Other than using the iPad at the company, we also utilize many other computer tools (online and offline) to provide our international clientele top-notch Business Process Outsourcing BPO services from our offices in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. The great thing about all these computer tools we use on a daily basis: they’re free (exception being Windows 7)!
Check these out down below and hopefully, you find them practical and valuable for your daily operations.
1. Jing
http://www.techsmith.com/jing/
Introduced to us by one of our many international clients, one can cut down phone and e-mail time by utilizing Techsmith’s Jing to communicate clearly and thoroughly. A picture is worth a thousand words, that said, a Jing is worth a hundred e-mails. You can even shoot video for process tutorials.
2. Launchy
A friend introduced me to Quicksilver, the premiere keyboard launcher for the Mac OS, and I’ve never worked the same since. Keyboard launching was the best thing that happened to my computer productivity and efficiency as thoughts became instant actions (ex. I want to open up eBay – instead of using my mouse to search for the eBay icon and launching that, I just launch the commands and open eBay within a millisecond as it requires a couple of keystrokes). Unfortunately, Launchy doesn’t feel as smooth as Quicksilver (lags, inaccurate searches at times), but it is better than nothing. Perhaps I haven’t optimized the settings properly – then again, Quicksilver didn’t require much set up.
3. Posterous
Another friend (former co-worker) turned me on to Posterous and I haven’t used another blogging service since. Your e-mail is your post, as simple as that. Note: I used to use Blogspot and WordPress, but it was all too much (lagged in having to open up page after page to seek out one feature I wanted to modify). Our main line of communication with the majority of our clients is via e-mail, making blog posting (using Posterous) second nature. The reason we are using a (private, password-protected) Posterous blog is to centralize all the important messages from our client. Unfortunately, Outlook hasn’t been reliable as it has crashed on me seldom, creating disarray in my inbox archive, making it near impossible to dig into the past for important messages. I know I am getting a dependable “Central” with Posterous, using tags to categorize all the e-mailed messages into the respective topics. Also, having all these important messages from the client online allows me to share this easier with my team members – as simple as sending the link and password on. Did I say you post via e-mail? Seriously.
4. Fences
http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/
The desktop tends to pile up with files from various team members and fellow co-workers throughout the week, if not the day. It’s no secret that clutter breeds muddy, unclear thinking as it presents multiple things to think about at one time, pulling one’s mind into all sorts of direction, and ultimately, being unsuccessful in truly realizing any one of those goals. To organize one’s mind, one must also organize one’s use of space. Fences compartmentalizes one’s files and folders into categories and borders to create a streamlined organization and workflow. Everyone needs to draw the line somewhere.
5. Shake (Windows 7 feature)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/shake.aspx
Clutter happens with all the windows you open as well. You gotta cross-check this one website with another website, then upload a file, but you forget which folder, so you have to open various folders, only then, to create a mess and forgetting what you needed in the first place. The Shake feature (from Windows 7) is as intuitive as grabbing the border of a window open and giving it a good shake, forcing all the other open windows away into toolbar homeostasis.
These tools are just the tip of the iceberg, what do you got? Please share in the comments.
