Wireless networks are faster, more affordable and easier to install than ever before and businesses that hadn’t yet made the switch are now doing so in droves.

The advantages of a wireless office are:

• As the name implies, no wires means everyone’s job is made easier, from the IT guy to the person in charge of the office
• It’s much easier to reconfigure your office space and extend connectivity in the future, as your business grows and changes
• It saves time and increases productivity by making company information instantly accessible to anyone anywhere within the office space
• It is cheaper to install than an Ethernet system which requires hardwiring of the office
• If you’re in a leased office, setting up a wireless network is more cost effective, as you can take it with you if you change premises

Things to consider when choosing a wireless network include:

Your current and future needs

Look at your current setup and decide whether you want to replace it (if your hardware is outdated) or simply add wireless access points to your existing wired LAN (Local Area Network).

Does your current budget allow for the setting up of a wireless network, or are funds already earmarked for other areas of improvement (such as upgrading your business phone system)?

How many workstations, offices and meeting rooms do you have? How many will you require in the future? Do they all need wireless connectivity? Are your staff currently using more mobile devices such as tablets and laptops than desktop PCs? It’s important to have a plan before you purchase any equipment, but remember, you can always start small and add more access points later on.

The logistics involved

How big is your office? The average coverage of a wireless access point is around 150 feet, so will you need to install more than one access point? Are there any thick walls or other infrastructure that may weaken or reduce your coverage?

Where should the access point be located? How many people will be using it? (The general rule is 25 people per access point). Is everyone using wireless-enabled devices or will you have to invest in new hardware?

Once you have worked out what you need and purchased your equipment, it’s time to set up your wireless office. If you don’t feel confident doing this yourself and don’t have an IT person on staff, then you should consider having an outside expert come in and do this part for you.

The steps involved are as follows:

• Install the access point(s)
• Activate the connection
• Connect devices to the network
• Configure each device
• Test it is all working
• Secure your network

Because your data will be transmitted by wireless, which can be intercepted, it is important to make sure your new network is secure. Ways to achieve this include:

• Choose a new password to replace the default and change it every month
• Enable data encryption (normally turned off by default)
• Change the SSID (network identifier) and do so every few months.

There are many advantages to going wireless and as communication devices become more and more mobile, there will come a time when a wireless office is as essential as a VoIP phone system. So making the move now, with an eye to your future business needs, would seem to be a smart move in anyone’s book.

How to Create a Wireless Office Space is a post from: Business Management Tips

There are some great business gadgets and apps on the market that can save you time and increase your productivity. Here are some of the best, including some you may not have heard about.

Scanner Pro

This app turns your iPhone into a multi-page document scanner. Get that signature on the dotted line and then take an electronic copy away with you. The Scanner Pro features high-quality image processing and automatic edge detection, making conversions easy.

Square

This is an easy-to-use app that lets you process credit card payments on your iPhone. With lower processing fees than PayPal and no monthly charges or contracts, Square is a great way to pay and get paid when you’re on the go.

Print n Share

Now here’s a great time saver. Print n Share lets you use your smartphone to send documents to the printer back at the office, so that they’re printed and waiting for you when you arrive. Great for small business owners who can’t afford office support.

Wunderlist

This free app lets you categorise your To Do lists (i.e., urgent, business, personal, etc.) so you won’t miss anything important and you can manage your time a whole lot better. It features reminders and the ability to share your lists with colleagues.

Fast Customer

There’s no bigger waste of time than waiting on the phone, and Fast Customer is the iPhone app that does all the waiting for you. Just dial the number and Fast Customer makes its way through the various steps of the phone system until it contacts a live person. Then it calls you back and puts you through.

MightyMeeting

The next time you have a client presentation to deliver, just use MightyMeeting to upload it to the cloud (remote data storage) and then call it up when you need it on your smartphone. You can set up a video conference and share it with others, or just plug your phone into a widescreen projector for a meeting room presentation.

FlightTrack Pro

This is a great gadget for business travellers. You just punch in your itinerary and FlightTrack Pro monitors your flights, alerting you of cancellations and delays. It also gives you the weather and even a map of the airport, so there’s no excuse for missing that flight.

Jump Desktop

When there’s work to do and you don’t have your laptop, Jump Desktop lets you access your computer remotely. You just connect remotely and start working, and if there’s an important document you forgot to bring, you can cut and paste it from your computer to your phone or current PC.

Car Checkup

This plugs into your car’s onboard diagnostic port (every vehicle made after 1996 has one) and monitors your mileage for you. Then you just plug it into your PC and it produces a spreadsheet for tax purposes. No more sweating over logbooks; Car Checkup will save you valuable time and money.

Hootsuite

This is a social media dashboard that lets you track and manage your social media presence from your smartphone. You can draft up to 50 messages at a time and then set and forget. Hootsuite will deliver them at the best times for engaging with your target market.

Top 10 Time Saving Business Gadgets and Apps is a post from: Business Management Tips

The saying ‘time is money’ has never been truer than in today’s business world and the current proliferation of mobile technologies has given business an unprecedented opportunity to capitalise on every available minute.

Laptops, tablets and smartphones are the basic tools of a mobile office and when linked via a VoIP phone system, they can greatly increase the amount of time you and your employees can conduct business, regardless of where you are or what you are doing.

Rather than meeting a client and then coming back a week later with a quote, a salesperson can now work on the details of the order with the client, instantly check stock levels and present the client with the final figures then and there. This means better customer service and a greater likelihood of making the sale.

Rather than spending unproductive hours when travelling in an aeroplane or sitting in a motel room, an employee can now access company information and work on tasks that would previously have had to wait until their return.

A mobile office gives you instant access to any data or resources within the four walls of your company headquarters and it doesn’t end there.

That meeting you would have previously been called on to attend can now be conducted in the palm of your hand via a video conference link on your smartphone.

You can still work on that urgent project, even if you have to stay at home to mind the kids, or if your car is in for a service.

Staff can also instantly contact each other and work on joint projects together, even when they are thousands of miles apart.

As well as making staff more productive, giving them more flexibility in when and where they work will help to increase job satisfaction and overall morale by offering them a better balance between work and family life.

Another advantage of the mobile office is the savings that can be made in the overheads associated with leasing large corporate offices. Rostering the times when staff visit headquarters means work spaces can be shared, large meeting rooms become unnecessary and you will be able to consider downsizing your overall office space requirements.

One possible problem with the mobile office is that of security. Giving your employees unlimited access to company data wherever they are can also mean you are inadvertently giving others access to this data.

Sensitive company information stored online could fall into the hands of a competitor if not properly secured, or make an easy target for hackers. Inadequately protected home computers or mobile phones could also contract viruses, which could go on to infect the whole company network.

One solution could be to have some sort of corporate firewall that only allows access to authorised personnel and only to those areas where they specifically need it.

So much time is downtime these days, whether stuck in traffic, sitting in waiting rooms or delayed at airports. Employing mobile office technologies to convert this into productive time is your opportunity to get more from your staff, improve your customer service, do more business every day and achieve a healthier bottom line.

Increasing Productivity with Mobile Offices is a post from: Business Management Tips

Communications have come a long way in a short time — from telegraph to telephone, mobile phone and mobile VoIP, all in the space of a mere century and a half.

Telegraph

The telegraph was the first big step forward for communication over long distances, effectively ending the era of the Pony Express in America, where messages were carried by riders on horseback.

Samuel Morse is credited with developing the first successful telegraph system in 1837. He hit on the idea of sending messages along an electric wire, using the earth as a conductor to complete the circuit.

By making and breaking the circuit, audible clicks were produced, which then went on to become Morse Code, an alphabetical code for transmitting messages in dots and dashes.

The system was so successful, the American government ran telegraph wires all over the country and it remained the chief means of communication until the invention of the telephone.

Telephones

Strangely enough, the telephone came about through Alexander Graham Bell’s efforts to try and improve the telegraph.

Trying to overcome the fact that the telegraph could only send one message at a time, Bell proposed a theory based on music, suggesting that several notes could be sent at the same time if they were each at a different pitch.

After realising that different tones would vary the electric current in a wire, he set about building a transmitter with a membrane capable of transmitting these different currents and a receiver capable of reproducing them.

On March 10, 1876, Bell’s words transmitted via the device to his assistant in the next room marked the birth of the telephone: “Mister Watson, come here. I want to see you!”

Mobile phones

The first mobile phones were mobile radio telephones in motor vehicles, usually operated over closed networks by police or taxi dispatch companies.

Those that were commercially available for private vehicles often consisted of a transceiver in the boot and a headset near the driver’s seat.

The first ever hand-held mobile phone was invented by Motorola in 1973 and weighed one kilogram. With the development of cellular networks, mobile phones grew smaller and the number of subscribers grew larger, going from nearly 12 and a half million in 1990 to five and a half billion worldwide by 2011.

Mobile VoIP

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) began as early as 1995 with the release of the first internet phone software by a small company called Vocaltec. It was similar to Skype, in that it allowed users to make internet phone calls from their PCs.

In the next few years, PC-to-phone and phone-to-phone devices appeared on the market and mobile VoIP was born.

It became rapidly more popular when networking manufacturers such as Cisco developed equipment that could route and switch traffic, which marked the beginning of clear, reliable, low cost phone calls to anywhere in the world.

With the advent of smartphones, we can now video conference, watch movies and transfer large amounts of data all from our mobile phones.

With all this coming about in just a century and a half, it’s hard to imagine where future communications will head next. All we can say with any certainty is that it promises to be a very exciting ride.

From Telegraph to VoIP: Milestones in Communications is a post from: Business Management Tips

A virtual conference is a great way to keep in touch with staff and colleagues, regardless of their geographical locations. It can take the form of a video conferencevia a common website or a teleconference where everyone is linked by phone.

Running a virtual conference is like holding any meeting; there are certain steps that must be followed if a successful outcome is to be achieved. There are also some dos and don’ts peculiar to its ‘virtual’ nature.

Distribute the agenda

Distributing a copy of the agenda to every participant before the conference ensures that everyone knows what to expect and can prepare any questions or contributions they may have. It also gives them a guide to follow during the conference.

Nominate a chairperson

It is a good idea to have one person in charge of proceedings. Their role is to keep the meeting on topic and on time and to ensure everyone gets to have their say. It is a good idea to also appoint a note taker and a timekeeper.

Test the equipment

Whether it’s video conferencing or teleconferencing, be sure to check that everything is working and that everyone has signed in before the meeting commences. Make sure you know how to operate the equipment you are using and have a backup plan for if it fails.

Observe etiquette

Common rules to observe during a virtual conference include:

• Everyone to introduce themselves before commencing
• One person to talk at a time (nominated by the chairperson)
• State your name when you speak
• Give the conference your full attention (no multi-tasking)
• Make sure there is no background noise or distractions at your end
• No side conversations

Encourage feedback

Allow some time towards the end of the conference for people to voice questions, concerns and suggestions. This can be useful for revealing unforeseen issues not covered by the agenda.

Be understood

In the case of a teleconference, be aware that other participants cannot see you and therefore can’t pick up on your non-verbal cues. If they don’t understand what you’re talking about, you won’t know, so you need to be extra clear when making your points and even describe how you feel (i.e., “I’m excited about this!”), because they won’t know otherwise.

Be interesting

It is much harder for the chairperson or facilitator to maintain interest when the audience is not in the room, so be sure not to bore them. Mix presentation and information with participation and interaction. Keep everyone engaged. Check in with participants who have been quiet for a while to ensure they are still focused.

Keep it simple

Virtual conferences will always be a compromise on face-to-face meetings because of the inability to read body language and the potential for misunderstanding. Therefore, it is often better to use them for routine information sharing rather than for motivational purposes or matters involving the emotional exchange of views.

Summary

To ensure your virtual conference has a successful outcome:

• Make sure your participants are prepared beforehand
• Use only the technology necessary and know how to use it
• Be clear and interesting and encourage participation
• Keep the meeting short and to the point

How to Hold a Virtual Conference is a post from: Business Management Tips

Mobile VoIP is revolutionising the way we do business. Whether you’re a small business with a handful of employees or a large organisation with branches all over the world, there are a number of excellent reasons to get on board with mobile VoIP.

Cost

VoIP business phone systems offer substantial savings over traditional phone systems. Monthly fees are not only much lower, but because VoIP systems don’t require onsite routing equipment, businesses also save on equipment charges and maintenance fees.

Most businesses are now extending this cost-saving advantage to their mobile networks. Depending on which service provider and plan you subscribe to, mobile VoIP allows your staff to make mobile calls (including international calls) without incurring the extra charges traditionally associated with mobiles.

Because VoIP calls are routed via the Internet, they cannot be geographically located, and thus there is no distinction between local and international calls.

Calls can even be free of charge if made between company phones, which can mean huge savings in communication costs for large businesses with many operatives in the field.

Features

Adding mobile VoIP to your existing VoIP system will give your employees access to all the standard features offered by traditional carriers such as caller ID and voicemail. Mobile VoIP also offers some unique features like video conferencing, queue managers, auto attendants and call recording. This allows for more business to be conducted away from the office. VoIP also lets you add new users at very little cost, and it can be integrated with other software and hardware to enable faster data sharing.

Accessibility

Because mobile VoIP is compatible with any wireless network, it can be programmed to switch between different networks. This means that, as long as there is wireless Internet available, you’ll always have the same low-cost access wherever you are — even when you travel overseas.

Versatility

Another cost-saving feature of mobile VoIP is the fact that no special equipment is required to use it. You can access mobile VoIP on any smartphone, iPhone or iPad and any laptop or notebook with Internet capability.

Availability

VoIP also allows you to ‘converge’ your fixed phone and mobile phone numbers, so that both will ring when an outside call comes in. For small businesses and those who spend a lot of time out of the office (such as tradespeople), this means you’re always available wherever you are and no potential business will be lost due to a client’s inability to get hold of you.

Accountability

VoIP also allows you to track calls made on all phones, which is an excellent feature for businesses who charge by the hour. It also allows you to monitor the time spent by employees on their mobiles and the numbers they are calling, with the aim of targeting inefficiencies and increasing productivity.

The rapid evolution of IP-based communications means business users can now do almost anything on their smartphones or tablets that they can on their office PCs. Thanks to mobile VoIP, the concept of a truly mobile office is fast becoming a reality.

Reasons for Choosing a VoIP-Compatible Mobile Phone is a post from: Business Management Tips

Your phone system is the front line of your business and often your first point of contact with clients. How they are treated by your staff over the phone is crucial to the impression they form of your business, so good phone etiquette should be taught and regularly reinforced.

The following are some common dos and don’ts when using a business telephone:

Receiving calls

• Answer promptly, preferably by the third ring.
• Give a greeting, the name of the business and your name and ask how you can be of assistance.
• Always smile, as you can hear the smile in a person’s voice.
• Speak slowly and clearly in a friendly, professional tone.

• Do not eat, drink, chew, type or shuffle papers while answering the phone.
• Do not use first names, unless you are familiar with the caller.
• If taking a message, write it down fully and repeat the information back to the caller.
• Never argue with irate callers. If you can’t solve their problems, then refer them to your supervisor.
• Remain focused on the call. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by anything going on around you.
• At the end of the conversation, thank the customer for their call and always wait for them to hang up first.

Placing calls

• Collect your thoughts before dialling. Have an agenda and visualise what you’re going to say.
• When the phone is answered, give your name and ask for the person you wish to speak to.
• If leaving a message, give your name, your company name, the reason for the call and your contact telephone number. Keep it brief, professional and to the point.

Putting callers on hold

• Ask the caller if you may put them on hold and explain why it is necessary. Wait for their answer before doing so.
• Put the phone down gently, as a sudden bump can be very loud in the caller’s ear.
• Monitor how long they have been on hold, and if it is for more than a minute, ask them if they want to wait, or if you can take their number and call them back.
• If you have offered to call them back, make sure you do so, preferably within half an hour or so.

Mobile phones

• Always be discreet when discussing business matters in a public place. Be aware that there are people around you.
• Do not use loud or unprofessional ringtones. What’s funny to you may be offensive to someone else.
• Set the ring volume to low and turn your mobile off when in meetings or with clients.

Phone systems

• Whatever phone system you have, make sure your staff are well versed in its use.
• Include phone use in new staff orientations and have a company policy and procedural manual about it.

A good phone manner is good for business and a great phone manner can set you apart from your competitors, which is why providing the right phone training for your staff is so important.
Not only is it good for customer relations, but it’s also a wise investment in the long-term branding of your business.

Providing the Right Phone Training for Your Staff is a post from: Business Management Tips

Not surprisingly, the latest business communication trends revolve around emerging technologies, as businesses seek new ways to communicate faster, better and more cost effectively with their customers and employees.

Here are 10 of the most notable trends in business communication today:

Email

While email has been around for a while, email solutions for business now include such things as IMAP accounts, which allow you to check email from more than one computer; auto responders, which automatically send periodic emails to those on your business mailing list; and email archiving, which can be important for compliance issues.

PowerPoint presentations

These are now the preferred tools for most meetings, training and presentations. Microsoft PowerPoint is easy to learn and allows you to create interesting and informative business presentations incorporating charts, graphics, music and narration.

Video conferencing

This allows two or more locations to communicate via two-way video and audio transmissions. Ideal for keeping geographically remote areas of the business in touch, video conferencing reduces travelling costs dramatically for businesses with more than one branch.

Smartphones

Smartphones offer businesses many advantages over traditional mobile phones, including greater data-handling capacity, faster and more reliable connectivity, instant reporting (i.e., digital camera for site inspections) and better organisation (diaries, reminders, contact lists, etc.). They even offer a new advertising platform via banner ads with clickable graphics.

Mobile apps

There are new mobile applications for business being developed every day. Some of these include:

• Cisco WebEx, which allows you to attend meetings on your smartphone
• Microsoft SharePoint for mobile communication, file sharing and content management
• Salesforce Chatter, which allows team members to chat and exchange information privately (like an intranet Facebook)
• Basecamp, which provides a mobile collaborative platform for managing projects on the run

iPads

Apple iPads are becoming the tool of choice for many business employees, replacing laptops in many instances. They offer a light, portable means of accessing information and presenting to clients in the field, and Apple is developing a number of new apps exclusively for business users.

Social networking

Most businesses are seeing the value of tapping into social media networks (Facebook has over 500 million users). As well as reaching new potential customers, businesses are using social media to communicate with existing customers in new ways (i.e., videos, blogs, fan pages, etc.).

Cloud computing

This allows businesses to store and access data remotely, rather than on hard drives or company servers. It’s very flexible in that it allows you to access data from anywhere at any time, using a computer or smartphone and to work collaboratively on documents with others in multiple locations. Cloud computing provides unlimited storage space and offers substantial cost savings, as you subscribe to the software rather than buying it and only use what you need.

VoIP

This stands for Voice Over IP and it’s proving a huge hit for businesses looking to reduce costs on phone calls. VoIP converts analogue signals to digital data, allowing phone and video calls to be made over the Internet for little more than the cost of a monthly connection fee. VoIP is revolutionising mobile communications and many companies are reporting savings of as much as 80 per cent compared with their former analogue accounts.

Top 10 Business Communication Trends is a post from: Business Management Tips

Businesses have unique telecommunication needs that differ significantly from those of private residences. Business phone systems that reflect reliability and provide tools for enhanced collaboration and customer communication can boost productivity while allowing organisations to keep costs under control. Whether your organisation is small, medium-sized, or a large business with hundreds of employees, this checklist will prove useful when making a decision about your business phone system.

VoIP

While VoIP is not a feature in itself, it’s worth mentioning here that VoIP systems tend to be far more cost effective than traditional telephone systems. They may also come with a wider range of tools and special features to support dynamic business use. These include mobile VoIP, call management tools, integration with your CRM, and call monitoring features.

Customer service tools

Customer service tools will include tools such as voicemail, call forwarding, voice recording, queue manager, and auto attendant. These tools allow staff members who are not at their desks to remain available to clients. For high volume periods, these tools ensure that the business never misses out on a call.

Conferencing

Conferencing features can add enormous value to any business. They allow a multiple number of staff members to interact with (potentially a multiple number of) clients, not just via video or voice calls, but through additional features such as instant messaging, which can enhance conference meetings where attendees are exchanging a high level of detail or large documents. Some conference system incorporate security features such as PIN codes or access codes.

Call management tools

Call management tools enable management to monitor, allocate, manage and redirect calls so that the right callers are routed to the correct department or staff member.

For example, business phone systems that incorporate a queue can minimise the need for reception staff or manual allocation of calls. Callers can “self guide” through preset menu selections until they reach the correct department for their query.

Other call management tools include call recording, real-time monitoring, detailed usage reports and other tools to enhance monitoring and call quality.

Mobility

In places with reliable 3G or 4G networks, many phone systems are now designed for mobility. Mobile features can include integration of individual staff members’ smartphones into the existing phone network, which can mean that all calls between the mobile and the office are included within a flat-rate plan.

Similarly, mobility can allow mobile staff members to use their smartphones in the same way as their desk phones, so that they can receive calls to their office extension number even when they’re on the move.

Minimal maintenance

While the above tools may sound complicated, the best business phone systems are in fact designed for user friendliness out of the box. An ideal phone system should require little maintenance and technical training to operate.

Scalability

Scalability is important for the growing organisation looking for minimum disruption when adding more users to the phone system. Any phone system should be able to accommodate more users without needing to change equipment, change the existing phone numbers, or make expensive upgrades.

Business Phone System Checklist is a post from: Business Management Tips

Cloud computing has grown in popularity over the past few years. The term refers to computing or telecommunications services that are provided as a service rather than equipment alone. These services are often offered on a subscription service without requiring a large initial outlay, as in the case of traditional phone systems. For conferencing, cloud computing offers a range of exciting possibilities. We look at these in detail in this article.

Cloud computing and business phone systems

Cloud-based business phone systems rely on an external cloud rather than a fixed landline service that needs to be installed on your premises. As such, it’s far easier to set up a cloud-based phone system than a traditional landline, as long as there is an Internet connection available.

Cloud-based telephone systems allow businesses to dramatically reduce their overheads and streamline and unify call tools, all without the need to set up complicated equipment or sign long-term contracts. In addition to low or minimal setup costs, these systems tend to allow new accounts to be set up in a very short period of time, allowing businesses to add more users without delay.

Benefits for conferencing

So, cloud computing clearly offers significant benefits. These are some of the implications and benefits a cloud-based system provides for conference calls.

• Cost and convenience. Two of the major advantages that cloud computing provides for conferencing is cost and convenience. There is no need for complicated videoconferencing equipment; users can log on to the cloud and the conference call with a desktop computer or notebook computer.
• Multiple locations. Cloud-based systems allow multiple locations to be connected to the single phone system (across borders), which is another potentially cost-saving feature.
• Upgrading and maintenance. Similarly, businesses do not need to be concerned about equipment going quickly out of date on a cloud system.
• Collaboration. Callers can listen and hold verbal discussions while exchanging instant messages in virtual chat rooms and sharing files via the same network. These tools facilitate collaboration and teamwork.
• Quality. Cloud computing is very reliable, ensuring that conference calls – whether video or voice – reflect a high level of quality.
• User friendliness. Cloud computing services tend to be very user friendly, and easy to set up and access from any computer.
• Speed. As complicated equipment and technical knowledge are not required for conferencing via cloud computing, attendees can quickly set up conference calls without being restrained by equipment requirements or borders.
• Distance. Cloud computing conference services are based on the Internet. Hence, conference attendees can participate from any country, as long as they have an Internet connection.

Future trends

It’s interesting to note that mobile video and voice conferencing is already widely available. Cloud-based services have lowered the costs of mobile conferencing. As mobile broadband grows in speed and coverage, mobile conference calls are becoming a standard tool for corporate travellers or mobile workforces.

With powerful smartphone features and apps, mobile conferencing may come with the same tools (such as messaging and file sharing) that are available to workers in static locations.

Combining Conferencing with Cloud Computing is a post from: Business Management Tips