3 easy upgrades to improve your video call setup

Early on in the first lockdowns in 2020, did you ever sit at your computer and think “I really like working from home”?

Or were you the opposite; desperate to get back into a building and meet with other people like in the old days?

Whichever was the case – and whether you feel the same now – we’ve ended up with a mix of the two: Hybrid working.

Some people are in the office. Some are at home. The days of having everyone together at the same time are gone. Maybe forever.

Which means that video calls are here to stay.

If you want to invest in your video call setup, here are three easy upgrades for you.

DigitalTransformation

What could digital IT transformation do for your business?

We have all seen a LOT of change over the past couple of years.

We’ve changed the way we work. The way we shop. And the way we interact with others.

How has your business changed?

What change do you need to make in the years ahead?

And how does your technology help to power that?

Is this the end of passwords?

No-one likes passwords.

Creating them. Remembering them. Typing them in.

Your whole mood can change when an application you’re using suddenly logs you out, and you have to go through login all over again.

It’s frustrating for everyone.

So here’s some very welcome news, courtesy of Microsoft, Apple and Google. The tech giants have joined forces to kill off the password for good.

Three new Teams features to look forward to

The use of Microsoft Teams has just exploded in the last few years, and it now boasts 270 million people using it every month.

Of course, it was the right tool at the right time when we all rushed to working from home at the start of the pandemic.

But the growth of Teams has continued, even if some believe the growth has slowed down a little recently.

Teams is so important to some businesses, that the owners and managers wonder how they ever managed without it.

Teams gives us the ability to stay connected wherever we’re working, and to collaborate on projects with no fuss.

tKnowIT achieves Cyber Essentials certification for another year

I am pleased to announce that tKnowIT Limited has achieved Cyber Essentials certification for a further year.

Three clever tricks to get more out of Teams

Many business we discuss Microsoft Teams with agree it’s an incredible tool for communication and collaboration.

There are many clever tricks you can do with Teams. Here are three you might not have seen before.

Never use your browser’s password manager

Microsoft is always introducing new features and services to keep your people safe online, and your data secure.

As a business owner or manager, you should already know that weak or reused passwords are one of the biggest risks to data security.

A new update coming soon to Microsoft Edge will give you access to a new and improved password management feature. This will allow you to store all your passwords within your browser automatically, giving you a cost-effective way to avoid password-based cyber-attacks.

However. Although this new feature is more secure than using the same login details across multiple applications, our advice would be to avoid browser-based password managers in your business.

Why?

Businesses are spending more on IT this year

As a business owner or manager, you know how important good IT is. Your business couldn’t function without it.

Your IT isn’t just about computers and data. It’s everything from your phone system, to your printers, to where you access your documents.

And that’s without going into the measures you must take to keep your data and infrastructure safe and secure from cyber criminals.

So we weren’t surprised by a new forecast from IT research and consultancy firm, Gartner, which predicts businesses will spend more on technology this year.

Is your team still working at 10pm?

If you have people working remotely in your business, you’re probably used to emails flying around at all hours of the day or night.

Working from home has been life-changing for some. Your people are able to be more flexible with their time during the day, fitting in time for school pick-ups and appointments where perhaps they couldn’t before.

You need this feature if your browser looks like this

We all have different ways of working. Some of us prefer to have a minimal amount of things displayed on our screens. Others thrive when everything is open and in sight.

But we can all agree that having 20 tabs open in your browser at any one time has a negative effect on productivity.

Simply because it takes so much more time to find the web pages and services you need when you’re looking for them.

This might not be a problem for much longer.