Large email attachments pose several challenges for small businesses. Utilizing Microsoft Office 365, businesses can benefit from more efficient and secure alternatives to sending large files via email.

Cost

The primary issue with large email attachments is the impact on email server resources. Small businesses often have limited email server capacities, and large attachments can quickly consume available space, leading to slow email performance, poor search capability, and potential disruptions in communication. While you may be able to add additional space to your cloud subscription these recurring monthly costs do add up quickly.

Security

Second, the security of sensitive information is compromised when any attachments are sent via email. Emails can be intercepted, and attachments may inadvertently be sent to the wrong recipients. This increases the risk of data breaches and privacy violations. Once an attachment has left your email box it has left your control, there is no way to delete it, no way to recall it, and no way to stop those who have received it from accessing the information within. In compliance with data protection regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, FACTA, and other regulatory requirements it is crucial for businesses to adopt secure practices in handling confidential information.

Inefficient Collaboration

Moreover, large email attachments can contribute to inefficient collaboration. Downloading and uploading large files can be time-consuming, especially for businesses with slower internet connections. This can hinder productivity and delay project timelines, impacting the overall efficiency of the organization. Have you ever been looking at an attachment from an older email, and the file has already changed?

A recommended alternative for small businesses, especially Technology Did It clients here in Ellis County, is the use of sharing links through Microsoft Office 365 or similar cloud-based platforms. Sharing links allow businesses to upload files to the cloud and share a secure link with recipients. This approach enhances security by requiring authentication for access, prevents mailbox clutter, and ensures faster collaboration without the limitations of attachment size restrictions. When shared from sharing links, email sizes reduce drastically, updates happen for all who possess the link instantly, and documents can be secured instantly.

In conclusion, avoiding large email attachments is a best practice for small businesses, and the use of sharing links through Microsoft Office 365 or Google Workspace offers a more efficient and secure method for file sharing, aligning with the needs of small businesses in Ellis County, including Midlothian, Texas. If you would like to more information on how Technology Did It, can help your small business collaborate more efficiently, store attachments more securely, and save money reach out to us for a free consultation.

The post Enhancing Small Business Efficiency: Ditching Large Email Attachments appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

In the dynamic landscape of small businesses, a 3-month commitment holds strategic significance, especially when it comes to fostering effective team development and optimizing IT support and social media services. Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—offer valuable insights into the evolution of teams, emphasizing the need for a commitment period to achieve optimal collaboration and productivity.

For small businesses in Midlothian, committing to a 3-month period allows the team at Technology Did It to navigate through the initial stages of forming and storming. During this time, we can establish connections, clarify messaging and goals, laying the foundation for a more cohesive and productive working relationship. This commitment period aligns with Tuckman’s model, facilitating a smoother transition to the norming and performing stages where the team can reach peak efficiency.

Moreover, a 3-month commitment is particularly crucial for Technology Did It as an small business in Ellis County. It provides stability for to predict scheduling and working needs. Additionally, we gain the necessary time for our IT professionals to thoroughly understand the unique needs of your business, identify potential challenges, and implement tailored solutions. With a commitment spanning three months, our IT support teams can proactively address issues, streamline processes, and ensure the seamless integration of technology into daily operations.

Committing to a 3-month engagement might seem steep for small businesses in Midlothian, but it can ensure that our IT support team has ample time to comprehend the intricacies of your operations. This proactive approach not only aligns with Tuckman’s model for team development, but also allows for the strategic planning and execution of IT solutions that cater specifically to the needs of small businesses in our vibrant community.

The post The Strategic Significance of a 3-Month Commitment appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

While the allure of high-resolution images may be tempting, they can prove to be a double-edged sword for your website. The drawbacks associated with incorporating large image files can have a detrimental impact on user experience, page load times, and overall website performance. Images are the number one reason why websites load slowly. Even a large background image will kill a website’s load time. Everybody loves photos, and in this day and age of digital photography image sizes are getting bigger and bigger. This allows for some extremely clear photos. While high resolution photos are great for editing and printing purposes they can be detrimental to websites. Not only do they take up quite a bit of disk space on web servers, they also take forever to load.

Ellis County small businesses can address this challenge by resizing and compressing their images effectively. Rather than relying on excessively large image files, consider using image optimization tools to resize images to the appropriate dimensions without compromising quality. This not only enhances website performance but also ensures faster loading times, contributing to improved search engine rankings and a positive user experience.

Images should never be loaded directly from your digital camera or even your smartphone these days. Optimal image size is between 100kb and 700kb anything more than that and you are asking for slow page load times. To put this in perspective the average high resolution image ranges from 100000 kb to 150000kb or 10 – 15 Megabytes in layman’s terms. That is 10 to 30 times larger than the optimal size. Slow pages are not visited frequently or very long by potential customers. So how do you resize your images? The answer is before loading them to your website.

Relying on your website to resize images is not the best way to optimize your images. Often websites will create multiple copies of when resizing images. This can be bulky and a disk space hog. While it solves the problem for your page load time; it creates a separate problem of taking up room that you could be using for other things. Remember you pay for your webspace, ultimately bulky images are clutter that are costing you money every year. This is why I suggest resizing your images before uploading them to your website. This can be done with software on your computer or there are a number of sites that will do it for you. In fact I used www.imageoptimizer.net to resize the image above from 7000kb to 608kb before using it in this email. I found the website by Googling, “photo size reducer free.” It was one of many that popped up in the search results.

The bottom line is that anything displayed on your website effects your page load time – everything from background music to images used in blog posts. In order to keep your website working at the peak of performance be sure to keep those files small. For Midlothian small businesses seeking professional IT support in Ellis County, enlisting the expertise of a local IT service provider can be invaluable. The professionals at Technology Did It can guide businesses in implementing image optimization strategies tailored to their specific needs. By combining efficient image resizing techniques with expert IT support, businesses can strike a balance between visual appeal and optimal website performance.

Revised Feb 20, 2024 from the original publication July 15, 2015

The post The Pitfalls of High-Resolution Images for Your Website and a Solution Tailored for Small Business appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

Our new clients often ask us which is better WYSIWIG Hosts such as Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace or something else. The one we get most often is: which is better WYSIWIG Hosts Compared to WordPress? The answer is 100% dependent upon your needs and skill level.

What is Weebly, Wix, Squarespace?

Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace are WYSIWIG (What You See Is What You Get) drag and drop website builders; meaning if you can work a mouse you can build a website. Elements like picture location, text blocks, font styling & colors, payment processing, and more are just a click away. WYSIWIG is literally that easy.

What is WordPress?

Originally designed for bloggers, WordPress is a free software referred to as open source.  The possibilities are virtually limitless: Want a slider? There’s a plugin for that. Want to add a store to your website? Contact form that links to your newsletter service? Manage your lending library? Make a copy of your website? Notify people automatically of new content? WordPress has FREE plugins for all of that and more. There is HUGE community of amateur and professional programmers working nonstop to constantly improve the software and increase its capabilities.

Pros and Cons

Obviously, every system has its ups and downs, there is no one size fits all for every person, business, or application. So, what are the pros and cons of each?

WYSIWIG Builders

Designed for the lay person to quickly and efficiently design a website, Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix have an excellent, user-friendly system. They take the technical support burden off the user and place it on the teams at those companies. While there are some opportunities for minor HTML changes, the vast majority of it is taken care of on the backend, and unavailable to the user. Packages start as low as Free and go up, on a per feature basis. These WYSIWIG providers have taken care of the space issue imposed by some webhosts and offer unlimited pages and webspace.

Because of the streamlined user interface, the opportunities for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) could be better, but it does exist. Blogging is available but is not as robust as WordPress. Expanded features such as e-commerce do come at a monthly cost.

WordPress

While the initial software for WordPress is free, the space to store and setup WordPress is not. Hosting packages range in prices from $3 to $10 a month, depending on a variety of factors. Since WordPress is open source, if you can dream it, they probably have it available. Once the initial costs have been covered there are generally no additional costs. WordPress has a large variety of free themes and plugins to choose from so customizing a site can be as easy as clicking a button to install a new piece of software. The original purpose of WordPress was blogging, and that is what WordPress does best. The filesystem and organization also allows for robust SEO. Additional free plugins are even available to assist in the tricky task of being listed on the front page of Google.

There is a learning curve to using WordPress though. Depending on your skill set a professional may need to be hired for initial setup. Technical support is the sole responsibility of the end user but is provided in the shape of forums. With literally thousands of laymen using WordPress, 9 times out of 10 the answer can be found with a pointed Google search.

How do the two compare?

	WYSIWIG	WordPress
Learning Curve
Ease of Design
Technical Support
Space Limitations
Adding Features
Cost
Search Engine Optimization
Blogging
E-Commerce
Content Portability

In Conclusion

If you are the type of person whose strengths lie in thinking outside the box, in learning by watching YouTube videos and researching problems via online forums and articles then WordPress is probably a good choice for you. If you are the type of person who is generally satisfied once you have your website up or even believe in the idea of a completed website, WordPress is for you. If you are the type of person who regularly likes to update the look and layout of things, who prefers technology to be point and click, or would prefer a more simplified solution, WYSIWIG hosts are your best bet.

Do you have a WordPress or Weebly site in need of professional help? Contact the professionals at Technology Did It today for a free consultation.

The post Squarespace, Weebly, or Wix vs WordPress appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

You wouldn’t use your snail mailbox as a filing cabinet, so why are you still using your email to store documents long term? The truth is there are better solutions out there for long term storage that do not include clogging up your inbox. Email is a transit system, not a storage system it’s as simple as that. But then again so are automobiles and some of us use those like storage facilities as well. Modern document sharing solutions exist, and you likely already pay for them.

Similar to an automobile though, email is meant to hold some useful stuff, but not meant to house contracts or documents for a long time. Unlike our cars email is accessed a variety of different ways, on your phone through an app and on your computer through a website or an email client. And when we absolutely stuff our email boxes full of old documents instead of utilizing more modern solutions, we are asking for problems. Modern solutions provide better indexing, more granular security, as well as a more complex and secure sharing system that email just cannot compare to and never will because email was designed as the vehicle not the storage locker.

Indexing

What is indexing? Just like print textbooks computers keep indexes of specific terms. Harken back to the days of yore when you would open a book and flip to the back to find what you were looking for in the index. Same exact concept, except your computer is creating the back of the book index. Indexing is the system by which a computer can quickly search for keywords in the metadata and body of documents and emails.

Indexing is the system by which a computer can quickly search for keywords in the metadata and body of documents and emails.

Email products such as Outlook and Gmail are capable of doing this to a degree. However, their indexing capabilities are limited once the batch of information becomes too big.

Have you ever tried to search for an email that you KNOW exists, but you’re doing it on your phone and not on your computer? You try a variety of search terms but can’t find it. So you switch to your computer, and after several minutes you are able to find finally find something? Or maybe you weren’t able to find anything by using the search bar and you have to scroll through every email or sort change your sort patterns a variety of different ways to finally find the ONE email you were looking for. If you said no, you either are not using email for anything or are lying to yourself.

These are symptoms of indexing that has not completed, and it’s usually because the index has timed out or has reached capacity.

Granular Security

Email is a single gate security system. Meaning, once you are in, you are in. You have full access to everything that exists inside that email inbox. You can forward, download, delete, or change anything. Depending on a few other factors in your environment, those changes may be irreversible and unlogged. While modern solutions offer granular security. What does that mean?

Granular security allows some users to only read some things while other users to be able to change things. It can also mean that Team A only has access to Team A files, while Team B only has access to Team B files, but the manager has access to Team A & B files. This just is not a feature of email, it never was intended to be a feature. Modern document sharing solutions such as Microsoft Teams or Sharepoint, and Google Drive do offer granular security. The team at Technology Did It is well versed in the most popular modern sharing solutions, how to implement, and a variety of best practices surrounding those systems.

Complex and Secure Sharing System

Have you ever sent an email and thought, ooops I forgot to add blah blah blah to the attachment? Or I need to make a quick change to that document I just sent. Well, the problem with email is that once you hit send it is gone. There are no take backs. Your email and its attachment has just bounced off half a dozen email servers around the continent along with your mistake. Modern and secure document sharing solutions such as Google Drive and Microsoft Teams or Sharepoint do not suffer from this affliction. While they do still bounce off half a dozen servers, you are not sharing files through email with these modern solutions. You are merely sharing a link to a file. Which means that once you hit send on the email you can go back and make minor tweaks to your file until your heart is content.

It also means that you can block downloading your file, and once you are done sharing with a person their access can be revoked. This is huge. If you have ever collaborated with somebody via email and ended up with 10 different copies of the same file all just slightly different. With modern sharing there is only one file, and you own it. This means you control the changes, you control the access, and you control the version history. Simply put, modern sharing puts you in control.

At the end of the day, people will still use their cars as storage facilities and they will still use their emails as document repositories. However, armed with a little bit of knowledge hopefully a few Ellis County Small Businesses can be avoid these pit falls.

The post Email, not a document repository appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

**This is the opinion of the author and is not a reflection of any brand mentioned. This article was not sponsored. Author currently carries a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra **

This may be a break from our normal content about IT Services, but my discovery is just too good not to share. Ellis County small business owners need to know about smartwatches just as much as they do about other IT Services in Ellis County. If you are an Apple phone user, stop reading right now. There really is only one choice of Smartwatch worthwhile for you. It is the Apple watch. Android is known for allowing users choices, so for the Android users out there carry on.

Smartwatches, though they have been around since the early 2000s, have really gained popularity in recent years. As a family, we have been loyal to the Fossil brand as our timepiece of choice for decades. When Fossil released their Gen 1 smartwatch several years ago, it was a no brainer. This watch was Google WearOS, which paired nicely with my chosen smartphone type, Android, without sacrificing the aesthetic of a normal watch. To date, I have had 3 models of Fossil smartwatch, the Fossil Founder 2.0, the Fossil Gen 3 Marshall Stainless, and the the Fossil Gen 3 sport.

How I use a Smartwatch

I may be a technophile, but I don’t expect much from my smartwatch. I want to get basic notifications from my phone, to track my steps, and to be able to use OurGroceries while shopping. Basically, I want my watch for the quick meeting peep without drinking from the water hose, and to leave my phone in my pocket while shopping. I do not care if I can answer a phone call on it or listen to music from it, though the movement reminder on the Apple watch did look appealing during 2020 Stay Home Stay Safe Orders. While the Fossil watches have met all of those needs over the last 6 years, at 3 years old my Fossil Sport was beginning to show it’s age. It was taking an increasing amount of time to show notifications, if at all, it was running slower than I had patience for, and I am not honestly sure it was really tracking all of my steps. So I began to shop in the summer of 2021.

My Requirements

WearOS was a must for me since the OurGroceries app will only work on WearOS or Apple Watch iOS. Since I was experiencing lag I also looked at the storage and memory of each watch as I compared them. I had put off purchasing the Fossil Gen 4 and Gen 5 because there was no real improvement in this arena and it didn’t feel worth the money to upgrade. The Gen 6 was really the first to offer any real hardware upgrade in this arena.

My watch needs to look like a watch and not a wrist computer.

My watch needs to look like a watch and not a wrist computer. I almost always buy a stainless watchband for everyday, a leather watchband for winter wear, and a silicone band for active wear. Watches in our house are definitely a fashion piece, but the Fossil Gen 6 watch offered only one women’s watch bezel. It was a rose gold and jewel encrusted. Seriously, I am not into that and it was a definite choice for the most versatile watch company in the world to back themselves into that corner – no silver, no plain, only bedazzled rose gold. I was resigned to buy the men’s watch or go elsewhere.

What I found elsewhere

I took a glimpse at the Galaxy Watch 4. In years past, Samsung seemed married to the Tizen OS. However, it seems Samsung pulled their head out of their butt and realized that Google WearOS was a better decision than going out on their own. The Galaxy (1.5Gb) had 50% more RAM memory than the Fossil Gen 6 (1Gb), it looked generically watch-like, and cost about 40% less. I was also able to order an open box Galaxy Watch 4 from Best Buy, for $20 off the already lower price. These are all wins for me.

Unboxing

Once paired it was like my phone was reunited with an old friend.

My watch arrived in the mail 5 days after I placed my order. I excitedly opened the box, downloaded the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app and started to pair it. Once paired it was like my phone was reunited with an old friend. The settings menu on the watch and the phone look identical. Apps, like Samsung Health, that once seemed ridiculously limited and manufacturer fluff came to life with new and exciting features. My watch tracks my sleep, charges within an hour and notifies me when fully charged on my phone, it reminds me when I need to get up and walk, in addition to having an Apple-esque app interface.

Daily Usage

I am sure you are wondering, what is the battery life? How much am I actually using it? and a whole slew of other questions. So I thought I would offer my daily usage:

Wake up

My watch is still on my wrist from the night before, and my phone is by my bed charging. My watch battery is usually about 80% charged. I take my watch off and place it on the charger, grab my phone off the charger, and get ready for the day. I am usually ready within 15 to 20 minutes, in this time my watch is near charged if not fully charged,.

Bedtime

After a full day of Facebook Messenger, Microsoft Teams, and email notifications, I typically take my watch off after a full 12 to 14 hours of wear. I place it on the charger again at 55 to 60% charge. My nighttime routine generally includes getting my pjs on, washing my face, and getting a glass of water before settling into bed for an evening of 1 to 2 weekly shows or a couple hours of TikTok. I charge my watch back to 100% while unwinding, before replacing it on my wrist to measure my sleep. I have at least once forgotten to charge my watch before bed and have woken up to a watch with a 35% charge or better.

Conclusion

I am 2 weeks into this watch purchase and I am sold that in order to receive the most out of your phone / wearable experience they need to come from the same manufacturer. This hasn’t always been the case, but it is certainly the case for the current Samsung environment.

The post Why I Will Buy Watches Made by my Phone Manufacturer from Now on appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.

In my experience there are four types of people in this world: those that use the same one or two passwords for everything, those who write their passwords down, those who use “forgot password” every time they login, and finally those who use a formal password managers such as 1Password or Lastpass.

If you have ever said, “I don’t know my password it all unlocks with my face,” you might want to get comfortable and read on.

While the best practice for 99% of security measures is a multi-factor authentication (MFA) method, passwords are still the primary authentication method used around the world. So why are you storing the keys to your kingdom in a less secure fashion?

“Passwords are like underwear: don’t let people see it, change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers.”

– Chris Pirillo

TDI’s Top 5 Benefits for Choosing a Paid Password Management System over Native Password Storage

1. Encryption
2. Secure Password Sharing
3. Multi Factor Authentication
4. Cross Platform Compatibility
5. Customer Service & Technical Support

Encryption

If you are using a device specific, free password manager such as iKeychain or Samsung Pass chances are your passwords are encrypted in much less secure way. For example, at the time of this writing, iKeychain was employing a 3DES encryption method while both 1Password and Lastpass are utilizing AES. Without boring you with a lot of nerd speak, I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves. 3DES is limited to 56bit encryption, while AES can utilize up to 256bit encryption. You don’t have to be a techno rock start to identify the difference there.

Secure Password Sharing

Do you manage your water bill with your partner? How about a child’s gaming system account? Chances are unless you are living in a hole at some point you will need to share a password with somebody securely. Native password keepers do not offer this feature, but paid ones do! Allow family and friend’s limited access to the accounts you manage together while maintaining the same encryption levels you have yourself. Some paid password managers, allow you to share your password without revealing it in plain text to the authorized person.

Multi Factor Authentication

Have you ever put in a password then had to share a code to get into something? That’s multi factor authentication (MFA). If you are storing ALL of your passwords and critical data in a single place, why wouldn’t you do everything in your power to keep it secure? MFA is an easy way to add that extra layer of security, and free password managers do not offer this natively.

Cross Platform Compatibility

Apple may WANT everybody to have an iPhone in their hand, that just is not the case worldwide and in the US the Android-Apple gap is closing quickly. Unless you are using all iOS or all Samsung, including tablets, phones, and computers, chances are you will need to be able use your password manager across multiple different platforms. Maybe your partner has an iPhone and you have and Android. Perhaps your phone is an Android, but your tablet is iOS.

Customer Service and Technical Help

You get what you pay for, and while native password managers are pretty seamless nothing is perfect. Paying for your service provides you with Customer Service and Technical Help when necessary with fewer hassles, when compared to a free app.

Paying for additional do-dads and applications is never something that we take lightly, and while unlocking a website with your face seems very wave of the future it simply isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Our recommendation is always to explore more complete solutions. Our experts are experienced in the industry leading password management systems. If you or your business is needing assistance implementing contact us today.

The post Why Chose a Password Manager over Apple or Samsung Native Password Keepers appeared first on Technology Did It, Inc.