31478 Industrial Road Suite 200, Livonia, Michigan 48150 sales@xfer.com

XFER Blog

XFER Blog

XFER has been serving the Livonia area since 1994, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Tip of the Week: 4 Accessories Every Smartphone Needs

Tip of the Week: 4 Accessories Every Smartphone Needs

Smartphones are very convenient technologies, but with a couple of improvements to your device repertoire, you can drastically improve both your user experience and the value of your device. Here are four smartphone accessories that can enhance the way you use your mobile device.

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The Case for Hosting Your Phone Solution In-House

The Case for Hosting Your Phone Solution In-House

Traditional communications solutions are all well and good, but they’re quickly growing antiquated and outdated with the inception of more dynamic solutions. Some organizations have found that cloud-hosted VoIP has advantages over an on-premise telephone solution. While there’s a certain degree of truth to this, an on-site system still presents value.

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In Case of Emergency, Activate Facebook’s Safety Check

In Case of Emergency, Activate Facebook’s Safety Check

In 2014, Facebook launched Safety Check, a helpful tool allowing users to “check in” that they’re okay during a crisis event, like a natural disaster, mass shooting, etc. Recently, Facebook made a major change to Safety Check by allowing users affected by the crisis to activate the feature. This is yet another example of how social media is changing the way people find out about major events and react to them.

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Tip of the Week: Every Mobile Device Policy Needs to Cover These 3 Areas

Tip of the Week: Every Mobile Device Policy Needs to Cover These 3 Areas

Smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other mobile technology are practically necessities in today’s modern workplace; especially if you want to keep productivity flowing at all times. However, implementing mobile devices into your workplace infrastructure is more complicated than it sounds, especially if you want to preserve security. Here are three topics to consider when implementing mobile devices in the workplace.

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Can an Algorithm Predict the Next Bestselling Novel?

Can an Algorithm Predict the Next Bestselling Novel?

It’s not always easy to identify what will be hip and trendy years from now, but big data is attempting to bridge this gap. In general, due to the unpredictability of human behavior, it can be difficult to spot cultural anomalies before they happen. Despite these challenges, algorithms are being applied to various practices in both the business world and elsewhere. One innovative way in which it’s being used is by attempting to predict the next bestselling novel.

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These Innovative Technologies are Helping eBay Move Beyond Passwords

These Innovative Technologies are Helping eBay Move Beyond Passwords

Technology continues to grow more advanced, and with it comes major pain points that need to be resolved. Today’s modern businesses will need to adapt by implementing new solutions for both themselves and their customers or clients. In this fashion, eBay has begun to implement an assortment of new features to assist with the customer experience.

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Save Considerable Time By Automating Your Data Backup Process

Save Considerable Time By Automating Your Data Backup Process

Is your organization still relying on antiquated tape backup to keep your data safe? A more reliable, less time-consuming alternative known as image-based, or “snapshot” backup, could change the way that you look at disaster recovery. In fact, image-based backup has the potential to optimize your business’s data continuity.

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3 Ways VoIP Phone Systems are Superior to Traditional Landlines

3 Ways VoIP Phone Systems are Superior to Traditional Landlines

Compared to traditional telephone solutions, software-based phone systems have become a major opportunity for businesses to cut costs and improve efficiency. Even if traditional phone systems have their uses, VoIP still wins out by eliminating unnecessary costs and simplifying your business’s physical infrastructure. You might find that VoIP has a place in your office, too.

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Tip of the Week: 2 Free Tools That Will Read Your Text for You

Tip of the Week: 2 Free Tools That Will Read Your Text for You

For the busy business owner, audiobooks are a godsend. They’re the perfect way to intake information while performing a must-do task that doesn’t require you to think, like commuting or folding laundry. But what’s an audiobook aficionado to do if they’ve got a book or document that they want to listen to that hasn’t been made into an audiobook?

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What’s the Main Difference Between Office 365 and the Traditional Office Suite?

What’s the Main Difference Between Office 365 and the Traditional Office Suite?

Even if you already have Microsoft Office, did you know that there are multiple ways to use Office which could potentially save you money? It’s the difference between using the traditional Office apps, versus the subscription-based model provided by Office 365.

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4 Instances You’ll Be Glad You Had Disaster Recovery

4 Instances You’ll Be Glad You Had Disaster Recovery

Disasters are commonplace in the business environment, especially when you work in a technology-heavy office. It’s not a question of if you’ll ever experience a hardware failure; it’s a question of when you will. Regardless of how your business functions or what sector you fall into, there will always be disasters that you should be prepared for.

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How Virtual Reality Could Help Paraplegics Walk Again

How Virtual Reality Could Help Paraplegics Walk Again

Virtual reality is a major contender for the next big technology to hit the business industry, and it’s been able to accomplish what modern neuroscience could not. In the medical sector, virtual reality has been tested on paraplegic patients in attempts to help them walk again using brain-controlled robotic limbs. However, these innovations have yielded unexpected, astounding results.

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Latest Windows 10 Update Has Kindle Users Feeling Blue... Screen of Death

Latest Windows 10 Update Has Kindle Users Feeling Blue... Screen of Death

Have you have recently plugged in your Kindle and received a blue screen of death? Many Kindle users have found that Windows 10’s anniversary update is creating an issue in the way that Kindle transfers books and charges via a USB connection. Some users are reporting that connecting a Kindle to a Windows 10 device will cause the device to lock up and display Windows’ infamous blue error screen before rebooting.

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MasterCard Wants Your Selfie, But it’s Not for What You Think it’s For

MasterCard Wants Your Selfie, But it’s Not for What You Think it’s For

Payment via mobile devices is still a relatively new concept. With newer smartphones, it’s now easier than ever to pay your bills or send money on a whim. However, this also brings up an important topic; what’s the best way to handle mobile payments, and how can those who accept and process these payments ensure maximum security?

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New High Score for Microsoft: More Than 44% of All PC Gamers Use Windows 10

New High Score for Microsoft: More Than 44% of All PC Gamers Use Windows 10

While we tend to focus on the latest technology solutions in the workplace, sometimes it helps to view them from a different perspective, like recreation. Specifically, Windows 10 has become a popular operating system amongst PC gamers, and has reached nearly half of the considerable total user base of the cloud-based gaming platform, Steam.

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Microsoft Moves to Get a Piece of the Technology as a Service Market Share

Microsoft Moves to Get a Piece of the Technology as a Service Market Share

Microsoft has been looking to cover more ground in the business environment by offering a new Technology as a Service (TaaS) offering, which will allow small businesses to purchase Surface products, accessories, and support for their devices, all with a monthly payment plan. Also, when it comes time to upgrade, customers can easily make the switch, as per their lease agreement.

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Tip of the Week: How to Easily Add a Second Phone Number to Your Mobile Device

Tip of the Week: How to Easily Add a Second Phone Number to Your Mobile Device

As the smartphone takes over many of our daily tasks, it can be annoying if we have to use a separate device to accomplish what we need to, like making calls on a different phone. Did you know that it’s easy to add a second phone number to your smartphone?

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3 Talk-to-Text Apps that Get the Job Done

3 Talk-to-Text Apps that Get the Job Done

Mobile platforms have given way to entirely new ways to develop and make use of apps. More business professionals than ever before are relying on their smartphones to get work done while out of the office, but the functionality of the on-screen keyboard interface has some of them stumped on how to stay productive. It’s for this reason that developers have created applications designed to listen to users’ voices, and record them in text format.

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Every Business Owner Must Understand These 4 Fundamentals of IT

Every Business Owner Must Understand These 4 Fundamentals of IT

It makes no difference how your business’s administrative chain of command is set up. Everyone should have a basic understanding of how your IT works, as well as its related responsibilities and functions. Here are four easy ways that you can educate yourself (and your staff) on how your IT department works, be it internal or outsourced.

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Tip of the Week: 5 Tips From the 90s That You’ve Completely Forgot

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The 1990s were dominated by all sorts of great technology: VHS, floppy disks, and grossly oversized computer hardware. Learning new technology shortcuts was once all the rage, but when looked at now, these tech tips are rendered obsolete. However, that doesn’t stop them from hitting us right in the nostalgia. Here are some of our favorite tech tips from the 1990s.

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