It's not unusual to for a paperless office to make heavy use of the "scan to email" feature on their copiers. With this feature, it's easy to quickly convert paper documents into digital formats that can be backed up, tracked, and secured more than free-floating paper. 

If you're a business owner, you're likely acutely aware that trends change seemingly constantly in the world of marketing. As technology improves and professionals find new and better ways to use that technology, the landscape for marketing strategies makes massive shifts in a very tight timeframe. While there are always tried-and-true methods for increasing your business's digital reach, keeping abreast of changing times can keep your business ahead of the curve. 

Nowadays, computer connections can sometimes be less straightforward than keyboard, mouse, and monitor. With differing standards for different peripherals, ports, and cables, it can sometimes be hard to know what does what when looking at the back of your computer. To help make things a little more clear, the TechnicalRS team has put together a handy reference of common cables and ports on your computer, what they do, and how you can take some first steps in troubleshooting computer issues related to these ports. 

Nowadays, it seems that everything requires you to be logged in. Chatting with friends, changing your watch face, and even ordering a submarine sandwich are more convenient than ever through online portals, but you won't get very far without an account to manage the information those sites contain. And with all those accounts comes a massive library of passwords to manage. It's absolutely understandable that there might be too many to remember, but that doesn't mean you should resort to strategies like using a single multi-use password or keeping all your passwords written in a book. Password management programs come with a huge variety of benefits that will keep you and your data safe. 

If you've been following tech news, you know that one of the hottest topics of 2023 is the democratization of artificial intelligence, or AI. In just the past few months, AI has hit major strides in the consumer market: we've seen artificial intelligence paint pictures, chat with users, and even fully replace the voice of recorded actors with different actors' voices. Truly, the possibilities for creating with AI are limitless, but has the technology progressed to a point where we can rely on it for everything? 

According to recent statistics, nearly 80% of the United States purchased something online in the past year. That's nearly 263 million people regularly making purchases using eCommerce solutions instead of brick-and-mortar shops to purchase products, and that number is expected to continue to climb throughout the 2020s. In addition to single purchases, though, a 2022 study has identified that the percentage of Americans who prefer online shopping over an in-person alternative is now 56.6%, about a 10% increase over 2020's numbers. 

One of the most important things about setting up a business is efficiently managing startup costs. For many companies nowadays, IT infrastructure is one of the larger upfront costs of starting a business, but an efficiently-spend budget can lead to an overall reduction in overhead related to maintenance costs and equipment replacements. Computers don't come at the premium they did in the 1980s, but a business-class machine can still run a pretty penny. A large sticker price might leave a business owner wondering why a consumer-grade machine can't do the trick for an employee who isn't running resource-intensive applications. As it turns out, there are a host of reasons a consumer-grade computer might lead to far higher costs to your business despite the initially tantalizing price tag.

One of the tenets of a strong website marketing strategy includes a fair amount of work in Search Engine Optimization: the process of making your website more attractive to search engines and the people using them. SEO is still the end all, be all of search engine ranking, however some seemingly recent changes have made even more apparent the need to augment strong SEO with other methods of search ranking. Some of us have noticed around the office that Search ads on specific queries are displaying in larger quantities, sometimes going as far as pushing all organic results "below the fold."

As the business landscape changes and affects things like the supply chain, consumer interest, and technology, you may find that your business has new offerings or services that no longer match the branding your company started with. When that happens strongly enough, it might become necessary to look to a rebranding or repositioning strategy to ensure your company's branding aligns with consumer expectations. In addition to tightening up company branding outside of cyberspace, aligning your business website to your new brand might be required as well. But how far can you go? We've put together a list of several things to consider before you change your website's domain.

For your business or organization, your website can serve many different purposes. Your website could serve as your digital front door, or even a digital storefront. This will be one of the first impressions you can make on someone if they were to type your company's name into a search engine. When well-optimized, your business can even show to people who are looking up products or services that are relevant to your site. 

Got a website that needs a rebuild? Need a new one for your business? You're in the right place, and even if you don't know where to start, we've got you covered. With something as vital to your business as a website, starting a new site or refreshing one you've had in the past can seem like a daunting task, but once you break down your wish list you might find it can be easier than you think.

 As the end of 2022 approaches in the coming months, so does the support for Windows 8.1. That's right, Windows 8.1 will reach end of support on January 10th, 2023, that means that technical assistance and software updates for 8.1 will no longer be offered. Not only will Microsoft halt software updates to Windows 8.1, but the company will be halting security patches as well.

Running a successful business takes a lot of work, and a great deal of the early work in bringing customers in the door lies in the visual realm. As a business, your visual identity can do a lot of the talking for you, and if done improperly can push traffic away. While some of the top companies are always changing their logo to chase yearly trends, keeping a consistent visual tone can be one of the key factors in creating lasting relationships with your clients and customers. 

When thinking about tools and platforms for your business, it can sometimes be difficult to define the line between cutting costs, improving workflow efficiency, and setting up diminishing returns. Oftentimes, small businesses or startups may be tempted to use a desktop or laptop computer as a cheaper alternative to a dedicated server. This mistake can not only put you at risk of data loss, but also could have your business miss out on some of the best perks of a dedicated server.

Regardless of the size of your home or business, it's likely that somewhere along the way you will require the help of a tech support professional. Most of the time, the best course of action is to look for the IT team your company employs within its walls, or the third-party company they rely on for help. Sometimes, the best course of action is calling the manufacturer or developer of the product or software that is causing problems.

Every year, security technology gets more and more intricate. The tools we have at our disposal to defend against malware, direct hacking, DDoS attacks, data breaches and more have been consistently improving as bad actors continue to innovate on the technology they use to attack businesses. However, while this battle is constantly waged over a virtual field, the overwhelming majority of attacks are still perpetrated through a single old-fashioned tactic: social engineering.

When it comes to managing your business online, there are a lot of places where people can voice their opinions. Public-facing reviews are a great way to collect feedback about your business, and when used strategically, can be a huge boon to your Google rankings. But if left ignored, Google reviews can also do harm.

In our previous blog we described the different types of ads and some of the ways they can be sent out to your audience. When coming up with a plan for sending out blogs, a few things are important to keep in mind: targeting, reach, and budget. Balancing the first two against the third can be troublesome, but you're not alone. The Technical Resource Solutions team is here to work with you to plan out and set up your ad campaigns to ensure that your budget is being spent as efficiently as it can be.