The Convenience of Remote Support VS The Value of an On Site Visit

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~Written by Matt Conlon

The business world has become a far more convenient place over the last ten years. Technology has put our data within arm’s length, pretty much anywhere we go. Mobile computing, wireless hot spots, cellular devices, cloud storage… it’s no wonder working remotely has become so common place.

 

The world of I.T. has also evolved. With respect to your I.T. needs, almost everything can be done remotely, short of physically manipulating hardware. It’s easy to think, “Just remote in and fix this issue”. Remote support can usually satisfy the need for immediate help, and gives us that instant gratification we’ve begun to expect. There are even I.T. companies out there who will come on site once to set everything up, and then you’ll never actually see them again. When you have an issue, they’ll remote in and troubleshoot. For them, the days of kicking you out of your chair and plugging away on your physical keyboard are over. Read more

Revit Workstations: The Goldilocks Principle ~ Peter Yackel

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Choosing the right hardware for a Revit workstation is usually approached in two distinct ways.  One, spend a lot of money on high performance components and a lot of RAM just to be sure it will handle any Revit task you throw at it, or two, spec the computer components based on the minimum or recommended system requirements for Revit as outlined by Autodesk.  While the first approach will certainly have the user grinning from ear to ear in pure performance bliss, it’s overkill.  The second approach will likely soon have the user pounding the keyboard or spending extra time chatting at the water cooler or coffee machine. Read more

Industry Compliance and Other Benefits of Secure File Sharing With Parallel Edge

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Industry compliance can be a tricky thing. It’s even trickier when organizations everywhere are sharing files and information through instant messaging and file sharing platforms that may not be as secure as they think. For example, you need to have a colleague review a specific contract or customer order information.

Unless the file-sharing platform you are using adheres to strict security protocols, limits access to those individuals who actually need it, and an assortment of other requirements to maintain industry specific compliance – you’ve likely put those files and information at risk.

Dropbox and other consumer-grade file sharing platforms are popular because of how easy they are to use, but you must be wary about the security measures put in place for compliance purposes. Furthermore, those platforms are at risk of attack and data loss through various web vulnerabilities and a lack of security options.

The only way to make sure your business is on the up-and-up when it comes to regulations and compliance is to utilize tools that meet business needs and ensure data security. That’s where secure file sharing and collaboration tools from Parallel Edge come in.

In addition to helping your business maintain industry and regulatory compliance, there are other benefits to secure file sharing with Parallel Edge.

 

User and Group Management

  • Import members and groups from Active Directory
  • Flexibly assign and reassign projects and owners
  • Define workgroup members, roles, and access rights

 

Policy Management

  • Set policies for public links, remote access, IT whitelist
  • Define policies for mobile editing, sharing, or app access
  • Configure password complexity and Two-Factor Authentication

 

Document Management

  • Easy uploading and downloading via browser or e-mail without size restrictions
  • Simple for users to start working immediately
  • Seamless integration with online office tools

 

Historical Archive and Versioning

  • Built-in versioning to eliminate risk of lost files or changes
  • Quickly recover lost files or folders to their original locations

How Technology for Attorneys Helps Compliance With the Law

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Longtime attorneys can no longer be afraid to use technology as part of their practice. Not only will it leave you behind the competition if you don’t embrace the latest electronic innovations, but you could get yourself into trouble. Before the technology boom, lawyers could shrug their shoulders and claim technology ignorance. Not any more. In Pennsylvania on November 21, 2013, the state’s Rules of Professional conduct were amended. Now, every attorney is required to keep informed of changes in the law and its practice. This includes knowledge of the risks and benefits related to technology and their cases.

 

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct were formally approved before Pennsylvania adopted them, in 2012, by the American Bar Association. These rules clearly state that lawyers have a duty to be competent of the law, its practice and in technology. The Model Rules are a guideline for states to form their own rules of professional conduct, just as Pennsylvania has. Every state has the freedom to reject, modify or adopt the Model Rules. The state’s high court must first adopt the Model Rules in order for technology competence to apply to attorneys in any given state. So far, 13 states have adopted the revised comment to Rule 1.1.

 

Comment 8 to Rule 1.1

The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates voted to amend Comment 8 to Model Rule 1.1. This comment pertains to competence in the area of technology by the attorney.

Pennsylvania’s chose to adopt the amendment, and in a nutshell it tells us that lawyers have to stay abreast of the latest in technology and engage in all required continuing education in the lawyer’s legal specialty.

 

Pennsylvania’s Rule 1.6

Pennsylvania has also amended its Rule 1.6, Confidentiality of Client Information. As we know, confidentiality is one of the most sacred duties that attorneys carry out for their clients. With technology such as social media sites, blogging and cloud storage, new limits must be set forth as contained in the Confidentiality of Client Information rule. Lawyers now have a responsibility to keep any information pertaining to their client and their case off of these sites and keep their electronic information secure. (There have been unfortunate cases where unethical attorneys have attacked people via their social media site that their clients have been battling in court.) There is also another amendment that has been interpreted to mean that all Pennsylvania lawyers should at least have an email address.

 

How Technology Helps Attorneys Stay Compliant with the Law

Lawyers can use technology to help keep them updated with the latest technological innovations as they pertain to the legal field. Attorneys can set up social media pages on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter to network with other attorneys and keep each other up on the latest workshops about legal software and electronic advancements. Continuing education can be done remotely with tools such as video chat, Skype etc., allowing the attorneys more access to education tools. Webinars are excellent ways for legal professionals to learn about new technologies that are used in their field. The more the attorneys use technology, the more they will naturally learn about it for compliance with the amendments to the Model Rules.

Small Business Technology Recommendations

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Being a small business does not mean you are always going to be small, so you better learn how to play ball with the big boys before you get into the game. One way to compete and put your brand out there is to embrace business technology.   If costs are an issue, there are plenty of affordable technologies that can be utilized by companies of all sizes. Here are examples of technology that benefit small businesses and help the company flourish.

 

Tablets 

Companies are becoming more and more mobile as mobility adds flexibility and increases productivity. Tablets have greatly increased in popularity and they come with nearly every application available for a desktop. Use a tablet to video conference remotely, which makes it easy as a small business owner to communicate with your whole team with via simple use of an app.

 

Cloud Storage and Security 

It isn’t just the corporate titans that need to protect their data. A small business’s information is just as important and can just as easily be hacked. Invest in cloud security to backup and encrypt your data in case of a natural disaster or an attempted breach. The cloud also makes it possible to access your data during these tough times. Cloud storage makes it possible to get at your information from any place at any time, via the tablet, desktop, smartphone or other mobile device.

 

Social Media and Marketing Tools

With such a large percentage of people using sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, it is irresponsible to not create a social media site for your small business. Social media can be used to reach targeted markets and social media tools make it much easier to promote your small business on these top networks. You can use social media tools to create social campaigns and then track the performance of each one. This saves a small business lots of money and time so you can see easily which campaigns can be dropped and which should be promoted more. With social media tracking tools, your small business will know which keywords to use to better promote themselves.

 

Website and SEO

Without a web site, chances are your business will not even be taken seriously in today’s market. Once you have on created, you will have to promote the site so you can reach your target audience. Since search engines are clogged with traffic it is difficult to know the best way to get your site out there. Even if your site is well-designed, you need to have the content written based on keywords you want targeted by those searching. For a small budget that is well-worth it, employ a search engine expert to optimize your website exposure. You will soon see rankings in the search engines and much more traffic coming to your web site, which equates to more sales.

Car Technology That Will Blow Your Mind!

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car technology shutterstock_131500079Think technology is advancing fast for business use? Take a minute to think about what advancements in technology and electronics has meant for vehicles and driving. What do you get when you combine advanced electronics, technology and cars? A lot of crazy car technology, that’s what!

Cars That Look Around

The auto technology today allows vehicles to gather information about drivers and objects all around the car, making it seem like the car can “see” all around the vehicle. More than 90% of car accidents are a result of driver error, so carmakers are creating safety systems with technology that help drivers avoid these accidents – things like rear back up cameras, blind spot warning systems, land departure warning systems, automatic braking, and adaptive cruise control.

Smart Intersections

Coming in the near future, not only will we continue to have cars that “talk” to each other to know when to apply brakes are slow down or issue a warning to the driver, but we’ll have “smart” intersections, too.  Stop signs and traffic lights will have sensors and the ability to communicate with vehicles if a car is running a red light or to improve efficiency of the traffic flow through an intersection.  Let’s say there is only one vehicle at the intersection and the light is red – the light could learn to turn green to avoid making the car sit and wait when no other traffic is in or approaching the intersection.

Cars that Park and Drive Themselves?

With technology that can already help a car brake to avoid danger or stay in the lane without driver assistance, is it too much of a leap to think about cars that park themselves or drive themselves?  Seems like something out of a science fiction movie, but there are already vehicles with parking assistance technology that help you parallel park your vehicle and it’s expected that in the near future – our cars will be able to pretty much drive themselves.

Carmakers are the New Computer Programmers

Car technology is connected to driver’s smartphones, and consumers are demanding even greater connectivity and technology from their vehicles.  Reuters reports that everything from the vehicle’s air conditioning to its braking ability is controlled by millions of lines of computer code.  The growing use of computers in vehicles has led to carmakers hiring thousands of software programmers. If you’re looking for a new career path, software programming for automakers might be a good direction to go in as there doesn’t seem to be any sign of the use of technology in vehicles decreasing any time soon!

Want to see how our technology solutions can help you with your business? Visit our website to learn more or contact us and let us help you reach your business goals.