, Eric is the one we call when technology spits in our face. Whether it’s a slow system, a bug that needs to be squashed, a website issue, or a crash that results in unexpected downtime and data loss, Eric is right there. Not only does he get to the bottom of any issue but he also rights the ship like he’s some sort of miracle-working captain who just happens to have a pretty wickedly funny Peter Griffinfrom Family Guy impersonation.

But business is growing and Eric is overworked. Eric has certain skills that you’d love to use to develop innovative applications and revenue-generating projects– but he’s too busy running around fixing things that break. Or he’s performing the most mundane and routine tasks day-in-and-day-out just to keep things secure and running smoothly.

The Benefits of a Managed Service Provider

TheCompuLab Jan 13, 2017

Managed Service Providers – or MSPs – are often recommended as a cost effective IT solution for small businesses. For a minimal monthly fee, MSPs provide a reasonably priced solution to the complex technology pains of small businesses. Here’s a look at the various benefits an MSP can offer your business…

Freed-Up Resources and a Renewed Emphasis on Core Business – Both business owners and internal IT staff would much rather focus on revenue enhancing tasks like product development or the creation of cutting-edge applications/services. This is one reason routine monitoring and maintenance tasks are often neglected by an internal IT person or team, which always proves to be detrimental much later.