29
Aug, 2018
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Tip of the Week: Set Your System up with the Apps You like to Use

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Sometimes you’ll open up a document and it will open up in a default program on your computer that you never use, or one that you might not even know you have. This can happen with common types of file formats, like PDFs or MP3s, that could be opened by more than one program on your computer. Windows 10 makes it easy to customize your user experience through changing up the default applications for specific file types. We’ll show you how it’s done.

To change your default applications for Windows 10, just follow these steps:

  • Click on the Start menu in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  • Click on Settings. It’s the option with a gear-like icon next to it.
  • Select the System option.
  • Click on Default apps next.

You’ll see your options for selecting an app in the form of categories. These categories are Email, Maps, Music Player, Video Player, Photo Viewer, and Web Browser. Once you’ve selected a category, you can choose a default app that will open anything related to that category.

An easier way to do this is by right-clicking the file you want to open. You then need to select Open with. Choose the app that you’d like to use to open the file, or you can select Choose another app if you don’t see the one you want. You can either select it for this one instance or you can have Windows remember your choice for the future.

If you need to reset your default apps, it’s as easy as can be. Just follow the steps below… just in case you set a default app you don’t like.

  • Click on the Start menu.
  • Select Settings.
  • Navigate to System.
  • Click Default apps.
  • Click the Reset button at the bottom.

Once you’ve finished, your Windows 10 device will reset to its default applications. It’s really that easy.

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17
Aug, 2018
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As Augmented Reality Grows, More Applications Appear

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“Augmented reality” is likely one of those terms that you’ve heard before, but that’s more or less your experience with it. However, A.R. has likely been a bigger influence than you may have imagined – especially with the prevalence of smartphones being what it is. Let’s examine augmented reality and how it might be used later on.

Modern A.R.
As we have inferred already, the smartphone has been instrumental in bringing augmented reality to the masses. In A.R. applications, the camera is used to capture the likeness of the user’s surroundings, while a virtual overlay is added for the user to interact with. This overlay incorporates stimulus from the Internet, the captured surroundings, and the user’s activity all at once.

This technology has been leveraged by developers to try to develop apps, some for fun, and some that are more practical. There have been plenty of examples of each thus far. Augment, the furniture application, allows users to “test-drive” a model in the environment it will be used in, which is much easier than buying said furniture only to return it when it clashes with the base molding. As for entertainment, one only has to look at the success of the Pokémon Go app. There are even browsers, like Argon4, which incorporate A.R.

What May Be Coming Next
Admittedly, not much has been developed completely just yet, but that hasn’t made A.R. any less promising. For example, imagine how much easier tutorials could become for particular tasks if A.R. was leveraged. Any task that can be broken into steps could be developed into an A.R. walkthrough.

Take auto maintenance. Most people spend significant amounts of money keeping their engine tuned up and their vehicle road-worthy by bringing it to an auto shop. While some issues are certainly better resolved by the likes of a professional, some fixes are very doable for a novice – assuming they had a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to show them how to do it right. An augmented reality application could be that guide, teaching these novices how to change their oil or replace a spark plug. We may see these kinds of apps change the way that schools teach their students, allowing lessons to be learned conceptually and practically.

Of course, more is also being developed now:

  • eCommerce: Using digital overlays, real-time and lifelike shopping experiences can be developed, boosting consumer satisfaction.
  • Gaming: Pokémon Go was just the beginning. A.R. has proved that video games and gamification can not only get people out of the house, they can get them interacting with other people, forming stronger communities.
  • Marketing: By incorporating A.R. into the consumer’s experience, marketers can add additional impressions and make their efforts more impactful.

While A.R. may not be everywhere just yet, we wouldn’t be too shocked if it started to pop up in more places sooner than later – and if it doesn’t, we’ll focus on making sure you get the best use out of whatever does. If you’re interested in hearing more about any of the services or technologies that we at NuTech Services are familiar with, give us a call at 810.230.9455.

20
Jul, 2018
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5 Useful Cloud Apps for Small Businesses

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The cloud is a great tool that lets businesses take advantage of goods and services in never before seen ways. How does your organization use the cloud? Developers are trying to leverage the cloud to best assist businesses just like yours with their day-to-day functions, all the while improving flexibility and access to important information. Here are five cloud-based applications that your organization can benefit from.

QuickBooks Online
Quickbooks is one of the major accounting and payroll services out there, and Intuit has developed the platform for use in the cloud environment. QuickBooks Online can help your business build out invoices, track sales and expenses, manage accounts, download bank transactions, and schedule your invoices. QuickBooks Online is also compatible with many different devices, and it works well with over 300 other cloud-based applications. This provides your business with a dynamic and affordable solution.

Evernote
Evernote, a note-taking application, is now accessible through the cloud. Following this migration, users have discovered that Evernote is more functional and quick than ever before. Evernote can even save, and archive information found online so that it can be accessed at any time. Evernote has also added encryption to keep stored information safe.

DocuSign
You sign countless documents year after year. If you could get rid of all the meetings and time spent traveling to locations just to sign specific documents, how would you use this extra time? DocuSign makes this dream a reality by providing an application designed for this express purpose. You can remotely sign documents for a myriad of purposes, cutting down the time spent in between getting to a meeting location and signing the actual document.

Slack
Slack is a great communications system that can integrate with other project management and productivity cloud apps. Slack includes many features designed specifically to help your projects finish as quickly as possible, all while including various features, like message boards and instant messaging, so that all users can be kept in the loop on progress.

Asana
Asana is a cloud-based project management software that can be used for collaboration between projects, allowing you to set parameters and milestones that can be worked toward. This gives your team a way to visually gauge how much progress they are making on a project, as well as provides them ways to meet their deadlines, share files, be more productive, and create opportunities for success.

What are some cloud apps that you use to get more work done throughout the day? Let us know in the comments.

18
May, 2018
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Where You May be Seeing More AI Soon

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The notion of artificial intelligence has played out in fiction, on the silver screen, and on the small screen for decades. Instead of having sentient cyborgs that enslave humanity, people are using A.I for our benefit. Today, we take a look at the A.I. of 2018 and how your business can leverage it for your benefit.

What is Artificial Intelligence
Today’s world is filled with data. All the experiences and thoughts humans have produced over centuries have provided somewhat of a record of what is expected from A.I. After all, if humans are going to replace workers with machines, ensuring they can do the jobs as (or more) efficiently is going to be important. For now, however, A.I. is being utilized in conjunction with people–trying to make our world better by making the applications and services we depend on more intuitive and efficient.

At one time there were the American Titans of Industry. Today we have Titans of Technology, and not one of them isn’t completely fascinated by the practical applications that artificial intelligence (in some fashion) can have for humanity. The thing standing in the way from all this glorious A.I.-fueled innovation, of course, is humanity. It seems every so often there is a report that is written suggesting that millions of workers can now be replaced with machines, and in the interest of shareholder profits, any business that has been able to leverage A.I. and increase its profitability has gone ahead and done so, often against public sentiment.

One study predicted that 47 percent of all jobs could be automated by 2033. That’s only 15 years off. If you’re looking for some current statistics, another report found in 2016 that up to nine percent of all workers are now unnecessary. Yet another suggested that 800+ of the largest businesses in the world, will cut between four and seven percent of their workforce and replace them with more efficient and less costly artificially intelligent machines.

How Your Business Could Use A.I.
You use A.I. every day without even thinking about it. Every time you use Google. Every time you use Uber or Lyft. Every time your email sends an incoming email to spam. Even as people all look forward to an inevitable permanent vacation as a result of A.I., it can be extraordinarily useful for the smaller business. Here are three ways even the smallest of businesses can take advantage of the growing A.I. market.

  • Operations – For small manufacturers or service providers many of the often-redundant parts of the job can now be automated. Since an A.I.-fueled ERP or CRM platform adjusts to the data you enter into it, it increases the level of automation that you can use to make your business more efficient.
  • Marketing – Small businesses rely on very targeted marketing campaigns, and by utilizing A.I.-driven marketing platforms, companies can reduce their marketing costs and target the audience most likely to purchase their products and services.
  • Customer Service – Customer service representatives have a tendency to flame out fairly quickly and actually deteriorate a company’s relationships with its customers. By using A.I. to automate a big portion of the customer service load, customers will get better support, and will tend to become repeat customers.

How has your business been able to utilize artificial intelligence? Do you foresee using A.I. in any capacity going forward? Leave your thoughts below and return to our blog for more great technology-related information.

23
Sep, 2016
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How One Major Government Department is Revamping Its IT Infrastructure

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After implementing their current infrastructure for almost a decade, the U.S. Department of Education have plans to upgrade, directing their attention toward ensuring that the new initiative keeps mobile capabilities as a high priority.

The current infrastructure, EDUCATE (Education Department Utility for Communications, Applications, and Technology Environment) was the first to move away from an IT environment owned by the government and operated by contractors, to one that’s owned and operated as a service by the contractor–in this case, Perot Systems.

Perot won the contract bid in 2007 for $400 million, and has since provided comprehensive managed service solutions to the Department of Education. Now, however, the Department is ready for a change.

Jason Gray, Chief Information Officer for the Education Department, cited the numerous changes made to IT technologies and capabilities since EDUCATE was implemented in 2007 (when he announced that there was interest for new proposals), as well as changes to goals shared the Department of Education.

The objectives of the new infrastructure, dubbed PIVOT, or the Portfolio of Integrated Value-Oriented Technology, were described in a request for information (RFI) distributed to potential providers. The new infrastructure should, according to the RFI, encourage innovation, optimize the cost to benefit ratio, and show flexibility to make integrating changes in requirements simple. As part of the new initiative, each aspect of the infrastructure (like oversight, hosting data, printing, network services, technical management and integration, and mobile services) will have its own contract written up.

Most of all, however, the Department of Education wants to focus on the mobile capabilities of their solutions. The RFI predicts a shift from a permanently established office space to an increased utilization of teleworking and hoteling (where workers gather temporarily in a shared space) as a result of the National Strategy for Reducing the Federal Government’s Real Estate Footprint. This would cause a shift of over 6,200 users away from an office environment, certainly achieving the objective of the National Strategy.

Migrating technology into a new workspace or implementing mobile and teleworking solutions clearly takes considerable planning, and in such cases, it’s best to consult with an expert in the field. NuTech Services has the experience necessary to ensure that your IT initiative goes off without a hitch, and that your solutions are optimized for maximum performance. Give NuTech Services a call today to see what we can do for your solutions for a lot less than $400 million.