As an entrepreneur, you understand how essential time is. There is always a need to come up with new processes or search for new technology to keep your office organized. If you use Windows 10, you already have an underutilized tool right in front of you. To take advantage of Cortana, you should enable it on your desktop first. The process is easy: Just press the Windows Key, type "cortana" and click on "Cortana settings.” From there, you can change whether it responds to your voice or get activated by a keyboard shortcut, and you can set other personal preferences. Voice Reminders, Notes and Alarms As soon as you enable “Hey, Cortana” on all your gadgets, you can begin using it to dictate notes, set alarms, and create reminders. Thanks to advancements in AI, Cortana should be able to recognize most natural-language requests, like "Wake me up at 9am tomorrow," or "Remind me to pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow." Meanwhile, you can use it as a voice recorder during meetings instead of writing down notes. Just say, "Hey Cortana, make a new note in OneNote," and whatever is recorded will automatically be saved to OneNote! AI-Scheduled Meetings With Microsoft's new Calendar.help feature, you can issue commands to a group email chain by saying things like, "Hey Cortana, can you help us book a 30-minute call next week?" Calendar.help will work with Cortana to contact each attendee individually, find out what times they are available, and pick the best option for the group. You would only need to email the details, including duration, agenda and location, before you cc Cortana and forward it to the people involved. At that point, Cortana will send invites and handle all email exchanges. For now the project is still in preview/beta, so you will need to sign up. Quick Conversions and Calculations There are times when you need to make some calculations, but Googling or using your phone's calculator just takes too much time. Cortana can answer complicated math problems, even if they are stated in plain language. What's more, Cortana is able to convert temperature, time zone, weight, and volume. Cortana will not only improve your business processes, but also help create a more relaxed workplace. And when employees are less stressed, everyone experiences more rewarding workdays. We’re experts in traditional office IT, but we're also pretty savvy with exciting new tools like Cortana. Send Multi IT a message today by visiting our website: www.multi.co.za or call us on 011 435 0450, to learn more tips on improving productivity in your workplace.

Microsoft recently updated Office 365 for iOS and Mac to enhance user experience. Office apps are now better integrated into the Apple ecosystem, which means iPhone, iPad, and Mac users can expect a more seamless experience when creating, accessing, or storing Office documents. Co-authoring in Word, Excel, PowerPoint Apple users can now co-edit documents in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. This new feature for Apple products allows several users to work, edit, or view changes in a document at once, whether from a PC, Mac, or mobile device. This feature also allows co-authors to track and identify other users who are making changes in real time. Autosave documents in the cloud The latest updates also come with an autosave feature for Apple users. This functionality not only automatically saves files, but also lets users view and restore previous versions of their content, similar to the autosave function in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. OneDrive support for iOS’s Files app iOS’s Files app, which was introduced in the iOS 11 update, made searching and organizing documents more convenient for iPhone and iPad users. However, it’s only now that Microsoft has integrated its own cloud storage platform with the Apple app. OneDrive for iOS now supports the Files app, which means users can access and edit all their files in OneDrive or Sharepoint, and easily classify them via a new tagging feature. File type preview enhancements The improved list view in OneDrive for iOS makes viewing file names and relevant details and sorting files much easier. This view option includes thumbnails on file previews and support for 130 file types that can be opened, viewed, or shared within OneDrive. Drag-and-drop functionality A drag-and-drop capability is nothing new in iOS, but it was previously limited to moving around files from non-Office sources and apps. With the latest update, Apple users can drag and drop files from various sources that now includes OneDrive, Office, and other Microsoft sources. This capability saves users’ time when adding photos, graphs, and other files into documents or presentations on their iPad, iPhone or Mac. Better search function in Outlook Microsoft has also improved searching in Outlook for iOS because the search function now has its own tab in the navigation bar. The search feature is now more intuitive; tapping on the tab gives you instant access to top contacts, upcoming travel itineraries and deliveries, and recently accessed attachments. These recent updates to Microsoft’s productivity tools aim to make users’ life much easier regardless of the device they use. But there’s way more Office 365 apps and programs to help you work more efficiently, and we have Microsoft consultants who can help you maximize all of them. Just give Multi IT a call on 011 435 0450.

Getting a new laptop can be very exciting. It guarantees a more seamless user experience with faster speed, more memory, and better battery life. But it’s all for naught if you don’t take certain preventive steps before using your new machine. Discover five things you should do before you start exploring your new toy. 1. Update your laptop’s operating system One of the first things you should do before using your laptop is upgrade its operating system. Assuming you did not purchase the laptop right when it was released, your laptop will still be running an older operating system. With important patches and fixes released in each new update, it is recommended that you install the latest one to ensure your laptop is free of any vulnerabilities. 2. Remove bloatware Opening your laptop for the first time, you might notice that there are already several preloaded software in the system -- some of which you will probably never use. These are known as bloatware. These apps take up a lot of your valuable drive space, so consider getting rid of them. The easiest way to do this is by downloading a bulk uninstaller, which allows you to check all the bloatware apps you don't want and remove them in one fell swoop. 3. Install protection software It’s no secret that the world we live in is unsafe. And with so much confidential information nowadays becoming digitalized, it is necessary to protect yourself against losing important data from your computer. The solution to this is very simple. By installing antivirus software that can automatically -- or manually -- scan your computer at a scheduled time, potential attacks can be thwarted before they become more serious. Not only is your laptop’s data vulnerable to cyberattacks, there is always a chance your laptop can get lost or stolen. While there are preventive steps you can take -- such as being mindful while using your laptop in public places -- another solution would be to install anti-theft software. Security features such as “Find My Device” for Windows 10 and “Prey” for other operating systems can help you locate your device if it’s ever stolen or misplaced. 4. Optimize your power settings One of the most frequent problems that laptop users have is that their batteries run out of juice too fast. However, you can actually extend the battery life by making a few tweaks to your power settings. Reduce your display brightness, but not so much that it causes eye and mental fatigue Use the Sleep or Hibernate mode for your operating system 5. Set up a backup plan Imagine spending months working on an important project and suddenly finding it nonexistent the next day just because your laptop crashed. Deadlines will be missed. Profit margins will decrease. Customers will leave unhappy. And if worse comes to worst, you’ll be out of business. Why add more unnecessary stress if you can prevent it from happening in the first place? By setting up an automatic backup system, you can regularly save all your important files; that way, you’d still have access to the data anytime were anything to happen to the original file. You can also store all your important documents in the cloud, which ensures access whenever you need, even if your laptop crashed or got stolen. Getting a new laptop can be fun, but the joy might be short-lived if you don’t set up any preventive measures from the start. Call Multi IT on 011 435 0450 for information on how we can help you secure your company’s laptop today.