Recent Blog Posts
What ?Listening to the Frontend? Has to SayThe patent, US010020004, depicts and describes a new method of data collection that could very well never be implemented. However, Listening to the Frontend, as it is titled, paints a concerning picture of how this technology could easily be abused at the expense of both customer, and Walmart employee. This is effectively a patent that stakes a claim to a particular method of recording the checkout process and the surrounding environment – sensing how many people are in line at a given time, so that another checkout aisle can be opened if needed. The goal is to increase customer satisfaction and cut back on costs, or as the patent puts it, ?Tracking performance metrics for employees to ensure that the employees are performing their jobs efficiently and correctly can aid in achieving these cost savings and increases in guest satisfaction.? The system described in the patent would collect the data needed to determine many key metrics, including the efficiency of the bagging process based on audio input of the beep of the scanner and the rustling of the bags, the greetings that employees are using to interact with the guests, and even how long lines are at each checkout by analyzing the distance between the podium and the source of different sounds. Did you catch that? Despite a statement that claimed with no uncertainty that this system would not be listening in on conversations between the customer and the employee, the patent itself disagrees somewhat by mentioning the system?s capability to ?process the audio of the conversations to determine whether the employee stationed at the terminal is greeting guests.? It continues by clarifying, ?If however the performance metric is based on the content of the conversation (e.g., was a specific greeting used or script followed), the system can process the audio detected by the sound sensors 102 (e.g., using speech recognition) to determine the performance metric.? Why is Walmart Listening In?The same reason most businesses to most anything – there?s money involved. The patent makes it clear that the purpose of this system is to gather the performance metrics necessary to properly optimize the efficiency of the point-of-sale, which means that Walmart can get more customers out the door with less of their money left, and by doing so, make greater profits. Of course, this is not unexpected. Walmart is a business, after all, and so they will of course do whatever they have to in order to make as much money as they can. Even if shoppers don?t necessarily like how it is done, the idea of getting home sooner is a powerful motivation to shrug it off and adjust. If it means that less time is spent shopping, how bad could Listening to the Frontend really be? Assistant Professor Ifeoma Ajunwa (of Cornell?s Industrial and Labor Relations School) has a few counterpoints, as she has recognized the amount of damage that this could lead to down the line. The issues lie largely in the fact that Walmart?s employees have no union to protect their rights, which means that they pretty much don?t have the right to privacy in the workplace. Therefore, all Walmart has to do is establish that Listening to the Frontend had nothing to do with discrimination, and suddenly, […]
Sick of the ?clickclickclickclickclick? of Backspacing?Sometimes, it can be hard to find the right word to encapsulate what you really mean to say. As a result, the repetitive, somehow distinctive clacking of backspace can swiftly become a time-sucking annoyance. This is especially true when you factor in the correction of typos, the realization that you?ve gone off topic, and the many other reasons that you may have to un-write what you have written. Microsoft has provided a bit of relief from the repetitive clackclackclacking with a keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Backspace. Instead of requiring a user to press Backspace for each and every character, this shortcut lets the user delete word by word. As a result, if you have to delete a word like ?responsibility,??disorganization,? or ?misunderstanding,? instead of tapping backspace fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen times, you can just tap it once. While this may not seem to be a big drain on the time you have each day to be productive, it can add up quickly. A Built-In Ideo LocatorIt isn?t uncommon for revisions to be made in the middle of a draft after the writer has continued to work – but what happens if the writer is interrupted in the middle of their edits? Unfortunately, if the program is closed before the writer can return, the cursor will have automatically reset to the beginning of the draft. This makes it difficult to keep track of one?s progress, especially if they were making edits up to that point. However, Microsoft Word has a handy shortcut that eliminates this problem? assuming that you want to return the cursor to where it was during the last file save performed on the document, that is. If you press Shift + F5, your cursor will return to its position from the last save. This will work, even if the program has been closed and reopened in the interim. Simplified HyperlinkingHyperlinks can be extremely useful in a business application, which is what makes it so handy that Microsoft included some of the functionality that it did in Word (incidentally, this also will work in Google Docs). This functionality makes it really very simple to add a hyperlink into your text without the roundabout means that many resort to. The next time you need to add a hyperlink into a document, simply highlight the text you intend to include in the hyperlink. Then press Ctrl + K. This will present you with a pop-up window. All you have to do at that point is to insert the URL you wish to link to into the address bar that this window provides, and press Enter. You can also use this window to link to other text in the same document (a handy feature if you?re calling back to a previous point made), link to text in other documents, or even start an email by clicking on predetermined text. Viewing Documents Side by Side, Synched UpMany documents are usually based on the contents of other documents, meaning it helps to have the reference document pulled up and visible as you type up the second. Again, Microsoft has made it easier to do so by enabling a side-by-side view. To utilize this view, make sure that both documents are open, and in one, click the View Side by […]
One of the best ways to accomplish this is with our mobile device management (MDM) service. Depending on your business? specific needs, you?ll need a different solution compared to others. To help you make the best decision, we?ve put together a list of features that can help you compare your needs with the various services available through mobile device management. What?s a Mobile Device Management Solution?A mobile device management solution is typically meant to help IT administrators and business management enforce policies on mobile devices, turning a time-wasting smartphone into more of a productivity tool than a meme machine. These policies are implemented with the intention of protecting the business? network and data from being targeted by threats. Through a mobile device management software, IT administrators can control and reinforce policies or add applications to devices that access company assets. Why Use Mobile Device Management?There are three big reasons why your organization might want to implement MDM software, and all of them are due to the relatively recent influx of mobile devices to the workplace. Since the early 2000s, security has grown more important for this very reason. Businesses simply want to control access to data, and you should too. Access: A major focus of mobile device management is allowing employees access to important work material without compromising your business? security. For example, MDM is only as useful as your applications are on a mobile phone, so you?ll want to take careful measure of how your employees can be successful with a MDM solution on their devices. The incredible access provided can be quite considerable for most organizations that find value in flexibility. Improved Visibility: Another big part of using a MDM is that you can compose and enforce compliance guidelines that your staff needs to abide by. This can include which devices have access to certain data. Your organization can then use this information to remain cognizant of the biggest threats to its data security. General Security Measures: Overall, the most important thing to remember about MDM solutions is that they are designed to protect your business? data and infrastructure from threats. To this end, there are several solutions baked into the service that keep threats out of your devices, including whitelisting and blacklisting apps and remote wiping for worst-case scenarios. Want to Know More?For more information about how your business can fully leverage a MDM solution to its benefit, reach out to us at (603) 889-0800.
At White Mountain IT Services, we deal in business-class technology every day, and the resulting knowledge allows our consultants to pinpoint when a technology solution is a good fit, and when it should be avoided altogether. After all, while every business needs technology that provides solid ROI, no business needs technology that they can?t properly utilize. Today, we look at two parts of your business? computing where you could make significant technology upgrades that would provide rapid ROI, and typically won?t ruin your annual technology budget. Communications We?ll start with communications, because it is a core aspect of the modern business that has seen some pretty stark shifts. For decades the telephone was the number one (and only) solution for company communications. You had a desk, you sat at the desk, and answered the phone when it rang. Obviously, today things are much, much different. They are so different that sometimes you?ll be standing on line in a store and you think someone is talking to you, but he/she is actually negotiating a sale with someone two time zones away via Bluetooth headset. Today?s business communications solutions are considerably better, and often more cost effective than communications in the past. There are a lot more of them too. With the advent of the smartphone and the cloud, more can get done on the move than ever before. Here are two of the communications solutions that are available to the modern business: Voice over Internet Protocol: Every business needs a telephone system, and often business phone solutions from the telephone company can be exceedingly expensive. Today there is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that uses your organization?s Internet bandwidth to provide in-office and mobile options for businesses. Some VoIP solutions will come packaged with other services, but stand-alone fully-hosted VoIP solutions are a powerful and cost-effective option for any business because of the breadth of services that are available with a VoIP plan. Typically billed per user, per month, hosted VoIP can save you money and provide the mobility and options your business needs. Hosted Team Collaboration: Instant messaging and forums have been around as long as the Internet, but today there are full-featured team collaboration tools that combine the ease of use of IM with the comprehensive project collaboration found in today?s strongest email solutions. Options like Slack and Microsoft Teams can provide any business a heavily-integrated platform in which to communicate, collaborate, and cooperate, moving projects ahead faster than ever before; and, because it is hosted in the cloud, information can be accessed from any place that has an Internet connection on any allowed device. File Storage Any organization that relies on IT, has to store data. All the emails, documentation, presentations, marketing materials, databases, graphics, and media your organization has can chew up a huge chunk of storage space. That?s before you even take into account the amount of file storage space every application your organization utilizes. If you think about it, where and how you store your data is a major consideration. So what innovative options are open to you? Well, as with any technology, you will want to first consider your needs in both storage needed and where you want to store it. It?s true that some of the data you have should be stored onsite, but it?s also […]
The Smartphone Market The heavy hitters of the smartphone market have been the same for almost a decade. Samsung and Apple are, more or less, the biggest players in the smartphone market. There are others that have emerged, like HTC, Blackberry Limited, and LG, but it?s hard to argue that they have the same presence in the smartphone industry as Samsung and Apple. Similarly, there is now a competition for Chinese companies thanks to an increase in Asian smartphone demand. Manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi have grown considerably as a result. Besides the increase in popularity of smartphones in places with high populations, the smartphone market has typically relied on repeat customers who replace their phones when new models are released. Today?s smartphones are built with specifications that are designed to help manufacturer?s make back their money with high sales. The less people upgrade their devices, the more money these manufacturers have to pay in order to get ads in front of potential consumers. Therefore, if the biggest draw of the latest smartphone is taken out of the picture–the potential for upgrading–the entire basis of the market screeches to a halt. Even though Samsung and Apple have large numbers of repeat customers, the same can?t be said for their closest competitors. Even though the technology market?s stagnation is occurring at around the same time as the mobile device market?s, the ultimate cause seems to be demand for the devices. Locations where smartphones are increasing in popularity–namely India, Africa, and southeast Asia–don?t have the Internet accessibility needed to use devices to their full capacity. Even though the numbers are down, the smartphone market will still continue to innovate and push toward groundbreaking new technologies. Some of the hot topics are currently 5G wireless and augmented reality. It?s likely that these new innovations will keep the smartphone relevant in the coming years. 2018 Smartphone Technology Smartphone companies rely on the success of their most popular devices, and therefore, they need to take measures toward improving these devices. They have to improve pretty much everything about them in order to attract both new and returning consumers. This ranges all the way from the cameras and screens to the innards–the operating system, RAM, and other software included with it. The sad reality is that these new versions of flagship devices are simply not that much different from previous versions. This is true even in light of insane spending on innovation, research and development. Most flagship smartphones today provide the following features: 4G LTE availability Responsive operating system Large application ecosystem Usable screen size around six inches PPI over 400 OLED, AMOLED, or Super AMOLED display Carry weight of less than 7 oz At least a 12 Megapixel rear-facing camera Front-facing camera 4K video capture Optical Image Stabilization At least a 3.25 GHz processor At least quad-core At least 3 GB of RAM At least 64 GB of onboard storage At least 10 hours of constant usability on battery Rapid charging with USB Type-C (or proprietary charger) Water resistance Bluetooth Security features (including face lock or fingerprint scanner) Unfortunately, poor sales means higher prices to make up for these poor sales. This makes trouble for small businesses with limited budgets, as they could potentially be using devices several years old. While there?s nothing wrong with […]
