Note: Our focus in this post will be on Microsoft Copilot for 365, but the mindset applies to any AI productivity platform. Talk to your IT provider to help you find the best solution for your Business. If it hasn't already, AI is going to impact your industry.  We are already seeing differences in productivity between a business, application, or even an individual that is "AI Enabled" and one that is not. If you are not up to speed on AI technologies for your Business, it's time to catch up. If it hasn't already, AI is going to impact your industry. A few months ago, we wrote about 3 objectives every business should focus on by the end of the year. As part of that post, we wanted to communicate that AI is coming and to be cautiously excited about the impact of AI in your industry. And now, only a few months later, Business Productivity platforms such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Duet are not only readily available for most businesses, but the cost of entry has also dropped significantly. At the same time, the capabilities, accuracy, and speed of AI solutions are rapidly improving. Microsoft enables smaller businesses to use AI "Copilot" is the branding Microsoft is using for their various AI products. The capabilities of the different Copilot products will vary, and their cost will range from "Free" to "Included with your existing license" to a completely new product to purchase. The upgraded business product, "Copilot for 365", adds a new level of privacy and security while adding AI capabilities to most of the Microsoft 365 platform and app suite. New features are rapidly being added as the platform evolves. On January 15th, 2024, Microsoft announced that they had removed the 300-seat purchase minimum for their business offering "Microsoft Copilot for 365". At $30 per month, per user (with a 1-year commit), the cost for any business to explore this new technology went from $108k to $360 for a year! This announcement enables every business of any size to utilize the AI capabilities that were previously only available to larger companies willing to make a much larger investment. That's a big deal. This means that instead of turning this on for 300 people to test it out, you can do a small, controlled pilot to explore what copilot can do. So why should you be testing AI right now? AI solutions like Copilot are capable of doing many tasks. There is a lot of excitement about all sorts of content it can create. It can be used to create videos, review content, generate pictures, and draft documents. Regardless of the capabilities, here are two goals AI solutions should accomplish: Help you do more in less time. Improve the quality of your work. With the recent release of Copilot for Microsoft 365 those goals are easy to realize. Let's go through some examples that you might be able to relate to. Catching up on Email Let's pretend you had a sizable email chain with a lot of back-and-forth messages. In the past, you needed to open Outlook, go to your email, and then scroll through each message and sort out what was and wasn't important. When you are AI-Enabled, your Copilot can do this for you: In the current version of this feature, you click "Summarize" and Copilot will provide a summary of all relevant communications with sources for you to review as needed. Notetaking and action items in a Microsoft Teams Meeting Imagine being in a meeting and you brought with you your own personal notetaker who happens to be a genius that is able to listen to everything at once while writing down notes and creating to-do lists based on action items at the same time. That's how Copilot in a Teams Meeting works. You enable your Copilot, and it listens, takes notes, and is ready to answer questions related to your meeting in real-time. An example of a real "Action Item" list we asked Copilot to create after a test accounting meeting below: "Make me an action item list from this meeting" Action Items: Payroll taxes: • Make sure that no state tax withholding is accurate. (Bob) 1 Nevada residency: • Finish Updating homestead exemption (Bob) 2 Financial statements: • Clean up the marketing category and verify accuracy in Quickbooks.(Bob)3 Tax return: • Send the December ST1 report and the bank reconciliation report to Sally. (Bob) 4 • Get the tax return moving and have a preliminary K1 ready for the February meeting. (Sally) 5 Nexus and allocation: • Determine the portion of Company income and expenses that are attributable to States respectively. (Sally) 6 The list included every single action item we expected it to create. It's scary, it's amazing, it's the future. You need to try this and see this in action as soon as possible. Create a PowerPoint Template in Seconds In less than a minute, you can have copilot create you a presentation template with images, videos, and content to kickstart. For the example above, all I did was type a request to make the presentation and then export it to a GIF. That's it. If this was a real presentation, this would give me a base design to work with. I could then tweak, add content, and rearrange my slides as needed. AND.... Copilot also gave me speaker notes to use for the presentation: And now for words of caution Those were just 3 quick examples of capabilities out of a seemingly infinite number of features available today or coming soon to Copilot. However, Copilot and AI in general is an assistant, not a replacement. The version of AI you are using today is the worst version you will ever use. Tomorrow it will be smarter, more accurate, and more capable. You still need to learn how to use the tool and how to teach and verify what it knows. Much like any good tool, it's still only as useful as the person that wields it. Directly from Microsoft: By now you may have heard of horror stories from people using AI to do work for them. Almost every story out there is an example of how to NOT use AI. These horror stories generally exist because someone used AI improperly. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind: Prepare your Staff Discuss with your leadership and management teams on how workflow will evolve once you are AI Enabled Educate your Staff on how to safely and securely use your business' AI solutions. There is a large difference between consumer and business solutions, especially when it comes to privacy and data security. Old Computers and Servers need to be dealt with Modern computers with data stored in modern locations like Microsoft 365 are essential for a good experience. You won't be able to take advantage of all capabilities if you are using legacy solutions and dealing with problems caused by old tech or poorly run IT. Don't skip proper Identity and Access Management AI can think, read, and process faster than you realize. Users of your data should only have access to what they need. (Their copilot can access what they can access) You absolutely must use modern security methods (such as MFA) to secure your copilot from malicious and unauthorized use. So let's wrap this up It's time to start seriously paying attention to AI for your business. If you reached the bottom of this post, you've already taken the first step of being curious enough to start reading about it. Next up is to evaluate your IT environment to make sure if it is ready for AI. (If you are currently an Aevo customer, it's ready.) After that, it's time to pilot. Seeing your copilot in action is the best way to explore and evaluate. You now can do this with just a handful of people or just a single person. We're recommending people in positions of leadership or workflow managers to start testing things out first. If you are a current customer, we can do a quick introductory demo and training of Copilot with you anytime, just shoot us an email. Copilot can be added very quickly when you are ready to do so. If you are not a current customer, reach out to your IT or reach out to this company that specializes in IT Management and Business Modernization. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request or email info@aevotec.com.

Most modern Windows laptops utilize multi-touch touchpads that support all sorts of features that you might not know about. Did you know that you can slide 3 fingers up on your touchpad to view all open windows? How about the fact that you can pinch to zoom in and out like you would on your phone? Ever wish your cursor would move a little bit faster or slower across the screen? These kinds of multi-touch settings are available, but also are configurable to your preference! How to Access Touchpad Settings Sure, you could go into settings and find this, but it's about to be 2024! Use the built in search function to find what you need! Click the Windows Button (or press the windows key on your keyboard) Type "touchpad" Select "Touchpad settings" Explore the Touchpad settings screen Use the slider to adjust your cursor speed. You can change how "taps" work to make your touchpad work the way you like! Coming from a different device that scrolls down by sliding two fingers down or just prefer it that way? Switch your scrolling direction in the "Scroll & zoom" section Configure your Three-finger and Four-finger gestures to work just the way you want them to. Hate that something pops up when you tap? Turn it off! Wish it did something else? Change it! Remember that these settings will take effect as soon as you change them. If you ever need to revert your changes back, simply go back into the Touchpad settings and update your preferences. To learn more about this, click here! Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request or email info@aevotec.com.

Working in the IT industry, you learn a lot of acronyms and vocabulary that ends up sounding like its own language to the outside world. Blending those technical terms with business terminology makes it very easy to get lost in a labyrinth of words and letters. Inside that labyrinth there are terms with significant meaning that requires even more words and letters to explain their meaning. Often times, you can associate some of these terms as just hot buzzwords. Terms like "Customer-centric", "Corporate Synergy", "Ecosystem Development". It can be very easy to just write off many of these phrases as just marketing mumbo jumbo. And, in some cases, that's all they might just be! You might reflexively write this term off, maybe even think that it doesn't apply to you, that would be a mistake. "Digital Transformation" sounds a lot like just another buzzword, especially for those outside looking in. You might reflexively write this term off, maybe even think that it doesn't apply to you, that would be a mistake. Defining "Digital Transformation" According to Wikipedia, Digital Transformation is the "adoption of digital technology to transform services or businesses, through replacing non-digital or manual processes with digital processes or replacing older digital technology with newer digital technology. " So, does that just mean emailing stuff instead of faxing stuff? Yes. But it can mean a lot more. Oh, so by more, you mean things like identity management and automation? Yep, but even more than that! At Aevo, we say Digital Transformation is a mindset. It's a part of your culture and lifestyle. It's an unavoidable component to technology that has become part of our world. It's the idea of embracing technology and integrating it into our lives, our workflow, and our culture. When we say it's unavoidable, it's because it is. When was the last time your wrote someone a letter to say hello? Have you ever sent a telegram? Have you noticed that you use your phone as a phone less and less? Know anyone who won't pick up a phone call, but will reply to a text without hesitation? For better or worse, it's a natural part of our society embracing technology. We say Digital Transformation is a mindset. Digital Transformation is a mindset of not just investing in technology for the sake of technology, we aren't talking about having the latest and greatest computers, smartphones, or gadgets. It is a state of mind that identifies the right technology as an investment rather than an expense. So, what does this have to do with my business? We see three main components to technology in your business: Infrastructure e.g. computers, servers, data, and networking equipment Software The applications used in your business to get things done People The identities and workflows that they follow Your People follow workflows that utilize Software that relies on your Infrastructure. Each component needs to be protected, supported, and maintained. There's a cost of time, licensing, and equipment to bring it all together. It's very difficult to run a business without these components. Without a Digital Transformation mindset, things just exist. You might have some great technology that is used in your business, but not really integrated with many workflows. Technology is a necessary burden. With a Digital Transformation mindset, things exist with purpose. You are equipping your Company and Staff with tools to be more efficient and improve the quality of their work. Technology helps your business evolve, it is part of your company's culture. With a Digital Transformation mindset, things exist with purpose. Adopting this mindset accepts the idea that every business is a technology company. This doesn't mean you are throwing away every old idea and process, it means your Business has an ongoing strategy to enhance itself with technology. In some cases, that could mean equipping your Staff with software and training that you currently don't have. However, it also can mean smaller objectives like a monitor upgrade or documenting your internal processes so everyone is on the same page. Got it. So how does a "Digital Transformation" actually work? Whether you are a member of a team, the manager of a department, or part of leadership, you are the most important component to beginning or advancing your Company's digital transformation. It doesn't matter if you are a team of 10, 50, or 1000. Start with these three questions: Do I trust our technology? If your IT support or infrastructure is not reliable, secure, and stable, then that's the first place to begin. Do I have the right software to do our jobs efficiently? If your core business software is out of date or you aren't using modern platforms like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace, it's time to get updated! Do I feel equipped to use the technology available to me? If you or your Staff aren't trained and empowered to utilize your technology investments properly, you are not just wasting time and money, but it's likely adding unnecessary challenges and frustration in your workplace! From there, communicate with your team, management, and IT resources. Learn about your existing workflows, the technology you have invested in, and potential solutions you might not have invested in yet. If your IT support or infrastructure is not reliable, secure, and stable, then that's the first place to begin. Maybe you already have solutions with potential that was never unlocked. Or, maybe it's time to invest in new software to help you solve problems that couldn't be solved before. It could be that your industry demands you to digitize every department to stay competitive and compliant. Or, maybe just a few steps in the right direction is all you need. The right path forward is going to be different for every business. Either way, the idea of dropping in new technology and expecting it to magically work out is not going to lead to a good result. Take it slow, plan carefully, start small, and be prepared for roadblocks. The Business, top to bottom, needs to take ownership of the process. Just as you need to set your people up to succeed, your digital transformation needs to be set up for success. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

As we enter the last couple of months of the year it's important to line your business up for success in 2024. While that's certainly a loaded statement, here are three technology-focused objectives that you should consider taking on. 1. Take inventory of equipment and retire old technology Now is a great time to take an inventory of servers and computers used at your business. A review of inventory helps you plan and budget for 2024 and can help prevent older technology from falling off your radar. This inventory review should cover any networking and computer equipment used at your organization, including software. On October 10th, 2023, Microsoft's "Server 2012" operating system officially reached end of support. Security updates and general support from Microsoft are no longer available. If you have servers running anything older than "Windows Server 2016' or any workstations/laptops using anything older than Windows 10 or MacOS11 you are facing serious security risks and likely are not compliant with standards or insurance policies that apply to your business. If you are using unsupported software, we strongly recommend working with your IT resource to put together a plan to retire this old technology as soon as possible. Don't have an IT resource or the fact that you are in this situation is making you wonder if you have the right IT resource? Consider using this company to help. 2. Grow the security mindset in your organization Phishing is still the preferred attack vector by malicious hackers. After all, the latest and greatest security technology in the world becomes very ineffective if someone just opens the door for them. There are tons of ways to improve security at a business, they are all important, but none of them are as important as developing the security mindset and culture of your organization. This starts with consistent education and communication internally about the importance of cybersecurity in your organization. You can also implement a security awareness program to help with training, testing, and to drive conversation about good security practices. Speaking of good security practices... it's 2023, so you are already using multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure the core components such as your remote access, email, and key business applications, right? After all, it's one of the best and easiest ways to reduce the risks of a compromised identity at your organization. A goal should be to expand that MFA integration with all applications used in your business, implementing Single Sign-on (SSO) whenever possible. This will improve security, reduce identity compromise risks, and provide a better experience for your staff. If you are working with a vendor that doesn't support MFA or SSO, consider that a major red flag! If MFA hasn't been implemented in your business, we need to talk. You can stop reading and call (872) 215-3060 or send an email to info@aevotec.com with your contact info and we'll reach out as soon as possible. 3. Educate yourself on AI Ready or not, AI will soon disrupt our lives in ways that aren't necessarily visible to the untrained eye. If not directly, then your industry will be impacted indirectly through AI's integration into the various technologies your business relies on. When this technology first showed up, you could ask it a basic question and get an answer. Now you can say things like "Read my meeting notes and make me a to-do list". Today, AI technologies like ChatGPT and Dall-E are capable writing emails, creating templates, and generating ready to use images in seconds. Microsoft and Google are both racing to implement AI into their productivity solutions. Microsoft is rolling out "Copilot" which will be able to generate complete documents that securely pull data from your business applications and from trusted industry databases. How AI integrates into our work will take time to sort out, but the technology is rapidly developing. There will be a major difference in productivity, quality, and capability of a business using AI vs a business that does not. That does not mean "Drop everything and start using AI". Our recommendation is to be cautious and educate yourself on how AI could be used in your business. Test it out and explore its capabilities in a pilot when you are ready to do so. You don't want to be caught off guard by the impact this technology will have on your industry or business! Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Did you know that built into Outlook is a modern polling system just waiting for you to use? Not only is it easy to use, but it includes easy to view real-time results as well as a quick way to export data into Excel if you want to dive into the details. How to create a poll in Microsoft Outlook 1. Open a New Message In Outlook 2. Fill out your email with recipients and your message as needed 3. Go to Options -> Poll 4. Fill out the the questions and options in the "Poll Pane" 5. Click "insert poll into email" when you are ready to send to your recipients . 6. Your recipients will receive an email with options to vote 7. You can view your results anytime by opening your sent email or viewing your poll at https://forms.office.com But wait, there's more! The Polling feature is actually using Microsoft Forms behind the scenes to run the entire polling operation! Forms can be a fantastic tool to evolve and digitize your internal processes. If you don't see the Polling enabled in Outlook, reach to your IT to help get you set up. Keep in mind that the ability to send a poll outside of your organization may require adjustments to your security policies. You can learn more about the polling feature here. You can also learn more about using Microsoft Forms here. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Notetaking is an essential ingredient for staying organized. Whether you are using software to document tasks, a physical notebook, or a digitial notebook, taking notes has numerous benefits. If you have Microsoft 365, you have one of the best digital Notebooks available to you, OneNote. There is a lot you can do with OneNote, but did you know you can quickly take Outlook meeting notes with just a couple of clicks? Inserting Outlook Meeting Details Into OneNote Use this to add meetings into OneNote. Very useful if you already have a page you want to use or prefer to start in OneNote. Open OneNote Select A Page To Insert Details Into Click the "Home" Tab if it isn't already selected Click "Meeting Details" Select the Meeting you want to add details Done! Send Meeting Details From Outlook to OneNote This method starts in Outlook and ends in OneNote and is the fastest way to get your meeting details into OneNote if you don't already have it open Open Outlook Open an Appointment In Your Calendar (Also works with an email!) Select "Send to OneNote" Select "Take Notes on your own" or "Share notes with the meeting" Select a notebook / location to create the OneNote page with your meeting details Done! Wrapping Up It's no secret we are huge fans of OneNote. But, regardless of our preferences, improving your notetaking habits is always a good thing to focus on! You can learn more about taking meeting notes here. For a free full online video training class on OneNote, click here. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Windows Server 2012 R2 is a server operating system that was released by Microsoft in 2013. It offers features such as virtualization, cloud computing, storage, networking, security, and management. However, Windows Server 2012 R2 will reach the end of its support lifecycle on October 10, 2023. This means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates for this product after this date. Organizations will face increased security risks, compliance issues, performance problems, and compatibility challenges if they do not migrate to a newer version of Windows Server or move to the cloud. Moreover, they will miss out on the benefits of the latest innovations and features that Microsoft offers in its newer products. This means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, non-security updates, bug fixes, technical support, or online technical content updates for this product after this date. Therefore, organizations should start planning and preparing for their migration strategy as soon as possible. Microsoft has provided migration guidance and resources for both cloud and on-premises solutions. Some of the options available are: Migrate to Azure and receive up to three years of free Extended Security Updates (ESUs). Customers can migrate their applications and databases to Azure Virtual Machines and receive free ESUs for three years after the end of support. They can also use Azure Arc to manage their on-premises servers and receive automated/scheduled ESU updates as well as the security and governance capabilities in Azure. Remain on-premises by upgrading to Windows Server 2022 or purchasing ESUs. Customers who need to stay on-premises can upgrade to Windows Server 2022, which is the latest version of Windows Server that offers improved security, performance, hybrid capabilities, and innovation. Alternatively, they can purchase ESUs for Windows Server 2012 R2, which will provide security updates only for up to three years after the end of support. ESUs are renewable on an annual basis until October 13, 2026. Migrate to another platform or vendor. Customers who want to switch to a different platform or vendor can explore other options such as Linux, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, or Oracle. Regardless of the option chosen, organizations should act fast and take advantage of the migration tools and services that Microsoft and its partners offer. By migrating to a newer or cloud-based solution, customers can enhance their security posture, optimize their costs, increase their agility, and unlock new opportunities for innovation and growth. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Did you know that you can create maps using your Excel data in just a few clicks? You can use these visuals in presentations, reports, and more! How to create a Map Chart in Excel: Create a table with data Make sure the table has a column with high level geographic data (e.g. State) Go to the Insert Tab Select Maps Select Filled Maps To learn more about using maps in Excel, click here! Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Love em or hate em, robots will soon become a big part of our life. From physical robotics to artificial intelligence, the technology is evolving at a very rapid pace. AI tech is only going to continue to get more important as major companies continue investing heavily into AI. One of the most promising Language Models is ChatGPT from OpenAI. GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer) ChatGPT is sort of like a chatbot that has been trained to have very human-like conversations. It's intelligent enough to understand natural language and can answer complicated questions. For this post, we are going to show off how ChatGPT could assist with basic technical support questions. How do I create a Microsoft Form to poll staff to see if they want pizza or tacos? CHATGPT To create a Microsoft Form to poll staff on their preference of pizza or tacos, you can follow these steps: 1. Go to the Microsoft Forms website (forms.office.com) and sign in with your Microsoft account. 2. Click on the "New" button to create a new form. 3. In the form editor, add a multiple-choice question by clicking on the "Multiple choice" option in the "Questions" menu. 4. Type in your question, such as "What would you like for lunch? Pizza or Tacos?" 5. Add the options "Pizza" and "Tacos" as answers to the question. 6. Customize the form as desired, such as adding a title and a description. 7. Publish the form by clicking on the "Send" button and then selecting "Link" to get a link to the form, or "Embed" to add the form to a website or email. 8. Share the link or embedded form with the staff and they can respond with their preferences. How much ram should I get in my new laptop? CHATGPT The amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) that you should get in a new laptop depends on your usage and the type of tasks you will be performing on the laptop. Here are some general guidelines: - 4GB of RAM: This is the minimum amount of RAM that you should consider for a new laptop. With 4GB of RAM, you can perform basic tasks such as web browsing, email, and document editing, but you may experience slowdowns and lags when running multiple programs or working with large files. - 8GB of RAM: 8GB of RAM is a good option for most users. It provides enough memory for most tasks and allows you to run multiple programs and browser tabs at the same time without significant slowdowns. This is a good choice for general usage, video editing, or gaming. - 16GB of RAM: 16GB of RAM is recommended for heavy users who work with large files, run multiple programs at the same time, or use memory-intensive applications such as video editing software, graphic design software or gaming. - 32GB or more: This amount of RAM is recommended for professionals or power users who need to run multiple memory-intensive applications simultaneously or perform tasks such as video editing, 3D rendering, or scientific simulations. Please note that the amount of RAM you need also depends on the specific needs of the applications you are running, and some specific applications may require more or less RAM than the general guidelines above. How do I send a delayed email in Microsoft Outlook? CHATGPT In Outlook, you can schedule an email to be sent at a later time using the "Delay Delivery" option. Here's how: 1. Compose a new email message or open an existing one. 2. Click on the "Options" tab. 3. In the "More Options" group, click on the "Delay Delivery" button. 4. In the "Properties" window, check the box next to "Do not deliver before" and set the date and time for when you want the email to be sent. Click on the "Close" button. 5. Send the email as you normally would. Note that this feature requires that your computer is connected to the internet and Outlook is running for the email to be sent at the scheduled time. Additionally, you may also use the "Rules" option on the Outlook to set a specific time for sending an email, this way you don't have to manually set the time for each email. How do I enable the hotspot on my iPhone? CHATGPT To enable the hotspot on an iPhone, you can follow these steps: 1. Go to the "Settings" app on your iPhone. 2. Tap on "Cellular" or "Mobile Data" 3. Tap on "Personal Hotspot" or "Hotspot" 4. Toggle on "Personal Hotspot" or "Allow Others to Join" 5. You may also be prompted to set a password for your hotspot, if you 6. wish to set a password, you can set one here. 6. Once you have enabled hotspot, you will see the hotspot status at the top of your screen, your hotspot is now active, and other devices can connect to it by searching for Wi-Fi networks and selecting your iPhone's hotspot network. 7. You can also see how many devices are connected to your hotspot by going back to the Personal Hotspot settings. Please note that your mobile data usage will increase when using the hotspot feature, so make sure to keep an eye on your usage. Pretty crazy right? Every response above was unedited and direct from ChatGPT. The responses took a few seconds and even included the numbering/bullet formatting. Also, every single image on this post was generated by AI as well with Stable Diffusion! Hey ChatGPT, would you be interested in writing a blog post for Aevo's website soon? CHATGPT As an AI, I do not have personal preferences or the ability to write a blog post for any website. However, I can certainly assist you in generating content for your blog post. Please let me know what topic you would like me to write on and what are the specifics you would like me to include in the post. I'll be happy to help you. As this technology continues to evolve, we expect to see it integrated into many of the applications we use today. There are already plans for ChatGPT and similar tools to be integrated directly into various cloud computing and business software suites in the near future. Learn more about OpenAI and ChatGPT here. Learn more about Stable Diffusion here. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

A Cloud PC is a new kind of computer that is growing in popularity amongst businesses and consumers. But before we dive into what a Cloud PC actually is, let's make sure we are on the same page on what The Cloud is. First off, what is the cloud? According to Webster, the cloud, or rather Cloud Computing is "the practice of storing regularly used computer data on multiple servers that can be accessed through the internet". This means that pretty much anything you access via the internet is in The Cloud. You can host your own Cloud or use a Cloud Service from a service provider. In a business, you might have a mixture of cloud services that make up your general IT infrastructure. If your application or service relies on the internet you are using The Cloud A great and common example is with music. In the past, you would purchase an album and play that album via a local device using physical media in front of you. More commonly today, you will use software to access music stored in a server outside of your home that you access via the internet. You likely pay a provider like Spotify, Google, Apple, or Amazon to facilitate this service and access the music files stored on their cloud. The same logic applies to how we stream videos, access email, and most modern cloud centered business solutions. Which brings us to Cloud PCs A Cloud PC is literally a full computer that can be securely accessed via the internet from a supported device. This could be a computer that is running an assortment of Operating Systems and can be hosted in your own private cloud or with a service Provider such as the Amazon Cloud or Microsoft Azure. In the Microsoft universe, it is called Windows 365. Just like any cloud service, a Cloud PC lives inside The Cloud. While it is possible this type of computer can be hosted inside of your server/datacenter, the more modern solutions utilize cloud infrastructure. Pricing will vary greatly depending on your use case. If you are familiar with hosting servers in the cloud, you can expect similar pricing models: Hourly Model Billed pennies to dollars an hour based on the performance of your machine. Powering off your machine when not using it can reduce costs Monthly Model Pricing can range from dozens to thousands of dollars a month, just depends on how much power you want in your computer. There are new options that exist where you can prepay for months/years at a time to drastically reduce costs A user of a Cloud PC is provided a quick and secure method to remotely access their Cloud PC and access all resources as if it was a local computer. With more modern solutions, this includes compatibility with video conferencing, streaming, and 3D development. On the consumer side, it is possible for someone to subscribe to a Cloud PC service to gain access to additional performance for gaming or development. On the business side, the same performance benefits exist while also creating new and more flexible ways to provide scalable and secure computer environments for employees and contractors to utilize. Great, so should we be using Cloud PCs? The quick answer is... maybe, but probably not today. There are a lot of organizations today using a form of Cloud PCs via Remote Desktop (RDS) and Citrix. In the past, this type of solution would provide cost saving and security advantages that a local configuration couldn't match. However, a typical RDS deployment now faces challenges that could be solved with a Cloud PC but also could also be solved with modern software solutions. Ultimately, it really depends on the needs of your business and the direction your technology designs are headed. The best recommendation we have is to make sure the technology vision for your organization is aligned with your business plans and strategies. That generally will mean ensuring the core software solutions utilized in your business are following modern design practices that incorporate cloud computing into your day-to-day workflows. Cloud PCs will one day become a common piece of a typical IT solution, especially as the technology evolves over the next few years. For now, it's important to know what a Cloud PC is and that could be a good option in the right situation for your business. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

There are over 270 million Microsoft Teams users. If you are reading this, it is very likely that you have either hosted or joined a Teams meeting. Sure, you have clicked "Chat" to chat with users in a meeting. Clicking "Camera" and Mic" turn off/on your mic and camera. You know to click "Share" to share your screen. No rookie here! But how many of you have clicked the "More" button while in a meeting? This button is a gateway to many features you might not even realize are available to you. The Cheat Sheet For "More" Options in Teams Clicking "More" during a meeting will present you with a menu of various options and features that you should be aware of. Here's an overview of features available today: Device Settings Use this to configure which audio and camera devices you want to use. This is the place to switch from your speakers to your headset and make adjustments to your camera. Call Health Statistics related to the meeting/call that you are connected to are available here. Information here include network, audio, and video stats that can help sort out issues during a meeting. If you see you have "Received packet loss" you might be experiencing network issues! Meeting Options From here you are able to control who can do what within the meeting that you host. Use these options to restrict or grant access to your guests to help you run smoother meetings. Meeting Notes Directly from your meeting you have the ability to enable notes for the meeting. Click "Take Notes" to activate the notebook for the meeting: These notes are available to anyone in the meeting and can be accessed after the meeting is over. View Modes You have a lot of control over how the meeting is viewed. By default, you'll see a "Gallery" view of all attendees, but you can switch different modes to find what works best for you at any time. Changes here are for you only and do not change the view for other people ithe meeting. Call Me Having issues with your Mic and want to use your phone? Maybe you are in a conference room setting and want to utilize an existing conference room for audio. Click "Call Me", enter a number, and Teams will call to add you into the meeting. Apply Background Effects Are you in a setting where your background could be a distraction? Or, perhaps you want to cover up the fact that you are actually on a tropical beach instead of your office? You are able to select a background and preview it before turning it on. Just remember to click "Apply and turn on video" when you are ready. Turn On Live Captions Did you know that Teams has live captioning? Just click this to turn it on! Start recording Every meeting within teams can be recorded with just a click. Meetings are stored securely within your organization and can be shared externally with your guests if desired. Learn more about meeting recordings here. Start Transcription Any meeting can have a live transcription enabled with just a click! Transcriptions can be translated, downloaded, and shared with just a few clicks. Learn more about transcriptions here. Other Options At the bottom of the menu, you'll see options to adjust chat, notifications, and incoming video. Use these settings to configure the meeting to your preference. Use "Help" to access free training about Teams. Wrap Up Teams is an ever changing, ever evolving application so expect to see new features show up over time! We hope this post encourages you try out some of the features available to you in a meeting. For the latest training and news related to Microsoft Teams, click here. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Did you know that dictation features are available and just a key press away in Windows 10 and Windows 11? The feature is available on both the 'Home' and 'Business' version of Windows. How to use Windows Voice Typing Select somewhere where you would normally type Press Windows logo key + H Start talking! Select the "Gear" to access the settings menu to adjust the launcher, enable or disable "auto-punctuation", and the microphone used for dictation: There are several voice commands (ex. "Delete That") to control dictation and to select and delete text. You can learn more about these commands here. On a Mac? You have this feature too! There are a couple of extra steps to take to enable the feature. Learn more here! Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

With more and more people working in different time zones and operating in different hours, it's very easy to receive email notifications well past your normal business hours. Built into Outlook Mobile you are able to control these notifications and "snooze" them on-demand and on a schedule. Configuring Do Not Disturb 1. Open Outlook on your mobile device 2. Select the menu button 3. Select the icon on the top right (note that this icon might look different depending on the version of Outlook you are running) 4. Select options to configure based on your needs Don't forget to click the checkmark on the top right to save your settings! Want to learn more? Click here for free Outlook Mobile training. For even more great tips on not just Outlook mobile but the desktop version too, check out 12 New Features in Outlook for 2022 from Mike Tholfsen! Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Ever been in an online meeting and found your image looks too dark or bright? Did you know there were ways to adjust this from within the Microsoft Teams application itself? How to access camera settings from within Teams In Teams, click "..." in the top right Select "Settings" Select "Devices" Select "Open camera settings" Adjust settings based on what looks best These adjustments can make a dramatic difference to how your video looks in your meetings. Check it out before your next meeting! Interested in more information about meetings in Teams? You can learn more about meetings and Microsoft Teams here. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.

Inserting an image into your Word document is a great way to add more to what you are trying to communicate. Whether you use an image of a cat, a logo, or a chart, you have complete control over how it is laid out in your document. Ever insert an image into a Word document and your text ends up getting moved into another dimension and you frantically reach for the undo button (ctrl+z) ? This is the kind of training that might help you out! Working with Images in Microsoft Word We'll assume that you already know how to add random text and insert images into your document. 1. Select the image you want to adjust 2. You can resize the image by clicking and dragging the corners of the image 3. You can move the image by clicking and dragging the image to a different location 4. Select the "Layout Options" icon The layout options icon is a quick way to adjust how you want your image to look on your document. Click the "See more.." link on the bottom right to see even more options. 5. For even more options, with the image selected, use the "Shape Format" and "Picture Format" tabs to do even more! "Shape Format" lets you adjust the container image sits in. "Picture Format" lets you adjust the image itself. These tabs give you even more tools to adjust how your image looks and is presented in your document. Interesting in learning even more info about this? Click here to learn more about managing images in a document. Interested in having a conversation about technology in your business? Send in a contact request at www.aevotec.com or email info@aevotec.com.