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2024 Budget Season is Here… Schedule Your TCI Technology & Business Review Today!

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Improving Operations with Better Technology Starts with Your 2024 Planning Session

With budget season here and 2024 right around the corner, now is a great time to start evaluating your office technologies and setting strategic goals.

A TCI Technology & Business Review gets you prepared for the new year, whether you’re looking to simplify your technology, connect your Hybrid Workforce, or thinking about Faster Broadband, Online Collaboration, Disaster Recovery, Cloud, or Managed Voice Services.

Not familiar with the latest innovations or apps?

We’ll get you up to speed so your business can connect more easily and become more productive than ever.

Schedule your 2024 planning session with TCI today. Call (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 


Stay Competitive… Ensure Your Communications System is a Strategic Asset in 2023 & Beyond

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Today’s business reality is that you can’t be competitive without a fully optimized communications system. That’s why it’s important to regularly take a hard look at what you have and what you should have.

Many communications system features that may have seemed unnecessary a few years ago are now table stakes. Likewise, features you thought would improve operations may no longer be delivering the benefits they should be providing.

  • Efficiency – Research shows that 85% of small businesses agree that efficient communication between different teams is fundamental to staying ahead of the competition. But a poor technology strategy can have serious repercussions on a business and even affect a company’s ability to compete. For example, inefficient communications can cost upwards of $6,000 per employee per year to a small business, even more for an enterprise.
  • Integration – Systems that aren’t integrated with core applications, like CRM, that don’t provide a single unified view of all communications options and that don’t enable team collaboration, video conferencing and anytime, anywhere access to email, text and chat are no longer adequate.
  • Software Updates – Likewise, systems that offer all those things but are two or three software updates behind are not operating at peak efficiency and may, in fact, be reducing productivity and increasing the IT threat surface.
  • Reassessment – Organizations that don’t view their communications system as a strategic asset, reassess their investments regularly and optimize their systems at every opportunity can find themselves in situations where their communication technology mix does not meet today’s demands.

Keeping pace with ever-changing communications technologies will position your business for success when an unexpected crisis arises.

Schedule a technology consultation or site survey to ensure your Business Communications are ready for 2023. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.

 

Improving Operations with Better Technology Starts with Your 2023 TCI Planning Session

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With budget season here and 2023 right around the corner, now is a great time to start evaluating your office technologies and setting strategic goals.

A TCI Technology & Business Review gets you prepared for the new year, whether you’re connecting a Hybrid Workforce or thinking about Faster Broadband, Online Collaboration, Disaster Recovery, Cloud, or Managed Services.

Not familiar with the latest innovations or apps? We’ll get you up to speed so your business can connect more easily and become more productive than ever.

Schedule your 2023 planning session with TCI today. Contact us at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.

The 2022 HR Challenge – Building a Supportive Company Culture in the Digital Era

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As companies continue with hybrid and remote work arrangements, human resource departments have had to reorganize their priorities. When asked what they saw as their primary role in their organizations in 2021, 65% of HR professionals pointed to “keeping employees engaged and building a supportive company culture,” according to a recent survey.

Replacing the Physical Workplace with a Collaborative Space

The first thing that usually comes to mind when attempting to define “corporate culture” is the physical office. Historically, the workplace environment has had an outsized influence on corporate identity, employee productivity, job satisfaction, and morale.

The needs and values of today’s employees have evolved. Rather than speculating on ways to revive the old culture and re-create it, companies should be using employee input to visualize and create a new culture that transcends the confines of physical space.

How to Create an Authentic Company Culture using UC

Of the organizations that indicated significant transformation since the beginning of 2020, three out of four reported they expect to be more reliant on remote work, according to a recent survey. Not surprisingly, 69% also said they expect to be more reliant on technology for internal collaboration.

Here are some ways organizations can use UC tools like those from Mitel to create and support company culture:

  • Leverage video conferencing tools so both in-office and remote employees can stay informed and engaged on important topics. Equal facetime is important for employees to feel involved and valued.
  • Create shared workspaces where employees can exchange files and documents and store them in one place. This can stem virtual meeting fatigue by reducing the number of status calls and facilitating collaboration across time zones and geographical locations.
  • Record calls when you need to use flex hours and catch up on what you missed by listening to the recordings at a later time. This feature allows employees to achieve better work-life balance while staying involved.
  • Use UC monitoring tools to track project completion and delivery milestones, rather than just time spent on a given project. Employees are more empowered when they’re able to determine their personal workflows.

No two employees work the same way, and UC tools can be used to accommodate different approaches to achieving goals. By providing employees with the flexibility and tools they need, managers can make everyone feel like they’re part of a community, rather than just cogs in a machine.

Your local TCI team is ready to implement UC technologies that support your company culture and employee work styles. Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Expansion or Move on the Horizon? Your Technology Plan Needs to be Priority 1

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Whether you’re faced with relocating the company headquarters or adding a new office, ensuring a successful Day One requires that you plan ahead – especially when it comes to office technology.

Engage your local TCI relocation experts well ahead of your move date – keeping in mind that some services can take as long as six months to deliver.

Some of the technologies you need to consider and plan for may include:

  • Voice, Data, and Video services and platforms
  • Wired and Wireless infrastructure
  • Audio/Video and Conferencing Systems
  • Room Scheduling, Overhead Paging, and Sound Masking
  • Access and Security systems
  • Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans

Technology done right takes planning, time, and coordination with ALL the relevant trades involved in your move or new space, including HVAC to protect your IT equipment and UPS to keep your systems running when commercial power fails.

Let TCI experts manage the details. We have decades of experience supporting business and public sector clients in every type of facility…

  • Commercial offices
  • Industrial | Manufacturing
  • Warehouse | Distribution
  • Secure Facilities
  • Retail & Branch Locations

TCI’s certified network engineers are ready to coordinate everything… We’ll work with your real estate professional, general contractor, project manager, designer, and architect to ensure that all technology requirements are included in their plans so you don’t get stuck with expensive and time-consuming change requests.

We’re ready to design, build, manage, and support your technology. Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Better Business Performance in 2022 Starts with Your TCI Technology Planning Session

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With budget season here and 2022 right around the corner, now is a great time to start aligning your office technologies with your strategic business goals.

Don’t let aging or out-of-date technology slow you down…

A TCI Technology & Business Review gets you prepared for the year ahead, whether you’re considering…

  • Cloud, Onsite, and Hybrid Voice Migrations
  • e911 and Mitel-powered HIPAA compliant solutions
  • CRM/customer database integration
  • Managed Services
  • Data Protection
  • Dedicated Space, Infrastructure, Cabling, and Wi-Fi
  • Telecom and Broadband services
  • Meeting and Team Collaboration
  • Call Recording for voice documentation
  • and much more

Not familiar with the latest innovations or apps?

We’ll get you up to speed so your business can connect more easily and become more productive than ever with better tools.

Schedule your 2022 technology planning session with TCI today. Contact us at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

Why Preparing for the Future of Your Communications Technology is Essential

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When the communications systems you currently have work just fine, it can be easy to put off updating them until a later date or even indefinitely. But in a world where communications technology is evolving faster than ever, for growing businesses, the timeline for considering what’s next for your tech may be coming more quickly than you think.

Initially, it can be hard to leave the technology you have come to trust. When it came to smartphones, the new users eventually got more comfortable. They started texting and sharing pictures, and now they’re on video calls with family and friends. New communications technology led to new opportunities for our friends and family using their up-to-date smartphones.

In many ways, it’s the same for business owners. The ways people communicate since the pandemic began have changed. They had to, and businesses weren’t exempt from these changes. Suddenly capabilities that were thought of as “nice to have” became significant benefits to productivity and continuity, and in some cases, a lifeline.

However, people are resilient. Decision-makers found ways to keep their businesses running by adding capabilities for video collaboration, messaging, and mobility. While many plan to keep using them, some business owners have noted that these updates may not be compatible with their existing phone systems, and now have a mix of costly technology and software that isn’t integrated. What’s more, the next time a world or life event occurs that has the ability to disrupt business operations, they’ll have to make quick pivots once again.

Or maybe not, if you begin thinking about the future sooner rather than later.

Cloud communications solutions offer built-in features that growing businesses would previously have had to pay for separately, such as mobile applications, video calls, chat, and contact centers. Transitioning to a modern system allows businesses to streamline current technology needs, save time and money, cut down on complexity and create room to grow for whatever comes next.

Before they switched to smartphones, the flip phone holdouts missed out on a lot of shared messages, pictures and memories. When it comes to your business, does your current communications technology ensure that you won’t miss any of the big opportunities?

TCI is ready to assist you in preparing for the next phase of work with innovative communication and collaboration solutions. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Stay Energized… 5 Tips to Combat Video Conferencing Fatigue

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Many of us are relying on video to stay in touch with friends and colleagues. As a result, we’re spending both work and personal time on camera, and these hours add up fast. It’s no wonder people have come to find video conferences draining.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to reduce video fatigue, while still interacting with team members and getting work done. The five tips below will help recharge your video conferencing batteries…

1. Ask yourself if video is really necessary – If you’re scheduling a meeting, think about how important it is to see the other participants. Client meetings and brainstorming sessions are often better with video, but routine check-ins and status updates may be just as effective with the camera turned off.

2. Be selective about invites – The more people on a video call, the more tiring it can be. There are more faces to watch (and interpret) and it becomes difficult to constantly adjust your attention from one person to another. Staying focused becomes a challenge. To overcome this, carefully review the invite list and limit attendees to only those who need to be there.

3. Use a reliable and secure video conferencing provider – A reliable video conferencing solution reduces worry about potential technical issues. A powerful solution should also include additional features that make video calls more productive and engaging. Some providers include persistent chat logs and file sharing, so you can keep track of important decisions and share information.

4. Schedule breaks between video conference calls – With remote work continuing for many, video conferences aren’t going away. A short break between calls gives you time to stretch, grab a snack and freshen up if you’re feeling drained. A walk outside can also do wonders. It will help you to refocus and gear up for the next call.

5. Leverage other unified communications technology when appropriate – Persistent collaborative workspaces are a unified communications tool that allows team members to work together efficiently and effectively. Colleagues can share files, chat and exchange ideas in real time. You can even create and assign tasks to people, making it easy to track progress on projects and to stay on top of your own to-do list.

Sometimes we just don’t want to be on screen. Remote work and video conferences will be part of our new normal, so take steps now to keep them in check and you energized.

Make sure your video meeting solutions are helping your team meet its potential… Contact TCI today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Stay Competitive… Ensure your Communications System is a Strategic Asset in 2021 & Beyond

/0 Comments/in /by

Today’s business reality is that you can’t be competitive without a fully optimized communications system. That’s why it’s important to regularly take a hard look at what you have and what you should have.

Many communications system features that may have seemed unnecessary a few years ago are now table stakes. Likewise, features you thought would improve operations may no longer be delivering the benefits they should be providing.

  • Efficiency – Research shows that 85% of small businesses agree that efficient communication between different teams is fundamental to staying ahead of the competition. But a poor technology strategy can have serious repercussions on a business and even affect a company’s ability to compete. For example, inefficient communications can cost upwards of $6,000 per employee per year to a small business, even more for an enterprise.
  • Integration – Systems that aren’t integrated with core applications, like CRM, that don’t provide a single unified view of all communications options and that don’t enable team collaboration, video conferencing and anytime, anywhere access to email, text and chat are no longer adequate.
  • Software Updates – Likewise, systems that offer all those things but are two or three software updates behind are not operating at peak efficiency and may, in fact, be reducing productivity and increasing the IT threat surface.
  • Reassessment – Organizations that don’t view their communications system as a strategic asset, reassess their investments regularly and optimize their systems at every opportunity can find themselves in situations where their communication technology mix does not meet today’s demands.

Keeping pace with ever-changing communications technologies will position your business for success when an unexpected crisis arises.

Schedule a technology consultation or site survey to ensure your Business Communications are ready for 2021. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

Supporting DC Metro’s Non-profits & Associations with Technology Planning, Assessments & Bid Consultations

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TCI is your local, go-to partner for IT strategic planning…

Our experts will analyze your entire IT infrastructure including software, systems, processes, networks and applications. We then provide you with a comprehensive project plan that contains our recommendations. It is our goal to help you exploit the best technology to move your organization ahead and make managing IT easy.

Providing you with Assessments & Audits

Our technical assessments and audits help you better understand your organization’s current IT systems. An audit will let you know whether your network is operating at peak performance, what systems are hogging resources, whether your current IT strategy fits your business and more. We perform health checks for all of your systems while proactively searching for hidden problems. We’ll work with you to establish the kind of technology your organization needs and propose an IT budget to help you better understand all costs in advance.

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

We know the damage that can be done to an organization when disaster strikes. Our goal is to save you from headaches resulting from lost data, time and resources due to recreating a corrupt or missing database, disrupted systems and networks, and more. Accordingly, we identify risks, threats and exposure, and determine appropriate responses for systems and networks. This may include recommending data protection measures, off-grid power sourcing, and secure off-site storage. We also check the feasibility of implementing telework programs to keep your organization functioning during an emergency.

Procurement & Bid Consulting

We work with you to make sure you are getting exactly what you want from your telecommunication providers. We offer you improved savings through innovative price reduction and/or quantity discounts, speedier contract negotiation, reduced miscommunication, less chance of unexpected costs, and better outcomes. Our experts handle all the details from bid consulting and procurement to implementation and ongoing support.

Third Party Vendor Management

Our experts work to leverage well-established vendor relationships to secure prompt response to technical issues. We get your issues resolved quicker and your systems and networks back to proper operation faster. We’ll manage escalations, track progress, monitor vendor performance, and report changes in status to you. Most importantly, we maintain a line of communication with you to avoid misunderstanding and proactively address any issues at their onset.

Project consulting and services you can rely on

Our team of consultants will learn about your organization and work with your team to plan projects and ensure that we meet your IT goals. We take away the stress and problems that can be a direct result of poor project planning by defining project success criteria along with major milestones and target dates for each. You get a clear statement of project objectives, costs and deliverables. Our negotiation and communication skills help keep projects moving forward and within budget.

TCI makes managing technology easy. Contact us today at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.