CDR-Data
Corporation adds features to their Inventory Model
Telecommunications and IT Managers need to be able to pin
point the costs and inventory of all items within an organizations. These assets
provides the user with exactly what they see is what they charge for and can then
be merged into a CSV file for Human Capital Management systems like PeopleSoft
®.
CDR-Data’s new feature displays an inventory of any services,
line or
device as well as their billing component. Expenses and units can be shown by
individual accounting center, specific centers or combined.
About
CDR-Data Corporation
CDR-Data
Corporation, based in Pasadena CA, www.cdrdata.com
consists of a group of professionals with decades of experience in the
telemanagement, call accounting and IT industry. By using an ASP environment,
this team has consistently delivered proven products and services that provide
answers to management's questions of telecommunications usage and billing.
CDR-Data has gained its market share by consistently delivering high quality
and flexible solutions to each and every CDR-Data client.
The Microsoft HoloLens sits on display at a media event for
new Microsoft products on October 6, 2015 in New York City.
Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images
2016 is set to be a huge year for Microsoft. Its
first HoloLens kits will hit the market, Build 2016 will provide more
evidence of the company's shift to the cloud and mobile, and a new
Microsoft phone may surface. Following on from the first full calendar
year with CEO Satya Nadella at the helm, Redmond is moving on from a
year where it revamped almost all of its major business lines.
Windows, Surface, Lumia and Office all made the headlines with huge
launches. Column after column has been written about Microsoft's
newfound confidence, redefining both hardware and software
categories. "Microsoft definitely seems to have found its mojo, with a
solid OS release, innovative hardware, and growing cloud business," said
Avi Greengart, research director of consumer platforms and devices at
Current Analysis.
Below are six big events that could dominate headlines in the coming year.
Q1 2016 — HoloLens Developer Kit
We predict this will be the biggest event of Microsoft's entire year. For the price of $3,000,
developers will be able to get their hands on an actual,
fully functional, HoloLens mixed-reality headset. The device has already
made some waves in the industry, with a partnership between Microsoft and NASA
resulting in a HoloLens going on a space mission. Astronauts can follow
instructions on how to carry out repairs, with the headset overlaying
the details over the actual components.
"The use cases for HoloLens are so compelling – particularly in the
enterprise – that HoloLens may be the rare product that is actually
under-hyped," said Greengart.
"Assuming no production problems with the hardware, it will be a
huge, runaway hit; there are so many enterprise applications for the
device, and the technology is so stunning, that 2016 will be the year of
enterprise HoloLens piloting – and even deployment," said J.P. Gownder,
vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
March 30 — Build Conference
The San Francisco meetup is expected to be a big one. Expect the
event to cover "the future of Microsoft and technology," said
Microsoft's vice president of developer experience and evangelism Steven
Guggenheimer. It's not without precedent.
At the 2015 conference
Microsoft announced Windows Holographic, Continuum, Edge, Android and
iOS support for Windows, a goal to get 1 billion devices running Windows
10, and an interesting website that could guess how old you are. The
bar's set pretty high.
Summer (unconfirmed) - Windows 10 "Redstone" Sources disagree
on whether Redstone is one big Windows 10 update or a "wave" of
updates, but what is clear is that it's on the way. Microsoft has
made known it intends to update Windows online rather than launch a
whole new version, and developer builds have surfaced with the Redstone
codename. WinBeta reported in October that Redstone will arrive summer
next year.
What it will include is the big question. Reports suggest a "Continuity-like"
feature that would let consumers move back and forth between devices
instantly, much like Apple's system. This jibes with an October report
from Brad Sams, which said Redstone will transform Windows 10 into a
"technology hub," further integrating various consumer electronics.
Redstone may prove crucial to the launch of one phone set to surface
around the same time.
H2 2016 (unconfirmed) - Surface Phone A long-rumored Surface Phone could be the kick the mobile division
needs to make serious headway. Microsoft has languished in the mobile
space, claiming less than 3 percent of the market according to IDC, while Microsoft's Surface tablet revenue increased 117 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter 2015.
In an October profile by The Verge,
Microsoft vice president Panos Panay was asked about the device. He
didn't confirm it, but he did say he wanted a "consistent thread between
the products," in terms of design and craftsmanship. Rumors kicked up
again when a Surface phone was spotted in HTML5 device benchmarks in November. Windows Central, citing sources, claimed in December that the phone would launch in the second half of 2016.
But it may not be as simple as launching a Surface phone to revive
the division. The phones also need apps, which Microsoft can get by
encouraging developers to make universal apps for Windows 10. These apps
can run on both desktop and mobile, but even that isn't a sure-fire way
to build up the catalog. "Until Microsoft has a huge number of Windows
10 machines out there (like a billion), its fortunes will suffer in
phone," said Gownder, in an email.
Greengart agreed that an all-singing, all-dancing Surface phone won't
be the division's savior. "If Microsoft can’t get developers to write
universal Windows 10 apps, it won’t matter how good the next round of
Windows Phones are, whether they are Surface-branded or not," he said. Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella: Windows 10 is the first version to launch under his
leadership, and is also predicted to become the biggest selling version
of Windows to date.Photo: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya July 29 - Windows 10 no longer free
Happy first birthday, Windows 10! After this date, users who haven't
upgraded for free from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 will be out of luck.
That's unless Microsoft changes its mind and extends the Windows 10
free-upgrade offer beyond the first year of availability. Those users
will have to pay $119.99 for the home edition or $199.99 for the
professional edition.
Expect think pieces galore as analysts weigh in on whether Windows 10
has been a success so far. Gartner predicted in November that Windows
10 will become the biggest version of all time -- a bold claim, and one that may see some revision if adoption doesn't quite pan out as expected.
"The barometer for true success -- getting 1 billion users onto
Windows 10 -- will continue to be the measure, so expectations are
high," said Gownder. "We predict continued success and growth -- but not
to the point of reaching that ultimate goal in the next year."
Unconfirmed - Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2
With the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book having just hit the shelves,
it's not surprising that any news about a follow-up is thin on the
ground. However, the company has launched a new Surface Pro every year
since its inception, and there's little reason to believe that it won't
continue the trend.
Microsoft stole the headlines in October when its bumper Surface launch event
stunned spectators. Commentators will be watching to see if Microsoft
can top itself. There's always the chance the company could skip
upgrades for a year, like how Apple didn't update the iPad Air this year, but that would be an unexpected turn in a product line the company seems to be focusing on more intently.
The Surface Book wowed attendees, but reviewers found plenty of ways
Microsoft could improve. The hinge, which leaves a gap between the
display and the keyboard, was described by The Verge writer Tom Warren
as "the main weakness of the Surface Book." Joanna Stern, writing for
the Wall Street Journal, slammed the Book for numerous software and
hardware problems. Gizmodo writer Mario Aguilar called out the device's
lacklustre trackpad. The Surface Book may have stolen the October show,
but Microsoft has a long list of reasons why it needs to make a Surface
Book 2.
With
the holidays around the corner, we can’t help thinking back to the good
ol’ years.
The holiday season makes us nostalgic and I can’t help but
think of all my techy Christmas
gifts that I’d be hoping and praying
were under that Christmas tree. Needless to say,
technology has come far
and thinking back at some of my favorite gifts also makes
me think
about how far we’ve come. So without further ado, and in no particular
order,
here are some Outdated Devices That Make Us Feel Nostalgic.
Motorola RAZR Flip Phone
First developed in 2004, this cellular flip phone dominated the market
for four years.
With a flashy sleek design and a wide array of colors,
this phone was a prime example
of how technology became a fashion. You
couldn’t wait for someone to text you
so you could nonchalantly whip out
this phone and slyly text back so everyone
could see you were in the in
with fashionable technology. What said “I love you”
more than knowing
exactly which color Motorola RAZR that person wanted?
Corded Phones
Can you believe there was a time before the cell phone? Mind blowing
right?
How about before cordless phones? How did we survive that era?
You wanted
to talk to someone on the phone? Try being tethered to a
wall, usually in the most
public part of the house. What better gift
than your own personal corded phone
in your own personal bedroom,
possibly with your own personal phone line.
Mom, Dad, you shouldn’t
have!
Not to be confused for the Discman that was later developed in the
1990s, the
Walkman was a portable audio cassette player. Do you remember
cassettes?
They were those little analog devices that recorded music.
No track bookmarking?
Cool, just let me push the fast-forward button and
magically hope I got to the track
that I wanted. But hey, at least I
can play music anywhere anytime; just have to
make sure I have an
endless supply of AA batteries.
Mp3 Players
Skipping over the Walkman generation, the portable mp3 player
symbolized
an exciting turn for portable music-playing technology.
Holding a whopping
(/sarcasm) 32 MB – 128 MB of data when they first
came to market, they
were more portable than the Walkmans and Diskmans
and with way more
functionality. Commence the era of pirated file
sharing.
Computer Games via Floppy Disk
If you think a 32 MB was a limited amount of data, try the floppy disk
with
its groundbreaking 1.2 MB of data. To put this in perspective, a
single
song (at an average of 3 MB) would require 3 floppy disks to
store it. We use
to fit whole games on there (*cough* Oregon Trail). At
least the floppy disk shall
be immortalized forever as an iconic symbol,
more commonly known as the
“save icon”.
Symbolic of retro gaming, the NES was Nintendo’s first home video game
console
in North America. Retailing at US$89.99 for the console, and an
average of
US$50 a game, its 8-bit graphics along with its 8-bit music
are still iconic today
sparking the popular franchised games like Super
Mario Bros. and Zelda.
Nothing is more reminiscent of old school gaming
like blowing out a video game cartridge.
Pager
That thing that all the doctors in our favorite dramas carry around?
Yes, that was
actually used as a pretty standard communication device
back in the day.
Whether it was the one-way pager or the two-way pager,
this was the start of
commercial SMS (short message service). *Beep beep
beep* “CALL ME”,
and then you ran to the nearest payphone (you know,
that booth that Superman
used as a dressing room).
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
Wow, a computer in my hand? That is exciting! Granted it had a tenth of
the
processing power of the average smartphone of today and were
primarily
used by the business elite, it spurred the movement for the
innovation of mobile
business devices.
Well that’s my list of outdated devices that sent me careening down memory lane.
Which outdated devices make you feel nostalgic?
Cell
phones for the most part are no longer productivity tools in business,
but rather a major distraction. The promise that they would increase
employee productivity has died, but the addiction remains. (This is why
the original BlackBerry was called the “CrackBerry.”) This month, with
the availability of the new Facebook phone, employees now will have an easier way to interrupt their day to check their status and feeds.
When was the last time you saw someone "on the job" also on
their phone? In a single day last week, I observed these employees
checking their phones:
A TSA security officer while screening passengers in at the airport
A retail clerk while checking out a customer at the cash register
A janitor while cleaning a bathroom at the airport
A police office patroling a street corner in Chicago
A crossing guard helping children in the street after school
Here are the 7 ways cell phones are hurting your business and what to do about it:
1. They distract employees.
How well can workers be doing their job if they are constantly checking
their cell phone for texts or social media feeds? Multitasking
guarantees that the quality and quantity of their work will certainly
going down.
What to do about it: Forbid the use of
personal cell phones while on the job. They can be used at breaks. They
should not be carried at all or need to be physically shut off. While
this might seem harsh, it's the only way to ensure employees are not
distracted.
2. They interrupt important meetings. Since the phone is always on, meetings get interrupted by less important activity on an employee’s cell phone.
What to do about it:
Ask employees to turn off their cell phones when enterting an important
meeting or actually collect them at the door. This will be
disconcerting at first, but will pay off with more productive results.
3. They're a security risk. With many employees bringing their own devices to work (BYOD),
mixing personal and professional applications on one phone can put the
entire small business at risk. Security is always at risk with one
unlocked and lost cell phone.
What to do about it: Buy
mobile devices for all employees who need access to work data. Ensure
they're set up securely and that these settings are checked monthly.
4. They're physically dangerous.
Multitasking employees can be more prone to injury. This doesn’t just
mean being on the phone while driving, but even while walking and
texting.
What to do about it: Put in the employee
handbook that workers should never use a cell phone while in transit in
any way. If a manager observes this behavior, the employee should be
reminded of the policy.
5. They prevent a separation of work and home.
The constant connection to the phone ensures that every employee will
bring work problems home and home problems to work. Having no downtime
between the two can lead to burnout.
What to do about it:
Do not ask employees to make calls or send emails during off work hours
with the expectation that they need to be dealt with before the next
workday.
6. They spread confidential information in public.
Ever been in a public place where a person was having a very private
business conversation? Not only is this a company risk, but how focused
can the employee really be?
What to do about it: Counsel employees never to use their cell phones for work in a public setting.
7. They actually add work.Phil Frost, managing partner of Main Street ROI,
states that if work email is checked on a non-work device, the employee
either replies quickly (not optimal) or has to reread that email at
work again (not productive).
What to do about it: Make sure that any device employees use are technically in sync so there is no duplication of work effort.
December 2015 Issue
Great Article! But No One is Reading It!
The
end of the year is a great time to take stock of all the things you are
doing and set yourself up to do them better in the New Year. One of the
key elements is all that content you have; your blog site, your
website, social media, brochures, white papers, etc.
But wait. Before you forward this over to your marketing department, see if you can answer this question:
Out
of all the content you produce throughout your company, which pieces
are grabbing the most attention; and which are pulling in more leads?
Why
should you care? Because throughout your organization one of the most
consistent efforts comes in the form of content. Yes, that means ads and blogs and other promotional pieces. But it also means Q&As, white papers, technical documents and so on.
Wouldn't you be surprised if some of those technical "how to"
articles were pulling in more leads than all your ads put together?
We came across an interesting article in Fortune
about Highspot, a 3 year old startup founded by an ex-Microsoft
executive that is using something called "machine learning" to help
companies find out which of their content is actually selling and to
help them churn out more of the "right stuff".
What
they're doing is pretty interesting. They use technology to interface to
popular document patforms such as DropBox, Box, WebEx and Google Drive.
They track documents and changes made to presentations and campaign
content to identify which are the most successful in terms of converting
into leads. After all it would be nice to know if that article you may
have spent hours on was on or off the mark, wouldn't it?
The
point is that content takes time and effort to produce. Taking a little
extra time to organize your content in a way that makes it easier to
track from a readership, sharing and lead conversion standpoint, can
help you better target your content to maximize exposure and lead
conversion.
Whether you use technology such as
Highspot or you do this yourself, it's becoming more important to track,
analyze and optimize content to work harder in today's content rich,
competitive, data driven world. You work too hard not to!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year!
-Kevin Young and the team at CDR-DATA
Stay Connected
Windows 10: Full Steam Ahead...But Are You Ready?
Microsoft is setting the stage for a pretty massive upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users.
And
no one knows the inner workings of the upgrade strategy better than
Josh Mayfield, the developer who created GWX Control Panel.
You can read the full article from ComputerWorld here.
About CDR-DATA
CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide you with all the resources needed to
effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources.
eCDR®:
All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage
and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.
eBill-Back®:
Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers,
shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end
users.
I Have a Dog in This Fight (Albeit an "Older" Dog)
As a boomer, I admit that articles about older workers tend to get my attention. I read an interesting one the other day on bbc.com that spoke to the "secret strengths" of older workers. I wondered why these strengths should be considered such a secret!
I do know that there is a certain amount of reluctance in the
workplace that continues to hamper the efforts of older workers...and
worry younger managers. And that's a shame because there is some
amazing talent out there that can and should be tapped.
The article references Shawn VanDerziel, a 40-ish chief of human resources for the Field Museum in Chicago, and Dirk van Dierendonck, professor of human resource management at Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands. Both had some great insight to share.
Here are some of the benefits of hiring older workers and some words of advice to bring out the best in them.
They
have good ideas. There is an advantage to having been around awhile.
You can accumulate some good ideas that are just as fresh as those
coming from younger workers, but with a dose of reality that comes from
more years of experience.
They are more technologically
adept than you think. This is one of the stubborn myths about many older
workers. If they are still working, they are using plenty of
technology. According to Dirk van Dierendonck, older workers complete assignments faster than many younger workers.
They are loyal. "If
you're building your company or department for the long run, it may be
more profitable to invest in people who are invested in the
organization," van Dierendonck said. "You're more likely to see that
investment from older workers. They don't need hand holding.
They are more independent, VanDerziel said, and they don't need
constant feedback about how they're doing. More than anything, he said
he's learned about when to back off.
One last benefit that VanDerziel shares with us. "They're
also not going to take that criticism personally," he said. "With
millennials, you might want to put feedback in context, to give them
compliments first."
What have your experiences been working with older employees? We'd like to share your stories. Let us know what you think about old stereotypes and how you have adapted to older workers.
CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide you with all the resources needed to
effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources.
eCDR®:
All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage
and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.
eBill-Back®:
Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers,
shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end
users.
First, a definition of IoT, courtesy of Officing Today, for those who may not yet know what IoT stands for:
"The Internet of Things is a vast collection of physical
objects connected through an online network. "Things," in this sense,
is virtually anything with the ability to connect to the Internet:
smartphones, smart TVs, monitoring implants, fitness bracelets, cars
with built-in bluetooth, tracking sensors...the list is endless."
and blogs and other promotional pieces. But it also means Q&As, white papers, technical documents and so on.
