LSeven Solutions Blog

Many small businesses are switching their phone systems to Voice over Internet Protocol and seeing dramatic savings over traditional phone plans, especially when it comes to long distance charges. Once the switch to VoIP is made, small businesses are discovering there are more benefits to VoIP that make their business appear bigger and more professional!

Cloud computing is a hot business technology. Research firm Gartner surveyed businesses worldwide and found that 60% have increased their budgets for cloud services through 2014. Gartner also predicts that the cloud services market will increase 18.5% this year. Are you looking to migrate over to the cloud? Here are a few considerations before your business goes cloud crazy.

Have you ever felt like your long commute is draining the life out of you? If you commute long distances to work, then there may be something to the phrase, “My commute is killing me.” Research has shown commuters die younger than those who live closer to their work. This is yet another reason to work from home.

There are many advantages that come with switching your company's traditional phone system to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). VoIP uses the Internet to handle all of your communication needs; this can streamline your communications and save you 50-70% compared to a traditional phone plan. Not only can VoIP save your business operating costs, it can also make your company more efficient.

Your electricity bill is the worst. This is because you know that it could be smaller if you only made a few adjustments to how you run the office. Little tricks like turning your lights off will save you money, but to really make a dramatic cut to your bill, you can virtualize your servers.

As an IT company, we get excited about the newest computer hardware and software. We try to convince everybody that upgrades are great, but some people cannot be shaken from their devotion to what is familiar and refuse to upgrade their tech. In our experience, here are the three biggest reasons why upgrades are avoided.

Computers have been designed to be easy and intuitive to use. Just about anybody can figure out how to open files and browse the Internet, but PCs are still complicated machines that require technical knowledge to fix and maintain. When it comes to the technical stuff, it's better to leave it to the pros.

We are not guaranteed a life without problems. Problems will happen and your plans will be ruined (okay, it's not ALWAYS that bad!). While you can't totally eliminate problems from life, you can greatly reduce them by being proactive. This proactive problem solving approach also works great with technology!

Your computer network is vital to your business continuity. Every component plays an important role, but it is your server that is the heart of your network, pumping data to all of your company's computers. You take care of your heart, are you taking care of your server?

At work, it takes discipline to avoid distractions and stay on task. Thanks to mobile devices notifying you of every update from every friend, distractions at the office are at an all-time high. By scheduling the times to check your messages, you can stay connected, lessen distractions, and maximize productivity.

Many tech-savvy professionals have labeled tablets merely "content consumption" devices. This may have been true initially, but now with the productivity applications that have been developed using cloud computing, tablets can now be used to do more than just watch videos and surf the web. In this respect, the mobile computing revolution has finally made it to the workplace. Employers and employees alike are beginning to utilize mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones as a compliment to their standard office technology to improve productivity.

Procrastinators of the world unite... tomorrow! Many people who feel the constant and crushing pressure of deadlines, and who have a habit of being late with deadlines, would identify themselves as procrastinators. Stanford professor John Perry has discovered a method to use procrastination as a tool to get more done, he calls this structured procrastination.

Despite having more paperless solutions at our disposal, it looks like offices will always have the need for a printer. Maybe you are not quite ready to take the great paperless leap, but you can reduce the amount of resources and power consumed from using your printers with the help of a print server solution.

Remember being told as a kid that, "Nobody likes a know-it-all?" As an adult, while it is still true that nobody likes a braggart, it turns out that everybody loves an expert! Every professional is an expert within their field; and whenever a problem crops up that you may not be a know-it-all in, then you call in another expert.