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Let?s examine the current state of paid time off in the workplace. Most businesses use a PTO model that allocates them a certain amount of hours over time, either annually or on a monthly basis. These employees generally need to put in requests for time off at least two weeks prior to the time-off date. This provides the team with a limited amount of time to recuperate, which ultimately limits how much work can be accomplished at maximum capacity. According to Zach Ferres, the CEO of Coplex, unlimited paid time off can be exceptionally useful, and offers a unique return on investment that can help your team truly achieve greatness: Employers who offer unlimited PTO report increased employee satisfaction, improved work-life balance and greater productivity. Plus, unlimited PTO can be a huge selling point when you?re recruiting, and it will actually save your HR department an average of 52 hours per year. One popular company that has implemented this policy with great success is the video streaming service Netflix. Last year, Virgin founder Richard Branson followed suit, as reported by Business Insider: Virgin founder Richard Branson recently declared that the company’s employees can take as many vacation days as they want, provided that “their absence will not in any way damage the business ? or, for that matter, their careers!” Branson said that he got the idea from Netflix. Unlimited PTO can help your team feel like human beings, and can drastically improve operations if integrated properly. After all, when you feel good, you work good, too. Additionally, when employees are responsible for their own paid time off, it can instigate an increased rate of team playing and increased synergy. According to Ferres, here?s how it?s done. Trust Your EmployeesIntegrating any kind of unlimited PTO policy requires a certain level of trust, so it?s important that you can trust your employees not to abuse the privilege and get work done. If they start to abuse the privilege, it might be time to let go of the project before it even begins. On the opposite side of the spectrum, however, the unlimited PTO policy shows your employees that you trust them. Put a Mandatory Minimum PTO Policy into PlaceSome employees tend to not take vacation, breaks, or other PTO, even when there?s no repercussions for doing so. These employees tend to get burned out more than others, and vacation benefits them more than it does for some. Integrate a minimum number of hours that an employee must take off annually to keep the stress as low as possible. Use a Solid Process for Time-Off RequestsYou can?t have people randomly coming into the office and leaving without any semblance of order. Therefore, you should keep a policy in place that helps you determine how to process time-off requests. Ideally, you want to be notified several weeks ahead of time, and establish a way in which tasks ordinarily assigned to the team member get divvied up to others (if they’re urgent). Keep Track of Who Takes Time OffNaturally, a business owner wants to keep track of PTO records. This helps them ensure that nobody is abusing the right, and that those who are taking advantage of the system are doing so properly. This also helps you keep track of the employees who haven?t […]

According to John Brandon of Inc, it?s not likely. He predicts that email will be replaced in the future by other communication mediums, arguing that there are plenty more ways to message others both professionally and informally. He explains this phenomenon by examining his own experiences with email in recent years: In my own workday, email has become less and less important. There are entire groups of people (public relations, for one) who contact me primarily on social networks first. Friends never send email anymore. They almost always send a text or chat on Facebook. Even a few of my colleagues tend to use apps like Campfire more than email. Furthermore, he explains that email isn?t a reliable method of communication, even under the best of circumstances. Many people either ignore their email completely, or they take their sweet time responding. When people do receive messages, they can get lost underneath a mountain of spam. Many people (especially the younger generations) don?t even have a personal email account outside of work or school, simply because they don?t need one. It?s true that email is a pain point for many small and medium-sized businesses out there. Even the thought of hosting your own email solution might be daunting, especially due to how intensive the process can be. Despite email?s shortcomings, technology solutions exist that are capable of eliminating some of the drawbacks of business email. For instance, a spam blocking solution like the one White Mountain IT Services provides is capable of blocking the majority of spam before it hits your inbox. We can even host your Exchange server for you, which frees up time and resources best spent elsewhere. As advocates of using technology to augment your business?s operations, we wouldn?t necessarily say that email will be obsolete in a few years; but it can?t be denied that society as a whole is moving toward other communication mediums that are less formal and more direct. Technology is continuously changing, and a new solution might surface as time goes on; but until that happens, we?re stuck with email, whether we like it or not. So, why not make it a little easier to handle for yourself?

According to CNet, there are several ways you can cut down on the amount of battery life that?s wasted throughout the day. Most of them involve disabling certain features that are innately made available on mobile devices. Disable Unused GPS-Based ServicesBy default, your phone has its GPS enabled. As you can imagine, all of the communication between satellites, cell phone towers, and the phone?s GPS chip put a ton of strain on your device?s battery. However, some of these GPS-based services aren?t really required for you to enjoy all of the benefits of a smartphone. These two, according to CNet, are Location reporting and Location history. These settings use your phone?s GPS alongside other Google applications to enhance your user experience, but they aren?t really necessary. Disable them by going to Settings > Location > Google Location Reporting. Make Sure WiFi-Scanning Is Turned OffYou might use WiFi in the office or at home, but what about when you?re out and about, on the open road? Most of the hot spots you encounter in public won?t be safe for you to connect to reliably, so it?s best to turn off auto-connecting to WiFi on your device. However, even when you?re not connected to WiFi, your device will search for connections unless you tell it not to. You can make sure this setting is off by following WiFi settings > Advanced. If the WiFi scanning box is unchecked, you?re all set. Control Your Data SyncYou might notice how your Android smartphone is constantly syncing to your Google account. This is a good sign that you?re keeping the files on your phone backed up online and ready to go in the event you lose data. However, this also means that your phone?s battery is draining due to it constantly syncing to the Google account. Instead of turning off the sync for all of your accounts, you can limit what syncs and what doesn?t. Do this by heading to Settings > Accounts. Select the account to access the sync settings. You can then uncheck any items you don?t want synced, or turn it off completely if you want. These are only three ways out of many to limit how much battery life your Android device consumes. For more tips on how to stay productive and efficient with your technology, give us a call at (603) 889-0800.

This isn?t to say that cloud computing is without its benefits. There are many reasons to integrate cloud computing into your current IT infrastructure, including increased access to mission-critical information and a more flexible work environment. However, there are some common problems associated with the integration of cloud computing that hinder some businesses? performance. David Linthicum of InfoWorld discusses some commonly seen problems associated with cloud computing. Do You Have the Right Cloud Solution?Your business is vastly different from any other out there, and as such, the same solution that works for your competitors isn?t going to work for you in the same way. Thankfully, there are a ton of cloud solutions available for those of all different needs. The problem is finding the right one to integrate. You don?t want to invest too heavily in a cloud solution, only to find that there?s a better one out there. White Mountain IT Services can help your business decide what the best cloud solution is for your individual needs. We understand that a complete overhaul of your IT infrastructure takes time and resources. Our trusted technicians can equip your team with the best solutions that allow for maximum accessibility and flexibility when it?s needed most. Do You Understand Cloud Security and Compliance?When it comes to the cloud, business owners tend to fall into two categories; they either assume that the cloud is insecure, and therefore, shouldn?t be used, or they assume that their cloud is impregnable. Both are dangerous gambits, especially when the cloud has the power to make or break your business model. If you don?t take measures to protect your business, especially online, you?ll be stuck in a rough spot when the worst happens and you get hacked. Therefore, your business needs to exercise caution when integrating a cloud solution. White Mountain IT Services can help you secure your cloud-based data. We understand what to look for when it comes to network vulnerability and potential threats, and we?re willing to share our knowledge with you. Does Your Staff Understand Cloud Computing?One of the most imperative parts of applying cloud computing to your business is whether or not your team, the ones who will be using this technology, understand how to use it. If they don?t understand how to use your new cloud computing infrastructure, they won?t be able to perform at maximum capacity. The time wasted trying to figure out how to operate the platform should instead be spent being productive. White Mountain IT Services can help your team accomplish the most by providing any necessary advice and training concerning your new cloud solution. Essentially, White Mountain IT Services can assist your business with its cloud computing adventure from start to finish. Just give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to learn more.

As an IT company, we’ve always been fascinated by science fiction, due to its portrayal of new and exciting futuristic technology (and we know that technically Star Wars took place in the past). As we watch these movies, there’s a part of us that thinks, “Wow, maybe one day we’ll get to fly the galaxy in starships and shoot laser blasters.” With Star Wars being around for more than two generations, we have a unique perspective when it comes to the technology of this science fiction franchise. Did you know that movies like Star Wars have inspired the development of technologies that we have today? In fact, the United States military has been weaponizing Star Wars-like laser systems since the 1980s, meaning that it’s only a matter of time before we finally get lightsabers.   One of the most prominent technologies in the Star Wars universe is droids. These are robots that follow humanoid characters around, essentially acting as personal assistants equipped with an arsenal of gadgets. Having a prominent role in all six previous Star Wars movies is the blue and white droid known as R2-D2; a fan-favorite character whose lovable antics have caused movie watchers for years to say, ?Aww, I want an R2-D2 too!? With technology developing by leaps and bounds since 1977, we feel it?s a worthy question to ask on this glorious Star Wars Day, “How close are we to having our own R2-D2 droid?” Devices like smartphones can do several different tasks that R2-D2 can do. This is likely the reason why Android mobile OS software is nicknamed ?droid.? To get to the bottom of this question, let’s take a look at the R2 unit, compliments of Wookieepedia: R2-D2 was a diminutive droid, standing 0.96 meters tall. He rolled on three legs, one of which could retract into his body, and had a silver and blue domed head. His white, blue, and silver body housed many arms, sensors, and other apparatuses, many of which were not readily seen by the typical humanoid eye. This often made the droid seem like a box of tricks, unexpectedly pulling out some previously unseen but very much needed device at a critical moment. Features of the R2-series astromech droid include (bolded are the tasks that we can do on our modern ?droid? devices): Rocket booster Cable gun Oil injector Claw arm Fusion cutter Holoprojector / Recorder Internal comlink Periscope Electric pike Propeller Hidden lightsaber compartment with ejector Fire extinguisher / Smoke Screen Small Saw Air Cannon Crashmat Lariat Submarine Mode Collapsible Umbrella Flea Remover Distracter Headdress Detangler Droid Deactivator Computer Interface Arm Charge Arm (electric shock) Life-form Scanner Breakdance Mode Polarity sink Water pump/hose Inflatable mattress Media copy / storage disc drive Jukebox Small red “tongue” ribbon “Confetti-creation device” Lubricant Application Arm Motorized, all-terrain treads Power recharge coupler As you can see, we’ve still got a long way to go before we’re able to have a single device that can do everything that R2-D2 can do, but, just the fact that we can now carry in our pockets a ?droid? that can do SOME of these tasks is very telling about the direction of technology since Star Wars was first introduced ?a long time ago.? Frankly, we wish our modern-day mobile devices had confetti-launchers. What are some of […]