How to use Video for your Business

Web video is a very simple and effective way to convey information about a business, yet many businesses still aren't utilizing it. If you’ve been wondering how you can use videos for your business, take a look at these great examples.

Testimonials

Sharing your business’ success stories is a great way to grow your business through word of mouth. In order to do this, many companies ask for testimonials – which satisfied customers are often happy to give. Requesting a video testimonial can make that success story more effective than ever.

Chances are, your clients know how to create a video and have a webcam built-in to their computers. If you are able to get a video testimonial, instead of a written one, it really brings the story alive to prospective clients.

Replace written content

Most business websites are text-heavy and don’t offer much excitement. Throwing a video or two into the mix can make your site easier for your clients and prospects to find their way through.

Try replacing some standard, informational text with a video that describes your company in order to liven up your site a little and intrigue your site’s visitors.

Educate!

How to” and demo videos are great ways to educate your clients and prospective clients about your business. Although you may not actually sell products that you can demo, there are still plenty of ways to educate clients about something relating to your business.

Restaurants, for example, can create a video on how to properly prepare an artichoke, or something along those lines, that anybody could find useful. Videos of this sort are great because they make you look like an expert in your field.

Web video is a growing medium and a great way to share your stories and ideas with your audience. For even more ideas on using web video, check out this article.

How to Have the Right Attitude at Work

Succeeding in business is difficult to do without the right kind of attitude. It takes a special mix of ambition and personality, and the ability to be both forward thinking and conscious of those working around you. Business is built around a foundation of interacting with other people. Whether you’re working with a coworker on the job or with a prospective client, having a good attitude is paramount to getting things done. Here are a few important character traits for you to consider when evaluating your business attitude.

1.    Be positive

Staying positive is at the core of any good attitude. Studies show that praising your coworkers often, setting reasonable goals and consistently showing gratitude are all traits common in successful businesspeople. Thinking pessimistically fosters a negative attitude that makes seeing the positives difficult and, in turn, decreases your ability to succeed. Thinking positively lets you see the good things around you and allows you to build off of them, creating an attitude beneficial to advancement. If you’d like more tips on staying positive, take a look at this article.

2.    Act assertively, not aggressively

Assertiveness is probably the top traits of those successful in business, however it is often coupled with aggressiveness. The most important thing when attempting to be assertive without being aggressive is communication. When asserting yourself in the office, allow other people as much time to describe their needs as you’ve allowed yourself. When they are expressing their needs, try not to devalue their perspectives; doing so will allow you to stay open to meeting them halfway.

Practicing these tips will make you a member of the team and create an environment that allows for your career advancement. If you’d like additional tips, please consider this article.

3.    Approach conflict with compassion

Interpersonal conflict is an unavoidable part of every work culture. Try approaching resolution with compassion if and when you find yourself at odds with a coworker. Stepping into conflict resolution with an open mind instead of defensiveness will often result in a more positive outcome. Adding compassion to your business attitude will improve your skills at resolving conflict. If you’d like to read more about being compassionate at work, take a look at this article.

No matter your experience or career, people will always be challenging to deal with. Having a fresh and positive attitude when dealing with them will allow you to advance and flourish in the work place. Remembering these simple tips are the first steps in cultivating a good business attitude, and having a good business attitude is the first step to advancing your career.

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5 Things to look for in a Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is an IT firm that supports your businesses complete IT infrastructure. Through a mixture of technologies, people, and processes MSP’s keep your operations running 24x7x365 for a flat-rate monthly fee.  Your managed service provider will monitor your network, remotely support your servers and workstations, provided appropriate planning should a disaster occur, and ultimately, keep your employees operations running at peak performance.When the time is right for your business to bring on an MSP, there are several things to consider before signing a contract.

1.  Do they offer Disaster Recovery planning and periodic testing?- Disaster recovery should be an essential component of your overall IT strategy. While some MSP’s include Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) as part of their service offering, others offer BDR at an additional service fee or do not address BDR at all. It is important to choose a provider that not only offers Backup and Disaster Recovery, but also periodic testing of your BDR plan at least once a year or after significant changes have been made to your technology infrastructure. If you do not currently have one, a good MSP can help your organization develop a practical disaster recovery plan.
2. Do they provide third party Vendor Management?-Third party vendor management can be a huge benefit for businesses who have taken on the burden of dealing with vendors themselves. Should an application or support need extend beyond the MSP’s included service levels, a vendor must be contacted to provide support. A good MSP will take on the issue themselves by contacting the vender on behalf of the customer and see the issue through to resolution.  This is a very important part of an MSP’s service offering and alone, can save you hours of time and grief spent resolving issues yourself versus focusing on your day-to-day.
3. Do they offer a mix of remote and on-site support?-  Most good MSP’s will provide a combination of remote and onsite support in their service agreement. However, some do not unless required by a special project or for an additional fee. A combination of both is important because it allows your service provider to become familiar with the physical layout of your facility, the unique needs of your users, and of course, provide needed face-to-face time with you, the customer.
4. Guaranteed response time?-  This is a must for any managed service offering. How fast will your provider respond during office hours, after-hours, weekends and holidays? Most MSP’s do not include night and weekend responses in their offerings so make sure you choose one who does. These guaranteed response times are referred to as your Service Level Agreement (SLA), and it is important that the level of service you receive aligns with the needs of your company.
5. Do they provide monthly reporting?- How do you know if your MSP is really providing you a return on your investment? A good MSP offering includes detailed monthly reports about services provided, maintenance completed, and the overall health of your network. Most MSP’s provide this anyways, but it’s always good to bring up in case it is not addressed.   

If you are looking for a great deal of value at a fixed price, managed services is the way to go. MSP’s provide you with peace of mind in knowing your IT operations will be running smoothly at all times and that you are taking a proactive approach to your network. However, choosing the wrong MSP can also cost you valuable time, money and aggravation. So shop around, do your homework and choose your managed service provider wisely.

If you have any other questions about Managed Services or would like to learn about Convergent Technologies Groups' managed service offerings, please leave a comment below or contact CTG today!

5 Ways Your Company Can Benefit From Cloud-Based Videoconferencing

Cloud computing is all the rage these days as organizations have come to realize how robust, efficient and cost-effective this alternative to premises-based technologies can be. For the small to midsize business (SMB) realm, who have traditionally been keeping pace with enterprise companies as best they can, this is especially huge. Thanks to "the cloud," a whole new world of opportunity has come to the forefront for small and medium business--one of which is videoconferencing. 

Below, we explore the top five benefits of cloud-based videoconferencing for SMB's.

1. Lower total cost of ownership- It used to be that in order to purchase an enterprise-grade videoconferencing system you would literally have to auction off your first born child. Thankfully those days are over and SMB's can now utilize enterprise-grade video for a fraction of the price. There are a variety of videoconferencing services to choose from, including room based systems that you can buy or lease, virtual rooms that can be accessed from your desktop and deployed throughout your organization and also services to connect to road warriors via their tablet or smartphone devices. 
2. Rapid/Scalable Deployment- Five year projections? Ten year projections? For most businesses, it has become nearly impossible to make accurate predictions as to where the economy will take you. Therefore, you need highly flexible technology for scale up/scale down deployments. You're in luck! Cloud-based videoconferencing provides just that. As your business grows, your videoconferencing solution can grow with you and vice versa. 
3. Reliability and Security- The real cherry on top when it comes to cloud-based videoconferencing is the built-in reliability and security hosted solutions provide, without the overhead and complexities of managing it yourself. Cloud-based video offers you a high quality, always available video network including a built-in firewall traversal for secure company-to-company video calling with customers, suppliers and colleagues inside or outside your organization.
4. Easier Maintenance- Since it is a hosted service after all, cloud-based videoconferencing systems require very little IT support or training to administer and are very easy to deploy. Another bonus--system upgrades happen automatically with no hardware upgrades needed to take advantage of new features and technologies leaving you more time to focus on growing your business.
5. Increased Productivity- Not only will you be saving time from easier maintenance associated with cloud-based services, you will also increase productivity throughout your organization by providing access to existing and emerging workforces who demand constant connectivity and productivity from anywhere at any time. 

Cloud-based videoconferencing offers exciting opportunities for businesses of all sizes but is especially opportune for the SMB who can take the most advantage of its affordability, ease of operation and non-dependence on in-house IT resources to manage. 

If you would like to learn more about cloud-based video conferencing for your business please contact Convergent Technologies Group and we will help you get started. Looking to get started right away? Try a free trial of our cloud-based videoconferencing solution, LifeSize Connections.