There are several reasons to use a form to collect data for your business, from customer impressions and service needs to employee feedback about internal matters as a means of collaborative decision-making. The trouble comes when it is time to compile all the responses… unless you know how to use the tools at your disposal. For this week’s tip, we’re walking through the process of creating a form that self-populates a spreadsheet using Google’s toolkit.
Small businesses are presented with the challenging prospect of monitoring and policing various IT-related policies that you might have for your network infrastructure and workplace technology use. The difficulty of this notion does little to lessen its importance, however. You need to take action to protect your assets, data, and reputation from the countless threats out there, and ensuring that your employees are properly using technology is paramount to this endeavor.
We could go on and on about the benefits of using Voice over Internet Protocol (also known as VoIP) for your business telephone needs. However, it is important that you do everything you can to prepare your network for this kind of utilization. Let’s review a few tips to help make sure your network is properly optimized for VoIP. How to Prepare Your Network for a VoIP Implementation Ensure Your Network Connection is Stable As the name would suggest, Voice over Internet Protocol uses the Internet instead of a standalone infrastructure. For this reason, it is vital that your business’ Internet connection is ready to support this added demand. Otherwise, your vital communications will only create bottlenecks in your network. So, how do you make sure your Internet is up to the task? There are a few steps you need to take. First, you need to know how stable your network is, as a VoIP connection will take up a lot of resources. Therefore, running a speed test will help you establish whether or not your network can support VoIP at all in its current state. This speed test will give you a few important metrics: Latency – how long the data packets containing the VoIP data take to reach you Jitter – how consistent your latency is Speed – how much data can be sent Packet Loss – how many data packets are lost in transit If these results fall short of your expectations, it may be time to upgrade your connection. Equip Your Business Properly Similarly, you must ensure that your network infrastructure is up to snuff. Older pieces of equipment could likely stand for an upgrade, so consider switching to those using Wi-Fi 5 and 6 that are compatible with QoS (Quality of Service) features. If possible, consider using a hardwired ethernet connection for your VoIP needs. Of course, you also need to keep your business secure, and that includes your VoIP implementation. You may want to lean on your business’ trusted IT resource for assistance in securing your network against cyberattacks. Consider Additional Infrastructure Upgrades On a related note, you should turn to this resource for help with adapting your infrastructure to help facilitate the use of VoIP in your business. For instance, it’s totally possible to create a virtualized local area network in addition to your bog-standard local area network to give your VoIP data packets a prioritized place to travel. These Are Just a Few Ways to Help Improve Your Use of VoIP Turn to White Mountain IT Services for more! We help New Hampshire businesses with technology needs and challenges of all kinds, and we can help you with yours. Give us a call at (603) 889-0800 to find out how.
How much does your business rely on technology to keep your organization running forward? As business technology becomes more complex, it’s becoming increasingly popular for organizations to have their own internal IT departments to manage and maintain it. Yet, small businesses don’t often have the necessary funds for such a feat. How can your company afford quality IT service? You can start by pursuing managed IT solutions from a managed service provider.
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