Google is globally recognized as a search engine and an ad-placement agency, but now they’re leveraging the power of cloud computing to offer a set of productivity-boosting applications for businesses. It’s called G Suite, and it’s quickly becoming profit-minded business owners’ best friend.

G Suite puts all of Google’s most popular apps into one package. Let’s take a closer look at all it has to offer.

Gmail
Gmail is Google’s webmail service, with over 1 billion users worldwide. Although Gmail is available free of charge, you can get extended features for a low monthly fee, including custom company email addresses, unlimited group addresses, 30GB of inbox storage, and 24/7 help desk support.

Hangouts
Hangouts offers instant messaging, audio/video chat, and screen sharing features. It allows you to create virtual rooms where employees can share files, organize projects, and even conduct virtual presentations for video conferences. Hangouts runs on any internet-enabled device with a camera, speakers, and microphone.

Calendar
Google Calendar allows you to stay in sync with your colleagues from anywhere, and on any device. These shareable calendars integrate seamlessly with Gmail, Drive, and Hangouts, so you can easily manage events, view and edit your schedule, and check your coworkers’ availability.

Google+
Google+ is a social network platform designed to help you connect, share, and collaborate with your team members. You can customize and filter the dashboard’s contents to display the news and updates that are relevant to you.

Drive
Google Drive is an online cloud storage platform that can be accessed by authorized users within your company from any device. It gives you as much storage space as you need and allows you to view common file formats without having to install extra software on your device.

Docs
With Google Docs, you and your colleagues can work on the same documents in real time, allowing for better collaboration and efficiency. You can also leave comments and communicate through a built-in chat box. What’s more, edits and changes are automatically saved, and you can restore previous versions of the document if necessary.

Sheets
Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet. Whether you’re looking to create tables and charts, perform calculations, or generate pivot table reports, Sheets has all these capabilities and so much more.

Forms
Forms allow you to build professional-looking surveys and questionnaires. You can collect answers by sending the URL to respondents. You can even track and analyze responses in real time to gain valuable insights from your surveys.

Slides
With Slides, you can work on a single presentation online with your colleague, your whole team, or even external contacts. It comes with a wide variety of design templates and custom animations to add some flair to your presentations. Just like Sheets and Docs, you can control who gets the permission to edit or view the slides with just a few clicks.

Sites
Want to build a project site for your team? These can be done easily, and without any prior coding experience. Simply choose a template from Sites and determine what needs to be put in place to make your website successful.

Google is constantly adding new features to each of these apps, so if you want to learn more about any of them, give our cloud computing professionals a call.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) or “machine learning” has quickly transformed from science fiction to reality, and is currently on track to become an integral part of the corporate business environment. According to experts, by 2020 85% of all customer interactions with businesses will occur via machine learning programs. So if your organization has an e-commerce component, read on to learn how AI can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Predicting what your customers want

There are many ways AI can benefit businesses and consumers. For example, machine learning algorithms can identify customers’ habits and their interests, simply based on their search histories. Properly configured, AI can analyze customers’ shopping behaviors to customize the online experience based on a variety of factors like browsing pattern and purchase history.

Product recommendations, pairings, and promotions can also be targeted to individuals, improving the customer experience and your bottom line.

More intuitive product recommendations

Machine learning is also great for cataloging products. In the past, businesses would send out cumbersome product catalogs that made it difficult for customers to find what they were looking for. In the near future, customers will be able to upload photographs of clothing that’s similar to what they want to purchase. Through AI, a website will be able to analyze the photographs and create a catalog of suggestions based on the uploaded image.

Customers can still talk to a “representative”

With advances in “plain language” systems, more and more users will rely on e-commerce over face-to-face sales interactions. Machine learning is getting better at interpreting conversations, and answering with natural-sounding responses.

If the choice is either searching “Blue summer dress,” or “Billowy summer dress in a warm blue color,” which do you think would make customers’ shopping experience better?

By replicating the in-person shopping experience over the internet, businesses can shift away from brick and mortar overheads to an e-commerce-centered structure. They will realize significant savings on capital expenditures and human resource investment, as well as reduce costly human errors.

If you’re ready to begin integrating more “machine learning” into your business model, we already have the means to make that happen. Contact us as soon as you’re ready to transform your e-commerce business into a money-making powerhouse!

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It’s a fact of life that electronic devices don’t stay on top of the market for very long. That nice new Android tablet with all the latest apps and games will soon be replaced with a newer version, and you have the decision to upgrade or be left with a useless piece of metal and plastic. Fortunately, there are five ways to repurpose that old Android tablet into something useful.

With new technological devices released almost on a daily basis, your new Android tablet can become obsolete before you’ve even gotten any productive use out of it. But instead of tossing it into the drawer with your other gadgets, you should recycle it into something you can use long into the future.

It doesn’t take long for your stylish new electronic device to become just another outdated model in the waste pile. Your once-fresh Android tablet might have done its due a long time ago, but there’s no need to discard it. There are many things you can do to repurpose your old Android tablet and make it fresh again. Read on to find five popular new uses for your old Android tablet!

Security camera

As long as your Android has a workable battery and screen, you can turn it into a webcam security system. Simply download a security app like Salient Eye (easily found on Google Play) or AtHome Video Streamer, set it up, and place it strategically. It can even be rigged to turn on as it senses movement.

Digital camera photo frame

Don’t spend $30 on a digital picture frame when you can use an old Android tablet. Again you will have to visit Google Play, search for a program similar to Photo Slides, plug the Android into a wall socket, and you have pictures you can scroll through and display on your mantel.

Portable reference library

You have probably used your Android for book storage already, so why not turn it into a functional library? Visit Amazon Kindle or Google Play Books and download your choice of reference books and eBooks. Kwix, the offline version of Wikipedia, can provide you with encyclopedia-like entries without having to go online.

Radio or wireless-only device

You can download Pandora or iHeartRadio, and use your Android to play your favorite music without interfering with other open computer programs and without using valuable memory.

Universal remote

It is so easy to lose the remote in the folds of the couch or slots in a magazine rack. By contrast, it’s not so easy to lose an Android tablet. By installing a universal remote app like Peel Smart Remote, AnyMote, or Irdroid, you can use your old Android as a universal remote for televisions and other electronic systems in the office.

There is no reason to throw your old Android tablet into a drawer when you upgrade because there are many apps that can help you repurpose it. For more information on how to recycle your old tech devices, give us a call. We’ll be glad to help you save money and find a new use for your old tablet.

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Ease of access, legibility, and accuracy are key considerations when maintaining health records, especially to ensure compliance with industry regulations. With an EHR system, navigating through patients’ entire medical histories has become much more convenient and secure.

EHR stands for “Electronic Health Record,” and a lot can go into getting your practice ready for one of these data-sharing, network-connected, enterprise-wide information systems.

One of the primary concerns when setting up your EHR system is the computer hardware. You and your IT department -- or a Managed Service Provider (MSP) with experience serving healthcare organizations -- will need to assess how users can best connect to the system and then access and input information. Take a quick look at the 3 options for working in an EHR environment.

1. Desktops

The first option is to install desktop computers which will be fixed in one location, hardwired, and stationary. Many businesses have been using desktops for so long because they’re inexpensive, easy to install and get support, plus there’s a wide variety of vendors to choose from.

However, desktops take up more space than laptops, usually require the purchase of additional equipment in order to enable voice- or handwriting-recognition programs, and need to be set up in every room that requires access to the EHR software.

2. Laptops

The second option is to deploy laptops which give you and your staff more flexibility. The advantages include easy connection to both wireless and traditional local area networks, better maneuverability to allow patients to see on-screen information, and portability.

One distinct disadvantage of using laptops is that they can be quite heavy, especially when carried numerous times throughout the day. Also, in terms of maintenance, laptops repairs tend to be a bit more expensive, and may have to be sent to an off-site shop to be fixed.

3. Tablets

Offering even greater mobility than laptops are tablets, which are just as powerful as desktops and laptops but in a hip, hi-tech, handy portable form. With tablets, users can move from room to room easily, inputting data with a digital pen as if they were writing on a paper chart or dictating to an application that accurately transcribes speech directly to the patient’s EHR.

The shortcomings associated with using tablets in an EHR setting include the learning curve that comes with new technology, such as writing with a stylus; handwriting programs that may not recognize all medical terminology; touchscreens that are prone to scratches; and the additional costs from either repairing or protecting against damage.

An Electronic Health Records system can provide enormous benefits to your organization: easier data entry, quicker data recall, and improved data accuracy. So after you’ve gauged interest among your staff, created an EHR budget, organized an EHR leadership team, and established an implementation plan, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of hardware.

If you’re unsure about which direction to go with your EHR workstations, give us a call today.

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