Google has just announced that it will be increasing its subscription rates for Flexible Plan subscriptions to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, and Business Standard Plus by 20% starting April 2023. Google explains this increase by pointing out...
Reducing Costs
What’s Wrong with Your Phone?
If you’re still using a Plain Old Telephone System (or POTS) from Telus, maybe it’s time to consider a new technology. First of all, you’re probably paying more than you should. Plus you get a whole bunch of new features. For example, your POTS can’t: Send you a...
Google Voice is Now Available in Canada
Google Voice is Now Available in Canada! Google Voice is a low-cost, simple to use, business phone service. Instead of using your personal phone number for business calls, Google Voice gives you a dedicated business number as an app on your smart phone. That way you...
Net Neutrality at Risk in Canada
You can call anyone you want on your telephone or mobile, even if they are another telephone company. You can mail a letter or a package to anyone you want--even a criminal. The telephone company must connect you; and the post office must deliver your letter. It has...
Google Meet moving to compete with Zoom
Early in the pandemic, all the virtual meeting platforms: Google Meet, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex, and Zoom, found themselves in a gold rush. Zoom was the early leader--in part because of price: a freemium version allowed group meetings of up to 40...
Can Remote Work Reduce Your Business’ Operating Costs?
Remote work is a new reality for many businesses. Perhaps you feel it was forced upon you and is a challenge to manage and monitor. Like any change, remote work models are unsettling. But as a change, it can also be a disruption in a good way. Having workers show up...
Work from Home May Be Here to Stay
Out of 3.4 million Canadians were told to work from home early in the Corona virus lockdown. 3/4 of those were still working from home in August according to Statistics Canada's latest Labour Force Survey. Having hired back workers over the 5 months since April,...
Should Your Company Consider Outsourcing its IT Management?
What are some of the challenges to consider? There are good reasons and bad reasons to outsource your IT. Two of the bad reasons are: You want to reduce costs (unless your current environment has been completely mismanaged). The days of seeing IT as a cost center are...
Paying for Dropbox AND Zoom?
A basic Zoom subscription is $14.99/month. Dropbox is $12.99 (with a yearly commitment). Together, storing your documents in the cloud so your entire team can access them, and video conferencing with clients and colleagues is $28/month/user plus taxes. Google has just...
Getting the Most from Telecommuting
Telecommuting is growing across North America. Benefits include lower cost for office space and better staff retention. However, many managers and employers remain skeptical of its value. A study by Glenn Dutcher and Krista Saral from the University of...