Coleman Technologies Blog

With so much computing now done in cloud environments, it is important to address how this approach can benefit security, but still need to be secured.

How Patches Benefit from the Cloud

It isn’t a secret that any kind of software, from applications to entire operating systems, can have holes in it. These security flaws and issues could easily leave a business vulnerable to attack if they aren’t resolved. This is why software developers will issue patches, which are just corrections to these mistakes, for users to install. By applying the patch, the user is protecting themselves from threats that would otherwise exploit that vulnerability - but just on the system where the patch is installed.

Now, consider how many computers some companies use, and all of the different software titles that would be found on each.

Can you imagine going to each one and applying an update, each time a patch was released? Furthermore, you have to consider that more and more devices are mobile nowadays. This means that there is no guarantee that every device is present when someone goes on their patch application marathon. Factors like these frequently lead to incomplete patch deployments, and as a result, holes in organizational security.

However, by utilizing the cloud as you manage your organization’s patches, the device no longer has to be present in order to receive the patch. Instead, the cloud can be used to push it out to all of your devices, so once they connect to the Internet, the patch will be implemented. This means you can keep your employees using the solutions you want them to use, assisting both your productive operations and your security.

How the Cloud Benefits from Patches

However, it is important to take note that all the cloud is, is a computer located somewhere else (often owned by someone else). As a result, it can also be vulnerable to flaws and issues of their own - which is why you need to be sure that your cloud provider is properly maintaining the cloud solution with its own patches. This is especially the case if you are using an internal cloud solution.

Coleman Technologies can help you keep up on your updates, whether they involve the cloud or not. Reach out to us at (604) 513-9428 to learn more about our services.

It seems that almost everyone owns a smartphone these days, and with smartphones come a multitude of apps. Mobile applications are the driving force behind the world's largest computing ecosystems. Consequently, the question arises, "Is it necessary for my business to have a mobile app?" Whether this is a wise decision depends on your unique business objectives, target audience, and available resources. Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of developing a mobile app for your business.

Here are a few advantages of developing a mobile app:

• Enhanced Customer Engagement - Mobile apps offer a direct channel to engage with your customers, enabling personalized notifications and exclusive offers, fostering enduring customer loyalty.
• Improved User Experience - Apps provide a smoother and more interactive user experience in comparison to mobile websites, leading to greater user satisfaction.
• Access to Device Features - You can harness the capabilities of the device, such as the camera, GPS, and push notifications, to provide enhanced functionality.
• Branding and Recognition - Having an app can elevate your brand's visibility and recognition, giving your business a more professional and tech-savvy image.
• Data Collection and Monetization Opportunities - Apps offer opportunities to gather valuable data on user behavior and preferences, which can inform your business strategy. Additionally, you can generate revenue through app purchases, in-app advertising, or premium features.

Here are a few disadvantages of developing a mobile app:

• Development and Maintenance Costs - Creating and maintaining a mobile app can be considerably more expensive than maintaining a website, especially if it needs to support multiple platforms like iOS and Android.
• Market Saturation - There are millions of apps available, and if you operate in a market that has a lot of competition, having just another app could actually work to your business’ detriment.
• Compatibility Issues - Ensuring that your app functions smoothly on various devices and operating system versions can be complex, necessitating continuous development to ensure updates are available for each platform. If your app becomes incompatible with newer versions of iOS or Android, it will require additional time and financial resources to update.
• Security Concerns - Apps, especially those not in constant development, can be vulnerable to security threats. You must invest in security measures to protect user data.

Before deciding to develop a mobile app for your business, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis, take into account your target audience's preferences, and evaluate your long-term strategy. In some instances, a mobile-responsive website may be a more cost-effective and practical choice.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to invest in an app or opt for a website depends on the individual business owner's assessment of what best serves their business' needs.

When someone mentions cookies, people start paying attention. Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, snickerdoodles… Browser? While Browser cookies aren’t the most scrumptious, they do need some attention. Nowadays, many websites you visit have a popup asking if they want to allow cookies for that site and knowing what you are agreeing to is important. In today’s blog, we will describe what cookies are, how they work, and why they can sometimes be better than cookies with chocolate chips. 

What is a Browser Cookie?

Browser cookies are small text files created by websites and stored on a user's device (computer, smartphone, or tablet) while they browse the internet. These files contain data about the user's interaction with the website, such as login information, preferences, and activity history. The primary purpose of cookies is to enhance the user's browsing experience by remembering their actions and preferences, which enables websites to provide a more personalized and efficient service. For example, cookies can store login sessions, so users do not have to re-enter their password each time they visit new pages on the site.

Cookies Aren’t All the Same

There are different types of cookies, each serving specific functions. Session cookies are temporary and are deleted once the browser is closed, while persistent cookies remain on the device for a set period or until manually deleted. First-party cookies are created by the website the user is visiting, while third-party cookies are set by external services or advertisers embedded in the website. These third-party cookies are often used for tracking users across multiple sites to gather data for targeted advertising and analytics, raising privacy concerns among users and regulatory bodies.

Why Do Cookies Exist?

Cookies also play a crucial role in website functionality and user experience. They enable features such as online shopping carts, where items remain in the cart even if the user navigates away from the site. Cookies can also help websites remember user preferences, such as language settings or themes, making future visits smoother and more customized. However, due to privacy concerns, many jurisdictions have implemented regulations requiring websites to obtain user consent before storing cookies, and users have the option to manage or delete cookies through their browser settings.

While you may not enjoy browser cookies as much as you would the sweet kind, they do play an important role when browsing online. For more great technology content, return to our blog soon. 

Planning Stages

Most businesses use some type of management program to streamline things. Whether that be a simple Customer Relationship Management (CRM), a more intuitive Professional Services Automation (PSA), or an end-to-end Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, your company relies on software to get the job done.

Today, there is an opportunity to mix your business' production software--whether it be communication integration, file sync and sharing, another form of back-end integration, or a customer-facing application--with your management platform. Planning an integration like this can have big benefits, especially if you are beginning to use analytics to help you make critical business decisions. After all, the whole point in integrating your various business components is to make data flow better.  

The main hurdle to accomplishing this is, of course, how do you go about getting this done? If your organization doesn’t have on-staff developers, outsourcing your integration project quickly becomes your only recourse. If you are going to pay someone outside your company to connect your proverbial pieces, then you need to have an idea of what you want to accomplish ready when you start the relationship. It is essential that the outsourced developer knows your needs, and that you provide them with tools and access needed to complete, and thoroughly test, the integration. Most simple integrations can be done cheaply, and can provide massive returns on your investment, while larger integrations may not see the immediate return, but over time can provide massive cost-and-time-saving benefits.

Integration Benefits

Speaking of benefits, we’ve already touched on the main benefit of software integration: Unimpeded data flow. Integration can also result in:

• Cost savings
• Increased end-to-end efficiency
• Organizational growth
• Improving business with no downtime
• Enhanced business analysis and intelligence

According to one study, small businesses that build a completely integrated suite can boost sales by upwards of 12 percent, reduce overhead by increasing inventory reporting, and increase revenue-creating situations by almost 50 percent.

If your organization has seemingly tried it all to boost productivity and efficiency, you may be missing out on a great way to improve both, while also providing a way for businesses to better plan for the future. Do you think that integrating your business’ software will help your business? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

What is art? It’s not an easy question to answer, especially with new techniques and mediums being developed all the time. By definition, art can be basically summed up as the creative expression of an individual through some medium.

For Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi, that medium is one that is familiar to those in and out of the art world.

Tatsuo Horiuchi Excels at His Craft…

…in a very literal sense. His art is not formed by clay or paint, but instead, the cells found in a Microsoft Excel worksheet.

Upon his retirement from his work as a medical equipment engineer, Tatsuo wanted to keep himself occupied, and his thoughts turned to becoming an artist. Lacking the supplies to do so traditionally (as well as the desire to invest in these supplies), the burgeoning artist decided to utilize a tool that he already had access to: Excel.

As he had never actively used the software for his work, Tatsuo dove into learning about the software and its features, teaching himself how to use different tools to accomplish different things. The autoshape feature helps with the overall design, the graph-focused line tool was repurposed to create trees, and the fill tool allows him to accomplish the shading that amplifies a painting’s depth. Gradually teaching himself these little tricks, Tatsuo’s process began in 2000 with the goal of creating something he would be willing to show to people within 10 years. His first three years were focused on learning to use Excel’s tools to create recognizable shapes and objects, while the next three were focused on combining them all into a cohesive image. In 2006, he won the Excel Autoshape Art Contest.

Since then, Tatsuo’s art has been featured at the Gunma Museum of Art, an honor shared by the likes of Monet and Renoir.

You can check out some of his work here.

One Moral of the Story: Technology Can Be Leveraged in Many Ways

All it takes is a bit of ingenuity. That being said, we don’t want your business to go without the information technology that would benefit its processes—or that keeps it compliant with various regulations and requirements.

Our team at Coleman Technologies has been helping businesses around British Columbia manage their IT since YEAR, and we’d love the opportunity to help you with yours. While we can’t promise to turn your team into award-winning artists, we can help them do more with their technology. Find out more about our managed IT services and what they can help you accomplish by calling (604) 513-9428.

Microsoft’s Dedication to Security

Microsoft has as good of a handle on the nature of cybersecurity as any other major software company. The sustainability of their business and the effectiveness of their products are dependent on it. If their security software didn’t work well, there is no way they could sustain their place as the world’s most important software company, right?

One problem they are running into is that their security is SO effective, that hackers had to shift the ways they tried to infiltrate networks and steal data. The establishment of phishing is a social engineering term for duping a victim into downloading software that’s only purpose is to gain access to their personal data, which leads to data and identity theft, and in the case of business computing, access to much more.

Businesses Have Trouble with Security

Today’s business has to deal with a lot of different security issues. First, they are responsible for having the technology protections connected to each part of their computing infrastructure. This can be as simple as having the router-supplied firewall and an antimalware program loaded on their server. It’s likely, however, that the average business will need more coverage over their network to secure it, and the data stored behind those security platforms.

Next, and maybe most crucially, it is the business’ responsibility to train its staff on what kind of issues to look out for. Today, most malware infections and other infiltrations are the result of a mistake made by a person that has credentials and access to data. If your organization doesn’t properly train your staff on how to eliminate these threats, there is a fair chance that your network will be inundated with some type of malware at some point.

Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance

Microsoft, acknowledging the need for an enterprise product that combines the power of their Windows 10 operating system, the productivity options presented from Office 365, and powerful security and compliance controls, has launched Microsoft Office 365. The cloud-based solution presents the core computing resources that any business could use in a product that is available right now from Coleman Technologies.

Our knowledgeable technicians can help you find the right security platform for any of your business’ computing needs. Call us today at (604) 513-9428.

While technology has brought us a long way, there are still some telling remnants of how things used to be done. Take, for instance, the terms “cut,” “paste,” and “copy.”

“Cut” and “Paste” Have Roots in Traditional Editing Processes

Historically, manuscripts would be edited by physically cutting up pages and pasting them in different order. This practice continued into the 1980s and was only replaced once word processors became available. At one point, specialized extra-long scissors were even sold to cut through an entire page in one fell snip for editing purposes.

Now, our computers allow us to make these adjustments—as well as duplicate existing content through the copy function—far easier than could be (and once was) done manually. Plus, if the wrong thing is cut or pasted, the undo function makes it a lot easier to fix the mistake.

A Quick Shortcut Refresher

Accomplishing these tasks nowadays is simple:

• Cut - Ctrl+X
• Copy - Ctrl+C
• Paste - Ctrl+V
• Undo - Ctrl+Z

However, the next time you press these keys, take a moment to think about how much used to go into accomplishing the same thing.

What is “Blockchain” Anyway?

Blockchain is defined as a distributed ledger system that creates a single encrypted and unalterable file whenever any transaction is made to help preserve its continuity. As every device involved in the blockchain helps to store it, the blockchain itself is unprecedentedly transparent. This allows business systems to be both more accountable, and secure.

Accountability

Let’s return for a moment to how the blockchain works—each time a transaction of any kind is made, be it adding new data or revising some that already existed, a new “node” (think of it as another link in the chain) is created to document the transaction and encrypt it. As a result, you wind up with a running record of reliable data. As you might imagine, this offers itself quite well to many industries.

Banking and Financial Services

With the importance of the record-keeping that these organizations maintain being so apparent, it only makes sense that blockchain is used to automatically keep track of where funds are being moved.

Real Estate

Real estate processes are notoriously intricate and confusing. Blockchain provides an option that could make the entire experience of buying and selling real estate much more transparent.

Wills and Inheritances

Tragically, wills and inheritances can be very hotly contested, and their veracity may be called into question. The transparent and immutable logs of the blockchain could eventually lead to many fights being averted in the future.

Voting

Elections now face more scrutiny than ever before, as votes are counted, recounted, contested, and recounted again. Using the blockchain could help to eliminate most challenges and issues that call the integrity of an election into question.

Supply Chain Management and Logistics

Managing all the moving pieces of a supply chain could be made much simpler by integrating blockchain technology. Goods and resources could be easily tracked and directed where they need to go, with confirmation when they arrive at their destination.

Security

Communications have gone digital, with unprecedented numbers sent and received each day. As more people than ever rely on these communications for a variety of reasons, data sharing needs to be more reliably secure. The blockchain is well suited for this task, as each transfer of data remains fully transparent, while the data contained in the nodes remains undisclosed. This technology can even be safely used to hold parties to their shared agreements by facilitating proper compensation once certain requirements are met. These capabilities will likely lead to advancements in:

Education

Consider how many files any educational institution needs to maintain and verify, and the amount of personal information shared in these records. Blockchain makes it so that these paper files are no longer necessary, while also making it easier to verify registration, management, and financial aid-related data.

Healthcare

Any patient who needs to see multiple physicians knows the frustration of working with providers who operate in different healthcare networks. However, healthcare has a good track record with embracing innovative technology solutions. Introducing blockchain could ultimately lead to self-managed healthcare records.

Stock Trading

There are many ways that stock exchange processes could be made better with the assistance of blockchain technologies. Two clear improvements: convenience, and of course security.

Public Records

Many states are still overly reliant on paper documents, which are very easy to alter and otherwise manipulate (never mind steal). Shifting to digital documents that are supported by blockchain could do a lot to reduce fraud, ensure accountability, and generally improve security.

The Internet of Things

IoT devices are overwhelmingly insecure, but if they were decentralized through the blockchain, some of this insecurity could be resolved.

To learn more about blockchain technology, feel free to call Coleman Technologies to discuss it, as well as the options you currently have to leverage for your business. Reach out at (604) 513-9428 today!

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.

Salesforce conducted a survey of 500 industry leaders and 6,000 customers to determine how people consume communications solutions and how their expectations have changed over time.

Online and In-Person Experiences Are Equally Important

One thing you should take away from this study is that consumers want communication experiences that aren’t exclusive to just in-person or digital. 51% of respondents preferred to do business online, while 40% wished to visit an in-person store for their communication needs. 64% claimed they visited the provider’s website over the past month, and 35% have done business both online and in-person. The takeaway here is that your employees will seek help with their communications technology both in-person and online, so you need to respond to their needs appropriately.

Your Customers Do Matter

Great customer service is crucial to keeping your business running, and it all stems from having great internal operations—at least, that’s what 90% of the survey respondents believe. 40% claim they are unsatisfied with the way their providers handle their cases. If you think of your employees as customers, you can ensure they are getting the support they need from you to do their jobs to the best of their ability. Your employees are more likely to use a good or service if they know they have support from you and they know their feedback is appreciated and valued.

Digital Transformation Is Important

Most customers might prefer to use online services, but it’s equally important for you to embrace your own use of digital services within your own communications infrastructure. You should implement tools that can be effective in both a remote and hybrid work environment. One way you can do this is by implementing cloud-based solutions. You might find that your organization benefits greatly from their implementation.

We Can Help You Make Communications Easier

Your communications infrastructure is not simple, and you need tools that allow you to stay in touch with both internal and external stakeholders for your organization, be they employees, clients, or prospects. Through the use of tools like Voice over IP, instant messaging, intranet solutions, and more, you can share your knowledge and services with your clients while also giving your team the tools they need to be successful. To learn more, reach out to Coleman Technologies at (604) 513-9428.

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. 

What is No Code?

Basically, all software is made up of code; and if you take it all the way to its fundamentals, binary code. All programming languages draw on binary code at their core and today there are software developers out there that have made it simple for someone that doesn’t have fluency in programming languages to create applications or build web-based constructs. 

With no code, laymen have endless possibilities for web and application development. These include:

• Efficiently create mobile app builders, databases and productivity tools, website builders, document and form builders, email marketing software, membership platforms, eCommerce websites, web-based forums, and automation tools.
• Build mobile and web-based applications.
• Create operational efficiencies that circumvent redundant software issues.
• Test concepts in application or website form affordably before hiring coders.

Benefits of Using No Code

There are some obvious benefits of utilizing no code tools including:

• Speed of development - The web and application development process are notoriously slow. With no code tools, you can start building concepts fast.
• Lowers cost of development - Coders are expensive to hire. For simple coding tasks, the ROI of hiring one can be slow or impossible to recoup. No code tools can go a long way toward making web or app development much cheaper.
• Much more accessible - No code tools allow for people with little to no experience with digital coding to build their own products and deploy them on the web. 

The digital world is changing, and your business can now afford change along with it. Have you used a no-code system to build web-based resources for your business? Would you like to learn more about how technology can bridge the gap between you and your customers and competitors? Give Coleman Technologies a call today at (604) 513-9428 to talk to one of our IT experts about innovative new technologies you can acquire to improve your business.

Software makes or breaks businesses, so your software strategy should be implemented with sound logic in mind. One of the ways you can make the most out of your limited resources and budget is to consider cloud-hosted Software as a Service offerings. With SaaS, you can implement better software that is more accessible, flexible, and manageable than the traditional method of hosting.

We want you to know that we have your back and can help you implement any technology solutions you decide would work well for your business. All you have to do is call us at (604) 513-9428 to get started. Now, let’s dive into the many benefits of SaaS applications for small businesses.

Remote Accessibility

Many employees are now going about their everyday tasks while out of the office, so accessibility is a major factor that plays into companies’ consideration of SaaS solutions. The cloud makes for a great way for your team to access their solutions, giving them the ability to get work done whether from the comfort of the home or from the office itself. If the application can be hosted in the cloud, the only thing you need is a stable Internet connection to get work done.

Flexibility in Your Operations

Your infrastructure is likely to undergo significant changes as your business grows and evolves, and so too will the stress you place on your company’s network. The scalability and flexibility that comes from SaaS solutions is extremely helpful here, as you can add or remove accounts and users as you need to. You’ll have greater control over your company’s capital by being able to remove accounts that no longer see any use.

For example, you can create an account for a temporary worker, then cancel the account after the employee leaves your business. This means you’re not purchasing an entire license for a short-term arrangement.

Better Maintenance and Management Practices

If you use SaaS solutions, you’ll be relieved to know that you aren’t going to be the one managing and maintaining the solution. This will be done by the cloud service provider, and on top of that, they will also patch and update their services so that you’re always using the most up-to-date versions of your software. It’s great for businesses that have limited resources for managing IT.

Coleman Technologies can help your business implement SaaS solutions and best utilize your available resources. To learn more, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

In actuality, you’ve used a template every time you’ve opened a Microsoft Word document… the Normal template. However, you may want to use a different template to meet your different needs. If that’s the case, you’ll need to adjust some settings as you create your document.

As you select New from the File tab, you will be presented with a few options. One of them will be Blank document, but you also have the opportunity to utilize a huge variety of other templates that can be found in the application and then downloaded. Once you have done so, select your chosen template and your new document will be generated with that template’s contents. These can include:

• Boilerplate text
• Styles
• Images and logos
• Table of contents
• Sections that split the document into different parts, with appropriate numbering
• Table and chart boilerplates

Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list of your options. Feel free to explore the different templates and their options to see all that these documents can do.

Once you have a few templates downloaded, you can even edit them to better fit your needs. To do so, all you need to do is open the template you want to edit (File>Open>This PC>My Documents>Open) and make your desired changes. Once that’s done, just Save and Close.

Why Bother with Templates at All?

There are a few advantages to using templates that you should see significant benefits from, such as:

1. Templates can be shared amongst your staff and unify your business’ style.
2. Templates can be used to make forms much easier (and less expensive) to reproduce.
3. Templates can reference your other applications to simplify additional tasks.
4. Templates allow you to quickly reformat your documents if need be.

So, do you think you’ll do any investigating into templates in the future? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments, and let us know what other tips you would find helpful!

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. 

A lot of software is developed for business purposes, but very few are developed with the small business in mind. This is logical because the more licenses of a software can be sold, the more money the developer will make. More than that, the software developed for use by a large organization will have the features that can help an organization cover more ground. 

Some of the differences between the two include:

• Audience - Obviously, enterprise software is developed for a large organization to be deployed by one. Since most large companies have a hierarchical structure, the software that is developed for them is going to address the needs of the groups involved. 
• Options - The software that is built for enterprise business will need to have more options than a stand-alone application will.
• Storage - Since enterprise software is dealing with a lot of sensitive data, alternative storage considerations have to be made. Today, more and more businesses are utilizing cloud computing because of the flexible amount of storage that is available. Enterprise businesses can scale up and back without having to count every penny, a luxury many small organizations don’t have. 
• Different process - While the creation of software is relatively the same, enterprise software carries with it a lot of customization as it needs to fix specific problems the enterprise has. This whole process includes integration and interoperability that is necessary to be a viable solution for enterprise business. 
• Scalability - Any good business expects some semblance of growth or redirection of company objectives. In software, that means being able to scale to the new reality of a business quickly. It’s the only way for the seamless operations and thorough reporting that enterprise demands. 

Using Enterprise Software for an SMB

This is where the whole thing gets tricky for the small business. Do you purchase an enterprise-level software and parse it down to fit your needs; or, do you make due with the consumer versions of the software needed?

It depends on a few factors:

1. If you plan on deploying software in the cloud, you may be able to get the best version of a software and kind of make it fit your business. Typically, these massive software platforms like Professional Services Automation (PSA) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) have all the functions that your SMB needs. 
2. You need to consider the cost. What is the cost to purchase the software, the licenses, the underlying hardware needed to run it, and all the other considerations that go into making technology decisions for your business. 
3. The differences between enterprise software and regular software may be noticeable but they are shrinking. Most organizations that use Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms are getting robust software as part of their monthly agreement. 

While a smaller business might not want to overspend or get something that is overkill, there are long term benefits in being able to grow and scale into more robust options instead of fumbling along and upgrading when you can’t take it anymore. Software is important so having the perspective of experienced IT professionals can help you get the tools your business needs to be successful. Give us a call today at (604) 513-9428.

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.

A productivity suite gives you a collection of tools for getting work done, quickly and effectively, in a variety of modalities. You can expect the following benefits from using a productivity suite for your business.

Increased Collaboration

When people have access to the tools and resources they need to do their jobs, they can work more effectively, and more effectively together too. Productivity suites have collaboration tools built right into them, particularly for cloud-based applications that can enable multiple users to edit documents, spreadsheets, or slideshows in real-time. Sometimes productivity suites will also have other collaboration tools built right into them, like video or voice chat.

More Accessibility and Efficiency

It doesn’t matter if it’s on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Productivity suites are generally quite accessible in some format or another, although features might vary depending on the version you are using. They are great for remote or in-house workers, and they can be accessed from anywhere using a web browser. Depending on the solution, you might not even need to install the apps—they are that convenient and dynamic these days.

Attractive Cost Savings

Of course, there are financial benefits to going with productivity suites as well. When you subscribe to one of the aforementioned services, you get access to the whole range of apps in the suite, so instead of installing multiple instances of each app on each of your devices, you are instead setting up accounts for employees who can then use the apps as they see fit. It’s better than purchasing licenses per user, and it’s more convenient when it comes time to upgrade to new versions of the software. It makes maintenance and patch management much easier, too.

Coleman Technologies can help your business implement and manage not only its productivity suite, but its entire range of software solutions. To learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

Blockchain

Perhaps most famously associated with cryptocurrencies, there are various applications in business that blockchain can be of use in. Really, blockchain is of great use in any situation where a record of changes needs to be kept, as the blockchain creates a record of these changes each time a new block is added to the chain - hence the name.

Originally utilized primarily by the financial industries, the utility of the blockchain has expanded to be of considerable use to far more verticals, with no signs of slowing.

AI and Machine Learning

In the past few years, we’ve gone from fearing artificially intelligent machines like HAL 9000 to carrying around a relatively rudimentary version of the sentient computer in our pockets. While our current machines and devices are (thank goodness) far less capable than HAL, they are plenty capable of assisting business processes - largely thanks to machine learning.

Via AI, directed by machine learning, your solutions can carry out predetermined processes and make informed decisions based on the input they receive. As a result, your business can take care of some if its tasks automatically, leaving your team free to focus on other responsibilities.

AR and VR

While augmented reality and virtual reality have been largely associated with entertainment purposes, the business world has started to embrace them for numerous purposes, both in terms of their internal processes and their marketing efforts. Furthermore, with today’s youth being exposed to these kinds of interfaces, they will be more familiar with them when they reach working age (and will be able to use them more productively as a result).

Has your business begun to implement any of these technologies in its workflows - even the most basic varieties? Coleman Technologies can help you do more. Reach out to us at (604) 513-9428 to learn more!

In mobile operating systems, each fresh iteration tends to bring forth marginal improvements and refinements to enhance the user experience. Apple's newest mobile operating system, iOS 17, follows suit in this tradition. Let's take a brief look at some of its noteworthy additions.

Streamlining Verification Code Messages

Basic multi-factor authentication is commonly employed for secure account access, with codes sent via email and text messages. Dealing with a barrage of these codes piling up in your inboxes is a familiar scenario. iOS 17 introduces a feature allowing automatic deletion of these messages once codes are entered through AutoFill. Navigate to Settings, then Passwords > Password Options, and you'll find the option to Clean Up Automatically under Verification Codes. This ensures that codes inserted via AutoFill are promptly removed from the Messages or Mail applications after use.

Elevated AirPod Capabilities

We've all witnessed or experienced the awkward fumbling with AirPods as a conversation kicks off. Thankfully, users with the second-generation AirPods Pro and iOS 17 can enjoy new features, such as Conversation Awareness. This feature enables AirPods to sense when the wearer speaks, reducing media and background noise volume while enhancing voices in front of you. Combined with Adaptive Audio and Personalized Volume, iOS 17 significantly enhances the capabilities of AirPods.

Siri Receives a Boost

"Hey, Siri." Repeat it three times, right? Not anymore. iOS 17 eliminates the need to say "hey" before Siri's wake word. Moreover, users can seamlessly string together a series of queries without repeating "Hey, Siri" or even "Siri" before each one.

Effortless Message Retrieval

If you're like most people, your Messages application likely harbors hundreds, if not thousands, of accumulated messages. Locating a specific message amid this digital haystack was a daunting task—until iOS 17. The updated system introduces a Search function in Messages, allowing users to pinpoint messages based on the sender's contact, the presence of a link, the inclusion of a photo, and more.

This is just a glimpse into the array of offerings in the latest iOS version. While we advocate for regular software updates for security, the added features are a delightful bonus. May your device find renewed utility with these enhancements.

It isn’t a secret that working with different times in a spreadsheet can be a real pain… even if you’re just trying to add them all up. Fortunately (and a little unsurprisingly), this is because these programs have a specific function to accomplish this.

Let’s review the process you should follow in your spreadsheet program, whether you use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

How to Use the Dynamic Time Function to Count Time

While restricting the ability to add times to a specialized formula may seem frustrating and overly complicated, it actually gives you more granular control over your calculations, helping make these sums more accurate and useful.

To use the Dynamic Time Function, you need a starting time. For this example, we’ll use 12:00:00 AM, making sure that the data is formatted as “Time.” In Excel, this can be adjusted from the Home menu in the dropdown box above Number, while Google Sheets has the adjustment in the Format menu, where you find the Number option where Time can be selected.

The process then depends on how you use this formula. For reference, we’ll keep it simple and work in row one, starting at column A:

=A1+TIME(0,0,0)

This represents your starting time at cell A1, combined with the time function and adjustments split into hours, minutes, and seconds. As our formula currently stands, A1 would be populated with 12:00:00 AM, and with zero changes to the time, the results cell would also populate as 12:00:00 AM.

To continue, we need to populate the time adjustments set at zero. Instead of using zero, you would populate your cell with the cell coordinates you wanted to sum up. Therefore, our new formula could potentially look like this:

=A1+TIME(B1,C1,D1)

In this case, B1, C1, and D1 will represent the numerical change to the hours, minutes, and seconds shown in A1.

So, if A1 was populated with 12:00:00 AM, and B1, C1, and D1 were populated with 2, 4, and 6, respectively, our result would be 2:04:06 AM. If B1 was instead 9, and D1 was instead 38, our final time would be 9:04:38 AM.

It can be tricky to get the hang of at first... but if you need to determine a deadline or approximate when a given task or process should end, the Dynamic Time Function is your ally.

You can’t take two steps outside of your home or two mouse-clicks or screen-taps online without seeing something written or hearing someone talking about AI. This has created a situation where every business is claiming AI as a revolutionary tool and consumers, overwhelmed with the term, have begun to take the technology for granted. In today’s blog, we want to determine whether AI brings added value or is just a term used to help companies market their products.

What is AI?

Before we get into what to look for in AI, we should describe what AI means for the average consumer. Artificial Intelligence isn’t exactly the same technology that you remember from science fiction. Although the fundamentals are the same, AI today is effectively computer programs that use the data available to automate aspects of a business and create more efficiency. 

That sounds great, right? This is why nearly every software product you come across nowadays features “AI”. Not all AIs are created equal, however, and today there is quite a bit to sort through. Let’s take a look at three elements of the modern landscape of AI and how they play into you using it for your business. 

AI Will Be Pervasive

Let’s face it, AI is everywhere, and it will continue. In fact, the number of AI systems has grown by 500 percent over the past two years. AI fits into three categories. They are:

• Generative AI - The most prevalent type of AI you’ll see baked into software and as stand-alone software, like ChatGPT. This technology can create text, images, videos, and more and is being used in all manners of applications for government, education, business, and more.
• Machine Learning - This type of AI is being used to turn data into visible insights that can help organizations improve their ability to support the people that use their services and buy their products. 
• Recognition - This AI is being used primarily for security. From simple applications that unlock your mobile device to complex facial recognition tools built into today’s surveillance systems, AI systems fuel real-time recognition that is helping in loss prevention.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. As it is used today, AI is in its infancy and will only get more advanced as time goes on. Do you think you could use AI in your business? If so, our technicians can help. Give us a call at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

There are a lot of tools used to manage projects. Regardless of what platform your company uses, there are some simple, common sense practices your team can use to enhance its project management proficiency. Here are five:

Tip #1: Hash Out Details Before You Start

Sometimes getting a project off the ground is harder than actually completing it. Depending on the number of stakeholders involved, many projects may find it difficult to get off the ground. Ensuring that the project is viable, has the support it needs to come to fruition, and has the resources in place to be most efficiently implemented are important before a minute of work is done on the project.

You will want to identify what workers will be responsible for what work, while also doing your best to come up with a timeline for the project that will not waste resources.

Tip #2: Choose One Project Manager

Today, there are a lot of collaborative interfaces out there that make managing a project much, much easier. As a result, sometimes a project won’t have a single project lead, it will be carried out with a team approach. You may get through a project or two like this before it becomes painfully evident that there needs to be someone to run point on the project.

The role of project leader will cultivate positive team dynamics and act as a mentor to the rest of the team. Also, you just need one throat to choke when things aren’t done on time.

Tip #3: Define Specific Milestones

For any project, there will be benchmarks it will have to be met. As a project begins, defining the metrics that will have to be met will give any project team a good idea what the expectations are at the end of each phase of a project. By frequently checking in on the status of deliverables, the project manager can ensure that all elements of the product are aligned with what customers will invest in.

Tip #4: Manage Risk

Managing risk is important in any business endeavor. There will be times when, in the course of the phases of a project, where one will go horribly wrong and will put the entire project’s success at risk. One of the best ways to identify and manage risk is by keeping the lines of communication open. Most project management software provides options to communicate, whether they be integrated through an existing system, or if they are localized as a part of the software.

Tip #5: Evaluation

Through success (or failure), lessons can be learned from any project. By reviewing and scrutinizing every aspect of the project, you will get some fuel on how to improve your project management moving forward. Identifying what went right, what went wrong, and how they make up the final result. One way to ensure that a project was a complete success is to determine its return on investment (ROI). Often, project managers will provide a planned ROI to stakeholders at the beginning. By comparing the two after the end of the project, you can establish whether it had the value you were planning for.

At Coleman Technologies, our technicians thrive on project management. Whether it is running cable, building, testing, and deploying hardware, or simple proactive maintenance, we have an answer for all of your business’ computer problems. Call us at (604) 513-9428 to learn more.

The Windows operating system has gradually improved since it was first released back in 1985, bringing us to Windows 11 and its productivity-boosting capabilities nearly four decades later. Let’s take a closer look at just a few of these features so you can make the most of your time using the OS.

The Windows Clipboard Offers Far More Utility

Historically, the Windows Clipboard had a one-and-done level of functionality. You could copy one clip into it and use it for the rest of the time you were on the computer… provided you never copied anything else. If you did, your original clip was lost.

Nowadays, the Clipboard is far more capable than just this. Today, multiple clips can be stored and selected from—and what’s more, these clips can be stored in your Clipboard permanently, potentially making it far more convenient for you to replicate content that you come back to on a regular basis, from multiple devices.

To view the complete Clipboard, press Windows Key + V. A window will open that displays all of the clips you’ve taken during your session. You can also identify anything you want to persist after your device restarts by selecting the three-dot icon on any copied content and selecting Pin. This is great if there’s any boilerplate you regularly need to paste into an email or document template, and it ensures that this content will be there until you actively delete it from your Clipboard.

Focus Sessions Allow You to Eliminate Distractions

For all the benefits that technology and its inherent connectivity bring, it does have one pretty significant drawback: it makes it far more difficult to focus on any one task, with all the reminders and notifications for other things that need to be done popping up and dinging, breaking your concentration. To address this, Windows 11 offers a feature called Focus sessions, which effectively puts the operating system into Do Not Disturb, muting notifications for a time that you determine.

To start a session, search for clock in the Search box and access the Clock app. There, you’ll see the Focus sessions option, where you can set a duration for your focus session. If the session is 30 minutes or less, no breaks will be factored in, but longer sessions will have breaks automatically incorporated into your session unless you check the Skip breaks option. Click Start focus session to get down to business.

You can even link your Spotify account to play music during your session, as well as set long-term goals for its use.

Microsoft Teams is Accessible Via the Taskbar

Many organizations have formalized the use of Teams as their internal communications platform of choice, which makes the decision to incorporate a quick-access tool for it into Windows 11 sound like a smart decision. The operating system now incorporates a simple version of Teams in the taskbar itself, allowing you to repeat your most recent activity on the platform—all you have to do is click the icon or press Windows Key + C. From there, you can start a video call via the Meet option or a text conversation via Chat. If these options aren’t enough, you can also Open Microsoft Teams properly via this easy-access menu.

We hope these capabilities help you throughout your workday, along with the other tools that Windows 11 makes available to you! For assistance in other ways that your technology can work harder for you, give us a call at (604) 513-9428 today.