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Can my business use Starlink for internet?

6/15/2022

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Starlink

Starlink offers options for remote workers in remote places.

Starlink has made it possible for your office to open a new location high in the mountains, on an island, or even deep in the woods. Remote working can now truly occur in the most remote places imaginable. 

Even with the many business internet options available, 66% of rural small businesses say poor internet or cell phone connectivity negatively impacts their business.

Starlink internet works by sending information through the vacuum of space, where it travels much faster than in fiber-optic cable and can reach far more people and places.

Now seen as “old school,” geostationary satellite technology has been around for over 20 years, and provides broadband connectivity to most places where the sky is visible. It has been considered a lifeline for rural areas that have no other options for internet providers

Starlink satellite internet is currently available in parts of the US and Canada to people who live between 44 and 53 degrees latitude. Starlink plans to be available worldwide by the end of 2022.

Having a connection anywhere you can see the sky sounds great, but there are some major drawbacks to the service. GEO satellite technology can be expensive, and lacks in performance compared to the landline options available in less rural areas. Overall, this can mean slower downloads and VPNs, spotty streaming, and poor video conferencing quality.

Latency is a major issue with GEO satellite technology, given that the satellites in orbit are about 22,000 miles away. Every bit of traffic is traveling twice that distance (there and back), resulting in a delay of over half a second.

Starlink, however, uses thousands (over 2,000) of smaller and cheaper satellites. They are less than 1/20th the size, and are only about 200 miles away as they orbit. That is about 1/100th the distance of the GEO, and results in low latency of around 40-60 milliseconds – much closer to the speed available with wired broadband in urban areas.

Connect with us today to see how Starlink can work for you and your business!

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Cisco sees the Metaverse as a path to rebuild Webex’s market share

1/17/2022

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Cisco and the Metaverse
Cisco is putting resources into augmented reality hologram technology for its Webex conferencing software.

The enterprise giant is betting that AR technology will gain momentum as companies adopt metaverse-style works.

It’s part of Webex’s strategy to regain market share, a key figure tells Insider.

The metaverse, commonly seen as a technology that allows people to communicate with each other in 3D-rendered virtual worlds, may seem like an unlikely investment area for Cisco, whose core business is networking hardware and software. But Cisco is betting that building its own version of the metaverse could be a secret weapon for its Webex conferencing tools, as it aims to regain market share by attracting new customers who want hyper-realistic workplace video conferencing.
Read more

Want help navigating the possibilities of the Metaverse? We can help!

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How to simplify vacation time

12/15/2021

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Working from home can make it difficult to take a proper vacation.

It's really tough to enjoy the beach when you're worrying about incoming emails, deadlines and work expectations. We recommend making a clear plan before packing up the luggage. 

  • Use Notifications Strategically
  • Skip the Auto-Responder
  • Designate one hour each business day to check messages, voicemail and emails
  • Coordinate with a colleague to assist with emergencies
  • Alert major clients and partners to your upcoming absence, and be proactive on their upcoming projects

​Use notifications Strategically

While notifications can send off rewarding signals in the brain and ensure that deadlines are met, they are not helpful to unwind, relax and spend time with family or friends. 

Turn off as many notifications as possible: text messages, social media alerts, and even incoming phone calls.

If you're with a group on your vacation, and on the go, you may opt to set specific ringtones and text tones for family members, just in case there's an emergency (and yes, running out of towels and nachos may classify as an emergency). 

A smartphone addiction study by the London School of Economics and Political Science showed that only 11% of phone interaction was prompted by a notification. With that in mind, use your notifications strategically. If you're worried about missing a call from your boss, set up a loud and silly ringtone just for their phone number. Then put your phone down with confidence; if the call comes, you'll hear it!

Communicate with your family or vacation group about expectations for phones at the beginning of the trip!

​Skip the Auto-Responder

Auto-responders were a great feature in previous decades, but now, with the overload in email inboxes everywhere, they can cause more frustration than assurance.

If your clients, customers or colleagues have been trained to expect an immediate response to every email, you may need to rely on the out-of-office reply. If this is you, include these elements in your auto-responder:
  • ​Do not divulge where you're headed or that you're having loads of fun. This is often an annoyance to the recipient, who is not on vacation, but is stuck reading your robotic email!!
  • Reconsider if you truly need an auto-responder.
  • Include answers to common questions.
  • Specify when they can expect a full reply. ​

On a technical level, the best reason to skip the auto-responder is that it is likely to land in the Spam folder. Unfortunately, once your email goes to Spam, there's a higher chance that your next custom-tailored message will also go to Spam. Use automated messages with extreme caution!

​Designate one hour each business day to check messages, voicemail and emails

Tim Ferriss is the pioneer of changing email habits to increase productivity and decrease work overwhelm. Ferriss suggests, on typical work days, checking email at 11am and 4pm to break out of the read/reply/receive cycle that makes it impossible to accomplish typical workday tasks. 

On your vacation, just pick one hour that you'll check in and put out any fires. If you're on a different timezone than usual, take advantage of the shift to your usual schedule to find the sweet spot. 

Responding in the late afternoon and evening will reduce immediate replies, but gives colleagues the whole next day to address any tasks you have provided. 

Emailing in the morning is not recommended, but that may be a good time for making quick phone calls. 

Look for good times when your family or group is taking some down time and doesn't need your attention! Hit the coffee shop, set a timer, handle urgent items, and then get back to having fun!

​Coordinate with a colleague to assist with emergencies

Rather than using an auto-responder that tells people who to contact in an emergency, we prefer coordinating a plan with this colleague prior to your vacation.

​Depending on your workplace's rules, you may be able to simply share access with your email account with a trusted colleague. You can either give them the reins and let them read emails and look for emergencies, or create a folder and move items to that folder for their review and reply.

Review expectations and look for a system that would be willing to reciprocate the next time they're out of the office!

Alert major clients and partners to your upcoming absence, and be proactive on their upcoming projects

If you're in the middle of a big project, or have a client who must be impressed at all costs, notify them that you will be away. Clarify how the project is resuming without you, or how you will be checking in from the road. Over-communicate and demonstrate that the project and the client is extremely important, no matter where your flip flops may take you!

We are here to assist you--on or off vacation!

Going away?
​We can help!
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Metaverse impact on the Work From Home experience

11/8/2021

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"The metaverse also could be a game-changer for the work-from-home shift amid the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of seeing co-workers on a video call grid, employees could see them virtually."

Mark Zuckerburg hasn't been short on innovative ideas, but his latest announcement of a new metaverse might be the most surprising yet. 

The Metaverse aims to be a 3D-style, virtual reality platform where users can do just about anything digitally that they could do in real life. 

For Star Trek fans the concept of teleportation and holographic experiences is nothing new. The benefits of being able to pause reality and enter a more imaginative, but controlled, space are endless. 

For many who now work from home, a virtual office would allow for easier collaboration, project management, and not-just-your-face-to-face meetings. Perhaps some employers will encourage Casual Avatar Fridays, where employees can let loose and show up as a dragon or Dwight from The Office. 
Woman working from home
Metaverse: Simplified

What's the Metaverse going to do to my internet speeds?!

We don't have exact data on how the Metaverse is going to impact Internet Speeds, but we predict the usage will be greater than the increase we saw when the pandemic first hit. There are still a lot of pieces that need to be worked out, but this is a good time to be rethinking your business systems and customer experience. 
  • What would be easier in a 3D environment?
  • What new way could your customers be engaged in 3D? 
  • What new products/services could you offer if you could interact virtually with each customer? 
  • How could your staff complete tasks faster or more easily?

Want to imagine how the Metaverse might impact your business?

Let's brainstorm
Source Information: AP News
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BYOD: Bring Your Own Device

6/11/2021

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Workplace rules and expectations have made a huge shift in the last few years. As your team ventures back into the workplace, now is a good time to review if a BYOD policy is the best option for your company!

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Workplace rules and expectations have made a huge shift in the last few years. As your team ventures back into the workplace, now is a good time to review if BYOD is the best way to do it.

As we explore BYOD policies, keep in mind that Bring Your Own Device refers to laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Any wifi or cellular enabled device used for work will fall into this discussion. 

Studies indicate that your team will see an increase in productivity when using their own devices on the job. There's something about having all the settings and preferences right at your fingertips, and even that friendly wallpaper of your cat, to speed up tedious tasks. 

Employees also share that their job satisfaction increases, and that means they stick around at their favorite job for longer. Unifying communications into one phone (instead of a work phone, cell phone, home phone) reduces stress and increases productivity! 

For Employers, enjoy a decrease in costs for providing hardware: computers, phones, etc. We recommend using apps like RingCentral, Teams or any other VOIP provider for employee work phone calls and communication. 

Be prepared for the disadvantages of BYOD:
  • personal devices being lost or stolen, and losing company data or exposing company information in the process: use cloud-based platforms to retain and protect data
  • insufficient anti-virus software
  • decreased control
  • potential increase in IT costs, should you provide support and repairs​: be clear on what repairs and solutions your company will provide, reduce complex software and switch to cloud-based platforms where possible

At Simplified Communications, we strive to find ways to simplify your workplace. BYOD is one solution to consider! Need help implementing a BYOD culture?

We can help!
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Boundaries and Benefits of Remote Working

3/31/2020

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Few businesses expected to turn to digital and virtual solutions with the same veracity of the Coronavirus. As the internet reaches peak usage with employees working from home, and kids attempting to Zoom with their teachers, we want to review Remote Working--Simplified.

Simplify your Remote Working experience with these benefits and boundaries:

Shortest commute ever.
This may be the greatest benefit! Shuffling from the bed to the kitchen table or home office without waiting for any red lights is a glorious thing. Over time, that laptop might start staring at you, tempting you to work from sunrise to sunset. We recommend listening to that podcast that used to get you through the endless miles. Instead of from behind the steering wheel, listen in while making breakfast and cleaning up around your home office. If you used to have a 30-minute commute, try to do something productive (laundry) or meaningful (tell jokes with the kids) for a half hour before settling in for the work day. Pajamas versus business attire? That's up to you! Just be sure to have a suit jacket near your desk for important Conference Calls!

Better communication and scheduling.
While it may have been nice to chat with co-workers during breaks, working from home allows for a different kind of communication. Simplified Communications works with businesses to find, implement and troubleshoot the best possible remote working scenarios for their business or team. Whether your team needs 1-on-1 communication with customers, or group communication among staff, we are experienced in transferring the work setting to the digital realm. Too much tech talk may burn out some employees and entrepreneurs. Be sure to take breaks, and build in a rest from electronics for your teams. You may also consider setting your hours differently--instead of being available from 8am-5pm, clarify that you'll be available by Direct Message on a specific platform from 8am-10am, and 3pm-5pm. This will minimize the number of applications you and your co-workers need to access, and it will help your colleagues better organize their time.
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​400 S 4th St Ste 410
39726
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