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NH Forge

technology

Does Photocopier Leasing Make Sense for Your Company?

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The need of many companies to reduce costs has generated a broad market regarding new solutions for this problem. In this sense, the purchase of printers and photocopiers of the latest generation is simply something difficult to afford for many; however, the market also offers excellent alternatives in the form of renting or leasing this type of equipment.

Nowadays it is possible to get very good prices in relation to the rental of photocopiers, an option that has been growing considerably in popularity among SMEs in recent times. In part, because it allows small and medium-sized businesses to access equipment and brands of the highest quality, which, otherwise, would have been very difficult to buy.

Why is it necessary?

Experts in photocopier leasing in Newbury explain that a company might not require large amounts of copying or printing during many months of the year. Accountants make an interesting case study: for many months they use their photocopiers and printers at a fairly regular pace, but in the months prior to the filing of tax and tax returns, they may need support in terms of additional equipment.

Faced with this, the company or business can opt for the purchase of new equipment, or to simply lease it. This presents a clear advantage because the cost is much lower, and also adjusts exactly to a precise period of time, thus avoiding unnecessary expenses in terms of supplies, maintenance, etc.

As for the brands of equipment, the best brands are available from established suppliers, and can be leased and incorporated into the work dynamics to maintain a highly efficient team and at a considerably lower price than if it had to be purchased outright.

Hassle-free operation

Another advantage that is worth noting is that companies that are dedicated to the rental of photocopiers and printers have very good guarantees against different risks, and also are responsible for carrying out the corresponding maintenance tasks, so that this cost is also reduced and helps the business save money when taking advantage of leasing such equipment.

In this context, the rental of printing equipment perhaps constitutes a really specific solution for many small and medium-sized companies that, in principle, cannot afford to invest in new photocopiers or printers, but that can also serve as support during seasonal demand where the use of such equipment increases considerably.

Flexibility: exactly what your business needs, when you need it

In any case, the companies providing this service are highly reliable and respond promptly to any requirements by clients, whether in terms of equipment, brands or models. However, it is always advisable to act with a certain degree of foresight and be informed in order to negotiate the best possible leasing deal.

Companies that are dedicated to the rental or leasing of photocopiers and printers can offer personalized advice regarding the specific needs of any business, and only then present the optimal leasing solutions to cover them.

Crowdsourcing Software Made for Businesses and How it Can Help with Job Hunting

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If you have ever tried to find a new job in the corporate sector, you will know how difficult it can be to find one. Yet, did you know that crowdsourcing software made for businesses has made finding such a job a lot easier? Examples of this include job websites such as Monster, but also huge social media platforms such as LinkedIn. Indeed, thanks to the internet, the crowd – the general public – has access to thousands of jobs each and every day. And crowdsourcing software for job hunters have made it possible for businesses to quickly and easily sift through the average of 250 resumes they receive for each posting.

Crowdsourcing Software Made for Businesses Makes the Innovators Stand Out

Working in HR is a thankless task. However, crowdsourcing software has made things a lot easier for these managers. No longer do they personally have to read the hundreds of cover letters and hundreds of resumes. It is a known fact that around 75% of applicants aren’t even qualified, which shows just how much time can be wasted. Indeed, out of all the applications, only 2% will ever be asked for interview. Thanks to crowdsourcing software, however, managers can get to those 2% in a much quicker manner. And one of the things they make their software look for is innovation and creativity.

Knowledge Is Power

Crowdsourcing software is fitted with a number of parameters that applicants must meet. If used properly, the organization’s innovation team will have set those parameters, so that everybody agrees on the type of person that would be suitable for the role. Standard parameters include education and experience, although none of this demonstrates whether or not someone fits in with the company’s culture. Hence, what these systems now look for is evidence of creative thinking and ideas.

Innovators Are in Demand

It helps, of course, that most roles available today are those that specifically look for innovators. Indeed, some of the most in demand positions include computer programmer, healthcare professional, and network architect, all highly creative roles. These are sectors where the workforce is dwindling, and insufficient new talent is generated.

What these talent gaps also tell us is where stagnation is. True innovators stay on top of trends, and they try to come up with ways to resolve areas where there is stagnation. An innovator never stands still. They find opportunities and they take action. They think big and they are there to stop an organization from becoming stale.

A final thing that crowdsourcing software for HR managers looks for is people who take control of their own life. They want to see someone who is applying for a job they actually want. They stand out from the crowd by approaching the company directly and by coming up with more ideas than what is asked for on the application form. They don’t wait until an opening exists, they show where the opening should be, in other words.

Top Tricks to Find the Best SEO Firm

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Even if you know a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you may still want to call in an SEO firm to help grow your own business. Safari SEO Agency UK states that having a base knowledge of SEO is unfortunately not enough, because SEO is constantly updating and changing with each and every one of Googles algorithm updates. But how do you find an SEO firm that is actually any good, when everybody seems to call themselves experts nowadays? Below are 10 top tips to look for.

Top Tips to Find a Great SEO Firm

  1. They should complete a site evaluation. This means they tell you how you currently rank and whether or not your design is any good. They should also provide you with a custom work proposal based on this information.
  2. They should use advanced keyword identification tools. They need to explain how they find keywords, using things like Google AdWords and more, and why they choose the ones they feel matter most.
  3. They must explain where they will find backlinks, which are vital to full optimization. These links should be of high quality, because quality is more important than quantity in the eyes of Google.
  4. They should be able to explain what they will charge for what and why. The quote should be very detailed and there shouldn’t be any misleading fine print.
  5. They should be able to tell you how long they expect to take to see some results, and what kind of results you can expect. However, they should not be able to provide you with any guarantees, as they have no control over what other people do. A good SEO campaign usually takes between six and 18 months to show any real results.
  6. They must be able to explain the techniques and strategies that they intend to use. Be wary of black hat tactics such as spam advertising or deceiving the algorithms of the search engines.
  7. They should be able to provide you with targeted traffic and explain how this differs from plain traffic. Plain traffic actually gets your site ranking down. Targeted traffic is obtained through press releases, social media, and other relevant channels.
  8. Their deliverables should be transparent. This means they should be happy to provide you with regular reports and updates on how they are performing and on whether or not they are meeting the targets that they had expected. These reports should be highly detailed, showing exactly where which traffic is coming from, and which strategies are proving to be the most successful.
  9. They should offer monthly or quarterly reports to showcase whether you are seeing a return on investment.
  10. They should guarantee their performance. This is not the same as guaranteeing results, however.

With these 10 considerations, you should be able to find an SEO agency that works properly and delivers what you need. Do your research, find reviews of the company, and ask for a portfolio. In so doing, you will make sure their work is most likely to become successful for you.

How Logistics Companies Are Benefiting From GPS For Car Devices

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To say that GPS for car devices have transformed the manner in which we drive would be completely underestimating the situation. Whilst today’s post is based on logistics companies and the benefits they are receiving from the devices, let’s also not forget that the Average Joe driving a car is also reaping the rewards. Maps have been thrown out of the window (sometimes literally) and in their place has come a GPS device which has made travel a whole lot easier.

While the ones for the standard car tend to be quite simple and focus on directions, when it comes to using GPS devices commercially a whole host of other features enter the picture. Today we will take a look at some of these features, to highlight the true benefits what logistics firms around the country are now receiving.

The speed factor

In an ideal world, every company would love their drivers to travel at the maximum speed as possible, whilst obviously not putting anyone in danger. As we all know, we are bound by speed limits on all roads though, and if drivers do fall foul of these, fines, bans and other penalties are often dished out.

Of course, there are occasions where speeding drivers aren’t been picked up by speed detection cameras. The beauty of GPS devices is that they regularly report back on speed, and make companies aware if drivers are breaking limits. This is something that really can encourage drivers to navigate in a safe manner, and avoid any financial penalties which might be dished out to the company in the future.

Staying efficient

As we all know, speed is directly linked to efficiency.

The fact that speed is reported to companies has another benefit; it can mean that drivers can be asked to drive more efficiently. Particularly in the larger vehicles, there are “optimum” speeds to drive at, and over the course of a year the fuel savings to companies can border on the unbelievable.

Once upon a time a company may have been able to “ask” their drivers to obey their speed requirements in a bid to earn efficiency. Now, such requests will tend to be followed, particularly as all data is relayed back so quickly.

The “tracking” element of these products

It isn’t called a GPS tracker for nothing, is it? In other words, companies really are taking advantage of the fact that the devices can quickly relay location information back to a company.

This is something that means planning is a breeze, but it’s also something which can boost customer satisfaction immensely as well. Some companies are taking the location information and providing it directly to their customers, just so they can have an estimated time on when their goods are going to be delivered. Compared to years ago, where both companies and individuals may have had to make special plans to wait for a delivery, this is a huge transformation and one that’s boosting umpteen industries.

Creating the Best Personalized Photo Albums with an iPhone

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The thought of taking a photo on a cell phone would have been laughed at several years ago – yet now it’s all that most people do.

We don’t need to launch into a tirade about how smartphones have transformed our day to day lives, it’s certainly a topic that has been done to death. However, one could argue that the developments in relation to photography are bordering on the staggering, and particularly in the newer models the results are comparable to the majority of amateur cameras.

However, in a bid to perfect your personalized photo albums, it’s certainly fair to say that you still need to possess some knowhow on how to manage the feature within your camera. This is the reason this guide has been put together, as we take a look at some of the best techniques to get the most out of your iPhone-generated photos.

This first suggestion applies to all camera – negative space

Let’s start with one of the simplest suggestions out there and in truth, it doesn’t matter if you are snapping your photo on an iPhone or any other device, the rules remain the same.

A lot of amateur photographs are petrified of negative space. In basic terms, this is space which doesn’t really mean anything. It might be the sky, or the floor – or anything which a person isn’t going to pay much attention to.

The fact they aren’t paying attention to this negative space is significant though. It means that more focus is brought to the main element of the photo – and for you, this should be your primary aim.

Don’t hold the camera like a phone

It might be a phone, but that doesn’t mean to say that you have to hold it like one. A common mistake for people is to take a photo in exactly the same position as they would if they were sending a text message. In other words, it’s at chest height.

This is a sure-fire way to get your angles completely wrong. Of course, when we say “wrong”, what we really mean is “normal”. When it comes to your photography, you want to be anything but normal.

Instead, you need to stand out from the crowd. Try crouching down with your phone, or holding it high in the air – just to gain a slightly different perspective. By following this approach, you will be amazed at the type of results you will reap.

Don’t over-invest in photo editing tools

Something else which has changed the photography landscape is photo editing apps and the fact that you now don’t have to pay hundreds of dollars to buy expensive photo editing software. Instead, it’s all in the palm of your hand.

The nature of these photo editing apps means that it’s also difficult to make too many edits. Most of the changes that an app allows are subtle, and this is the secret to any great photo editing.

The Importance of Uptime for E-Commerce Websites

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“Error 404” (CC BY 2.0) by WarmSleepy

In 2018, downtime for a website which relies on selling products or services to make a profit is borderline destructive. In this day and age, downtime for your website not only costs money, it can also negatively affect your reputation. Website errors not only affect the end-user too; the problems invariably require in-house engineers to resolve the issue, pulling them away from other key tasks as a result.

Website downtime is by no means an issue confined to e-commerce websites, but a rock-solid and consistent user experience is more important for online retailers than any other sector in terms of attracting and retaining customers. It’s all about those fine margins. Leading global marketplace Amazon recently calculated that even a one-second delay in their website’s operations could cost the company up to $1.6bn a year in sales.

Admittedly, the best way to ensure high availability for all in-datacentre and cross-datacentre websites is to incorporate a load balancer into your website’s infrastructure. Load balancing can work for online retailers where they operate using local servers in a single country or global servers in multiple locations around the world. At a local level, where online traffic to your website is shared across a number of servers within your data centre, a local load balancing application can optimise that distribution of visitors equally across all servers to improve the efficiency of your server loads and ensure swift, secure user experiences.


Image: Pixabay.com

E-commerce brands operating from multiple data centres, often in different countries to serve visitors in their native region, can also ensure high availability and dependable website performance with a global load balancing solution. With a global infrastructure, users are funnelled to the data centre with the fastest connection time, although it’s possible to configure the system to direct users to a location-specific data centre based on their geolocation. With load balancing, it’s possible to get real-time overview of the health and efficiency of your web servers and data centres and direct your users to an active data centre. This software can issue health check requests to each server to periodically monitor their performance.

Of course, downtime for any e-commerce website doesn’t just affect sales and reputation, it can negatively impact upon a website’s prominence in search engine results pages (SERPs). Both Google and Bing take a dim view of websites that have regular site outages, which could result in your website being outranked by competitors, although you’re doing the rest of your SEO absolutely right. In fact, Google’s John Mueller recommends that if you’re aware that your website will need to be down for some time, you should use a 503 server code to make search engine bots aware that it’s only a temporary issue. That will allow you to recover your SEO rankings more easily once you’re back online.

For any online retailer, it’s essential not to just be able to quickly respond to a crisis. In fact, it’s better to have a proactive monitoring system that allows you to keep on top of issues before they evolve into potential downtime-worthy problems. The failure of even the biggest retailers such as Amazon should serve as a clear warning to other e-commerce brands that downtime can – and will – happen. Minimise your website’s performance degradation and server failures with periodic testing and load balancing to help things operate on an even keel.

Rethinking the Approach to Product Design and Manufacturing

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(Image Credit: endomedion / 123RF Stock Photo)

Traditionally, Agile techniques have been the exclusive domain of software companies. Agile, which has been available to software manufacturers since the early 1990s, is a process that companies use to create new requirements and solutions for an application.

It breaks down product development into much smaller increments, minimizing the need for significant upfront design and planning. Thousands of companies have used it to create more efficient software solutions since its inception.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, hardware companies have come to appreciate the many benefits an agile manufacturing approach as well. The informal definition of agile manufacturing is an approach used by a company to manufacture its products. This includes the entire process, such as the training, tools, and processes a manufacturer must employ to get its products to the marketplace.

The main goal of agile manufacturing is to respond quickly to customer needs without jeopardizing quality or increasing costs.

Understanding the Four Key Elements of Agile Manufacturing

A successful agile manufacturing plan must incorporate all four of these elements:

  1. Corporate partners: Companies that implement agile manufacturing attempt to leverage business relationships with other companies whenever possible. The rationale is that cooperative and short-term projects can aid with entry or adjustment to new or evolving markets.
  2. Information technology (IT): The use of IT throughout the organization ensures that employees have the most recent information and can respond quickly to internal and external communication requests. This empowers them to make faster decisions regarding product design as well as ensures information distribution across several platforms.
  3. Knowledge culture: Adopting agile manufacturing means the company is willing to invest in employee training. This results in employee who can rapidly adapt to changing specifications throughout the company.
  4. Modular product design: This manufacturing process lends itself to modular products that allow for prompt variation and modification. Workers build modular products from a variety of pieces to ensure that this is possible. As an example, a worker incorporating modular product design would create several small pieces of the product that fit together rather than using a single type of material.

The Example of Wikispeed

Wikispeed, an auto manufacturer based in the United States, uses Agile manufacturing as a type of development technique. It just so happens that Wikispeed’s founder, Joe Justice, had been instrumental in Agile software development using Scrum since Agile first came on the scene. With this background, it was possible for Justice to implement the same techniques to manufacture a car. Wikispeed’s development process for cars dropped to just seven days. The result is a fully functioning automobile that consumes less gas than many other models.

While software and hardware development have obvious differences, the two share enough similarities for hardware manufacturers to seriously consider implementing Agile. Today’s winners in manufacturing aren’t necessarily the ones with the best product. It’s the company who can get new products to market the fastest, a goal that hardware manufacturers can reach easier by switching to the Agile process.

3 Crucial Technology Tips for Entrepreneurs

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It ain’t easy to be an entrepreneur. Once you have decided to become one, there are a lot of things you need to take into consideration. Whether you are going to run a big enterprise or a small business, you still have to prepare yourself for it. You need to ensure that you get sufficient funds, resources, and time to make it happen.

When it comes to managing your business’ tech side, you also need to know every bit of it. By simply learning even a few tips about technology, you will be able to be a better entrepreneur as well as streamline your daily business operations. Things will definitely be more advantageous when you get to use proper technology in your business. It is just a matter of looking into the right tools and processes to lead your enterprise in the right path.

So, in order to succeed in your venture, be sure to keep these vital tech tips in mind all the time:

Never cheap out on technology

Technology is as significant as the other factors making up your entire business, so you better put importance to it, too. Today’s modern world relies on technology that is why you have to invest in new business technology though it might be costly. As an entrepreneur, you need to put your money into more profitable and necessary software, machines, or tools, like Whois domain search database, to keep your venture off the ground. Choose the right technology and continue to grow your enterprise.

Ensure your technology is up-to-date

One of the most effective ways to boost your business is through the use of latest technology. Businesses that adopt new technology are said to compete excellently with other ventures, increase revenues, improve efficiency, and connect with new markets or customers. By using updated productivity software, cloud-based services, and Internet connectivity in your office and at work, entrepreneurs can make a drastic change to their businesses. You can even make more people do business with you and enhance customer satisfaction through technology.

Make technology a priority

In every business, there are a number of essential things you need to prioritize. You have to guarantee that one of these is technology because it will be of great help in your venture. Without technology, you won’t be able to communicate well with your partners and clients, be a match for your competitors, deliver your tasks on time, and advance your business growth. With this, you need to make technology a priority once you start your own business or when you are revamping your existing enterprise.

Technology is such a broad concept that businesses can benefit from at all times. As an entrepreneur, you have to educate yourself regarding the latest and most useful technologies you can incorporate in your own enterprise. This might be tough to do at first, but everything will pay off once you invest in the right technology. You will witness increased productivity, improved speed, efficient storing and sharing information, and raised revenue in the long run, making your business thrive.

Signs That Show Your Digital Signage is Effective

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Digital signage is like any other business investment. It has to deliver positive results. If you’re one of the many businesses that have realised and capitalised on this modern platform, you might be asking if it is effective. The answer lies in several factors, but you must define first what success means to you in terms of the use of digital signage, since success can come in various forms.

Defining “effective” digital signage

In using business tools, you initially want such tools to address a particular problem or area. Go back to what drove you to use digital signage, including what you wanted to achieve. If it achieves such goal or goals, then it can be considered effective. Remember that goals can be either quantitative or qualitative or a combination of the two. Your goals can be something like having more customers coming in, or fewer customers asking the same questions repeatedly. It could also be reduced waiting times or happier, more connected employees.

Increased number of people coming in

If there is a significant increase of the number of people coming inside your store after you have set up digital signage outside or somewhere visible from the outside, it’s a good sign that it is effective. Passers-by might be drawn to your sign, be enthralled, and decide to enter.

Improved sales for digitally displayed products

If you use your digital signage to highlight a specific product or collection and you notice a significant boost in sales following the display, it is also a positive sign that the signage is performing well.

Better informed customers

If you use digital signage to educate or inform your customers, they should be more informed by now. Some common questions should be answered through your digital display, and if you notice fewer questions because answers are already provided, it is a good indicator that people are taking time to view your signage.

More social media engagement

If you integrate your social media page into your digital display, you should also improve your social media presence. By now, you should be benefiting from more mentions, followers or likes. Your digital signage should have helped people to find you easily or prompted them to interact with you through your online presence.

It is important to evaluate and learn if your digital signage is performing to your advantage. The reason is not to determine if you need to take it down, but to assess which areas to improve. You spend a certain operational cost on this, so it’s smart to use it to its fullest potential. To know if it is effective, ask if it is doing what you want it to do. If you have not yet used digital signage for your business, consult the right persons and use high quality products from reputable AV mounting solutions provider such as www.unicol.com.

3 Reasons to Learn Video Editing

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Although recording videos is now easier than ever due to the prevalence of cameras on mobile devices, there is still a certain stigma attached to editing them. Frankly speaking that stigma is well founded, as editing videos can be complicated and often requires a certain level of technical expertise and experience. For lots of tips about working with Windows, you can check out Windows Maximizer or continue reading to learn more about video editing in general.

While you may feel that you can do without having to learn to edit videos and may have successfully steered clear of it up till now, there are actually several very good reasons why you should learn. There are always new software, devices, and tech gadgets coming out, and it is important to keep up. It may take time, but these 3 reasons should help to convince you why it is important that you learn video editing:

  • More people are watching more videos – daily

With every passing day more people watch more hours of video, and the numbers just keep increasing. Videos are now the most popular type of content on the internet, and are likely to remain on top for a long time to come.

Considering their popularity it is more important than ever that you learn to edit videos, so that you are able to create content of your own.

  • Videos are impactful

Compared to other types of media, videos are able to make a much bigger impact – which is illustrated in their views, engagement levels, and a variety of other metrics. That impact is contingent on several factors however, and it is necessary to edit videos in order to ensure they take fully advantage of that potential.

  • Editing is easier than you might think

Contrary to popular belief, editing videos can actually be much easier than you may think. While it can have a steep learning curve, that is largely down to the editor that is used. Nowadays there are more user-friendly editors that are more intuitive and easier to use, and aren’t nearly as daunting as their professional counterparts.

Granted it will still take some effort to learn to edit videos, but many of the horror stories that may have scared you off don’t really apply.

One simple and user-friendly video editor that you may want to try is Movavi Video Editor. It is a video editing software that is designed to be intuitive, and goes out of its way to ensure that its features can be utilized by experimentation rather than having to go through a steep learning curve.

Make no mistake the features in Movavi Video Editor are far from basic, and will let you edit your video in any way that you require. With its help you could enhance the video quality, combine video clips, trim unwanted segments, add captions, include audio tracks, apply special effects, and much more.

Suffice to say if you want to learn video editing but would rather not jump through too many hoops – Movavi Video Editor is a great place to start. Now that you’re aware of the reasons why you should learn to edit videos, why not give it a go and see for yourself how easy it can be.