Future Proofing Your Business and Reduce IT Downtime With The Cloud

When you want to turn on lights in your house you don't start up your own generator. You connect to the power lines out the front of your house and pay for someone else to manage the power grid. Cloud Computing technologies can be thought of similarly. There are a number of companies out there investing significantly in IT infrastructure and cloud computing solutions so, for a small monthly fee, you can remove the stress and costs associated with IT infrastructure. You can almost certainly also guarantee that you will see massive increases in IT uptime.

Another great benefit of cloud computing is you can ensure the safety and security of your data. Your Cloud Computing provider will ensure your data is backed up regularly so you don't lose any of your information. In the current climate, information is critical yet many businesses not utilising cloud computing are not adequately protecting their information.

There are some issues with infrastructure and Internet access - you cannot access your files unless you have access to the Internet. But, the benefit of the Cloud is that if your Internet goes down (at the office for example) you can access your files on another computer that has Internet access - no matter where you are in the world.

Some businesses have expressed concern regarding data security - they want to know who owns their data and what laws users are bound by. It is important that you read the terms and conditions carefully to ensure your option is satisfactory.

Cloud computing is good because these businesses have bigger server centres than you do. They can provide you with uptime guarantees that you won't get from your own equipment - the reputation of these cloud companies depends on it. Navigating the minefield that is choosing a cloud IT service provider is complex. If you would like some no obligation advice about the options available then get in touch today.

Hamish Jones is the Managing Director of Best Business Deals, a premium provider of hosted PBX and other solutions If you are interested in finding out more about hosted PBX can help your business, get in touch with the team at Best Business Deals today.

Source

Boosting Internet Access Resilience, ISP Multihoming Explained

Abstract

Internet access for organisations today is no longer about connectivity for email and web browsing. A stable Internet connection is a vital component in the chain of IT systems required to conduct business. Typically, in the past, the focus around Internet connectivity has been on cost, with vendors providing solutions allowing organisations to spread their traffic across consumer and enterprise products. This approach is all good and well, and can provide significant cost savings, especially when employee traffic is directed over low-cost consumer products such as ADSL, however, when you are conducting B2B business through front end servers hosted in your DMZ, resilience becomes a major concern. In this scenario, a dead Internet link can mean loss of revenue and even, potentially more serious, brand damage. In this paper we discuss a number of methods that can be used to improve the resilience of an Internet link. While this sounds like it should be a simple case of connecting to multiple Internet Service Providers, the devil as they say, is in the detail.

Mission critical Internet

Business networks have been mission critical for some time now and the focus on resilience and business continuity has always been top of any CIO's mind, however, the general areas of interest for this focus were restricted to internal networks and systems. With more and more business being conducted either directly via the web or via B2B over Internet links to systems hosted in DMZ's, it is simply no longer permissible for an Internet link to be down. Loss of access to the Internet can have a direct impact on revenue generation, especially today as the business operating models begin shifting towards off site cloud computing and software as a service.

A solution to the problem

Multihoming is essentially a method whereby a company can connect to more than one ISP at the same time. The concept was born out of the need to protect Internet access in the event of either an ISP link failure or an ISP internal failure. In the earlier days of Internet access, most traffic was outbound with the exception of email. An Internet link failure left internal users with no browsing capability and with email backing up on inbound ISP mail gateways. Once the link was restored so was browsing and email delivery. The direct impact to the business was relatively small and mostly not revenue effecting. Early solutions to this problem were to connect multiple links to the same ISP, but while this offered some level of link resilience, it could provide no safeguards against an internal ISP failure.

Today, however, most organisations deploy a myriad of on-site Internet accessible services such as VPN's, voice services, webmail and secure internal system access while also making use of business critical off site services such as software as a service (SaaS) and other cloud based solutions. Furthermore, while corporate front-end websites are traditionally hosted offsite with web hosting firms, the real-time information on the corporate websites and B2B sites is provided by back-end systems based in the corporate data centre or DMZ. Without a good quality Internet connection, these vital links would be severed.

Varied requirements and complexity

That said, the requirement for multihoming are varied and could range from the simple need for geographic link diversity (single ISP) to full link and ISP resilience where separate links are run from separate data centres to different ISP's. While the complexity varies for each option, the latter forms the most complex deployment option, but affords the highest availability, with the former providing some degree of protection, but does requiring a higher grade of ISP.

A major component of the complexity comes in around IP addressing. The way the Internet IP addressing system works is that each ISP applies for a range of addresses from the central Internet registrar in their region. They would then allocate a range of IP addresses, called an address space, to their customers from this pool. It goes without saying that no two ISP's can issue the same address space to a customer.

Why would this be a problem? Simply put, it's all about routing. Routing is the process whereby the Internet finds out how to get traffic to your particular server. It's a bit like the Google map for the Internet. For somebody to find your server, a "route" or path needs to exist to the IP address of your server. Since you are getting your Internet service, and hence your IP address space, from your ISP, they are responsible for publishing the route to your server across the entire Internet. They are effectively the source of your route and nobody else can do that for your particular address space. You can see how things can go wrong if the ISP suffers some form of internal failure. If your particular route disappeared, your server would simply vanish from the Internet, even if your Internet link was up and running. This is precisely the kind of issue multihoming tries to solve, but for completeness we will start at the more simple options and work our way up.

Single Link, Single ISP, Multiple address spaces

While not a multihoming solution in the strictest sense of the term, the single link, multiple address option can be useful for small sites. In this scenario the publicly accessible host is assigned two IP addresses from two different address spaces. You would, of course, need two address spaces from your ISP for this to work. Thus, theoretically, if a routing issue occurs that impacts one of the address spaces the other may still be available. The single physical ISP link is of course a single point of failure and this option would seem to offer little in the form of real resilience.

Multiple links, Single ISP, Single address spaces per link

This scenario, generally called multi-attached, is a variation on the above where the site now connects through multiple links each with a different IP address space, but still via single ISP. If one of the links fails, its IP addresses would become unreachable, however the other IP address on the remaining link will still be available and your server would still be reachable. Internet Service Providers use a control protocol to manage their IP routes called Border Gateway Protocol or BGP. This protocol is used to manage the traffic re-routing over the live link. BGP can be complex and demands at lot from the equipment it runs on. Of course, with complexity comes cost, however, the BGP deployment for this scenario is not as onerous as with a fully multihomed site and should not attract too much attention from the CFO. While the deployment is a simpler version of full multihoming, it does restrict the corporate to a single ISP, which may not be part of the strategic intent of the business.

Multiple Links, Multiple ISP, Single address space

This scenario is what is generally meant when discussing multihoming. The BGP protocol is used to manage the visibility of the single address space across the multiple links and ISP's and, thus, maintain the routes. The BGP protocol communicates between the corporate routers and those of the two ISP's with the protocol being able to detect link failure and divert traffic to the functioning link even if this is via a different ISP network.

What's the catch?

There is always a catch, and in this case there are actually a number of them. To run true dual ISP multihoming and BGP as a corporate you would need your own Provider Independent (PI) IP address space and you would need to apply for a unique BGP Autonomous System Number (ASN). The AS Number is used to identify your site as a valid Internet location in the eyes of BGP. While applying for an ASN is not an onerous undertaking, it does place some significant responsibility squarely with you instead of the ISP. Deploying BGP effectively brings your organisation one step closer to the Internet by making you responsible for advertising your own public IP address spaces and, thus, your routes. It also means that any operational mistakes you make will ripple through the entire Internet in spectacular fashion.

Address space considerations

Most large organisations that operate true multihoming already have their own Provider Independent address space. This is an address space that they requested directly from the local Internet registrar themselves some time ago, before IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses started running out. Today it is virtually impossible to be allocated a PI address space from the IPv4 pool. It is possible to run a multihomed scenario by using ISP provided IP address spaces, but the network configurations become considerably more complex and at some point start defeating the end goal of increasing resilience. In the real world, increased complexity seldom equates to improved resilience.

Scaling

A true BGP enabled multihoming deployment (often known as running defaultless) will require hardware that is capable of storing IP routing tables of Internet scale. This is desirable as it protects the organisation from an internal ISP failure, however requires the routers on-site to be of a "carrier grade", in other words, big and beefy. The Internet routing tables are massive and vast amount of processing power and memory will be required to run defaultless. It is possible to run in a reduced route mode where only local prefixes are stored on the routers, but given the effort and expense of deploying a full multihomed solution, compromise should not really be part of the conversation.

Summary

While there are definite advantages to full multihoming, there are also some significant caveats. Complexity and scaling aside the real reasons and costs for considering multihoming should be carefully considered.

That said, for a highly Internet dependent organisation there is no better way to ensure high availability and performance than through true multihoming. A Provider Independent IP address space will be required as well as carrier grade routers configured in a geographically diverse manner and supported by suitably qualified support staff. The benefits can outweigh the costs when direct revenue is generated through the Internet, and multihoming can, thus, be seen not only as a strategic business initiative, but also something that can help CIO's sleep well at night.

Source

All About Your Choice Of Headsets

Most people work in business offices. And quite unsurprisingly, office injuries account for a significant bulk of issues that adults consult about. What is surprising is that even office personnel whom one might think would be immune from these woes do indeed suffer work-related injuries like back pain, tennis elbow and neck strain.

One major reason for this is poor choice and placement of equipment. Desks are placed either too low or too high while office chairs have inadequate back support. For people who spend a significant amount of their work hours performing other tasks while answering the phone, neck strain results from the practice of cradling the handset between the shoulder and the neck.

One quick and simple remedy to avoid this is simply to purchase headsets. But with so many models out in the market, how do you know that you are choosing and buying the right one?

While a corded headset is a big leap from your regular telephone headset, there is still much to want from these headsets. For one, movement is still limited as the user is tethered to his or her desk through the headset's cords. Second, the user cannot answer calls when he or she is not at the work desk.

With wireless headsets, the user is free to type into the computer while answering a phone call. The user can even rummage for files in the other office or simply refill his or coffee mug without disengaging from the phone conversation.

There are three common types of cordless headsets to choose from: the DECT Wireless, the 2.4 GHz Wireless and the Bluetooth Wireless. A DECT wireless headset operates on a radio frequency between 1.92 to 1.93 GHz, similar to the ones used in cordless phones. The drawback for this type of headset is its limited range. A 2.4 GHz headset, on the other hand, has a wider range and is compatible with more telephones. Headsets that use Bluetooth operate on the same principle used in phones and computers for the transmission of data and are typically used for cellphones.

In purchasing a headset, the type of microphone and overall design are also crucial. Among the most common microphones used for wireless headsets are omnidirectional, bi-directional and inline microphones. Your choice will ultimately depend on the level of noise in your work environment. A cordless headset may be designed either with a headband or an earpiece. Your choice will depend on the level of comfort you are after and overall call quality. So check this out to know more.

Check out more wireless headsets here.

Source

Procuring Calling Cards Online - Save Money and Avoid Bad Deals

There are many outlets offering calling cards for making domestic as well as international cards. One could buy such cards online or from one of the retail stores.

It is desirable and often suggested to buy such cards through a reputed online source, rather than buying the same from retail stores. However, sometimes it may not be possible, for instance, when you are traveling. In case you can plan your requirements beforehand, you'll certainly get better value for your money and eliminate the possibility of getting scammed.

If you are wondering why it is recommended to buy online, here are the major reasons for that:

- You can compare the offers of different online vendors.
- The company's reputation can be checked easily by going through the complaints posted by other buyers.
- Shady companies find it difficult to conceal rates and fees of the calling cards.
- Apart from the prices of various cards, you can also know their special features.
- Advanced features such as speed dialing and PIN-less dialing makes things easier.

Ultimately, you conveniently can get the best deals for calling cards as per your specific requirements, if you patronize online shopping.

Bad calling cards deals are more likely in stores

Well, there may be some bad online providers of cards, but it has been realized that most bad card deals are associated with new or unpopular brands of calling cards, and these are mostly sold through convenience or retail stores. Cards with renowned brand name,s whether sold through online or physical stores, are less likely to be involved in scams.

An important contributory factor in this regard is the packaging. Cards that are sold through stores contain a very limited information as the size of the card is bit too small to give detailed information. Moreover, incidents of shoplifting and inadequate security compel store owners to restrict browsing and comparing different cards. This encourages corrupt companies to indulge in malpractices by promising more than what they can deliver.

If at all, you must buy calling card from a store, be sure to buy a reputed brand or a card that you have already purchased and you were happy with the results.

Where to purchase cards online

You'll find scores of websites selling calling cards, and also prepaid cards for phones. You can very conveniently locate them by carrying simple Google searches. Perhaps you could ask some of your friends for additional help and suggestions.

After having located a likely vendor, you should look for the following:

1. Find out all applicable fees and rates. Patronize vendors that have adequately displayed this information.
2. Make sure that you go through the contents in fine print as vendors often conceal real fees under terms and conditions. When locating any additional fee hidden there, you should look for some other card.
3. You must compare prices of at least two vendors. Compare their prices, facilities available, selection of cards on offer and choose the one that most matches your requirements.
4. Other than the vendors, you must compare calling cards of three companies, carefully studying the price and features. You'll notice a wide variation of prices.
5. Find out the complaint history of the vendor. You may use Google search with "complaint" or "review" as the keyword for the chosen vendor.

Looking to purchase calling cards and phone cards? Visit our website for some great deals!

Source

Does Your Organization Follow Quality Assurance Standards for Federal Contracting?

The twenty-first century has witnessed several technological advancements coupled with evolution and expansion of numerous IT companies. It is essential for all these organizations to follow quality assurance standards while producing and marketing various technological products. Generally, federal contracts comprise specific quality standards that are listed in the Request for Proposal (RFP). The type or level of the quality standard will depend upon the service or product they prefer to go for.

One of the best techniques to assure federal agents is to present them a well documented quality assurance program. Such program will convince quality and reliability of your manufactured products to the purchasing agents. Your QA program should include crucial elements such as product specifications, inspection, company overview, product evaluation, calibration, testing and monitoring.

As a business owner, you need to prepare a well written quality assurance manual in accordance with the federal acquisition regulations. This will help you to convince your government customer that your products or services meet the specific contract requirements. A well developed QA manual attract and assure several federal agents to opt for your services. It even helps you to save your money, by assisting you to identify the problematic areas that need to be rectified with right measures. A good quality assurance manual will make you verify every aspect of your operating and manufacturing process as well as make you analyze the outcomes of the processes appropriately. The data that you will derive from such detailed verification will assist you to make right modifications, which are essential to enhance your product to comply with the acceptable standards.

For an instance, a manufacturing organization can enhance the quality and reliability of its products by introducing a quality control process to ensure that the end product can meet all the federal acquisition regulations. You can derive greater benefits by setting up a good quality control system. Such effective control system will even help you to reduce the operational and material expenses. Thus, you can prevent extravagant expenditure. Apart from these, by enhancing your processes you can impress your customers and impact your bottom line.

A high grade of quality assurance program will assist you to enhance durability and reliability of your product. The organizations that are looking forward to do business with federal government need to present reliable data. This is so, because reliability of the product will ensure the ability of a product to serve the customers and meet all their criteria. Moreover, reliability is counted as a crucial part of quality of your product. The federal agency will assure the quality of your service or products by reviewing the inspection system, quality assurance procedure or any other kind of method that is practiced to convince contract compliance.

It is advisable to be aware of the fact that the QA programs fall in Part 46 of the federal acquisition regulation (FAR). In addition, any language which is used in an RFP relating to quality control is in accordance with the FAR language. Invest your efforts in quality assurance program and reap its benefits with greater acceptance for your services in various federal contracting opportunities.

Find more federal regulations and public notices at http://www.noticeandcomment.com/

Source

How to Decide Whether You Need an Ordinary Mobile Phone or a Smartphone

A mobile phone or a cellular phone is a communication device that allows you to make or receive telephone calls through a radio link, within a wide geographic area, even if you are moving around within that area. The first mobile phone was demonstrated by Motorola in 1973 and it weighed nearly 2.2 pounds or 1 kg. After that, the use of mobile phones has been increasing steadily over the years and now nearly 87% of the global population uses cellular phones. Apart from telephone calls, mobile phones also offer other services like text messaging (SMS), video messaging (MMS), Internet access, email, gaming, photography, short-rage wireless communications through Bluetooth or infrared and business applications.

Major Global Cellular Phone Manufacturers

At the end of the fourth quarter of 2012, Samsung was leading the mobile phone market, with a market share estimated at 22.8%. The market share of Nokia and Apple were 18.0% and 9.5% respectively. ZTE had a share of 3.5%, while the market share of LG and Huawei was about 3.3% at the end of 2012.

What is Difference between Mobile Phone and Smartphone?

A smartphone has more advanced computing capabilities and connectivity compared to the standard feature phone. The major addition in a smartphone is the personal digital assistant, while portable media players, GPS navigation units, pocket video cameras, etc. are the other functionalities available in a smartphone. A smartphone requires a good software or operating system (OS) to support its various features and functionalities. The most popular operating systems available in the latest smartphone are Android of Google, iOS of Apple, Symbian of Nokia, BlackBerry OS of RIM, Bada of Samsung, Windows Phone of Microsoft, webOS of HP and embedded Linux software like MeeGo and Maemo.

Sales and Improvements of Smartphone

The sale of the smartphone has been much higher than that the standard mobile phone from the beginning of 2013 and people are focusing more on smartphone due to the lowering of the prices and the wide ranges available to them to select from at various price structures. Further, the improvements to the smartphone have been quite significant. The display sizes and display resolutions have been steadily increasing. The present display sizes of the smartphone vary between 6 and 8 inches, while the resolutions range between 240x320 pixels to 1080x1920 pixels. Another major advantage of Smartphone is that it allows direct connectivity with various social media sites likes Facebook, Twitter, etc. with a single touch. Hence, the trend is shifting towards the smartphone from the conventional cellular phone and you should go with it.

Sales of inbluemall smartphones have overtaken that of the conventional inbluemall cell phone or mobile phone in recent times. The future of communication is going to be smartphone with more features at lower prices.

Source

Infographics and Data Visualization - A Better Way for Associations to Get the Message Through

The recent upswing of information graphics and data visualization is not a surprise anymore. More and more companies are using infographics to communicate their messages and reach target audiences.

In today's busy world, nobody has the time to go over extensive publications or hard to read tables and graphs. With over 90% of the information we remember being visual, infographics are here to stay for a long time.

And yet, having a closer look at some of the communication tools European associations are using to reach their membership across Europe and EU officials, infographics are not so popular. Parts of the problem lies with the fact that European associations do not have a full picture of the benefits infographics bring to them and their members.

So what are the benefits for associations to use more infographics?

For a start, infographics allow representation of your raw data in a clear and simpler way. It gives you the opportunity to bring life to your old graphs and tables. More importantly, infographics tell stories which cannot easily be told using standard tools. Infographics put you in control of what message you want to send and how memorable it shall be. Your audience will not remember a bar chart but with the help of infographics they will remember what that bar chart was about.

Secondly, infographics combine interesting data with great design. You might be excited about the benefits of your or your members' services or products but do not expect everyone else to share this. In fact, showing a graph will not be different. However, showing infographics loaded with solid data, attention to detail and beautiful design, will have a greater impact.

Thirdly, infographics show great consideration and professionalism for your audience. At the end of the day, we were all trained (most of us anyway!) to make graphs and charts. Creating infographics is much more than that. It requires good raw data, ability to have a story, create a concept and deliver an effective design. Your members, business partners and other stakeholders will appreciate going the extra mile for them.

Last but not least a few words of advice about infographics

We mentioned the benefits of infogaphics for your association and members and it is important that we close with a few words of advice.

1. Infographics are powerful marketing & communication tools. Poor raw data, misleading or unclear information will never deliver effective infographics.
2. For balanced infographics work with professionals both on content and design.
3. There are several infographics templates around the web free of use. It might be tempted to go for those but your infographics must be unique, customized to your needs and based on your identity.
4. Price: infographics are an investment. Effective infographics are memorable and are to be used along your whole communication & marketing channels.

To support associations with infographics including practical examples, we put together a free Complete Guide on Infographics for European Associations. To get hold of it, drop us an email at info@db-consulting.eu

Source

How to Become a Psychologist

If you have just started considering a career as a psychologist, you might want to take an introductory course in psychology or speak with one or more people in the profession to determine if it is the right choice for you. Once you have done this and are committed to becoming a psychologist, you'll need to do the following:

Step 1: Earn a bachelor's degree

Most psychologists begin their focused study of psychology as undergraduates. This enables them to get a broad base of knowledge within the field and become familiar with different specialties. If you are only deciding on a career in psychology at the conclusion of your college years or after you have finished, however, you might not need to start over. Instead, look for master's programs willing to accept undergraduate degrees in other fields and be willing to make up any deficiencies you might have.

Step 2: Pursue a graduate education in psychology

The graduate degree or degrees you need to earn will depend upon what kind of psychology you want to practice. If you want to be a school psychologist, for instance, you may only need a master's degree rather than a master's and a doctorate - and you might find a degree in educational psychology as advantageous as a more general one. If you are strongly inclined toward clinical practice, you might want to consider a Doctor of Psychology degree rather than the more traditional Ph.D. since this degree will enable you to do less research and focus more on developing your clinical skills.

Many people choose to earn both a master's and Ph.D. in psychology. These degrees can be applied to many different jobs in psychology, including private practice, researcher, academia, and more.

Step 3: Gain experience

Psychologists generally need to gain some amount of supervised work experience before they can practice independently. This might be in the form of an internship during graduate school, a hospital residency after graduate school, or some kind of post-doctoral work. Regardless of the specific situation, though, you'll need to clock a certain number of hours working alongside a senior member of the profession.

Step 4: Get a license

In order to practice psychology, you will most likely need to obtain a license from the state in which you plan to work. This usually requires three things: (1) the required graduate degree(s) for your intended career path, (2) hours of supervised experience (varies from state to state), and (3) an exam. Once you have a license, you may be qualified to fill any number of positions or, if you so choose, open your own practice. In some states, you may need to retake the exam every few years and complete continuing education requirements in order to maintain your licensure.

Step 5: Earn extra credentials

As your career moves forward, you'll undoubtedly want to demonstrate your professional growth and achievement with additional certifications. Various organizations in the field provide these. They often require you to complete some sort of continuing education such as a seminar or workshop in your area of specialization.

Visit GradSchools to find a graduate psychology program that is right for you!

Source

Telecom Rollouts - Logistics Is the Key!

In my 20+ years experience rolling out telecommunications networks (cell site, Wimax, satellites etc), I have managed some of the fastest rollouts in the Telecommunications Industry 410 Cell Sites in 90 days, 1300 nodes in one month and 4,300 nodes in four months. How can such feats be accomplished? You can say, money, resources, time, site acquisition etc., and yes those all play a part in the equation for sure. But when those issues are out-of-the-way, to accomplish it within the time allotted or earlier is logistics.

Normally logistics usually requires the Field Installation Teams to go to the warehouse queue up to get their equipment each morning and then proceed to do their work for the day. This really turns into a nightmare for installers, and wreaks havoc in the schedules. On-the-other hand it puts smiles on the logistics personnel faces because they are controlling all aspects of equipment distribution, equipment losses, and pilferage are reduced to a minimum. However it's not conducive to getting the job done. So what is the happy medium and how do you make the logistics and finance people happy while keeping your installers working while meeting the main objective of getting into business and making a profit? It's mobile logistics.

I introduced a concept a number of years ago and swear by it to get the job done on any rollout and it's been successful every time. And that is the use of large semi-trailer trucks queuing up at the warehouse signing out the equipment and loading it the day before installation and then locking them up at the warehouse. You also can have some intermediate size vans to move equipment quickly in the field as well this is also a nice touch.

The trucks are then moved to preset locations early in the morning throughout the country, state or region and the Field Installation Teams go there to pickup equipment. The trucks move to the work vs. the installer saving money and time, and keeping them focused on the work at hand getting the network up and running in record time. The queues are smaller and the teams stay close to the work.

It also keeps the equipment secure until it's ready to be used. This can be really important in some difficult or not so secure environments. However I have had entire trucks stolen in some rough areas so it's important to find something secure as well when planning the locations and mobility. Another issue encountered is how do you stay in touch with everyone, and I normally opt for some rented handheld UHF radios, CB's or some other radio or if you are lucky another cellular operator's phones.

Also Issues with defective equipment are easily replaced and resolved in the field. However, I also like to set up test rigs at the warehouse to test all equipment before its deployed eliminating defective equipment before it even reaches the field. This saves on installation time and also makes sure things are working in the field when they are suppose to. It also acts as a nice training medium for new employees or contractors unfamiliar with the equipment you are using.

As a project director and/or rollout director I also like to observe in the field what is going on with my logistics you need to keep an eye on it don't leave anything to chance. Otherwise you may find your project in jeopardy. Visit the warehouse(s), know the issues they face, and work with the logistics personnel and managers. They are eager to help also but they also have a job to do even though sometimes it may seem to us in the telecommunications industry as an impediment-it doesn't have to be.

Take care and keep "truck-in" dude! You have any questions contact me at Chris_Watness@hotmail.com or call me directly in the USA at 4048032665.

Source

Communication Is The Heart Of Any Business

There is more than one way to communicate, such as letters, telegrams, telephone calls, and many more ways that two parties can speak to one another. However, while there are many ways to communicate, the problem is that these ways may not be as organized as they can be. A telephone company may offer a business features like the ability to make conference calls, but just being able to do that is not enough for a business that is growing and dealing with clients. With unified communications, a business can get many different sources of communication brought together so it can be used to make a business run even better than it ever has before.

Unifying Communications Systems Is Important

There have been many historical events all around the world that were shaped in one way or another by communication. Wars were won or lost all on the strength or weaknesses of a country's communication system. If communication made a huge difference between winning a war or not, then people can begin to understand just how important it is. With a unified communications system, a business can have all of their forms of communications together, and there are many benefits to this kind of system:

• Makes communicating easier: There are many forms of communications, like instant messages, conference calls, video conferences, and other ways that a business can communicate. Unified communications can combine all different forms of communication into one system, and with this one system, employees can find it a lot easier to be able to use this system.

• Better ways to communicate: Sometimes a business does not have ways to communicate and a unified communication system is going to give communication option that employees never had before. If an employee has a problem with something, and needs to talk to another department, they can use an instant messaging system or even a video chat to get whatever it is they need help with resolved. Using many different ways to communicate is going to make work a lot easier for the employees, and they can also be able to get in touch with the upper management or even the owner of the company thanks to the communication system.

• Many people under one system: Sometimes in an office situation, communication will not be the greatest, and things can get lost or misinterpreted. However, if everyone in the office is under the same communication system, there will be no more problems with things getting lost because there will be system that is safeguarding everything.

When it comes to a communication system, most businesses will look into what a telephone company has to offer in terms of things like email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and other forms of communication. However, though a phone company can offer any features, a unified communications system is much better than just telephone service because with one of these systems, all forms of communication are brought together, and employees can talk to one another any time they need to, which will help everyone work better and as one unit.

You may visit the following URL to learn more about this topic:

Unified Communications

Source

Please Unsubscribe

Not you, of course. I'm not talking to the loyal subscribers who enjoy my articles, who get some value from what I share, who at least open the e-mails to see what I've been up to this week.

I'm talking to those of you whose Inbox is overflowing with marketing e-mails from every store you shop at, daily deals for things you don't really need, and advice from all the gurus you would like to emulate but never do.

I'm talking to those of you who get more marketing e-mails than e-mails from actual people.

I'm talking to those of you who just delete e-mails without opening or reading them because you don't have time, and you know they aren't relevant to you anyway.

I'm talking to those of you who are always trying to "clean out your Inbox" only to have it fill up with junk again.

Just because you signed up for a list, does NOT mean you have to stay on it. In fact, it's better for everybody if you just click the link at the bottom to unsubscribe.

The businesses that are sending you those e-mails won't mind at all. If you aren't ever going to buy something from them, or if you don't get a positive feeling about their brand when you see their e-mails, or gain something from them, or read them at all, then they'd really rather that you unsubscribe... please.

It will make a big difference for you as well. Minimizing unnecessary e-mail can save you a lot of time and stress. It may be difficult for some people to let go, but its critical to take control of your Inbox.

Your Inbox is like your living room. Now that we are many years past SPAM laws, the only people who can communicate with you via e-mail are people to whom you have given your e-mail address. It should be considered a privilege to be there. If someone isn't respecting your space or they are stressing you out, you have every right to ask them to leave.

These days, it is harder to manage than ever. There is so much content being created and sent every day on the entire planet that is accessible to everyone on the Internet. I've heard some statistics recently that are just staggering. Did you know that more written content is being published every 48 hours than was created from the dawn of mankind until 2007?!

What that means is that we must each be more diligent than ever when choosing what content we read and certainly who we invite to our Inbox living room. It can become overcrowded very quickly, and then all communication loses its value because it feels like everyone is just shouting trying to be heard over everyone else.

E-mail communications are a valuable tool when they connect you to people and businesses that you actually like and interact with. So, here are a couple of tips for taking control of your Inbox.

#1 - Identify your tribes
Because of the connectivity of the internet and the amount of content out there, it is possible to connect with like-minded people and groups. When you find your tribe, you feel connected and not pressured or stressed.

Of all the marketing e-mails you get right now, which ones do you actually look forward to getting? Which stores do you love to shop at? Which e-mails feel like they are talking directly to you? Which ones do you enjoy reading?

Identify and prioritize your tribes. Then pick the top ones to keep in your Inbox. I recommend no more than seven. The rest are going to have to go, or it will simply get too crowded.

#2 - Let it go
The e-mails that didn't fit into your list of tribes above -- let them go. If you have feelings of hanging on because you might miss out on something, or miss a deal -- let it go. Guess what? You are going to miss out on things. We all miss out on all kinds of things every day. We just can't get in on everything, and it will make you crazy if you try. But if you unsubscribe, you'll be surprised how much lighter and freer you will feel.

If you have more than seven (or maybe as many as 10) e-mails that you identified as possible tribes, some of those are going to have to be let go, too. It's harder to let go of e-mails in areas that you are interested in. But, honestly, if you get that many e-mails in similar categories, there is probably some repeat information. Pick the people and places that resonate most with you, and let the others go.

#3 - Give trials
Once you have minimized your current list of subscriptions, it doesn't mean you can't ever invite anyone else into your Inbox. You are always welcome to sign up for lists, particularly if you are getting something of value. The initial interaction always gives you a sense for what you will be getting. Then give it a trial period of a couple of weeks to a month. If you aren't benefiting from it, if the e-mails are piling up, if it doesn't feel like a fit for you, then unsubscribe.

I am passionate about good e-mail marketing, but that means I am equally as passionate about bad e-mail marketing. The beauty is that the power is in the recipient's hands. I encourage you to use your power and take control of your Inbox today.

Sarah Schwab is the Founder and President of My Client Communications. She helps small businesses attract more clients online, especially those who struggle with technology or design. Find out more about her approach to online marketing, including the one thing you must have in place to convert website visitors into paying clients, in her F.R.E.E. report: "5 Steps to Attracting More Clients Online." Get your report today at http://www.myclientcommunications.com/

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But you MUST include the paragraph above. Thanks!

Source

How Do You Recognize When Webinar Training Is an Effective Medium?

Webinar training has captured the imagination of many corporate trainers, but is it an effective medium? How do you know when webinar training is appropriate and when a different medium is a better choice? Below are a few key points to keep in mind when considering using a webinar for training your team.

Geography and travel - Webinars are often preferred when participants are scattered across the country or when timing makes traditional training impractical. Even if great distances are not involved, for example, if you have several small offices within 30 minutes of each other, short travel requirements can still affect productivity. By holding a webinar, you can bring the team together virtually and eliminate travel completely.

Timing - Even when everyone is centrally located, timing often brings challenges. For example, if your office has two shifts, you could hold a webinar in the morning and ask your night shift to participate remotely. Likewise, you could record the earlier meeting and make it available to your second shift workers to view later.

Technical considerations - Do all of your trainees have access to a compatible computer or device? Will they need to install software? How will they interact with the trainer during the webinar (via phone, web chat, or a microphone)? Is the webcasting software easy to use or do you need to train trainees in how to participate in the webinar? If you plan on doing webinar training frequently and have invested in webcasting software, this consideration will become less of a concern the more your team uses the platform.

Type of content - Some training topics lend themselves to webinar training while others are better suited to face-to-face sessions. If you need to observe trainees in order to provide feedback, a more traditional training session may be the better choice. On the other hand, if you will be training employees in how to use new software, using a webinar along with screen-sharing technology is a great way to help new users become familiar with the software.

Recordings - If the training material is appropriate for either a webinar or an in-person training session, geography and timing aren't an issue, the technology is in place, and you could go either way, the deciding factor could involve the ability to easily record the training. With webinar software, a few clicks of the mouse are all it takes to create a recording for later use. This ensures that absentees can receive the same training after the fact. Recording a webinar is also useful for training new hires or sharing a training session with a wider audience.

Knowing when to hold a webinar and when to hold a traditional meeting is crucial to the success of your event. Webinar training can be convenient and effective, especially when the topic lends itself to the medium. By eliminating travel and allowing absentees, your webinar can also save time. If you record your webinar, you can allow those who missed it the first time to watch it later. The webinar can even continue to deliver results as new hires join your team.

Mark Phillips has experience conducting lectures through webinar services from MediaPlatform for one of his presentation. He has worked in the IT industry for a number of years and loves to write about his experience. To know more about Mark, connect with him over at Google+.

Source

Metal People Are the Backbone of Society

The elements in feng shui are directly related to properties of the earth. Each of these properties has its own structure, specific components, and their own personalities. Just like us, some of these elements work very well together, and sometimes not!

In feng shui, the metal element represents structure, integrity and discipline. Metal people are introverts, and more methodical than the others. They like to work with numbers, finite issues and can easily refer to the Policy and Procedures in their company. They are the best people to look after the company records, shipping documents, legal and accounting issues. Some are entrusted to an IT position or emergency services; also positions that require disciplines. Often employed in a sector involving precision and accountability, these people are extremely trustworthy. Metal people are famous for being brilliant, organized and meticulous.

You can find them in areas of power and influence, or they could be tradespeople, working with their hands and motivated by achieving tangible results.

Common Metal-dominant Professions:

BankersLawyersInsurance brokersLaw and Safety enforcementScheduler or Programmer ArchitectureDraftingEngineeringTool makerMechanicDoctors and SurgeonsEngineers

You can often recognize a metal person by the way they present themselves. You will find them neatly put together, tucked in, wearing plain black, brown or grey colours. They will have their home and office sparsely furnished and everything neatly lined up. Their no-nonsense approach reflects on their career choice which will be focused on precision and liability.

While many of us prefer to look for entertainment, or perhaps the lighter side of things, the metal people are destined to observe and report inaccuracies of things that don't make sense. Traits such as discipline, accountability, accuracy, safety and integrity are all metal qualities. Used in extreme, these traits alone can produce an unemotional, hard-core, unrelenting, strict, dictator in a parent or a boss role. Used in combination with the other elements: the reckless abandon and wild ideas of the wood people, the stand-up-and-speak-out qualities of the fire people and the loving, nurturing qualities of the earth people,... metal energy people are definitely required to fill the balance in life.

The earth has amazing properties; wood, fire, earth, metal and water. These properties all have a function. They interact uniquely with one another in order to provide a balance. Regardless of your own personal element, we all require qualities from the metal element to function in society. We all have 'metal moments' when we need to focus on a situation where there is no tolerance for error: balance the cheque book, assess the visa statement, deal with mortgages, insurances, and even rules of the road.

The longer we live and the more of life's lessons we accomplish, the more balanced we will become. The properties of metal energy and their place in the cycle of life can help us to live full and balanced lives.

Related to the Five Element theory's in feng shui; taking the Personal Element Profile Quiz (PEP) can give you insight to your dominant personality, how to deal with stressors and how to deal with people. Often, the way a person is dressed or even their actions at that moment can give you clues as to which element they are and how to approach that person. (ie: client, customer, spouse, child, neighbour, etc.) Check out the book, Practical Feng Shui for the Office to see how to work with all the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. http://www.practicalfengshuifortheoffice.com/ or view related information through the website: http://www.kathrynwilking.com/

Source

The Ideology Behind Newspapers Is Not Obsolete

What source of communication do you choose to get your daily news from? The Internet? Radio? National news programs on television? The newspaper? Although newspapers seem to have gotten bushwhacked in the digital era, they are far from becoming obsolete as many predict them to be. Aside from the nostalgia of newspapers, they are the cornerstone for providing access to high quality news content. In no uncertain terms, newspapers and magazines were part of the revolutionary channels of social media.

Flipping through the pages of sections in the newspaper (headlines, politics, sports, food, religion, comics, and obituaries) supplied a forum or platform where news was the informational, entertaining and educational resource for local, national and worldwide events. Advertisements, patrons and subscribers continue to funnel the revenue needed to support the daily press. The popularity of journalism and the detailed contributions of reporters add the type of quality and newsworthy events that lure readers into wanting more. American newspapers began in the early 18th century. In the struggle to survive, some start-up newspapers did not continue to exist due to a paper shortage or lack of sales.

The network of American newspaper publications includes well-recognized circulations such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal and The Boston Globe. When most newspapers began, they were published and distributed starting with a monthly edition, moving to a few times a week, and then grew to daily distribution. It was once a common occurrence to see people reading a newspaper in barbershops, hotel lobbies, in a diner, on a park bench, in the lavatory or while getting their shoes shined. Today news can be read on mobile devices, computer notepads, as well as through traditional mediums, any place at any time.

The philosophy of newspapers is reflected in our First Amendment that grants us the freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. They include commentaries, editorials, advertisements and information about human-interest stories, the weather and even the economy. In order to keep up with the competition of reporting today's minute-by-minute breaking news, newspapers added digitized versions of their publications.

News in today's society is inescapable. Newspapers are the pioneers of press-distributed information on a wide scale, which kept the general public in the know. Although hard copy versions of newspapers have decreased in distribution, they still have their loyal following of readers. Without linotype, the method of creating movable type by machine instead of by hand, pressrooms around the world would never have been able to give the populace a way to effectively and efficiently stay in touch with current events, pre-digitized era.

Kym Gordon Moore, author of "Diversities of Gifts: Same Spirit" and "Wings of the Wind: A Cornucopia of Poetry" is an award winning poet, author, speaker, philanthropist, certified email marketing specialist and an authority in strategic marketing. http://www.kymgmoore.com/ She is the administrator of the Tea and Poetry Book Club http://www.teaandpoetrybookclub.blogspot.com/, co-founder of Favorite Things for a CAUSE and selected as one of the 2013 and 2012 U.S. World Book Night Volunteer Book Givers.

Source

Selecting A Same Day Courier Service - What Features Should You Look For?

Many businesses need a same day courier service to pick up and drop important documents and other consignments necessary for their smooth running. These services help you save a great deal of time and effort since they save you the trouble of doing it on your own. There are quite a few courier services available to choose from but some will obviously be far better than the others. Be sure to look for the following features when selecting a same day courier service:

- Reliability: The company should have a reputation for never missing deliveries or else you risk having important documents go astray or get delayed. While this can be a problem with a small and unprofessionally run unit, larger companies are also responsible for this when there is a lot of pressure on their infrastructure.

- Package tracking: The courier service should enable you to track the exact location of your parcel for your piece of mind. The best courier services equip their vans with GPS in order to keep track of exactly where they are at all times. Customers can generally log into the website of ask for a text message for location details.

- Real time data delivery: Companies equip their delivery people with hand held terminals so that they can take proof of delivery from the consignees which can then feature in the system.

- Security: Professionally run companies use well trained people and good vehicles to ensure that parcels do not go astray. In addition, they take care to keep the packages safe from the elements.

- Cost effectiveness: This is without doubt an important factor to be considered, but only as long as it does not come at the cost of the other factors, especially reliability. Look for a company that can reduce costs by using technology and managing work efficiently, especially if it has high volumes of business.

- Customer satisfaction: A really good day courier company will go the extra mile in order to ensure that customers are satisfied. This sometimes means working longer in order to make sure that a parcel gets delivered.

The right same day courier service is a very important resource for your business and it should therefore be selected with a great deal of care. Once you do select a company then it is best to stick to it, as long as you are satisfied with its performance, in order to ensure that you get special attention.

The right same day courier service ensures that your documents and parcels reach their destinations on time. Find out what to look for when selecting a service.

Source

Transcription Of Speech To Text Is Vital

Transcription equipment has improved over the past years, from manual typewriters to electric typewriters, the word mainframes to computers and from plastic disks and magnetic belts to cassettes and endless loops. What benefits can we get from the tremendous advancements?

Many people benefit from the fact that transcribing for the medical industry has become extremely profitable. Comprehending the financial benefits that medical transcription provides to people triggers the need for this useful conversion. High demand for speech to text transcription services in the medical field should be handled cautiously and with great care, so that once the venture is complete, no one suffers as a result of carelessness or because the work was not done inaccurately and with no precision. This is an extremely vital piece of work that entails a great deal of determination and accuracy.

Technological advancement has led to the development of speech to text software that is high-end and provides results that are almost flawless. Originally, one could only insert numbers to allow movement. In this era of technological advancement, rapid improvement in technology has enabled the medical industry to receive very accurate output within a short period with the help of software that can transcript documents even if an audio format is fed into the system.

Use of software with the finest quality is helpful and beneficial since it can change transcripts from speech to text and can insert the required, vital punctuations that make things simpler, more suitable and faster to go through. Furthermore, high quality software guarantees an almost impeccable project thus benefiting the user. Although this software has the right output, transcription companies also have skilled experts who run through the transcripts to make sure that there are no faults and if they find any mistake, they correct it. The professionals put in a lot of effort and time going through each transcript keenly. This is to make sure that the client does not experience problems due to negligence and carelessness.

If you need any software that converts speech to text that is of high quality and gives perfect output, then you must spend a lot of money since they are expensive to acquire in the market today. It is therefore cheaper to outsource your project to transcription companies that have this high-quality software. The transcription companies give you the finest results at extremely affordable rates. Transcription companies bank on the fact that every person love the fact that they receive the best results at extremely low rates.

Get your speech to text software today and you will never regret. Your pronunciation and spelling errors will be no more, easy proofreading and perfect grammar will be ensued. Besides, the software is easy to use and retailed at reasonable prices.

Source

Convert Audio To Text

Today, we face countless situations along the line of duty that needs us to convert audio to text. Besides, the audio transcription service is another useful facet in the transcription service business. We are now part of it. The effect of this transcription has helped tremendously in economic and social growth.

How do you convert audio to text? This process entails the conversion of the audio files and formats, speeches, dictation among others into word transcriptions. You cannot ignore or underestimate the value of audio transcription service in the world at the present. Educational centers, medical fields, and mass communication: just to mention a few, need these services dearly.

Students need these services for transcribing research interviews and lectures. Besides, this conversion serves to help those students having hearing complications.

Moreover, the transcription of audio service is pretty beneficial for book authors, conference event organization, teleconference, super busy administrators, marketing research businesses, medical doctor and legal representative.

Audio file transcripts

For one to convert audio to text effectively, you must be willing take some time to choose the best transcription service providers. In this competitive market, picking the right provider makes a big difference in the final output. There are numerous audio to text transcriptionist who provide top quality services to their clients at reasonably cheap prices without compromising on the quality. They take audio transcripts in any format, be it.MP3,.WAV or any other audio formats.

You will save a lot of time when you deal with proficient persons who does the work commendably. Quick and perfect service is the envy of everyone. Definitely, they need to have a good command of the targeted language; perhaps it can be British English, French, German, American English Russian Chinese and many more. This way, you can be sure of exceptional services.

Audio transcription service types

The Verbatim transcription incorporates systematic word to word audio formatting. The final output consists of slang too and anything spelled out in between words. Screened transcription rids off redundancies such as "Hmmm" and other speech conducts.

Budget

To convert audio to text, you need to recognize the charge variation grounded on sizes and the nature of audio transcription service output, you may opt for verbatim or screened. The bigger the file the smaller the money spent. A five-hour audio file rates less than smaller files. Therefore, you can save lots of cash if you send large volumes for transcriptions.

Yes, you were wondering how to convert audio to text, go ahead and choose; either Verbatim audio transcription for word to word audio formatting or Screened audio transcription to avoid wordiness.

Source

Convert Voice To Text

Several circumstances might require an individual to convert voice to text, for instance, if someone is recording a speech and needs it in written format later. In the past, while listening to the recorded voice one had to scribble everything down, repeatedly stopping the recording on every sentence. However, technological advancement has led to programs that effectively and efficiently convert a voice to text. Here are the stepwise instructions required to install conversion of a voice to text program on the computer:

1. Search for the speech-to-text conversion programs online. The Google search of "convert a voice to text" or "convert a speech to text" yields a widespread range of results, from costly, highly specialized programs to basic free downloads.

2. Select the program that fully satisfies ones requirements. In case the program is needed to convert a voice into text file just once and will probably not be used again, opt for a free one. If the program will be used on a regular basis to perform specialized functions, for example, learning medical and legal terms, select a paid program. This is because the paid program comes with more advanced options than the free one.

3. Download your favorite program. Follow the guidelines stepwise on the manufacturer or seller's website while doing this. Occasionally, there is a button to download it. One has to pay for it first if you are using a paid program. The installation process on the computer does differ slightly from one program to another. Although, once the download has finished, one gets a set of immediate instructions on systematic program installation.

4. Download the convert a voice to text file to the computer. When it is recorded using a digital voice recorder, one just plugs in one end of the cord from the digital recorder into the computer. Then you will be able to browser to "My Computer" and sees the external device in your drives. Click on the device and then on the sound file. Copy the sound file by right clicking the mouse, then browser to the location on the computer where you wants to save it, and right click on the mouse again to paste.

5. Run the "convert voice to text" program. After the installation is complete, you will an icon for the application on the desktop. Click on the icon to open and run the program. All programs do operate a little differently, therefore, to take a few minutes and read the user manual before starting to work.

Download your software from Natural soft today, click on the sound file to open it using the convert voice to text program. Continue getting more updated software from our site.

Source