Face-Less or Face-Full of IT Support?

I'm looking at IT Managers, Head of ITs and CTOs shaking their head at the very thought of having an insourced IT guy taking up desk space and the head count budget.

This is all about SMEs, my favorite kind of companies to work with, perhaps a global presence, no more than 400 employees.

It's Monday morning the docking station at your desk isn't turning on, you've checked the power cables and everything else you can think of. So you go to the last resort, you pick up the phone and dial IT support, an internal number that quickly gets redirected out of the company to an external provider, they don't know who you are, asking what company you work for, name, telephone number, how important are you in the company, how long can you wait without complaint? All these questions being thrown at you, they can't fix it and have to send an engineer and oh, it's a hardware fault which is a 12 hour SLA, someone will be in touch, come out to you hopefully today to replace the dock, sorry about that. "How was your experience with IT this morning?". Another victim of outsourced IT hassle on a busy Monday morning that has once again annoyed and ruined another employees view of IT.

Let's take the VIP and personable approach to the same Monday morning docking station situation. That telephone number you ring goes through to an employee of your company, Charlie, he gets into the office at the same time as you, you smile on the train at each other occasionally, you know Charlie, would recognise him down the pub after work on a Thursday, he's at the company events, this gives you hope and comfort, instills confidence in your IT department. Charlie comes over in 10 minutes, he even brings his cup of tea and he has a replacement dock in his hand already. Charlie runs the same checks you did, but you're having a quick chat about what happened over the weekend, you're at ease, Monday is getting back on track quickly. Charlie replaces the dock and pops your laptop back on with a smile, docks your laptop turns it on, it's at the login screen and you logon, Charlie's work is done and he gets back to his desk. "How was your experience with IT this morning?".

IT support is one of the most key, integral and important departments in a company. Yet computers are attributable to dissatisfaction in the work place... Let's give your employees the best start in their job and the execution of their duties with some friendly, onsite IT support, can you afford not too?

I've been involved with IT support for the last 10 years and in VIP support and what I call highly personable support for SMEs for the past 5 years. For me, the key to a successful IT service is sometimes just to have a cup of tea with the end users of your system and understand their pains and pitfalls, get to know how they utilise the IT system and how we, as a department feeding into the company can make their processes easier. With outsourced IT support, this is rarely possible, it's so key and important in these highly technological times to bring a friendly face back to IT support, after all, a computer replacement with a cup of tea and a quick chat about the weekend is probably what you're end users are looking for!

The Benefits Of A Fiber Optic Cable

Let us begin with understanding what exactly these fiber optic cables are; it is firstly a cluster of network cables that contains certain glass fibers in the form of strands that are placed inside an insulated casing. They are specifically designed for long distances, a performance data networking that is very high as well as telecommunications.

If you compare the function and potential of these with the wired cables, these optic cables have a much higher bandwidth and thus have the capability of transferring data over long distances.

Of course there are a certain reasons behind companies making use of this material of fibers rather than any else.

Let us have a look at the advantages:

• LESS EXPENDITURE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF

Of course the amount of money needed matters a great deal. Anyone would opt for a cable line that is cheaper compared to others and at the same time gives excellent service. It is said that tons of miles of this kind of cables can be made to be available at a much cheaper rate when compared to the other types. This not only saves your provider but saves a great amount of your money as well. So you should definitely opt for this kind to save the extra money from getting spent.

• THE CAPACITY OF CARRYING IS MUCH HIGHER

Since these fibers are thinner in diameter, more number of wires can be bundled together for use when compared to the other types. This gives a much broader pathway for more number of phone lines to be crossed over the same cable line or maybe get more number of channels through the cable into your set top box. Either way the benefits are in abundance. Therefore more the carrying capacity more beneficial it gets.

• VERY LESS CHANCES OF LOSING DEGRADATION

Probably the best and the most useful features for all the users of this kind of cables, the possibility of degradation of optic fibers are much less and so people invariably opt for this to not face the problem of loss of signal. It can be a really irritating phase when you have a cable line that has endless issues with the catching of signals. Hence to avoid that problem people opt for the optic fibers and enjoy the use immensely.

Seeing the top most benefits you can easily make out that there are some really noteworthy benefits of the usage of these materials that can give you a much smoother run, so without any further delay or discussion you should totally opt for these.

5 Things a Child Knows About Technology That You Don't

How do you feel about your kids? Ever felt they are smarter than you about Technology? How could you tell? Do you have living proof? This article demonstrates this fact. Read on to find out.

Here are a few examples:

1) Your kid is faster than you at figuring out and playing computer games. They know better when to hit enter, spacebar, ESC key and arrow keys. In fact, they are better than you at playing these games.

2) Your kid is better at discovering new stuff about your cell phone, which you never knew existed. Take all the help you need from your kid.

3) Your kid knows the easiest way to find information by giving a search on Google bar. They will use simple non-connecting words and yet they will find the required information.

4) They will find a way with other digital gadgets before you and work on them intelligently. In fact they can pace up with technology faster than you. So be sure to interact with them.

5) How about a toy car, train or Lego set? After you have shown them the main theme behind them, they will be more creative and discover further innovative stuff about them and show you which will surprise you very much.

So never underestimate your child. Play and laugh with them with digital gadgets or toys. You will always have a lot to learn from them. They will teach you in a way that you can never teach them.

The five ways I demonstrate here really exemplify to you how amazing kids can be. So feel great that your kids are smart and the more they grow up, the more they will outsmart you. Take it easy and as fun. There is nothing much to worry about. You just get smart too by learning and picking up cues from them.

Never belittle them or hush them away. Encourage them always their creative and bright sides with Technology and they will grow and mature in ways that you may have never imagined. It is your duty to bring out the very best in them. So help them with their curiosity and inquisitiveness about Technology. They will feel gratified and fulfilled, which in turn will give you immense joy and bliss.