Blog posts in Communications

Should you be worried about mobile security?

Mobile devices are everywhere in the workplace. Chances are, they're everywhere in your workplace too - no matter whether you like it or not. So, as every smart phone is a powerful computer in its own right, should you be thinking about mobile security?

A change driven by BYOD

As mobile devices became more popular for personal use, the trend of 'bring your own device' (BYOD) started to emerge.

BYOD is when your employees use their personal mobile devices for work. For instance: checking their company email while out and about, or accessing your CRM software from their tablet.

Some companies have embraced BYOD, encouraged by the chance to increase productivity without spending a fortune on smart phones. Besides, businesses without a BYOD policy often find BYOD happens anyway, as staff members act on their own initiatives.

This added flexibility brings with new challenges for smaller companies. As an increasing number of devices are used to access company information, the number of opportunities for viruses, hackers and other threats increases, too.

Cyber-criminals target smaller companies

It's a mistake to think cyber-criminals won't be interested in your small company. As IT Donut has mentioned before, hackers often see smaller firms as attractive targets, because they have smaller IT security budgets.

What's more, cyber-criminals are increasingly choosing to focus on mobile devices. US statistics suggest that the amount of malicious software aimed at mobile devices has risen 185% in less than a year.

Why? Well, mobile devices are tempting because they're vulnerable. One survey found that over 80% of smaller businesses were not interested in information about managing the information security of mobile devices.

Mobile devices lack security

Mobile devices were conceived as consumer products. This means they have little security built in. As a result, it may be much easier to spread malware via mobile devices than via desktop computers.

And - of course - it's easy to lose a mobile device. When you leave your smart phone on the train or in a bar (or have it stolen), you don't just lose the device. You risk losing the data on it, too.

It's also wise to be aware of how employees' regard security while they are out of the office. For instance, is it easy for strangers to read company information over their shoulder while they're on a train?

Solving mobile device security

The worst thing your can do is bury your head in the sand. Mobile working is here and bigger than ever, so you must create a security strategy that incorporates these handheld powerhouses. You can ignore the cyber-criminals, but they might not ignore you.

Take some time to assess the specific risks your business faces. For instance, who uses mobile devices in your company? What do they use them for? What sort of data could you lose, and where might it end up?

You can then introduce a mobile usage strategy to secure those devices and manage these devices.

Importantly, make sure you have a way to disable and wipe each device if it is lost or stolen. Mobile device management (MDM) software can help you manage the security of devices centrally (and can sometimes even cover those owned by employees), so you might consider this as an option.

Furthermore, make sure mobile apps are checked for malware, and look at installing security software on your devices.

Importantly, don't forget the human factor. Make sure members of staff receive IT training so they understand the risks of mobile security and can help your business avoid issues.

For instance, reporting a lost device promptly can make a big difference as to whether data falls into the wrong hands.

Evaluate security software carefully

One of the challenges facing smaller companies concerned about mobile security is that software in this area tends to be aimed at bigger businesses. However, a good IT supplier should be able to identify software that fits your needs well.

In the current climate, it would be naive to ignore mobile security. However, with a little thought, there is nothing to stop you making BYOD work safely for your business - leading to a happier, more flexible and efficient workforce.

Copyright ©2015 Albie Attias, managing director of leading IT retailer, King of Servers. He specialises in helping businesses find the best solution for their IT and business needs. 

More on this topic:

• Where to start with mobile security
• Five ways to keep mobile devices secure
• Do you need mobile security software

How to master responsive email design

When you were growing up, did you ever have breakfast cereals with a toy inside? Not knowing what you'd find nestled within your cornflakes gave you a good reason to get on and eat the entire box in a single sitting.

The element of surprise was exciting back then. But it doesn't translate quite so well to the world of email marketing.

Do your emails look their best?

When you send out marketing emails, they'll be opened by people using an array of email clients. Can you be sure that your emails will look good in Outlook, in Google Mail, on an iPhone and on a tablet computer?

This isn't something you want to leave to chance. Every email client has its own quirks, so this blog post takes a look at how to make sure your emails look good in as many of them as possible.

Although there are a lot of email clients out there, the top five make up around 73% of the market. If you cater for these, you'll be well on your way to running successful email campaigns:

Why does responsive email matter?

You can see from the chart above that people tend to open emails on mobile devices more than anything else.

To ensure your emails look right on mobile devices, you need to make your emails responsive.

You might have heard of responsive web design before. With emails, it's the same: a responsive email changes shape and size so that it displays properly on the screen of any device.

Essentially, it adapts itself to fit anything from big desktop monitors to tiny smart phone screens.

The HTML code from which responsive emails are built can be complicated. The basics are straightforward, but the code required to cater for different devices can become confusing.

For this reason, we don't recommend attempting to code HTML emails yourself, unless you're confident and experienced at working with HTML.

However, taking some time to understand the principles underpinning email design will make it easier to work with designers and developers.

What to ask your email developer

Here are some things to ask a developer who's working on your marketing emails:

• Have we checked what devices our recipients use?
  The graph shown above is taken from Litmus. It's a good overall view of email client use, but your own customers might have a different profile. For instance, if your email subscribers tend to be people in large companies, you might find more of them use Microsoft Outlook. Your existing email marketing tool may be able to show what clients and devices your recipients use.
• How flexible is the width of the email?
  Catering for different screen widths is fundamental to successful responsive email design. Designing your emails with a few key screen sizes in mind is key. Ask your developer to show you how the email changes as it appears on screens of different sizes.
• Have you put the key styles in line?
  Bear with us — we're going to get a little technical. The appearance of visual elements is governed by cascading style sheets (CSS). These define, for instance, what font, size and colour should be used to display text. When building a website, the CSS is usually separated from a page's HTML code. But when creating an email, your developer should include the CSS with each individual element. This is called 'in line CSS'.
• What proportion of clients have we tested it with?
  It's very hard to create an email that looks perfect on 100% of email clients and devices. (You can do it, but it would cost a fortune.) There are just too many permutations to cater for. The best way to spend your budget is to concentrate on the email clients your recipients are using. Cover 80% of these and you're doing well.

Remember: when you're building marketing emails, you can avoid duplicating your efforts by creating a few email templates to edit and reuse easily for regular campaigns.

And finally, once you create those templates, test them on different platforms and devices. Make sure your customers see what you want them to see.

Copyright © 2015 Amir Jirbandey, expert contributor to the Marketing Donut.

More on this topic:

• Apparently we need to send even more email
• How to choose a bulk email service provider
• 11 ways to make email marketing work for your business

Four things to look for from your VoIP provider

As the popularity of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone systems grows, more businesses are considering switching from their traditional telephone setups.

But if you’re considering taking the plunge and evaluating VoIP suppliers, how can you make sure you get a reliable, high-quality service?

Never heard of VoIP? Learn the basics of VoIP.

1. What sort of broadband connection do you have?

If you don’t have a decent internet connection, there’s no point in even considering VoIP.

To enjoy decent call quality, you really need a dedicated internet connection for your VoIP system. The number of people who can make calls at once depends on the speed of your connection, so some companies need more than one connection.

Determine out how many people are likely to be making calls at the same time and then check your broadband connection has enough capacity.

Some VoIP services — like Skype — work on slower connections by significantly compressing the data they send and receive. However, this can sometimes reduce the quality of calls dramatically.

Worried about call quality if you switch to VoIP? A large volume of regular phone calls already get routed over the internet, so there’s an excellent chance you have already experienced VoIP call quality without noticing the difference.

2. What equipment do you need?

When you’re choosing a VoIP phone (or another device) to use with your connection, choosing the cheapest equipment is a false economy.

As with anything, you get what you pay for. If you spend a lot of time on the phone then it’s wise to spend a little extra for hardware that will perform consistently and stand the test of time.

3. Should you get a virtual switchboard?

One of the most attractive features of VoIP is that you can replace a traditional physical switchboard (often called a PBX) with a virtual switchboard. A virtual switchboard is basically software running on a server in the cloud.

This saves you a small fortune in purchasing, maintaining, repairing and ultimately replacing a physical unit.

When choosing a VoIP provider, make sure they offer a fully featured, reliable virtual switchboard. Many providers offer basic services, but not all have the advanced options your business may need as it grows.

It is also a good idea to look for a supplier that is an Ofcom registered SS7 carrier, rather than a reseller or VoIP only provider, as this ensures a direct connection to the UK network.

4. How much will calls cost?

It pays to shop around when you’re choosing a VoIP supplier. When you do, be sure to compare the call rates you’re signing up to. Virtually all VoIP services will be cheaper than a traditional telephone system, but some are better value than others.

Watch for headline rates that seem too good to be true. Often there are hidden costs that will mount up. Some providers offer all-inclusive fixed priced deals. These can be worth investigating as they mean your costs are predictable.

With so many businesses already using it, it’s hard to argue that VoIP isn’t the future of telephony. If you’ve not yet taken the plunge, now is an excellent time to make the change from a traditional system.

• Lower your phone bill with VoIP
• What is IP telephony?
• Unified messaging systems explained

Matthew Guise works for hosted telephony firm Callagenix.

Eight easy ways to boost your web security

There’s always more you can do to protect your business from security threats. But there’s never quite enough time to do everything.

So, here are eight easy ways to give your company security a bit of a boost.

1. Get the latest version of Windows

Unlike in the fashion industry, old tech rarely becomes cool again. You aren’t going to get any new customers because you run Windows 98.

Also, the latest operating systems have better security features, meaning you'll be better protected from web threats.

The same applies if you’re using Mac OS, or some other operating system. Stick with the latest version to be safest.

2. Bin Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer is so 2004 and people using it tend to get targeted because hackers know they’re not likely to be very web-savvy.

More advanced browsers like Firefox and Chrome have additional useful features, are generally safer to use and cost absolutely nothing. Which means there’s no reason not to switch.

3. Keep all your software updated

Constant update notifications from your software can be really annoying, but ignoring them could end up causing you more problems.

Virtual bugs are just like real life ones — they’re constantly evolving to find different ways to infect you. Updates contain new info on how to swat the bugs. Unless you install them, you won't see the benefit.

4. Improve your passwords

If your password for something is 'password' then you're in for a bad time of it. Hopefully your passwords aren't this terrible, but it's likely they could be improved.

For maximum security, use a random combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. You can use a service like LastPass to help you remember them.

Read more password tips >>

5. Use two-factor authentication

It sounds technical, but all two-factor authentication means is that logging in requires you to prove your identity in two ways. Usually, you need a password you know and a reference code that’s sent to your mobile phone.

You can easily set up two-factor authentication on many websites and online services, including Twitter, Gmail, iTunes, Facebook, Microsoft accounts and LinkedIn.

6. Maintain restore points

We’ve all had one of those moments when your jaw drops, you stare blankly at the screen and think: ‘I've made a huge mistake.’ It’s at times like these that System Restore can be a lifesaver.

System Restore is a feature in Windows that allows you to roll your computer back to a previous point in time. The idea is that if something goes wrong, you can go back to the last ‘known good’ configuration.

Your computer will probably create restore points on its own, but you can do it yourself when you make major system changes, too.

7. Backup your data

Ok, here’s the worst case: your computer is so utterly cream-crackered that you need to wipe it and start again.

If you’ve been backing up your data regularly then the process of getting back to normal becomes much less painful.

External hard drives for backups are pretty cheap these days. You can also use online storage, such as that offered by Dropbox and Google.

Learn more about backups >>

8. Be a vigilant browser

To be honest, this point alone could make up a whole new tip sheet. But in a nutshell, try to stick to websites you trust.

Sites listed higher up in search results are more likely to be safe because more people have used them.

There are some dark and dingy corners of the internet. Try and avoid them.

• Do you need mobile security software?
• How to choose security and anti-virus software
• How we coped when our business was hacked

Nick Chowdrey is a finance and accounting writer for Crunch, an online accountancy firm for freelancers and small businesses.

How to take control of your inbox

Email is a massive drain on productivity for many businesses. It’s not hard to see why. An inbox stuffed with thousands of unread messages is par for the course, making it easy to get sucked into a spiral of doom that goes as you try to discern what’s important.

It’s tempting to hit the delete button to purge the lot and hope anything important will somehow make its way back to you.

But while it might be cathartic, wiping out your inbox will not help you gain control. Like a crash diet, it will all pile back on eventually.

Instead, here are five to put you in charge of your inbox, for good:

1. Keep it secure

Email security should be top priority when managing your inbox. With so much valuable data in there around, it’s essential you’re confident that it’s secure.

Threats include malware, spam, phishing and data leaks. While they can seem complex, taking some basic IT security precautions will go a long way to keeping you safe. You can also purchase software and tools to boost your security.

2. Start unsubscribing

Virtually every website you encounter will try to lure you into subscribing to updates and it’s very easy to forget just how many you’ve signed yourself up to.

Until, that is, your inbox is stuffed senseless with newsletters and promotions that you have no interest in. Be ruthless: do you really need to receive details of every promotion and special offer that’s going on?

3. Don’t put off responding

While it might be easy to push aside emails and deal with them later, you know it will most likely never happen.

Instead, you end up with a growing pile of unread mail that seems to reproduce all by itself. Act on each email straight away and decide whether it needs a response or whether you can just delete it.

4. Be more organised

Nearly every email package allows you to create folders for your email, so make use of this feature.

It’s wise to create logical divisions based on your workflow or needs. For example, if you have several clients to manage, having a folder for each will help keep communication clear and organised. You can even categorise personal email into groups like family, friends and purchases.

5. Standardise replies

A cookie cutter template email might seem like a horribly impersonal way of responding.

However, if you find yourself sending the same message over and over again to different people, it can be a good way to minimise the time you need to spend on email.

• Ten ways to use email effectively
• How to stop email ping-pong games dead
• Streamline your email and save time

This is a guest post from Ben Williams, on behalf of Mimecast email security.

How to organise your email archive

Companies are creating and keeping more data than ever — and some businesses are getting excited about what they can use all this ‘big data’ for.

Yet the reality for many companies is that the data explosion actually equals data frustration. For all but the most disturbingly-organised individuals, essential documents are hard to locate. Files get saved in the wrong folder — and email is often the most-disorganised data of all.

Organising 12,000 emails a year

If you work in a typical office, there’s a good chance you use Microsoft Outlook to send and receive email. If you receive 50 emails a day, that’s over 12,000 emails hitting your inbox in a year.

If you decide to archive them all (after all, who knows when you might need a particular email in the future?) then finding a specific email soon becomes hard work.

In this sort of situation, the only option is to undertake an email search. And then wait. With email folders — especially the sent folder — extending into the tens or hundreds of thousands of emails, the standard Outlook search process is inadequate.

Outlook search is broken

In addition to being incredibly slow, the way Outlook works makes it difficult to find any email if you can’t remember the entire recipient list — which is hardly helpful.

It’s not uncommon for it to take over 15 minutes to find an email. Sometimes you’ll fail completely and give the whole thing up as a bad job. What a ridiculous waste of what should be highly productive time.

The problem is that even if you have a proper email archive system in place, most of these solutions are about storage, not retrieval.

Yet in a world of exploding data, effective information retrieval is an essential business tool. Most email users would bite your hand off for fast, guaranteed access to email, like a Google-style keyword search that rapidly locates the right information.

Email archive + keyword search

By combining an archive of every email sent and received with keyword search, you get a faster way to locate messages and documents that have been misfiled.

With the right approach, there is no need for big data to constrain your productivity. You can keep all your emails and find the one you’re looking for, when you need it — enabling you to be more productive.

Blog by Andrew Millington of Exclaimer

• Why you need to archive your email
• Coping with increased data storage needs
• Keeping your data safe

TOTW: how to cut email replies down to size

For this tip of the week, we show you how to cut quoted emails down to size.

It's easy for a long email chain to get out of control. Once a message has gone back and forth between two or more people a few times, replies start getting ridiculously long.

Typically, you'll have a few lines of the new message at the top, followed by pages and pages of older messages. Some email systems - including recent versions of Microsoft Outlook - make it really easy to cut this rubbish out of your replies.

Here are the instructions for Outlook. Many other email clients work in the same way:

1. Highlight the text you want to quote in your reply

Click and drag with the mouse to highlight the key text:

2. Click Reply or Reply All

Just click the Reply button as normal:

3. Write your reply

Outlook will only quote the selected text, so you can write your message and hit Send:

That's all there is to it! Recipients will thank you for bringing the email back down to size.

• Use Google for sums, currency conversions and more
• How to save screenshots on your Mac
• Get the Recent Documents folder back in Windows 7

Cloud telephony: when disruption is a good thing

Image: Flickr user opopododo.

Have you noticed how frequently the term 'disruptive' is used to refer to technology? I often think it's off-putting for many businesses. After all, the last thing that any of us want is more disruption.

Cloud telephony services are often described as being disruptive. But in reality, cloud telephony can be much less disruptive to businesses than other types of telephone system.

However, cloud telephony certainly is disruptive to traditional telecoms service providers and carriers, because it offers features that they cannot provide.  

Let's take a closer look at how cloud telephony compares with traditional on-site telephone systems.

Cost savings

Cloud telephony can offer significant cost savings over traditional digital lines or even VoIP telephone systems. As with other cloud services, you eliminate many of the infrastructure and maintenance costs of an on-site system.

You can either introduce cloud telephony alongside your existing telephone system or as a complete replacement. Either way, you will almost certainly save on line rental and call costs. Expect to pay as little as 0.75p per minute for calls to landlines, or 2p per minute to call mobiles.

In addition, you should get the flexibility of a per-user, per-month pricing plan, without a lengthy contract. The cost can start from around £10 per person per month.

Scalable and flexible

Cloud telephony is inherently scalable, making it ideal for growing businesses. This means you never have to pay for more services than you need at any given time.

Because cloud telephony is delivered over the web, it's easier to bring branch offices and remote workers onto a single phone system.  You can scale up and down easily and economically without the headaches of changing or merging lines.  

Furthermore, employee mobile phones can be integrated with your cloud telephony system, enabling business calls to be logged and even recorded in the cloud.

Employees can be given a business phone number which routes to and from their mobile, meaning they don't have to use their personal number for business. It's a great way to allow staff to bring their own device, without revealing their personal numbers or running up unnecessary call charges.

Overall, you'll get more control over mobile call costs (which can be a significant proportion of your total telecomms bill) and be able to manage employee mobiles more effectively.

Enable, don’t disrupt

Cloud telephony can give your business access to sophisticated features that were once the preserve of large companies.

You may be able to integrate your email, CRM or other business systems with a cloud telephony system. This will allow you to click-to-dial, or display information about a caller on screen before your telephone agent answers the phone.

In contrast, it's usually much harder to integrate traditional phone systems into your other business systems.

Reporting for business

A cloud telephony system also provides flexible call recording. You can choose to record every call, or just those that fit criteria you set.

Call recordings are stored in the cloud, meaning you can access and play them from any internet-connected computer. Recordings can also be linked to customer records in your software.

Combined with comprehensive reporting, you'll get a complete, detailed insight into your company's sales processes, from initial enquiry to closing the deal.

So, with its inherent flexibility, lower costs, and business-enhancing features, cloud telephony can be compelling for almost every company. Since when has this kind of good business sense been disruptive?

• Choose a telephone system supplier
• Freelancers: get a business landline without a landline
• Types of telephone number

This piece was written by Mark Seemann, CEO of SYNETY, a cloud telephony firm.

The new BlackBerry aims to bring Balance to your business

It's make or break time for RIM, manufacturer of the BlackBerry.

Once dominant in the world of business smart phones, the BlackBerry's market share has been steadily eroded by Apple's iPhone and Android handsets from the likes of Samsung and HTC.

But now RIM is fighting back with the BlackBerry Z10, which looks like ... well, it looks like every other smart phone that's hit the market in recent years.

It's a black slab with a big touch screen. Original.

The BlackBerry Z10 does personal too

There are lots of reviews that'll tell you about the BlackBerry Z10's tech specs and performance. Check engadget, TechCrunch and The Telegraph. Overall, it seems like a decent handset.

But there's one feature that sets the BlackBerry Z10 apart from its competitors. It's called Balance. According to RIM, it's the 'simplest and most user-friendly way to balance your personal and work life on a single device.'

Balance means that instead of carrying two phones (one for work and one for business), the BlackBerry Z10 can do both. It keeps company data secure and separate from personal photos, games and other distractions. You switch between the two modes by swiping the screen.

Will BlackBerry Z10 work with BYOD?

While Balance sounds like a really useful feature, for your business to take advantage of it you need to have bought into the BlackBerry platform, and be using BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

And that's where the BlackBerry Z10 is going to hit problems for smaller companies. The current trend is to bring your own device (BYOD) and give staff incentives to use their own smart phones for work.

There's no point in going to the trouble of implementing Balance if only a few staff members have chosen to buy the Z10.

Does that means the BlackBerry Z10 is set to fail? Not necessarily. It's just that the strings attached to Balance make that particular feature less useful for companies that don't have the budget to buy a phone for every employee and set up a BlackBerry-based infrastructure.

What's left is still a very capable smart phone. But given the dominance of Apple and Android, is that enough?

• The business risks of smart phone apps
• Protecting your phone from theft
• Mobile apps for small businesses

Freelancers: get a business landline without a landline

It can be a challenge for freelancers working from home to keep their business and personal lives separate.

The humble telephone number is a great example of this. Many freelancers end up using the same landline for personal and business calls. This can lead to all kinds of awkward situations, like your kids answering when your most important client calls.

The price of a landline

But landlines are expensive, costing as much as £15 a month from BT. Getting a second one installed hardly seems worthwhile, especially if you mostly use your mobile for outgoing calls.

Well, here's a cheaper, more flexible alternative. Skype - the internet telephony and instant messaging service that's now owned by Microsoft - can give you a landline number for a fraction of that cost.

It works really well - I've been using it to take business calls for the last few months.

You need to have a Skype account to buy a number (it's free to sign up). Once you have a number, the Skype app on your computer will 'ring' when someone calls it. You can answer and speak to the caller using a headset connected to your computer.

If you'd prefer to have a separate phone on your desk, you can buy a Skype phone instead.

Other advantages of Skype

Price aside, there are other advantages to this approach too:

• Flexibility. Unlike a normal landline, your number isn't linked to a location. Callers can dial the same number and reach you anywhere. If you're out and about you can automatically divert calls to your mobile or use Skype's mobile apps to stay in touch.
• More choice. Skype lets you choose which area code you want your number to have. This means you can get a London number even if you're based in Leicester, or an Edinburgh code even though you live in Essex.
• Cross borders. You can also get a number for a different country, if you choose - it's a nice way to let international clients call you at local rates. Dialing international numbers through Skype is often cheaper too.

How to get started

If you have a Skype account, it's easy to add a number to your package. Just go to the Skype website and sign in. Then:

1. Scroll to the Manage features heading and click Skype Number.
2. Click Get a Skype Number
3. Click the country for your Skype number
4. Click the dropdown menu to choose your area code
5. Skype wlll give you a list of numbers to choose from. Choose the one you want and click Continue.
6. Choose whether you want to buy for 1, 3 or 12 months.
7. Enter your payment details and follow the instructions to complete your purchase.

That's it. Now when you're signed in to Skype, people will be able to call you on your landline number. And they'll never know that you're not using a normal telephone.

• Lower your phone bill with VoIP
• Types of telephone number
• Choosing your telephone system supplier

(Image: Flickr user dno1967b.)

Communication and administration: a business nightmare?

Tick-tock: time is precious in business. (Image: Flickr user blue2likeyou.)

Are communication and administration tasks diverting resources in your business that could be better used for other things?

A study conducted by Dynamic Markets on behalf of Google has found that even in this age of webcams, collaboration software and instant messaging, many workers struggle to work together effectively.

Many of the 3,500 small companies surveyed cited specific problems with communications and admin. They'll probably be familiar to your company too:

• Over half of respondents said they run into email problems on a weekly basis. The biggest single issue was mailbox size. It's common for some email systems to block incoming and outgoing messages when your mailbox fills up. No word on whether any respondents are secretly pleased for the breathing space they get when this happens.
• Arranging meetings eats chunks of employee time. The survey found that on average, a meeting takes one-and-a-half hours to arrange. Regardless of whether you accept that faintly ludicrous figure, it's clear meetings drain productivity. You can use a shared calendar system to book meetings efficiently (both Microsoft Office and Google Apps offer this function), but I'm not convinced that gets to the root of the problem. It would be far better simply to pledge to hold fewer meetings.
• Another big headache is collating feedback. On average, the people surveyed do this seven times a month, taking two hours each time to combine all the comments into a single master document.

Even when faced with these issues, many workers are still clinging to traditional methods of communication, relying on the phone, email and meetings.

However, some businesses are seeking alternative ways to communicate, with 39% increasing their use of online collaboration tools. The study found that these are more commonly used by organisations which saw an increase in profits or turnover in 2012.

This could suggest that more forward-thinking, tech-savvy small businesses are using collaborative technology to gain a competitive advantage.

Do you use any great collaboration tools in your business? Or is it better to pick up the phone and have a chat? Leave a comment to let us know.

• Collaboration tools for your business
• Five free collaboration tools to improve communication
• How to manage remote workers

The rise of video conferencing

Source: The Rise of Video Conferencing