by Felicien | Aug 2, 2018 | Education
With the business world rapidly moving towards the digitization of documents, mobile scanning apps are becoming necessary for both work and personal use. However, in our day-to-day interactions, we encounter entities, such as the government or doctor’s office that require old-fashioned forms that are printed on paper.
Sometimes we are handed a business card from someone with important contact information we need to retain. Because not everything has moved to digital media, the most useful resolution is to quickly transform any paper you’re handed into digital data, which you can store and edit on your computers and mobile devices. Once stored, you have them practically forever if need be.
Think about the amount of physical information you encounter daily that you need to retain for your professional and personal life: spreadsheets, software information, receipts, financial records, old photographs your parents have, etc. If you need to capture that data or images for future use, having a scanner at your beck and call is an efficient way to operate.
The availability of a mobile scanning app that runs off your smartphone and uses your phone cam to snap the image can allow you to capture more information. This gives you the freedom to correctly analyze and pull out the important stuff for later.
Let’s look at some of the best mobile apps out there. Some of these scanning apps are free, while others are highly affordable. Try to match up your needs to the right app.
What Are The Best Free Mobile Scanning Apps?
Microsoft Office Lens for Android
Microsoft recently launched Office Lens for Android, a scanning app that lets you shoot photos of written materials like notepads, printed documents, and whiteboards, converting printed words in the image to editable text through OCR. Microsoft has other mobile scanning apps such as Evernote, but they’ve added some remarkable functions to this new app. The Office Lens gives you the ability to scan documents, cards, and whiteboards with your Android phone, making them more readable and editable. Best of all, it’s a free app!
Evernote Scannable for iPhone
If you are already an Evernote user, this app scans anything you put in front of it and sends it to your Evernote account, or another place that you designate. It has the capability to share the files with other people very easily, as well. Imagine you’re in a meeting with a number of team members or clients. You can use the app to scan a few files from the meeting, and Scannable will instinctively ask you if you want to share the images with the people in your meeting. If you have already listed the attendees in a meeting invite and you’ve granted Scannable access to your calendar, it will send them the data immediately. How’s that for convenience?
Adobe Scan for iPhone
If you already have a paid Adobe Document Cloud or Creative Cloud account and use it regularly, this app is a no-brainer. Sometimes you have a piece of paper that you need to get into digital form. The Adobe Scan app can not only produce a PDF using your smartphone camera, but it can also employ optical-character recognition (OCR) to the scanned image so that you can freely edit its text. For an app that automatically detects, captures, and converts printed text to digital form, Adobe Scan is a perfect app. But once again, you need a paid subscription to get all its impressive features.
What Are The Best Mobile Scanning Apps Under 5 Dollars?
Abbyy FineScanner
Abbyy has been in the scanning technology business for a very long time, and that gives them a leg up on the new and robust competition. Experts have been impressed with its use on older high-end desktop scanners. Its mobile scanning tool Abbyy FineScanner, is impressive as well. FineScanner does a terrific job of scanning any type of printed document. It’s very fast at snapping the photo image and also gives the user the option of color or black-and-white.
The one downside to the Abbyy FineScanner is its price disclosure. You can download a free version, but the free version doesn’t support the software’s best feature, its optical character recognition (OCR). For this feature, you need to pay either $4.99 a month or $19.99 for the year. If you sign up through the website, a free month of premium subscription is available.
Intsig CamScanner
This mobile scanning application has a unique feature that sets it apart from other apps under $5. The Instig CamScanner will separate the document acquisition process (take a picture of the image and turn it into text) from the document management process. If speed is important to you, this app is very fast at taking the image and converting it for you. Intsig CamScanner’s optical character recognition (OCR) is not as accurate as some of the other apps. If accuracy is crucial for you, Instig CamScanner might not be the right scan app for you to download.
TurboScan
TurboScan, a $4.99 app for Android and iOS, is an unpretentious app that precisely saves documents and images for you to edit elsewhere. It is not the fastest, nor does it have a processing niche like the other featured mobile scanning apps. What it does have is consistency in both its accuracy and quality at an affordable price.
Wrap Up
Technology is moving forward at a lightning fast pace. Be sure to check often for the latest and greatest scanning apps and you might be surprised at what some tech guru has come up with.
by Felicien | Aug 2, 2018 | Education
There’s no shortage of useful features on your iPhone, but just because there are so many doesn’t mean you’re utilizing your smartphone to its fullest. The iPhones and iPads of yore were good for little more than making calls, taking photos, and browsing the internet. However, today’s iOS capabilities have improved over time. With each new iPhone model comes a range of cool new features to play with. Since last year, these new features include the ability to record your screen, leaving many iPhone users to wonder how they ever did without.
Tell A Story with Smartphone Video
The Screen Record feature is improving the iPhone experience for users everywhere, especially in a world where a video is the weapon of choice for storytelling. There are a number of reasons why you may want to capture what’s going on with your screen. These reasons range from social and fun to professional.
Many people are visual learners, and explaining step-by-step instructions to someone is much more difficult than just showing them. From sharing footage of your own gameplay, to walking a friend through the steps of how to use certain features on their own phone, the ability to easily capture and share video on your screen is one you don’t want to skip out on, especially if you’re hoping to squeeze every ounce of use out of your iPhone.
Screen Recording, in a nutshell, allows you to capture what’s happening on your screen at any given time. The best part? You don’t even need a third-party app to make it happen. While, technically, the ability to record what’s on your screen has long been available to iPhone users, to do so was no easy feat.
Before the screen record feature made its way into iPhones, users were forced to go through the motions of opening up QuickTime Player and performing several steps to get the goods. Quick and efficient the process was not. Now the screen recording feature is built right into your iOS, allowing you to record your screen or capture individual screenshots with just a few taps.
How To Access Your Phone’s Screen Recording Feature
Your recent model iPhone’s screen recording feature is relatively simple to operate, but there are a few things you may need to do in order to activate it. Devices like the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and, X should already contain the screen recording feature in your control center, but if not, you can easily make it so. To quickly access the tool on one of the aforementioned devices, swipe up from your phone’s home screen and press the bottom-left button.
If your screen recording tool isn’t already in your Control Center, then before you can begin screen recording, you’ll need to fix that in your settings. Go to your iPhone’s Control Center settings and turn on “Access Within Apps.” Go to Customize Controls, and in the More Controls section, add Screen Recording to your Control Center by tapping the green button. This will ensure the feature is ready to go to your Control Center for easy access.
Once your screen shows what you want to start recording, bring up the Control Center using 3D Touch and hit the Screen Recording icon. With this, you’ll be able to manage your audio with the Microphone icon. Once you’re ready to start recording, tap the Start Recording option, which will prompt a countdown. You’re now set to record, and even narrate if you wish, which comes in particularly handy for guides and tutorials. While you’re recording, you’ll see a blue bar at the top.
If you’re ready to stop recording, tap the red icon on your upper-left corner. Once you’re ready to view your screen recording, simply go to the correct folder, locate the file, and hit Play. It’s really that easy.
Editing Your New Video
Recording and sharing your video is simple enough, but you may need to make a few edits, depending on what your video will be used for. After you’re done recording, you’ll be able to do cool things like edit and make annotations when you download a free app, like Record It.
Initially, your video will show any and all actions you take once you hit record, such as starting and stopping the recording. To edit these out, simply click the top right button to edit your video, then trim out the extras by dragging the handles at the bottom of your screen and creating new start and end points for your video. Click done, and that’s all there is to it.
Wrap Up
It’s no surprise that your iPhone and iPad are full of potential. The Screen Record option is just one of the many tools at your disposal. Learning to use its wide range of features will help you get the most bang for your buck, and simplify your life just the way Apple intended.
by Felicien | Aug 1, 2018 | Education
Communicate More Effectively With These New LinkedIn Messaging Features
While Facebook and Instagram are the social networks of choice for the modern day mobile user, apps like LinkedIn haven’t lost their luster. The professional network is still the master of its class, and a growing number of users are turning to the app to keep up-to-date with their network more than ever before.
LinkedIn Moves To A More Competitive Platform
Whether as a simple courtesy to its users, or an attempt to become more appealing to those who’ve made a habit of bringing their professional life to social apps, LinkedIn has implemented some significant changes to their platform, all aimed at making the user experience more worthwhile.
The company announced the changes in a recent blog post, making the case for why the professional network isn’t one to be ignored if instant communication is a big part of your business. From finding jobs to networking and communicating with teammates, LinkedIn boasts loads of potential, especially with these new features.
Compose Longer Messages
The ability to communicate freely and privately through social apps has become a necessity for many of today’s mobile users. Sometimes, you’ve got a lot to say, and scrolling back and forth as you’re typing to make sure you got it all out can be tedious. With this, LinkedIn has created an easier way to compose longer messages, implementing a larger message box for ease-of-use. There will be no more fishing for your cursor. Now, you’ll be able to fit everything you need to say, just as you need to say it, by stretching the message box to reveal more space.
Share Attachments On The Go
In today’s business landscape, work doesn’t stop once you leave the office. This is the reality for workers across all industries today. Between mobile workers and those who travel often for business, smartphones bear their fair share of the workload, and social networks would do well to keep this in mind when rolling out new features for users.
To make the process of working remotely more convenient, LinkedIn now allows users to share attachments on the go. According to the company, the ability to share attachments was among the most frequently requested messaging features by LinkedIn users. To do it, just tap the attachment icon and choose from the approved file types, which include PDF, XLS, DOC, and PPT. This one change alone is sure to bring big potential for the app and users everywhere.
Express Yourself With Emojis
Conveying emotions through words isn’t always easy to achieve. Rather than spend the rest of your workdays dissecting messages and searching for undertones, you can now incorporate emojis into your messages. Use the emoji picker on your desktop to add emojis to your text. Just search by category, and let the emojis do all the talking.
Start And Manage Group Messages
There are loads of reasons why chatting on LinkedIn makes sense. You may be discussing work with a teammate, gathering info about an exciting new job opportunity, or collaborating with other professionals within your industry. Whatever the reason, instant communication is vital for many people, and the company has addressed this with the ability to start group messages.
It’s now simpler for you to start conversations with people within your network. To do this, just tap the “+” button, which will prompt the suggestions of users to communicate within groups. These can include fellow co-workers from a recent or present company, old classmates, or people you’ve recently met. And if you need to remove someone from the chat, never fear. Simply tap the three dots on the top right corner of your group message and tap to remove people as you wish.
Mention Others In Your Messages
The tagging feature on Facebook and Instagram is a great way to stay connected with friends. LinkedIn has incorporated a similar feature, allowing users to mention other users in group messages or in one-on-one conversations to recommend others.
Copy And Paste Images From The Web
It may come as no surprise that many people opt for visuals over traditional text. The popularity of memes is a testament to this. Visuals are a part of everyday communication for countless users, and LinkedIn has recently come up with a game plan for that, too. Users are now able to copy images from the web, and even their phone, right within LinkedIn’s messaging platform. This makes communication easier and more fun than ever – a big plus for users and LinkedIn alike.
Wrap Up
Given LinkedIn’s emphasis on all things business and professional, it makes sense that the company would further strive to make its features reliable for just that. These new features are bound to attract a new wave of young professionals hoping to find new ways to use modern methods of communication to advance their careers and networks.
by Felicien | Aug 1, 2018 | Education
Productivity is a major source of contention across offices everywhere. In today’s workplaces, distractions abound. While there are the typical culprits of reduced productivity, such as cell phone usage and office banter, there are other factors that can wreak havoc in even the most organized office environments, like IT issues.
Determining which issues are responsible for lower levels of productivity will help you come up with a clear game plan to get production back on track, although the answer isn’t always a simple one.
What Are Some Common Causes of Reduced Productivity?
A recent poll by CareerBuilder surveyed over 3,000 workers and 2,000 hiring managers to get to the root of significant drops in productivity. The survey concluded that 50% of employers say cell phone use is one of the biggest reasons for lack of productivity. Behind this came office gossip, which accounted for 42%, and unnecessary internet use with 39%.
Most surprisingly, however, it was discovered that the average U.S. worker wastes up to 22 minutes per day dealing with tech issues in the workplace. It may seem like a low figure, but combined, this can equal up to 95 hours per year — the equivalent of about two weeks of work! It’s then understandable why a growing number of organizations are seeking out new ways to deal with their dreaded IT issues.
What Can Companies Do To Help With IT Issues?
Aside from implementing productive-centered technology, or spending time in learning time management techniques, there are other ways to ensure your company’s workers are utilizing their time for maximum productivity. This includes cutting down on anything that unnecessarily eats at your workers’ day, such as IT issues.
Tech issues are no fun for anyone, but they can be particularly frustrating for workers on tight deadlines. The same is true for managers who have seen first-hand the amount of time and money it can take to resolve these kinds of issues.
IT issues can range from inconvenient to serious. Here are some helpful tips that can help your organization cut back on productivity issues caused by pesky tech mishaps.
Conduct Training Sessions
IT issues in the workplace can arise from a variety of factors, many of which are beyond workers’ control. It has been found, though, that some older workers have difficulty understanding certain programs or coming up with a fix for simple computer issues. To alleviate this, it would do employers well to host informative training sessions that can help bridge the gap between the older generation and a new generation of technology. These sessions don’t have to be time-intensive, nor do they have to cover complex issues. An informative session can be as simple as teaching workers how to troubleshoot printing issues or going through quick fixes for internet outages.
Promptly Report Issues
IT issues can be more than just an inconvenience. The severe ones can seriously impact workers’ abilities to perform their job duties, which is stressful for everyone involved. But for productivity’s sake, it’s important to create an office culture in which workers feel comfortable expressing issues once they arise. By encouraging your employees to report technical issues right away, you’ll ensure no time is wasted in coming up with a solution. Additionally, there should always be a clear point of contact for employees struggling with issues. This will cut down on any confusion in regard to who or what organization can help with a fix.
Replace Outdated Equipment
While it may not always seem cost-efficient to do so, replacing outdated equipment is important if you’re hoping to save time with IT issues in the long run. Although much of today’s modern machinery is designed to withstand the years, older models can present quite the problem in today’s offices. If possible, try to replace outdated equipment.
Hire Skilled Professionals
While it can be tempting to attempt to tackle issues on your own, in many cases, it’s best to leave them to the professionals. You could inadvertently cause more serious issues with your tinkering. Investing in a skilled IT professional can save you time, money, and a world of frustration down the line.
Not only should companies hire IT professionals to fix tech issues, but they should also encourage them to share their knowledge about how to prevent such problems in the future. There are tech skill assessments that managers can perform during pre-employment to ensure employees are prepared to tackle issues that may arise. If you are working in a tech-heavy industry with complex equipment, it may be wise to implement a proper screening strategy to minimize the amount of unqualified employees.
Wrap Up
Together, these small steps can make a big impact in how your company’s workers address issues in their daily work lives. By enforcing good IT habits among your office staff, you’ll pave the way for enhanced productivity that can only improve your organization’s bottom line.
by Felicien | Aug 1, 2018 | Education
Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users may be in for a surprise, as Microsoft plans to end forum support for these older systems. Some Microsoft users have reacted very negatively, citing Microsoft’s earlier promise to support Windows 8.1 until 2023 and Windows 7 until 2020. Considering that Windows 7 remains Microsoft’s most widely used operating system at this time, this type of backlash is not surprising.
If you are still using either of these operating systems (including one of the many variants of Windows 8.1), you need to be aware of what the end of forum support signifies and what will likely follow.
Operating Systems and Major Software Impacted by Latest Announcement
The latest announcement regarding an end to official Microsoft forum support for certain products came July 9, 2018, and includes a variety of Microsoft software and platforms, including the following:
Windows 7
Windows 8.1, and Windows 8.1 RT
Windows Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, and Surface RT, and Surface 2
Internet Explorer 10
Microsoft Security Essentials
Office 2010 and 2013
Other products, such as Zune and Microsoft Band, are also affected by this announcement. The negative responses from Microsoft users have primarily involved Windows 7 and, to a much lesser degree, Windows 8.1. No doubt there are some users of the older versions of Office that are also disturbed. The distress is not so much about ending forum support, as important as that it is, but what is implied by this action.
Other Types of Support
There are different types of support provided by Microsoft, including mainstream and extended support. For the Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems, mainstream support includes both security and non-security updates. When mainstream support ends, the non-security updates end as well. Extended support continues for a period of time even after mainstream support has ended. It still includes security updates but non-security updates are only available with Extended Hotfix Support and are not available at all for desktop products.
There will be no further improvements or upgrades made to the operating system, including those that would aid incompatibility with newer hardware. Mainstream support is ending for the Windows 8.1 variants, and while users can expect security updates to continue until 2023, there will be no further improvements to the software itself.
What Ending Forum Support Means
When Microsoft states that it is ending forum support for a product, it means that when users post questions on community forums for the product in question, they will not receive an answer from a Microsoft agent. There will be no proactive reviews, answer marking, or monitoring of questions by official Microsoft employees for these forums, which include Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 as of July 2018.
The forums will not be shut down, however, and users are perfectly free to communicate and help each other with product issues using the forums. In addition, they will still be moderated by Microsoft employees to make sure that users have a safe and pleasant experience, but they are no longer to be considered a timely or official source of assistance with issues for the products involved.
What Happens Next?
Every Microsoft product, including operating systems, have a well-defined lifecycle. Windows 7 and 8.1 fall under a fixed policy which prescribes the end of mainstream support followed by the end of extended support. Windows 7, Service Pack 1, mainstream support ended in 2017 and its extended support will end in 2020. For Windows 8.1, mainstream support ended in January 2018 and its extended support is scheduled to end in 2023.
What Does Sunset Mean For A Software Product?
Once a product has reached the end of its lifecycle, it is designated as being in the “sunset” stage of its life. After an operating system has reached sunset, it becomes a serious security risk because there will be no further security updates to prevent it from being exploited by malicious agents. Withdrawal of forum support, and the impending end of mainstream and extended support, signifies that a product will be facing sunset within a matter of years. In the case of Windows 7, this process has already begun.
Advice for Those Running Windows 7 or 8.1
Anyone running an operating system that is about to be sunset should seriously consider upgrading to a newer operating system. If an outdated operating system continues to be used, there will be degradation in performance. Along with that, users will experience more and more compatibility problems with newer software and hardware. Of course, the most serious issue is security. Using an older software product can lead to serious security problems. Hackers will exploit these vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
By ending forum support for some of its operating systems and products, Microsoft is signaling to users that it is time to consider upgrading. No one likes change, and yet it is inevitable for software programs. While many users do not appreciate being pressured like this, Microsoft has a vested interest in the compatibility, performance, and security of their software. But they simply can’t offer support forever on all products. Therefore, it might be time to consider transitioning to a newer version.
by Felicien | Jul 31, 2018 | Education
Learn About Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)
Customer relationship management (CRM) software offers a full suite of solutions together in one program that helps manage data. A great CRM program is able to manage email, create reports, make calls, store information about prospects and customers, manage your pipeline, and a whole lot more.
Today’s comprehensive CRM programs are more than just storage for customer contact information regarding purchases or inquiries. This software has grown from being a digital contact register to a very reliable tool that streamlines the entire customer management process from end-to-end.
Of course, there are multiple CRM programs on the market today. Each one may offer similar capabilities, but you get what you pay for. Those programs that are less expensive will not be able to handle all the tasks you need in order to do the best work. Depending on the type of business, you will need to choose something that includes the programs you need but fits within the budget.
CRM has been enthusiastically adopted across different industries and this has led to software companies competing to become the best and most reliable CRM software on the market. You’ll find many features and functionalities that you may not even need. Though most do require a level of training to use properly, all should be user-friendly. You should not need a degree in computing to use CRM software.
For large businesses with rapid growth, it is best to work with a highly customizable CRM system. The more flexible the programs are, the better you’ll be able to make them work for you. In the end, a good CRM platform should pay for itself in a short time frame.
What should you look for when choosing a CRM System?
The basic features that any customer relationship management software should contain include a dashboard, customer contact management, activity tracker, prospect management, report generation, and also opportunity management. Below are a few considerations to ponder before settling on a CRM platform for your company.
Usability
How easy to use are the solutions offered by the CRM? Your sales team won’t be happy with a complex system that takes months to master. Is there an intensive training required for them to understand how to work with the new system? What does the implementation process entail? It’s a good idea to check feedback from current customers. Users will tell you about their experiences and this can help you decide.
Pricing
Determine your price range for the new CRM program. Depending on the size of your business, there are a number of options to choose from. How many people will be using the new platform? Will you be able to get free training and consistent upgrades? It’s important to take everything into consideration. Training alone could be pricey.
For those big organizations, it’s easier to negotiate the price and the types of services that will be included. You can work with the software developer to customize the program so it delivers exactly what your company needs. Smaller companies may have to pay extra for a few things. Remember that a good CRM is an investment in making life easier for your sales force. It should deliver on all the services you need today while being able to provide expansion for the future. Be sure to ask about user limits. Some programs have a limit of up to 10 users maximum, as well as storage limits.
The Features
Lightweight solutions are usually meant for small businesses where the customer relationship is immediate, quick, and easy. They have fewer features and functionalities but this could be better because it means that learning to use the program will be easier as well. Start with a good checklist of what you expect from your CRM. Just ensure that when you finally decide on the right one, you do not have to pay extra for features that might never be of any help to your teams.
Do Your Research
Knowledge is power. Perform extensive research before making a decision. Once you check all the programs available in your price range, you can check to see what features they each have. A few websites have all the popular CRM’s listed in a comparison format. You can quickly view pricing and features. This makes choosing a less-complicated process.
Wrap Up
The main goal of purchasing new customer relationship management software is to give your sales teams the best tools you can afford to do their jobs. By selecting a program that automates many tasks, your sales people are free to make more calls or follow up with prospects. They can do more with less work. In the end, this should increase your bottom line. It should help your sales people to improve their numbers and this, in turn, increases your profits.
