Tag: productivity

Top 4 benefits of web monitoring

Although the occasional three-minute YouTube video never hurts anyone, wasting hours of your working day on these websites reduces productivity. When it comes to increasing employee productivity, keeping a close eye on their internet behavior reaps various benefits.

Time-saving measures

Internet monitoring software saves employees from visiting entertainment, gaming, or online shopping sites by restricting access to them. Internet monitoring software doesn’t necessarily block access to social media sites, but it lets your employees know that you’re monitoring their internet activity. This is aimed at discouraging them from taking prolonged visits to their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page.

Avoid harmful websites

The internet hosts plenty of unsavory links and websites. Employees who haphazardly click phishing links or access malware-ridden pornography sites can put your business at risk. Working with infected machines can slow down the entire system and, in some cases, completely halt operations. By using internet monitoring tools, you can restrict access to dangerous websites and identify reckless employees who access them and remove their internet privileges, if necessary.

Control bandwidth usage

Even while using the internet for the right purposes, bandwidth can be used up quickly. Internet monitoring gives you up-to-the-minute reports on staff’s bandwidth usage. Once you have a clear understanding of your company’s overall bandwidth usage, you can better control internet expenditure. Ultimately, this feature allows you to prioritize bandwidth for critical business applications and reduce bandwidth for less necessary websites.

Increase productivity on the internet

Internet monitoring software may be a powerful tool, but it should be used responsibly. As a business owner, you need to walk a fine line between over-surveillance and under-surveillance. What you should do is establish a clear internet policy, which should explicitly define the disciplinary measures to be dispensed on anybody who goes against the company’s internet policy. You should also deal with time-wasting employees on a case-by-case basis because it’s unreasonable to remove everyone’s Facebook privileges because one or two abused theirs.

Employee productivity can be difficult to achieve, especially with the proliferation of the so-called “procrastination software.” But with web monitoring software, you can truly get your business — and your employees — back on track. Looking for more ways to increase business productivity with technology? Give us a call. We’ll be happy to make suggestions.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Top 7 Office 365 Productivity Add-Ons

Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 has successfully made day-to-day business operations more efficient with popular apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook. What’s more, it also offers productivity-boosting add-ons that streamline users’ workflow.

#1. StaffHub

You can now easily keep track of your employees’ work hours, allow employees to swap shifts, and make changes where appropriate with Microsoft’s StaffHub app. What’s more, employees can also communicate with team members through its internal community spaces, check out new company updates, and add important internal resources like employee handbooks or training manuals through the app. The app is available on any mobile device, making it a very convenient tool for employees who need to manage their schedule and stay up to date.

#2. Office Tabs

Office Tabs allow you to open multiple files in one window, which saves you time from having to go through each opened document until you find the right one. As such, you can close or save all or everything but the current active document in a single click. You can also directly rename files by clicking Rename, instead of going through the tedious process of clicking Save As and then changing its name.

#3. Grammarly

The last thing you want to send to your clients is a confusing, poorly written email or document. Grammarly solves this by having your text go through rigorous grammar, spelling, and plagiarism checks. It then provides vocabulary suggestions and recommends writing style changes to polish your writing. This add-on is available in Word and Outlook, and its Premium counterpart is priced at $11.66 per month (annual plan).

#4. Pexels

Professional documents and presentations require high-resolution, blemish-free images, and Pexels helps you get them easily. Its free stock images are under a Creative Commons Zero license, meaning you can search high-quality images and use them in all your documents for any purpose with no legal repercussions.

#5. DocuSign

DocuSign for Outlook and Word lets you or the recipient securely sign the document electronically and send it through email, save it in the app, or store it in your company’s server. DocuSign complies with eSignature legal standards and is secured with an end-to-end Digital Transaction Management, ensuring your files will never be leaked or breached.

#6. FindTime

Setting up a meeting time is tedious and difficult, especially if your employees have different schedules. FindTime automatically scours every attendee’s personal schedule to locate open slots, and creates possible meeting time options for everyone to vote on. A meeting will then be scheduled according to whichever slot gets the highest vote within a specified amount of time.

#7. Translator

Businesses that deal with foreign companies will find communication much easier with Translator. This add-on recognizes and translates more than 50 different languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Chinese. Not only will you now spend less time understanding foreign-language documents, but you’ll also be able to work with clients from various parts of the world.

Start improving work productivity and make the most out of your Office 365 with Microsoft productivity add-ons. To get started or learn more about Office 365, Microsoft add-ons, or anything Microsoft Office related, contact us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

How to make Alexa your office assistant

Amazon’s Alexa has come a long way from performing basic functions like setting alarms, streaming music, and providing weather updates, to an all-around office assistant superstar. As Amazon continues to develop Alexa, businesses can expect to see her become more relevant in an office setting.

Create and manage to-do and shopping lists
You have meetings to attend and deadlines to meet. Alexa has a straightforward To-do List feature that helps you stay on top of all your tasks. It’s ideal for busy professionals who prefer a no-frills checklist that allows them to simply view completed items, or to edit or delete items on the list.

You can also seamlessly sync third-party applications like Any.do and Todoist, which offer more features for organizing tasks, adding subtasks and folders, creating reminders, setting due dates, attaching files, and prioritizing items.

To connect to a third-party app:

  • Go to alexa.amazon.com or access the Alexa app
  • Go to Settings > List, click Get Skill
  • Click Enable
  • Log in to authorize the app

Alexa also has a default Shopping List that works exactly like the To-do List. It lets you add or delete items that can be browsed in the Amazon store and searched for in Bing.

Reorder office supplies

Ordering supplies on an Amazon smart home device is especially convenient because you would have already set up an Amazon account. When voice shopping with Alexa, you can either add items to your Amazon cart (“Alexa, add toner to my cart”) or directly order a single item (“Alexa, reorder toner”) without having to lift a finger.

When you place an order, Alexa checks product availability, walks you through Amazon search results, and asks you to confirm or cancel the order. Voice shopping is enabled by default, but it can be disabled in Settings > Voice Purchasing in the Alexa app.

Sync your calendars
One of the best ways to maximize Alexa in the office is to sync it up with your calendars. You can view scheduled appointments, set meetings, or have Alexa read the day’s entries with simple commands like “Alexa, what time is my next meeting?” or “Alexa, when is the company barbecue?”.

To add a calendar:

  • Go to alexa.amazon.com or access the Alexa app
  • Click Settings > Calendar
  • Select a calendar from the available platforms: Google (Gmail and G Suite), Apple (iCloud), or Microsoft (Office 365 or Outlook)
  • Log in to your account

Set a timer
A Pomodoro timer is a productivity enhancement tool that works by prescribing ideal work intervals and breaks. For example, you can set a timer that reminds you to take a 15-minute break for every hour worked, and setting this up in Alexa is easy.

To set a single timer:

  • Say “Alexa, set a work timer for 60 minutes.”
  • After the work timer finishes, say “Alexa, set a break time for 15 minutes.”

To set several timers at once, say:

  • “Alexa, create a work timer for 60 minutes.”
  • “Alexa, create a break timer for 15 minutes.”

The commands we’ve included here work for simple instructions, but you can modify them and use tons of other Alexa commands to suit your purpose. If you need recommendations on how you can work smarter with AI and other productivity tools, get in touch with us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Tips for using Outlook more efficiently

Outlook is arguably the best tool that businesses use to manage their email, set up meetings, and coordinate projects. It’s much more than a basic email program and includes features that help you organize your work, contacts, and business communications. Let’s take a look at a few tips you may have missed.

Clean Up your inbox
No matter inbox how meticulously organized your Outlook inbox is, there’s always room for improvement. For a little computer-assisted help, try the ‘Clean Up’ feature.

  • From your Inbox, click the Home tab and choose from Outlook’s three Clean Up options:
    • Clean Up Conversation – Reviews an email thread or a conversation and deletes redundant messages.
    • Clean Up Folder – Reviews conversations in a selected folder and deletes redundant messages.
    • Clean Up Folder & Subfolders – Reviews all messages in a selected folder and its subfolder, and deletes redundant messages in all of them.

Ignore (unnecessary) conversations
An overstuffed inbox is often caused by group conversations that aren’t relevant to you. The Ignore button helps you organize your inbox and focus on relevant emails.

  • Select a message, then click Home > Ignore > Ignore Conversation. You can also do this by opening a message in a new window and clicking Ignore under the Delete function. To recover an ignored message, go to the Deleted Items folder, and click Ignore > Stop Ignoring Conversation.

Send links instead of a file copy
Help your colleagues save storage by sending a link to a cloud version of a file instead of the file itself. This is particularly useful when sending massive files. You can also set permissions to allow recipients to edit and collaborate on linked files in real time.

  • Upload the file you wish to send on OneDrive and send it to your recipients. From the message box, click Attach File > Browse web locations > OneDrive.

Improve meetings with Skype and OneNote
Outlook allows you to combine Skype’s HD video and screen-sharing features with OneNote’s organizational and project planning functions. It’s easy:

  • Go to the Meeting tab in Outlook, then click Skype meeting and send the link to participants. After the meeting has started, select Meeting Notes (under the Meeting tab) and choose whether you want to Take notes on your own or Share notes with the meeting.

Tag contacts
To get the attention of a specific person in a group email message, use the @Mention function. This works particularly well for mails to multiple recipients or for if you simply want to convey the urgency of your message.

  • In the email body or meeting request, type the ‘@’ symbol followed by the first and last name of the person you wish to tag (e.g., @firstnamelastname).
  • To search for emails you’re tagged in, select Filter Email from the Home tab and choose Mentioned, then choose Mentioned.

These are just a few strategies for getting more out of Microsoft’s email platform. To unlock Outlook’s true potential, you need the support of certified IT professionals. Give us a call today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Why UPS is necessary for network equipment

Fire, flood, storm, and other disasters can lead to power failure and productivity loss. Using uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for computers ensures you never lose unsaved work, but without internet, you’re practically crippled. To avoid that dilemma, we highly recommend using UPSs for your networking equipment, including cable modems, wireless access points, and routers.

UPS for network equipment

UPS systems provide backup power in case of outages and protect against power surges, which don’t just damage computers but also make you lose unsaved work. Deploying them for Wi-Fi routers and modems allows you to stay connected to the internet in what is typically a chaotic time.

Moreover, it makes sense to not just keep your PCs powered up, but to also have internet access during a disaster. This strategy works relatively well if your staff are predominantly laptop users, as that means you only need to juice up your Wi-Fi gear.

Better than generators

Although generators are indispensable for certain businesses, they also require greater upkeep. Small- and mid-sized businesses may not have enough capacity to maintain them because they typically require a utility crew who can manage high-maintenance equipment.

What’s more, extreme mishaps when misused or mishandled could result in generator-related fatalities. On the other hand, misusing a UPS unit could result in the loss of a day’s work, but it’s unlikely to lead to anything as extreme.

Why internet access is important during a disaster

UPS-supported modems or routers help you stay online for as much as 90 minutes, which should be enough time to get your bearings before power finally runs out. Internet service providers are usually prepared for catastrophes and would normally have an emergency power source to stay operational. And if you can stay online via Wi-Fi during an emergency, you get the following benefits:

  • Internet speed that’s faster than cellular access
  • No extra telecom costs resulting from overreliance on cellular data
  • All devices stay online using a stable Wi-Fi connection
  • Devices don’t have to rely on cellular data-equipped phones for internet connection

Plug in your network gear now

Businesses that aren’t located in disaster-prone areas probably don’t give much thought to installing UPSs for their computers, let alone their modems. But accidents and emergencies are inevitable. And when they happen, you’ll find that having internet access is one of the most important things you need to ensure business continuity.

Think of an emergency power supply source like a UPS as an investment that not just protects your systems from data loss but also keeps your Wi-Fi equipment functioning in emergency scenarios. Call us today for productivity-saving tips and other hardware hacks for your business.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

Office 365 Update: New Tools You Need To Know

Yet again, Microsoft has released new AI-based features for Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and more — a continuing trend since 2016’s launch of the Microsoft AI and Research Group. If your business is subscribed to Office 365, this article will acquaint you with the newest features!

Automatically Uncover Trends in Excel Data

Finding useful information lurking in massive tables of jumbled numbers and data can be quite a headache. Not with Insights Preview! This feature uses machine learning to analyze Excel data, highlight patterns, and create visualizations to make information easier to locate and digest.

Search Text Within Images

Thanks to Office 365’s Intelligent Search feature, any printed words in images uploaded to SharePoint and OneDrive are now automatically detected, extracted, and made searchable. This makes it possible to find screenshots, receipts, and business cards based on the text they contain.

Understand Company Jargon with Acronyms

Microsoft Word’s new Acronyms feature will help users understand workplace-specific acronyms. This feature uses machine learning to analyze your employees’ vernacular and automatically create a useful glossary of terms.

Improve collaboration with the Whiteboard Preview App

This real-time digital canvas makes interactions between team members easier, whether they’re working on a conference room screen or across different devices and locations. The app is equipped with freehand drawing tools, geometry recognition, data illustration tools, and more to improve both business and creative projects.

As Microsoft gears itself toward making AI accessible to every user and organization, we are excited to see more smart features rolling out in Office 365 products in the near future.

But how can these upgrades transform your business? Can it save time and cut costs? There’s no better way to understand these updates than to chat with our team of IT professionals. Give us a call to learn more or to set up the new Office 365 in your workplace today!

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.