New Browser or File Explorer Window Ctrl + N Let’s start with an easy one: opening a browser or File Explorer window in a new process. It seems only fitting that to open a new window, you combine Ctrl + N. New Tab Ctrl + T Opening a new tab in your browser or file explorer is just as easy, and just as easy to remember. To do so, you only need to press Ctrl + T (or alternatively, click on a link with your center mouse button). Find in Document or Web Page Ctrl + F When there’s a specific piece of content on a page or in a document that you need to find, Windows offers a helpful shortcut to accomplish this simply typing: Ctrl + F. Most applications (even browsers) will give you a special search field to type in the word you want to find. Snipping Tool Windows Key + Shift + S If you ever need to take a quick screenshot, Windows offers that capability in a built-in utility. To access the snipping tool, as it is called, press Windows Key + Shift + S. Force Quit Ctrl + Shift + Esc If an application crashes, force quitting is generally one of the better ways to close it down. While this comes at the sacrifice of any unsaved work, it is as simple as pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Case Shift Shift + F3 Case shift is a neat trick for Word. Depending on what you are doing, you may need to type things out in different cases, like title case, caps lock, or all lowercase. If it is already written out, the shortcut Shift + F3 can accomplish this if pressed the correct number of times. ONE PRESS FOR CAPS LOCK two presses for all lowercase Three Presses Sets Your Sentence To Title Case So, are there any shortcuts you use all the time that we didn’t mention? Let us know about them in the comments, and make sure to subscribe to our blog!
Are You Still Working On Your Business? Most entrepreneurs look to other entrepreneurs to provide the knowledge base they need to successfully grow their businesses. That means when your business has grown to the point where you need to shift your strategy, you’ve actually already made it. It’s likely that while your business was in its infancy, you both worked in it, and tirelessly worked on it. You may not have to work in it as much now, but if you don’t focus on working on it, there are many roadblocks to progress you could encounter. Information Technology’s Role Of course, IT has played an expanded role in businesses for a while now. The only way a business can keep growing is by having efficient operations. Of course, IT helps promote efficiency and security, two major parts of a successful business. As your business enters the mid-market, however, you will likely be looking to expand the technology your business relies on. Solutions like document management, inventory management, and business intelligence typically work off of your other IT initiatives and can help expand your offering by promoting end-to-end efficiency. Management of Growth Some entrepreneurs have a difficult time when their role shifts from team leadership to company leadership. Once a business sees a plateau in growth due to a reluctance to innovate or a failure to properly delegate responsibilities, it may not recover. Once your business has grown to the point where you can’t actually control every move it makes, you need to back off and let the people you pay do their jobs. Failure to do so can even stall a business at a time when it should be advancing and looking to break into new markets and diversify its revenue streams. One of the biggest benefits to company growth is the ability for your team to think independently and solve problems. Entrepreneurs typically hire people that they can control and that agree with them. If you can find skilled labor that can present you with new ideas, and not depend on yes men, your business will be the better for it. Outsourcing Is Effective Sometimes, when your business gets to the point where it isn’t functioning as a small business anymore, the best thing to do is to scale up or back. The easiest way to accomplish this is through outsourcing. There are people in all manners of work that you can lean on to do a job that you wouldn’t need a full-time employee for. These services typically come with favorable financial terms and can be contracted until they complete a job and then let go when they are no longer needed without the problems that accompany turnover in human resources. If your business doesn’t necessarily know where to go from here, call the IT experts at SRS Networks today at (831) 758-3636. We can take you through some options that can provide you with the powerful new tools needed to keep your business growing fast.
Remote Work and Distance Learning While neither working from home or learning online are exactly new, they have exploded in popularity due to recent events. While today’s technology—like Virtual Private Networking, cloud productivity and collaboration tools, and remote monitoring and management—makes these processes much simpler, there are a lot of challenges that these capabilities also present. Considerations like data security, the impact that isolation can have on employees and students alike, and how well certain tasks can be performed are all obstacles to these functions. However, with the right technology, these concerns can be mitigated or resolved so that your processes aren’t left insecure. Online Commerce With the fear that the nature of the current pandemic strikes within so many, combined with the restrictions and safeguards that businesses have put into place, alternative means of doing business have become a huge priority. Specifically, online commerce, the perfect joining of business and social distancing. With businesses no longer able to operate in the way that they are used to, embracing the capabilities that the Internet provides will be critical to their survival. There are still safeguards that naturally need to take place when selling goods and services, only added to those that selling these goods and services online always come with. However, these safeguards are what will help to protect your clients and customers, and therefore preserve your business moving forward as revenue comes in. Digital and Contactless Payments In those businesses whose operations aren’t well-suited to transition to online, alternative means of accepting payment will be important for businesses to adopt so that infection can be minimized as much as possible. With digital payments coming into the fore, this is now made much simpler. Contactless digital payments and online payments alike give you, your clients, and customers an added level of safety and security. Communications Okay, we promised to mention something silly, and here it is. With many people wearing face masks to help stem the spread of COVID-19, a lot of people have discovered a few minor (but frustrating) challenges in doing so. For instance, communications. When wearing a mask, speaking on the phone can become challenging, which is why there is now another device—the c-mask, a smart mask—available to assist them. I wish I was kidding about this, but there is now a device available to attach over your face mask that connects to a mobile device via Bluetooth and allows you to dictate messages and send calls, even translating them to a different language with a subscription. It might look kind of weird, but if it works well, that’s pretty neat. Otherwise, the pandemic has also put the importance of communication to the fore, while 5G and other useful communication technologies have unfortunately been delayed. Hopefully, the issues surrounding 5G will be addressed and overcome so that 5G can be used to help benefit businesses as they regroup and recover. How has your business used technology to sustain itself? Share your experience in the comments!
If you’re a G Suite user, it is almost certain that you repeatedly return to a few documents more often than you do others. Navigating to these documents through Google Drive can get frustrating after a time, so by creating a dedicated bookmark for them, you can bypass your folder hierarchy and get down to business much faster. The process to add one of your Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets to your bookmarks is quite simple: Access your Google Drive. Once there, find and open the document you want to save as a bookmark. In the Address Bar, click the star icon at the right side. A small drop-down menu will appear. Set the name of your shortcut, select Bookmarks bar as the folder it will appear in, and click Done. And just like that, you’ll have an easy means of accessing one of your most-used documents quickly and easily. Subscribe to our blog today for more handy and useful tips!
Seriously, Have You Noticed How Many People Resort to Waving? Think back to the last remote meeting you participated in. You and the other members of the meeting log in, the requisite business is completed, and as everyone signs off… goodbye waves are exchanged? But why? Why do we suddenly feel obligated to wave goodbye to people that we’re meeting with, just because the format of the meeting has changed? According to some experts of behavioral studies, it is this change that is to blame. These waves—and other odd new habits—are nothing but our subconscious attempts to maintain some normalcy as we communicate remotely. Why These Habits Have Normalized Therapists have postulated that, as our typical communications were so suddenly altered by necessity, we have adapted to the relative limitations of remote collaboration and communally developed a new etiquette. Despite their considerable utility (particularly as of late) remote conferencing and other similar solutions have a few downsides that must be considered, largely due to physical limitations. Let’s look at the basic science behind these tools. Your camera and microphone take in information, convert it into a format that can be sent digitally, send it to the person you are conversing with, and once it arrives, translate it back into a format that your collaborator can comprehend, seeing what you said and did. While this all can be completed at a remarkably fast speed, it is far from instant, and still takes relatively much longer than it would if you and your collaborator were speaking face-to-face. Take things like slow internet speeds and other delays, and some delay is effectively unavoidable. The result: awkward pauses, sudden interruptions, and the other issues that so many remote conferences and meetings suffer from. In response, we’ve learned how to incorporate nonverbal communications into our mid-meeting body language, almost subconsciously. Rather than just pressing a button to disconnect from a meeting if the need arises, we take the moment to excuse ourselves from the group and announce our departure via a quick wave to everyone else. It is also likely that you and your team are feeling isolated, as interaction is likely at a horribly low point. This, it is hypothesized, has led to overcompensation. This overcompensation could include nodding along as people speak, raising a hand to signify that you have something to contribute, as well as the farewell waves that so many have adopted as they sign off. How to Communicate Better with Nonverbal Cues Such signals can help to push your conversations forward as you are working remotely. By adding another layer of meaning to what is said, your conversations can move along and be more informative. You’ve likely seen many of these cues in your own experience: Accenting Gesturing or otherwise using your body language to emphasize points and draw attention to certain details. Complementing Matching the language used with the emotion that your body language conveys. Contradiction Alternatively, intentionally mismatching your language to your body language to draw attention. Repetition Returning to and building upon your message over and over to help reinforce it. Substitution Expressing your opinion physically, rather than verbally, to make your message overwhelmingly clear. Looking pleased when you’re pleased, and vice versa. Of course, there are other nonverbal cues that deserve some honorable mention: Backchannels, such […]
1. Security Let’s consider the amount and kind of data that your business accesses, compared to what is assembled on your home network. While your own data is obviously important, the data you have on everyone else is what can get you into serious legal trouble for your business. Therefore, you need to ensure that your router has been configured to be as secure as possible. For instance, you should have a firewall in place to protect your incoming traffic. Any connection that is made to the Internet through your Wi-Fi router could potentially let in a threat, so you need to make sure that you’re mitigating these risks with an enterprise-level firewall. Furthermore, you should make sure that your Wi-Fi router is built with the hardware that a commercial-level router will use. 2. Size The size of your network should be considered as you determine the router that you should be using. In addition to your workstations, you have a sizable number of devices connected to your Internet, including your laptops, tablets, point-of-sale systems, connected printers, and mobile devices. Balancing your network between devices that need to be hardwired and those that can serve you just as well when connected over Wi-Fi should be a priority. 3. Support Levels Depending on how your business is set up, whether you have multiple locations or just one, you may need to have a different kind of router. An edge router is great for sending information from one network to another, while a branch router is suited for an internal network. Of course, the devices that your operations need will be impacted by a variety of circumstances. If your business takes up a large area, or shares space with multiple businesses or residential spaces, or if you will need to support guest users on a regular basis, your required support levels will vary. For more assistance with your Wi-Fi and your other business networking needs, turn to SRS Networks today. Our professionals and their expertise are only a call to (831) 758-3636 away.
2. Ensure Backup Procedures Are Checked Regularly – Many times business owners think that they have a backup system in place only to find out after it’s too late that it hasn’t been working properly. It may seem like your files are being backed up daily, however, the backup could have become corrupt or it is not backing up huge chunks of critical data. Check your backup procedures regularly to ensure they are working properly in order to be sure that ALL of your data can be recovered. In the age of BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Devices) it is also important to frequently backup data on your employee’s personal laptops, iPads or Blackberrys, so make sure you have a procedure in place to check those backups as well. 3. Make Sure Updated Virus Protection and Firewalls Are Always Enabled – Far too many companies either have no virus protection, expired virus software licenses, or disabled virus programs that aren’t running at all. This makes their business technology vulnerable to virus attacks from emails, spam, data downloads, and unreputable websites. Further, because of inadequate firewall protection about 40% of small to medium businesses will have their network accessed by a hacker. Chances are, when these businesses are attacked they will be entirely unaware it is happening. In order to protect your valuable data and assets, ensure your virus protection is adequate, up-to-date and functioning properly and that your firewall is intact. Finally, don’t forget to update security patches and change passwords when an employee leaves in order to deter hacking attempts. 4. Monitor Server Drives – Dangerously full server drives can bring their own set of problems – ranging from program and server crashes to sluggish email delivery. Proactive monitoring and maintenance of your server can spare your business a lot of problems down the road. 5. Regularly Check Critical Built-In Logs – Very few problems with technology emerge suddenly. These problems typically progress over time and evolve into more serious problems. Frequently review your critical built-in log files to help identify the problem before it has gotten out of control and wreaks havoc on your business infrastructure.
1. How often is employee productivity and customer accessibility or service stalled each day from a downed network or system? 2. How much downtime can your business truly afford and what kind of backup or recovery solutions are in effect when systems are unavailable? 3. What level of IT support can be accessed? Can it be accessed quickly enough to minimize damage? Are you confident that your business can either be back online or be able to access lost data with minimal disruption, no matter what? 4. Is your most critical data frequently backed up? Is the data on the personal laptops, iPads or Blackberrys of employees backed up? Are all backups stored in a location off-site and quickly accessible in the event of theft, fire or flooding? Are you using any custom installed software and is the supplier still in business should this software need to be re-installed or updated? Are account details, licensing agreements, and security settings somewhere on record, and is it duplicated off-site? 5. Are your systems truly protected from theft, hackers, and viruses? Are passwords to sensitive data changed whenever employees leave the company or business unit? 6. When was the last time you tested backup processes to ensure they are working properly? How quick were your back ups? Answering these questions will help you understand if you are needlessly bleeding money every day by subjecting your business to the high hourly rates, service charges, trip fees and wait times of on-call IT support. If you are an SMB, you don’t have to fear technology failure. A trusted MSP can help you resolve these challenges in a more effective and efficient manner.
While corporate-level data losses and insider theft are well publicized, many smaller businesses have also become casualties of data loss and theft. Following a significant data loss, it is estimated that a small-to-medium sized business can lose up to 25% in daily revenue by the end of the first week. Projected lost daily revenue increases to 40% one month into a major data loss. According to The National Archives & Records Administration in Washington, 93% of companies that have experienced data loss, coupled with prolonged downtime for ten or more days, have filed for bankruptcy within twelve months of the incident while 50% wasted no time and filed for bankruptcy immediately. Finally, 43% of companies with no data recovery and business continuity plan actually go out of business following a major data loss. Still, a survey conducted by Symantec SMB revealed that fewer than half of SMBs surveyed backup their data each week. Only 23% of those surveyed said they backup data every day and have a business continuity plan in place. Businesses play on a much bigger playing field than they did two decades ago. Any disruptive technological event – even the smallest of incidents – can have an amplified impact on day-to-day business and profitability. Being proactive with data recovery solutions, and having emergency response procedures in place prior to a disruption or data disaster, is the only way to minimize downtime and soften the impact of such events.
Defining a Twitter Thread A Twitter Thread is pretty much what it says on the box: a chain of tweets, posted one after another, all continuing a connected train of thought. Because Twitter was founded on a principle of sound-byte sharing, this capability to string thoughts together makes a lot of sense, especially to the business trying to get their message across. Think about it—not only are you able to share a lot of information with your audience, you are able to do so in a way that encourages them to read into it, and is easily followed. Let’s review the process of creating one of these threads. Open Twitter on your preferred platform (whether that’s the website, the Android application, or the iOS application) and select Tweet. This button will be in the left-hand sidebar on the web, while it will be on the bottom right-hand corner of the application timeline. Write your tweet, taking care to number it somehow to make it clear where it falls in your thread. Once your tweet is completed, select the Plus (+) button at the bottom right-hand corner of your display. A new tweet box will appear, and you can continue your thoughts by repeating this process. You can also go back to your previous tweets to edit them as needed. There is also the option for you to create a thread from one of your past tweets as well. Visit that tweet in the mobile application and select the Add another Tweet button, and repeat the process outlined above. In this way, even a social media platform can serve your business well. For more technology tips for business success, subscribe to our blog!