Hardware and software tips: What you should consider to work as efficiently as possible from home. (Photo: © belchonock/123RF.com)
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Digital Crafts - Theme specials
April 2020
During the coronavirus crisis, tradespeople must also take special measures to protect customers, partners, and employees from health risks. To reduce direct contact, many administrative and coordination tasks can be outsourced to home offices, for example.
Special situations require special measures: Although Direct contact with customers and employees is especially important for craftsmen, some tasks can be temporarily transferred to the home office. This includes calls and meetings, as well as many administrative, coordination, and documentation tasks. To implement this, craft businesses need in addition to the technical equipment, such as notebooks or tablets, also corresponding digital solutions.
In order to temporarily complete tasks in the home office, mobile devices idealA notebook offers special advantages compared to desktop PCs: Your own office becomes mobile and can be used at any time Use in your home office or on the go.
For location-independent work, the following are particularly suitable: Devices with low weight and long battery lifeThe size of the display plays an important role: Notebooks with at least 15 inches (38,1 cm) offer a sufficiently large work surface for most applications. Those who want more screen space in their home office can simply connect a monitor to most devices. Combined with an external keyboard and mouse, a notebook then offers the same convenience as a desktop PC.
For simple office work, at least two processor cores with more than 2,4 GHz clock speed are recommended, eight gigabytes of RAM and a non-reflective displayFor more power-hungry applications, craft businesses should rely on more processor cores and RAM as well as a Graphics card with its own memory ). Of course, the use of desktop PCs is also possible at home, here, however, are many additional devices requiredto make working from home efficient – for example, a monitor, webcam, speakers plus microphone or headset.
Smartphones and tablets are also a useful aid in the home office: For video conferences, emails and chats, the small universal tools fully exploit their strengths. Craft businesses also have the option of forwarding business calls directly to their smartphones.
Smartphones and tablets with at least two-core (Apple) or four-core (Android) processors offer a smooth display. In addition, at least three GB of RAM must be integrated. With a display resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels or higher, all details are displayed sharply. internal memory should be at least 16 GB large. If you want to store a lot of photos, videos and apps on the device, 32 GB is the absolute minimum. If you then add a integrated camera with at least 8 megapixels If available, good photos are also possible – for example, for offers and documentation. If you want to work with smartphones and tablets for longer periods in your home office, you should Connect external devices via Bluetooth, such as keyboard and mouse.
If personal meetings are not possible, tradespeople simply stay in contact with employees via video conference and customers. The technical hurdles are not high: Smartphones, tablets, and notebooks usually already have all the prerequisites on board. Exchanging via video is more personal than a phone call and at the same time much more direct than an email or chat. At the same time, everyone involved saves time and money, as travel to and from the meeting is completely eliminated.
Most tradespeople already have the necessary technology for video conferencing: A smartphone or tablet is sufficient for on-the-go use. In the office or home office, a notebook or PC is a good fit. Many notebooks already have integrated speakers, a microphone, and a webcam. For less well-equipped notebooks or PCs, these devices may need to be purchased separately. As a professional alternative to microphone and speakers, a headset is recommendedbecause the audio information is often transmitted better.
In their own business, tradespeople should rely on devices with good video and audio transmission. Otherwise, pixelated images or poorly understood conversations quickly appear unprofessionalTo ensure that the video transmission creates the impression of a real live conversation, your camera should have HD (1024 × 768 pixels) or Full HD resolution (1.920 x 1.080 pixels) the verfügTo ensure that all data is transmitted without loss, the Internet speed should be at least 6 megabits per second (DSL 6.000). If several users use the same Internet connection, higher bandwidths make senseWhen making video calls on the go, please note that between one and ten megabytes of data are transferred per minute, depending on the video quality.
To start a video call, both parties must first install the same app on their mobile or desktop device. After registering and exchanging contact details, they can begin right away. Depending on the software, up to several hundred participants possible. To try it out, we recommend free solutionsIf the functionality is flawless, purchasing solutions may be more beneficial later on, as they usually offer a significantly wider range of features. Examples include call recordings or shared file storage for improved collaboration. For data security, companies should ensure that their chosen provider guarantees encrypted transmission.
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