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Many businesses use PDFs on a daily basis. It’s a viewing format that is universal across different platforms, it’s secure, and it’s easy to create one. But can you do more than just view a PDF file? With Google Drive’s built-in features and some help from third party services, interacting with PDF files in your […]

22 Apr, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Uncategorized category

2016Apr22_Google_BMany businesses use PDFs on a daily basis. It’s a viewing format that is universal across different platforms, it’s secure, and it’s easy to create one. But can you do more than just view a PDF file? With Google Drive’s built-in features and some help from third party services, interacting with PDF files in your web browser has never been easier. Here are a few tips to help you do more with your PDF files on Google Drive.

Save PDFs to Google Drive

Google Chrome’s PDF viewer can do much more than just read your PDFs. Like other web browsers, Chrome lets you save web pages as PDFs by going to the Print button at the bottom right of the browser and Save as PDF. However, if you’re logged into Chrome, you can save PDF files into your Google Drive. To do this, go back to the printer tab, click Change and, if you scroll down, you should be able to find the Google Cloud Print section, where you can Save to Google Drive. This will save you some time from having to go to your Google Drive and manually uploading the file from your local disk.

Convert docs into PDFs

If you have a Google Doc that needs to be sent out as a PDF, you can do that without using any third party applications. On your doc, go to File > Download as > PDF Document (.pdf).

Google Drive scan and search

With Android devices, you can access a Google Drive app feature that is normally unavailable on the iOS. Google Drive on Android gives you the option to scan a document with your phone’s built-in camera and lets you convert it to a PDF. Once scanned and saved to your drive, the contents of the document are searchable by using Google Drive’s search tool. Unfortunately, handwritten documents cannot be detected. Only typewritten text is searchable within Google Drive. This feature is great for scanning and recording receipts, certificates and signed official forms. To create scanned PDF documents in Google Drive you have to:
  • Access the Google Drive app on your Android phone.
  • Select the plus (+) button on the screen to create a new project.
  • Choose Scan. This will open your phone’s camera application.
  • Take a picture of your document. From here, you can choose to rescan the page or create another PDF file.
  • If you’re happy with the scanned document, tap the checkmark button to save to Google Drive.

Electronically interact with PDFs

While PDFs are compatible across a wide range of platforms, they don’t give you the option to edit. Luckily, third party services like Kami or HelloSign allow you to electronically interact with a PDF document. Kami is a Google Drive extension that enables you to draw, highlight, strikethrough, underline, and add text and comments on your PDF. On the other hand, HelloSign gives you the ability to add check marks and signatures to your PDFs. Consider these add-ons if your business needs to edit some PDFs.

Merge PDFs

If you want to combine several PDF documents together, we recommend using PDF Mergy. This is another Chrome add-on that allows you to simply right click on any selected PDF files and Open with > PDF Mergy. Your selected PDF files will be immediately imported to the third party party application. You can also rearrange the order of the PDF documents as well as add more files from your drive. Select Merge, if you’re satisfied with the changes, then you can either save the new PDF to your local disk or back in your Google Drive.

With so much third-party software popping up, Google Drive is becoming a strong cloud-based tool that not only lets you export PDFs but helps you interact with it as well. The next time you have to manage a lot of PDFs, have a go with these underused and underappreciated time saving features. Want to know more Google Drive features to help you around the office? Contact us today.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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Most of us like to think we’d never click on a suspicious link in an email. But the fact of the matter is this is one of the most common ways a business is hacked. We’re all human of course, and we make mistakes. Yet now Microsoft is trying to prevent this. Here’s an inside […]

21 Apr, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Office, Office 365, Security category

2016Apr21_Office365_BMost of us like to think we’d never click on a suspicious link in an email. But the fact of the matter is this is one of the most common ways a business is hacked. We’re all human of course, and we make mistakes. Yet now Microsoft is trying to prevent this. Here’s an inside look at a new Outlook security feature that aims to protect the email of Office 365 users.

Aptly called “Safety Tips”, Microsoft Office 365’s new security feature is designed to help make your employees (and yourself) more aware of which emails may contain harmful content. By analyzing the data patterns of millions of emails, the feature uses a color-coded bar at the top of an email to help you determine what emails are safe, suspicious, or fraudulent.

How it works

Safety Tips uses a simple system to help you identify the safety level of an email quickly. The system consists of four colors that categorizes an email as suspicious, trusted, safe or unknown. The details of each of these categories are outlined below.

Suspicious email Color label: Red Description: This has either failed sender authentication or is a known phishing email. These messages should be deleted.

Unknown email Color label: Yellow Description: Exchange Online Protection marks this type of email as spam. However, you can move this item to your inbox by clicking it’s not spam in the yellow bar.

Trusted email Color label: Green Description: If this email comes from a domain Microsoft deems safe, then it falls into this category.

Safe email Color label: Gray Description: This type of email has either been marked safe by the user’s organization, has been moved from the junk folder into their inbox by the user, or the email is from a contact on the user’s safe sender list.

Color coding will look different between the Outlook app and Outlook for the Web. In the Outlook application, only suspicious emails will be flagged, whereas in Outlook for the Web all four types of emails will be color-coded. However, it should be noted that most emails won’t have any color code as they’re only added when Microsoft thinks they’re relevant.

With hackers getting smarter by the day, and human error a roadblock to a secure business, this new feature will hopefully add an extra layer of security to your organization. If you’d like to learn more about Office 365 or other security services we offer, get in touch today. A more secure business awaits.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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These days, it’s almost impossible to see a business that does not have a website. Even small businesses have taken to the Internet to find more customers and create an online presence. The problem is, with so many companies creating their own websites, yours can get lost in the shuffle. Luckily, a great web design […]

20 Apr, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in Uncategorized category

2016Apr20_Web_BThese days, it’s almost impossible to see a business that does not have a website. Even small businesses have taken to the Internet to find more customers and create an online presence. The problem is, with so many companies creating their own websites, yours can get lost in the shuffle. Luckily, a great web design can make a big difference. Here are five web design trends that could help increase your web traffic.

Scrolling

Scrolling is a convenient method for traversing a website. Instead of navigating through confusing menus and drop-down tabs, a scrolling one-page site has a cleaner look and is usually more intuitive for the user. This web design style is definitely more important today, now that people have grown more accustomed to mobile web browsing.

You also have to decide how far visitors will have to scroll to get to know your company. While a long scrolling page gives you more white space and content to work with, a short scrolling page can quickly convey your company’s message and encourages call to actions. The next time you revamp your company website, consider the appropriate scrolling element for your page.

Flat design

To achieve an optimal viewing experience for users, many companies adopted a flat design for their websites. The flat design style replaces the elements that gives an illusion of depth, like shadows and textures, with minimalist typography and colors. For example, Google employed this style to get content to viewers more efficiently. The company added flat design colors and used a sans-serif font. This allowed the logo to load faster and made it was easier to read as well.

Animations

One way businesses have been setting themselves apart from others is by including customized animations to their pages. Now this doesn’t mean you should overload your site with flashy effects that take forever to load. If you want to use animations on your site, give it a subtle twist. For instance, Slack’s loading animation features their logo.

Additionally, animations can be used to increase user interaction and engagement. Hover animations will allow your users to mouse over your content and get an immediate response without having to move between pages. Slideshows on your homepage can also showcase what your company is about without throwing too much information at the audience. When deciding to add an animation to your page, figure out how a specific effect can enhance the user experience while showcasing your business.

Full-screen forms

More websites and apps are using full-screen forms to increase user interaction. Rather than being redirected to another page when your visitors decide to register or login to a website, you are welcomed by a full-screen form without leaving the home page. This is also especially useful for mobile users since they are less likely to misclick sections of the form.

Customized photos

The next time you want to use photographs to highlight your company, forget about using stock photos. Businesses who exhibit their own photography on their homepages look more personal and stand out from the competition.

While these trends are popular at the moment, don’t blindly adopt them all because it will end up looking very messy. The best way to approach these web design trends is by making sure that the design fits your target audience. You won’t exactly have mouse over animations for a website that doesn’t have very many images. Use the trends that are best for your company.

If you want to learn more about current web design trends, give us a call.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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When considering a VoIP solution, many small business owners have a lot of reservations. What if the call quality is unsuitable? What if your staff struggles with the technology? What if you have to deal with the headache of installing an additional network? All these assumptions can prevent business owners from giving VoIP a try, […]

19 Apr, 2016 / by Complete Technology Resources / in VoIP category

2016Apr19_VoIP_BWhen considering a VoIP solution, many small business owners have a lot of reservations. What if the call quality is unsuitable? What if your staff struggles with the technology? What if you have to deal with the headache of installing an additional network? All these assumptions can prevent business owners from giving VoIP a try, but are they legitimate? Absolutely not. Here’s how you can avoid them while optimizing your VoIP solution.

Use the same network for voice and data

A popular reason many businesses choose VoIP is to cut costs, which is exactly why you should run voice and data on the same network. Running them separately will significantly increase set up and running costs. And doing so will add an extra layer of complexity to your business that is completely unneeded. Regardless, choosing to combine your voice and data does take a bit of thought to ensure you don’t bump into unnecessary issues. So ask your provider the following questions before getting started:
  1. Will you be able to scale the service as needed?
  2. How much bandwidth will you need to cover both data and voice? Does your business have enough?
  3. Can you make modifications to the network?

Prioritize voice communication

VoIP saves you money. But you don’t want to do so at the cost of the integrity of your business. If you have unreliable voice communications with clients and colleagues, this can tarnish your reputation. This is why voice needs to take priority on your network over applications and other Internet activity if a bottleneck occurs. You can do this by setting the QoS (Quality of Service) on your router to prioritize voice and VoIP traffic. This can help provide clear voice communications without lag or interruption.

Provide comprehensive staff training

As with most technologies, VoIP has a learning curve. While many business owners are happy to give a few quick tips to their employees along with a brief manual, the training often stops there. However, what if your employees encounter problems with the technology while they’re on the phone with a customer? With proper training you can avoid such scenarios. What’s more, your training also gives you an opportunity to share some of the more advanced features VoIP has to offer such as in-call coaching, hot desking, and call screening.

To ensure your staff can maximize their VoIP experience, your training should include the basics of how the software, hardware and data flow operates. You should also include the procedures to take when encountering a problem with the technology and how your voice and data staff can work together for optimum VoIP performance. Once you’ve done that, don’t forget to test your employees on what they’ve learned and answer any and all questions they may have.

VoIP presents a unique opportunity for your business to gain a more advanced telephony solution while cutting costs. Call quality does not have to take a hit. If you’d like to learn more about how VoIP can improve your business, call us now.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

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