Tech Tips for Business Owners

1957 Public Telephone

Cloud Communications Provider Selection

Communicate, Collaborate, Connect

Moving or expanding communications services to the cloud can seem daunting for any company. But if you know what to look for from a provider, the task of choosing a unified communications as a service (UCaaS) solution can be made with greater confidence. Like most of today’s modern workforce, your employee base has probably become more distributed across multiple locations. And they work on the go or from home. The ability for your team to communicate whenever, wherever, and however they want is essential for performing their jobs well and optimizing agility and productivity. Currently, workers often adopt a mishmash of tools from vendors to help them communicate in easy, mobile-friendly ways. But in fact, this can silo or confuse communications rather than enabling it. So contact us today for a comprehensive guide. We go over even critical items to consider when selecting a cloud communications provider.  The guide also includes everything you need to consider, including the topics below.
  • First, how will your company benefit from unified communications and collaboration?
  • Next, the integrations options (internal and external) that make a solution agile and highly responsive
  • Cloud infrastructure, private or public cloud
  • Connectivity options
  • Is the system well-established, scalable, and geo-redundant?  Does the system offer a global presence?
  • Pricing and ways to reduce the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
  • Lastly, professional services and support
No doubt moving to the cloud is the right step for modern, agile, mobile business communications. Being well prepared will help you find the cloud communications provider and solution that works best for your company and your teams’ needs.

   
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Is the iPad Useful as a Mobile Computing Device for Businesses?

Apple+IPad+Stock+LNAL16SHbnkl   Some businesses have jumped on the iPad wagon and are finding creative ways to use the iPad as a mobile computing device. For example, the Global Mundo Tapas restaurant in Sydney, Australia uses the iPad as an interactive menu. There's a budget airline, Jetstar Airways, using the iPad for in-flight entertainment, rented for $10 a flight. A luxury sedan by Hyundai comes with an iPad instead of a user manual. Other than these extreme cases, how can an iPad be used to increase productivity or convenience by the average business owner? Conventions and Workshops Do you travel to conventions and workshops for your business? Many people bring their laptop to these events. While laptops are of course very convenient compared to a desktop pc for traveling, the iPad weighs less and could be even more convenient if you're traveling from room to room at a convention or workshop. These events are also often designed for networking – so you're not just sitting at the table all day, glued to your laptop. The smaller, 2 pound iPad could be slipped into your purse or a small bag while you walk around the room, or even carried in your hand for easy access as needed, but without being cumbersome. Flights and Traveling It's true a laptop can go on a flight with you, but even the smaller netbooks and laptops add to the weight of your carry on bags and can be frustrating when in the small seats of the plane. If you're sitting in coach, you know every time the person next to you has to get up to use the bathroom you're trying to balance the laptop and whatever else you happened to have out in your hands with turbulence knocking you around the aisle. The iPad could be slid into the pocket of the seat in front of you if you have to get out of the way for the passenger next to you – it's about the size of a magazine. The same holds true on trains, in taxi cabs, or as a passenger in someone else's car. Just don't try to use your iPad while driving, yourself. Presentations & Sales Do you travel to client offices to give presentations? How sleek would it be to whip out your iPad and give a sales presentation or demonstration? Apple reports that iPads can connect to the majority of projectors, so you could even broadcast that presentation over a large screen for a larger audience if necessary. Replace Your Briefcase Sure, the iPad has a word processor and spreadsheet. Those are always useful for business people. It would be much more convenient to read and edit documents on an iPad over your iPhone while on the road. But what about the stack of magazines and newspapers you lug around with you in your briefcase? You could have all of your reading materials ready for you on the iPad and skip the briefcase. Use it as an ebook reader, newspaper subscription, and file storage and you've literally got everything at your fingertips. With the use of third party Apps, there's little you can't do with the iPad for as a mobile computing device for your business. Click here to learn how [contentblock id=company] can help you get the most out of your iPads, Smartphones and other mobile devices with our Mobile Computing Services for your business in [contentblock id=location].
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