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Directive Blogs

Directive has been serving the Oneonta area since 1993, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Is Antiquated Technology Hurting Your Business?

When your technology gets older it has a tendency to get less effective. This can be a major roadblock to organizational productivity, and have devastating effects on your business. These include major downtime events and overwhelming inefficiency. Let’s take a look at some ways that you know that it’s time to focus on reinvestment. 

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What Software Does Your Business Need?

Every business depends on some type of software, but some businesses seem to have an application for every single thing and it can be too much for employees or administrators to manage. So the question has to be asked: What is the right amount of software for your business? Today, we’ll discuss the types of software every business needs and how to determine what you need. 

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Custom Building Blocks Coming to Google Workspace, but Not for Everyone

Google continues to build its Workspace platform up with new and innovative tools that can help businesses be more successful and efficient. One such tool is a new solution being offered to select businesses using work or school platforms of Google Workspace: custom building blocks.

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Smartphones: What’s New for 2023

Each year, we take some time and take a look at the most interesting new smartphones that are being released. Over the past few years, fewer companies are making smartphones and throughout the whole industry, innovation has seemed to slow. Whether this is a result of rigid market dynamics, supply shortages, or the extraordinary costs it takes to manufacture and source components, it has taken some of the largest technology companies in the world—such as Amazon, LG, and HTC—out of the market and presented limited opportunities for other global technology leaders such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nokia. 

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Is Remote Work Really That Much Greener, In the Long Run?

One of the biggest arguments for remote work is that it poses environmental benefits, but how much truth is there to this statement? Today, we want to dive into the details and see if there is actually a solid benefit to working remotely—for the environment, at least. The answer might surprise you.

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Supply Chain Management and the Growing Need for Logistics

Small manufacturers and distributors operate under a whole separate set of conditions than their larger competitors. This is because they don’t have the available capital to have any noticeable inefficiencies, and if they do have some, they are going to definitely affect their ability to compete. One solution that these organizations can lean on is a logistics platform. 

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Tomorrow is Earth Day, But Here’s What Your Business Can Do Every Day

Sustainability is a hot topic nowadays, from how we conduct ourselves in our personal lives to how businesses go about their respective business. If this is something that you want to promote in your business, we figured that the day before Earth Day was as good a day as any to share some of the ways you can do so.

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Automation is Helping Build More Effective Businesses

It’s no secret that automation is one of the major trends that most businesses have tried to incorporate into their business plans, most with some middling success. The problem becomes that many businesses don’t really have a strategy for building out automated tools for their business, so they may not be able to take advantage of the benefits automation can bring. 

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Does Your Data Backup Comply with the 3-2-1 Rule

We often discuss data backup and disaster recovery on our blog, and you may even be familiar with some of the terms and practices we throw around. Today, we want to take a closer look at the 3-2-1 rule and how it impacts your business’ ability to recover in the face of a disaster. Let’s dive in and see how the 3-2-1 rule can make or break your company’s data infrastructure.

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Why Otsego County Businesses Should Replace their Phone System with VoIP

Considering how essential telephone services are for just about any organization, it’s surprising how limited—and expensive— telephone service providers here in Otsego County are. Between the lack of support and, again, the costs that are involved, they’ve dropped the ball…and yet, they still expect businesses to play.

Not only do businesses here in Otsego County deserve better, better options are available.

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You Need to be Mindful of Wearable Tech

The increase in wearable technology that you see coming into your business has substantially increased over the past couple of years. People are doing a better job of tracking their health and using wearable technology to improve their work lives. This creates a problem for the business because every single device brought onto a network is a potential threat and threats have to be managed. Let’s take a look at how people are using wearable technology and what you can do in response to this trend. 

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There are Immense Benefits Inside the Modern Productivity Suite

Productivity suites are universally one of the best tools for getting work done in the business world, so if you’re not familiar with the term, then take a moment to consider how often you use Microsoft Office products or the Google Workspace apps. These are productivity suites, and they are remarkably important and valuable for your company, whether you realize it or not.

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The IoT Is Helping Business Get Smarter

Business technology has grown so much over time that it’s practically unrecognizable compared to some of the original solutions. The Internet of Things has given businesses more opportunities to automate processes and build efficiency into their IT infrastructure, and in more ways than one. Let’s look at how businesses use the Internet of Things and what you might accomplish with it.

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How Internet Speeds Have Changed

The Internet is used for a great many things in business nowadays, but some may not realize just how much Internet speeds have changed over time. This week, we thought we would take a brief look at the evolution of Internet speeds and what today’s speeds allow businesses to do. 

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4 Reasons to Upgrade Your Antiquated Telephone Service

The landscape of telephony for small businesses has changed dramatically. It’s likely that you don’t rely on your phone nearly as much as you rely on other technologies, like your Internet, communications solutions, and email. Still, an antiquated phone system can hold you back, so let’s explore the other viable option for your business: Voice over IP.

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You’re Not Too Small for Enterprise-Level Software, But You are Too Big for Consumer-Based Software

Software makes business run: that is an undeniable statement. From the operations software that allows your business to manage and pay its people to the CRM that provides a pathway to communicate efficiently with customers, to all of the applications that it takes to conduct business in earnest, software plays a crucial role in your business’ success. 

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Data Backup Truly Protects a Business

Data backup is a must-have for every business, but it isn’t enough to just copy your data. You will need to have a data recovery strategy in place to ensure that your business can effectively respond after a data loss incident. Today, we’ll take a look at why considering your recovery strategy early is important, and how to prioritize it with everything else going on with your business.

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Keyboards Get Pretty Gross, Here’s the Safest Way to Clean It

The keyboard that you may very well have used to access this blog is, in a word, gross. While we aren’t going to go into too much detail about what makes keyboards so grimy, we did want to outline how you can easily clean up your keyboard every so often, just to make sure that it’s A: more hygienic, and B: less likely to malfunction at some point.

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File Digitization Brings a New Element to Your File Management

Most modern organizations will have digitized their businesses to at least some degree without really putting much effort or thought into it. This massive and often unconscious change has created a lot of benefits for businesses with perhaps one of the most overlooked benefits being document digitization. Today, we want to discuss the great benefits that come from this initiative and why you should consider it.

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VoIP Has the Features You Need in a Complete Communications System

Ah, the business telephone solution. You know you need it, but you dislike working with your current telephone provider for a number of reasons. You know you can get a better deal if you look around, but we bet that the best deal around is a hosted Voice over Internet Protocol solution from Directive. How can our VoIP solution save your business time, energy, and resources?

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What Should You Expect out of Artificial Intelligence?

AI has been a hot topic in recent months and years, which only makes sense. Not only has it been used in more public applications, but it has also caused a bit of controversy as it seems to “compete” with people. Back in September, art made by using an artificially intelligent platform caused a stir by winning an art competition, and workplace fears of a computer taking one’s job have seemingly become more well-founded than ever.

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Identifying the Most Valuable Technology for Your Business

We talk a lot about different types of technology, securing your technology and your accounts, and a lot of other technology-related issues on this blog, but because of the generalities of whatever technology (or strategy) we’ve chosen to write about that day, we never confront the thing that is most important to a business: How does any technology fit into what we do here? What value do we get from any type of technology? Today, we thought we’d talk a little bit about what you need to do to find the right technology for your business and how to come up with those decisions. 

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In Battle Employee vs. AI, Everyone Can Be a Winner

For many years now, there’s been a bit of a fear of AI—artificial intelligence—in the workplace, all while it has been put into practical use more and more often in many businesses. This all ties back to the work of Alan Turing, who (amongst his accomplishments in computing) created what we know as the Turing Test as a means of gauging how intelligent a computer is. 

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Migrating Data? Budget in Evaluating End Result

There’s no beating around the bush with this one; moving data from one place to another, also known as data migration, is critical to get right the first time. If you create and follow a migration strategy, evaluating here and there to make sure it’s all going according to plan, you’ll see great success in this effort. Let’s go over how you can make it happen.

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Google Got Rid of Search Results Pages

Countless jokes have been made in the IT world about the perfect place to hide something being page two of Google—just hang out with some IT professionals, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear it. Unfortunately, Google is making a change to its search results that will make this joke completely irrelevant.

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Every Business Now Needs to Be Mindful of IoT

The Internet of Things, or IoT, has grown to over 14 billion connected devices as of this year, and this number is expected to exceed 20 billion devices by the end of 2026. With such a shocking number of devices, you might wonder what types of devices are out there and what they mean for your business. Let’s look at the IoT and what you need to know to keep it at the top of your mind this upcoming year.

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Are Magnets Really Bad for a Computer?

Magnets are often portrayed as the bane of technology’s existence, especially in media where data must be scrubbed from devices through the use of a magnet. How true is this representation of the relationship between magnets and technology? We’ll examine this in today’s blog article.

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Despite Rough Waters, Expect More AI in 2023

There’s no denying that the economic forecast at the moment is a bit bleak, with murmurings of a recession growing louder by the day. As this situation develops, many companies are likely seeking out opportunities to trim the fat. Despite this, however, we anticipate that artificial intelligence will actually see a bit of an uptick. Let’s go over why.

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What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 2

Last time, we started our discussion on the best search engines by talking about the behemoth, Google. While Google is, by far, the most popular and commonly used, and arguably the most accurate search engine, it doesn’t mean it’s always the right search engine to use. Let’s talk about some other alternatives and see where they might fit in.

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What Search Engine is Truly the Best, Part 1

Even if you lived under a rock, you’ve probably done a Google search or two. There are, in fact, other search engines, each with their own pros and cons. We’re going to compare some of the most popular search engines and talk about what makes them different.

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The DBMS Is a Big Part of Your Business Whether You Know It or Not

For the average business, the database plays a big role. How big of a role? Your business won’t function the way you want it to function without it. In order to manage your databases correctly, you need a solid database management system (DBMS). This week, we thought we would discuss the DBMS and how it works to assist your business computing.

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Explaining the Metaverse

The metaverse is a buzzword that many companies have been throwing around in recent years, but what is it, exactly? You might want to sit down for this one, as it is going to get a little complicated and, perhaps, even a bit confusing. We’ll do our best to unpack what the metaverse is, why there is such an emphasis on it these days, and what you might expect to see from a metaverse in the future.

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The Pros and Cons of a Digital Dollar

The United States has seen a push for the digitization of the dollar for some time now, with a few pros and cons to consider from this shift. Let’s go over these pros and cons now, and see if there are any parallels to be found to your business.

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New Technologies That May Soon Be Part of Your Business (If They Aren’t Already)

Every piece of technology we regularly use today was once earth-shakingly innovative, regardless of how mundane and common it seems to us now. Think about it: people once had endless questions about the Internet, about computers…even about electricity. Let’s consider some modern innovations that we have many questions about now, but may someday be just as much of a given as the other tools we so commonly use today.

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Microsoft Office is Dead, Long Live Microsoft 365

In what seems to be the final stage of a plan that Microsoft has been inching towards for years, Microsoft Office will apparently be phased fully into the Microsoft 365 brand. Let’s consider what we know so far about this change.

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AI to Be Included in Select Microsoft Tools

Artificially-intelligent image generation has become a hot topic in recent weeks and months. Not too long ago, an artist created a stir for winning a competition with an image that he largely created using an artificially-intelligent tool. Now, Microsoft has announced that similar AI-powered image generation tools will be integrated into many of their applications.

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Innovations in Manufacturing Tech

Manufacturers have long been at the forefront of technology. Today, this trend continues, but with new, innovative tools that are designed to make business more efficient and workers more productive. This technology has helped much of the manufacturing sector despite costs continually rising, supply chain interruptions, and other variables. Let’s take a look at some of the major technology changes that have fueled manufacturers during the past few years. 

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Tips to Help You Determine How Much Bandwidth You Need

For small businesses, having a fast, reliable Internet connection is needed to run all the digital tools that your staff has come to depend on. If you don’t have the bandwidth in place, you can deal with bottlenecks that can ruin communications, stall productivity, and cause operational issues of all types. Today, we’ll take a look at how to determine the amount of bandwidth you need to support your business’ computing infrastructure.

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A Router Password Repository Helps Keep Access Secure

What do you do if you have forgotten your wireless router’s password? You could restore the router back to its default settings, of course, but what if you have, like a dummy, never changed the router’s password in the first place? This Internet password repository could be your saving grace.

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Introducing No Code Tools and How They Can Work for You

In today’s business, the demand for software often outpaces the supply of available coders. For businesses that find the need for new applications to drive their business initiatives, there are now “no code” tools available that can help them create the software they need without having to lean on software developers. This week, we take a look at no code tools and how they can work for your business. 

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What is the Command Prompt For?

While using your computer, you might have seen a black box pop up with a blinking cursor in it. This is what is commonly known as the command prompt. It’s helpful for IT administrators to perform certain tasks, but you probably won’t use it much yourself. That said, it’s fun to know what it does and what it’s used for!

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The CHIPS Act Looks to Help Push Technology Forward

In efforts to curb the semiconductor shortage and jumpstart the technology industry, the United States Congress passed legislation that includes funding for manufacturing semiconductors. Partially in response to China’s increasing economic influence and partially in response to the semiconductor shortage, the CHIPS Act could be just what industry leaders need to kickstart the manufacturing of these important devices.

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With Innovation Lagging, How Should You Choose Your Next Smartphone?

Technology gets better and more efficient over time, and smartphones are one of today’s standout examples. Although their growth has stagnated a bit in recent years, it’s no small thing to say that smartphone innovation has really taken off, offering extremely fast processors, data storage in the cloud, and so much more. Let’s go over what you might look at when you purchase a new smartphone.

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Don’t Miss Out on the Benefits that VoIP Offers

Communications are critical for businesses of all sizes, including small businesses and their telephone systems. While the technology likely still plays some role in your office, other means of communication have likely come to the forefront. In some ways, the traditional telephone has been left behind…with Voice over Internet Protocol largely taking its place.

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How to Choose a Smartphone Now that Innovation has Slowed

Mobile devices have changed the world. They’ve definitely changed the way people do business. The prevailing sentiment is smartphone innovation has stagnated a bit over the past few years as most of the flagship smartphones are using extremely fast processors, data storage has moved to the cloud, and many other factors. Just look at the new iPhone, which traditionally looks just like the last iPhone. Today, we’ll take a look at what you need to know when buying your new phone.

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In Battle USB vs. HDMI, Which Cable Will Remain Connected?

Let’s face it: when you look at the back of your computer, where the motherboard’s many, many ports are accessible, there’s a substantial variety of connection types available to do a variety of things—some of which may overlap with one another. One prime example: the shared capability between USB and HDMI as a means of connecting your PC to many of its peripherals. Let’s consider which is likely to outlast the other.

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Move the Needle with Dynamic IT Support

Business technology is a useful tool, there’s no way around it. Unfortunately for businesses, technology has to be replaced every so often. Even if the technology doesn’t break, there are innovations made that can help your organization do what you do better. The thing is: Technology does break, so you need to understand how to get the most value out of it when it is working. 

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Organizations Shouldn’t Go Without Help Desk Support

Downtime is a killer for any business. When a business is forced into confronting its technology support deficits, it usually means that they’ve been dealing with too much broken technology and downtime, and the costs associated with it. One way your business can avoid losing huge chunks of time to broken technology is to add a professional help desk to support your IT administrator. 

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Solid Communications is Imperative for the Modern Business

Ultimately, your employees are going to be the ones using your technology to accomplish their daily duties, so it helps to treat them like customers rather than end users. If you examine industry trends to make the best decisions possible with your technology and communications solutions, then you’ll allow your team to flourish in the process.

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There are Benefits from Aggressively Spending on Technology

The way you invest your business’ IT budget will have a considerable impact on how it performs. If your technology dollars are well spent you should see improvement year-over-year. Technology improves time management and allows for more automation than ever, not to mention the cost savings you see as a result. Let’s briefly discuss the IT budgeting process and how to build budgeting priorities that work.

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What Actually Happens to Deleted Data?

Chances are, you’ve gone through some old files and weeded through them, deleting what is no longer needed. This is especially important when you are upgrading your storage and getting rid of your existing storage media or an old computer. Let’s talk about what really happens when you’re doing so—chances are, you may be overlooking a serious security issue.

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The Blockchain is a Fascinating Technology with a Lot of Potential

The blockchain has had a single purpose since it was first developed back in 1991, and that has simply been as a secure means of storing data. Its method of doing so is fascinating, so let’s examine the concept and all that it now allows us to do.

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Why IT Spending is Bucking Current Economic Trends

With inflation proving to be a significant concern for businesses at the moment, reaching highs that it hasn’t in decades, there is a distinct need for businesses to get as much value as they can out of the investments they make.

Let’s discuss a few technologies that offer this more desirable cost/benefit ratio so you can consider them for your own use.

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Identifying the Benefits of Solid State Drives

When it comes to drives for your computer or workstation, you have a couple of options available to you, one of which is the solid state drive, or SSD. What’s the difference between your typical hard drive and an SSD, you ask? Well, today we’ll find out. We’ll break down some of the details about SSDs, including how they are different from your traditional hard disk drive, and why you might consider implementing one.

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The IoT Ushers in a Lot of New Options

The Internet of Things can be a tricky concept to wrap your head around, and it certainly doesn’t help that so many new smart devices are being added to it day-in and day-out. Let’s take a look at what makes up the Internet of Things and why it’s important to know what it is from a business perspective.

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Evolution of Cybersecurity Tools and Strategies

Technology has come a long way, but so too have the threats which leverage it to their advantage. How have the cyberthreats which target your organization evolved over time, and what can you do to protect yourself?

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The Emergence of Social Media has Changed the Game for Businesses

Social media is often seen as simply a consumer technology that has limited value to businesses, but you might be surprised by how much proper use of social media can impact it. Here are four benefits your business could potentially see from using social media websites and applications.

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When Everything is Powered by IT, You Need a Reliable IT Resource

Let me ask you a question: is there anything in your office that doesn’t rely on technology in some way, shape, or form (and no, the old coffeepot that makes the perfect cup doesn’t count)? Increasingly, the answer to that question is “no.” Let’s review how much the average business nowadays relies on IT to really reinforce how ubiquitous technology has become.

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Social Media has Emerged as a Transcendent Technology for Businesses

It is not an exaggeration to refer to social media as a world-changing technology, impacting life in all manners—interpersonal, social, and professional. We wanted to focus on this last aspect and discuss how social media can assist a business in its operations.

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Get Your Data Protected with BDR

Running a business is stressful, but so is thinking about a future where that business (and its data) no longer exists. If you’re not careful with your preparedness, you could stare down a disaster with no hopes of recovery. This is why we urge you to take proactive action now—so you can prevent these kinds of scenarios from taking your business off the market for good.

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Let’s Dork Out Over How Far We’ve Come with Mobile Devices

I feel like we’ve been talking a lot about the horrifying cybersecurity threats that loom over our heads, and thought it might be nice to really appreciate just how gosh-darn cool some of these devices we all have can be instead. 

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Why a Single Sign-On Actually Improves Security

Have you ever wondered how some platforms will only have you log in once for all of your various needs, even though they might be different applications, websites, or services? This is essentially what single sign-on is, and it’s quite common in the technology world today. What is single sign-on exactly, and what kind of security does it actually provide for organizations that use it?

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Can Businesses Still Get Value Out of Tablets?

Remember about a decade ago when all of the tech experts were predicting that most work would be done on a touch-screen device, prompting many professionals to purchase the latest and greatest tablets? Although tablet sales have not kept up over the years, they are still perfectly usable for personal purposes—maybe just not in the workplace. Still, we have to ask, is there a place for tablets in the office environment?

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Why Virtual Workstations Might Be a Good Choice for Your Company

When you virtualize a software solution, you are essentially storing it in an online environment where it can live. In other words, it remains in the cloud and is accessed through the Internet. This approach is helpful for many businesses, so why not flip this concept on its head and give hardware virtualization a shot? You might find that virtual workstations, for example, offer many benefits that can help your company be more productive and efficient.

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How Does Streaming Technology Work?

It feels like streaming is everywhere these days, from video content to music to video games. Coincidentally, it also happens that innovations in cloud streaming have allowed these entertainment mediums to flourish in “as-a-service” type offerings. Just how have the innovations in technology allowed streaming services to grow and expand? Let’s investigate.

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Does Your Phone System Compliment Remote Work?

By now, you’ve probably heard of VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—telephony. Chances are pretty good, in fact, that your business is currently using VoIP as a part of its communication. While we’re big proponents of VoIP, it is important that we acknowledge that (like anything else) some VoIP services are better than others.

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Get the Operational Freedom You Seek Through Automation

We’re always talking about boosting productivity and the role your technology has in that quest. What we don’t always talk about is how boosting innovation can help free up your employees to produce better results. It’s the same technology, and it can have multiple benefits. In this week’s blog, we’ll discuss how focusing on how these two thoughts can be one and the same.

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Don’t Let Your IT Cause Business Failure

For modern organizations that depend highly on their technology, nothing is quite so scary as an event that can completely marginalize its ability to operate. This doesn’t need to be a fire, flood, or some other major cataclysm; it could be something as simple as some of your old IT fails and you’re not ready for it. This week, we thought we’d briefly go through what a catastrophic failure looks like and some steps you can take to keep your business from experiencing one.

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3 Communications Tools Your Business Can Really Benefit From

Digital communication is an important part of running any business, so you need to do your part by equipping your employees with the tools they need to communicate effectively both in and out of the workplace. Here are three of the most effective tools we have found which enable your business to flourish.

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Internet Explorer is Dead, Long Live Microsoft Edge?

Goodbyes are always painful, but we suspect that this one for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer will be more on the bittersweet side of things. Long a staple in the web browsing world, Internet Explorer has largely been removed from devices running Windows 10 and Windows 11. Let’s take a moment to discuss the approach Microsoft is using to slowly phase Internet Explorer out of the web browsing space.

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Has Innovation Resorted to Gimmicks?

We always hear about how innovation drives business. This has been typically true for the whole of human existence. As businesses have tried to stay profitable among the problems they’ve faced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are beginning to see a troubling trend where new products are released with a laundry list of new features, but aren’t really enhancing the customer experience. Today, we look at how businesses have enhanced their marketing efforts to make products that don’t provide the types of innovations that are useful to customers. 

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Why there Always Seems to Be a Tech Boom in Struggling Economies

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. This is clearly demonstrated in the perceptible phenomenon of technology advancement and innovation being boosted in tough economic times. Let’s dive into why this is the case.

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How do Managed Services Stack Up to Break/Fix Services in Price?

Outsourced IT is a great option for the modern small business, and no matter where your shortcomings lie in managing technology, we are confident you can find value in the service. Whether you need a full-fledged IT department or someone to help implement new solutions, we’ve got you covered, and for the right price point, too! Let’s take a look at some of the trends you can expect from managed IT, as well as how they influence the costs compared to those of the traditional break-fix model.

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Did You Know that Browser Cookies Come in Different Flavors?

When you go to a website you have never been to before, there is often a splash page that asks if you would like to accept cookies. It doesn’t mean you are getting a care package, it just means that you accept a formal interaction with the website you’re on. Let’s take a look at browser cookies

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The Right Software Can Remove Productivity Roadblocks

Productivity. Your company needs it. Your employees are measured largely by their ability to effectively turn their effort into a tangible product or service that creates revenue. It really means everything to your business. Why then, if it is so necessary, is it so hard to get the people you depend on to realize just how important their productivity is to the success of the business? Let’s discuss what makes a business productive, and what technology will mitigate the major barriers to productivity.

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The Chromebook May Just Be What Your Business Needs

Every business wants to make smart technology decisions. For the small business looking to get their workforce the affordable workstations one option that you have today is utilizing the budget Chromebooks that are available. Today we will discuss what the Chromebook can bring to your business and how it can help you reduce your hardware costs and get your staff the resources they need to be productive. 

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Are You Right for Software-as-a-Service?

Your business depends on software for many of its day-to-day operations, whether it’s an email system, productivity suite, or other specialized software. When it comes to acquiring software, you have two options: the traditional method of acquisition, i.e. buying it from a vendor, or subscribing to a Software as a Service solution. What are the differences and how can you make sure your organization is getting value out of its investment?

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The Quality of Your Internet Connection Is an Important Metric to Track

The Internet is a critical tool in your business’ toolbox, so it needs to be fast, reliable, and stable. What kinds of factors go into ensuring that you get the best, most reliable Internet connection? Find out in today’s blog.

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Features to Seek Out in a Note-Taking Application

If you’re the one in your office known for taking spectacularly detailed notes, then you’ll find no greater productivity tool than a note-taking app. There are dozens of options on the market today that can help you make the most of your note-taking experience, as well as the integrations that they can provide.

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5 Features to Look for in a Video Conferencing Solution

Video conferencing has become a popular way for businesses and their team members to communicate, with many platforms rising up to meet this demand. This growth begs the question, however, of how one goes about picking the best one for their organization’s needs. We’ve put together a few features that should be present in any option you consider for you to keep in mind.

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Maintenance is More than Computer Repair

When you think of downtime, you probably think about the power or your Internet connection going out and leaving you unable to do work. Unfortunately, these are anecdotes that seem benign, but are actually extraordinarily costly. When interruptions to your business’ computing infrastructure are constantly hindering productivity, you need to come up with a solution.

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Communication Tools Your Business Needs to Consider

The software you choose to use for your business largely defines the capabilities of it. When it comes to communications there are some very standard options that you probably already have and then there are some more innovative options that can have significant benefits for your staff. Let’s take a look at some of the standard communications options a business might use and how they can use technology to crank it up a bit.

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E-Waste is a Massive Problem that We Can All Help Fix

Discarded electronics, including the hardware that so many businesses cycle through, are a big problem—and not one that we can ignore for a variety of reasons. Let’s explore the issues surrounding e-waste, as well as what can be done to reduce it.

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Refreshing Your Business’ Digital Signage Helps Refresh Your Business

Digital signage platforms are on the rise, and they are giving businesses more opportunities to help their office visitors feel more connected and comfortable. You might be surprised by how affordable and accessible digital signage solutions can be, hence why they are growing in popularity with businesses.

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When is It Time to Automate Some of My Business Processes?

Automation has been a business buzzword for some time now, and was a key facet for many businesses remaining open through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it seems like there’s no reason for it not to remain in use from this point on. Let’s examine a few ways that automation can and likely will be used moving forward.

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Can Your Computer Support Consultant Answer These 3 Questions Correctly?

There is a massive difference between being able to fix a broken computer and managing the IT for an entire business. It’s critical that the person/people/company managing your IT understands the reason you have IT in the first place.

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VoIP Offers Too Many Benefits to Ignore

The telephone has been a part of business processes since it was invented, with businesses quickly taking advantage of the new features that telephony has introduced as it has improved over the years. VoIP—Voice over Internet Protocol—is the latest improvement, and as such, offers businesses a lot of great benefits to embrace.

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The False Dichotomy of Smart Technologies

For years, we’ve heard about how machines are coming for our jobs. We may even know some people who have been replaced by machines of some sort. This has given workers an overarching fear that once the machines are smart and capable enough to do what they do, that they will be out on their cans with few real options. This is mostly a fallacy. Today, we will explore the notion that machines are out for our jobs and how they may actually work to make our jobs better. 

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Computer Parts and Hardware are Getting Harder to Get!

Prices are going up and it’s taking longer to get the hardware you might need for your business. Here are some things that might help. Prices are going up and it’s taking longer to get the hardware you might need for your business. Here are some things that might help.

The latest obstacle for small businesses isn’t exactly new, it’s been a growing issue since the start of the pandemic, but it’s definitely catching up to local businesses in a big way now; the global chip shortage.

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What are My Options for Connecting a Second Monitor?

Laptops are pretty great, I think we can all agree, simply due to their portability. Having said that, the one-screen situation that laptops bring with them can certainly get in the way of productivity—particularly for those who are used to using more than one. Let’s discuss why an additional display is so helpful, and what your options may be for hooking one up to your laptop.

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Consider These 4 Ideas for Improved Video Meetings

Today, remote workers are constantly asked to endure meetings over their organization’s chosen video conferencing applications and while it may not be an ideal situation to enhance the collaborative flow of your team, there are certain variables that you can control to get the most out of your company’s virtual meetings. Let’s take a look at a few:

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Reviewing Smartphones - The Foldables

With so many great smartphones on the market, there are bound to be a couple that stand out for being innovative and interesting in their designs. These devices—many of which fall into the foldable category—are pretty neat and worth looking into. Here are some of the better options on the market today.

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The Business of the Future, Today

A lot of people like to venture predictions about what the future will bring for business, and many of those predictions are based on anecdotes and hopes. When it comes to information system management and the future of IT for business, there are a lot of claims made by companies looking to take advantage of the reliance on IT and present business owners’ and decision makers’ options on how to leverage this technology for their own good. Today, we thought we would take a look at three emerging technologies that we will all come to use in the future and whether they are right for your business now.

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Automation Any Business Can Fit In Their Business Plan

In modern businesses, automation can be implemented in a lot of ways, but for small businesses, it may be more difficult to find ways to incorporate time-saving automation. In this week’s blog we’ve decided to point out a few ways even the smallest business can use automation to their advantage and give their employees the freedom to focus on revenue creating processes. 

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Reviewing Smartphones - Value Devices

“Value” smartphones don’t always have to be “bad” smartphones! To help you get the most out of your investment, we’ve put together a list of the best and brightest value smartphones on the market today. You might be surprised by how much value these manufacturers can pack into such devices!

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Microsoft Implementing Price Hike to Services

Microsoft has planned an increase in the price of its software offerings Microsoft 365 and Office 365, and make no mistake, it will impact your business in some way whether you are ready or not. We are writing this blog to share information that you might find important about this price increase so you can plan to get the most out of your software moving forward.

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Reviewing Smartphones - The Flagships

When purchasing your next smartphone, you might want to consider the latest flagship devices. Today, we want to discuss what the latest and greatest smartphones can offer for your business.

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AI Impacting the Healthcare Industry in Interesting Ways

Healthcare is one industry that consistently operates under an immense amount of pressure, and as such, professionals in the industry are always trying to find new and innovative ways to make things more manageable. The latest technology to aid in this trend is artificial intelligence, or AI, and it has proven to be a considerable asset for the industry. Here are some ways that AI has changed the way healthcare manages particularly stressful situations for the better.

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Explaining VoIP and Its Immense Benefits

Communication solutions are especially important in today’s world of remote and hybrid work, and we are here to tell you that the traditional telephone solution you’ve known and loved for all these years is simply not viable in today’s business environment. Thankfully, a viable replacement is widely available, and it’s all thanks to Voice over IP technology.

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Artificial Intelligence Can Bring Healthcare Some Welcome Advances

Healthcare is an industry that—quite understandably—operates under very high pressure for a significant share of the time. As a result, it is only natural to conclude that a technology that could potentially make the lives of healthcare providers and administrators easier in numerous ways shows some promise. That technology is artificial intelligence.

Let’s go over a few of the many ways that AI has been proposed (if not implemented already) as a solution to some of healthcare’s more challenging stresses.

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