by Xenia von Wedel, VP at SocialRadius
In case you are thinking about New Year’s resolutions, here some new tech solutions for SMBs that would definitely help to make 2013 more efficient, time saving and altogether less stressful.
1. Voxeet.
My personal top favorite No 1 is Voxeet, because I spend way too many hours on terrible conference calls, where I don’t even understand half of what the others say and it really aggravates me: After online phone services with peer-to-peer architecture like Skype, and alternatives, failed to deliver great sound quality, none of the new solutions (even those with great new UIs) has kicked the archaic audio bridges in the dust.
Newcomer Voxeet is finally changing this, by changing (mostly crappy) sound of conference calls to crystal-clear 3D surround sound. Not just offering a zero-learning-curve user experience, Voxeet will convert any laptop, Android phone or iPhone into a hassle-free group communication hub, for stress-free and productive conversations. Forget dial in numbers or pin codes, and you never again have to wonder who is speaking. If you are on the call you can really hear the voices as clear as they are sitting next to you. You can even have a whisper side conversation with other members on the conference call, without being overheard by the rest of the conference group. If you have to leave the office and run out with the cell phone, one click will switch your call between devices, without anyone else even noticing the change. Please check it out.
You can download Voxeet for the desktop, Android or iPhone at www.voxeet.com and use the Facebook integration to check it out. The sound quality will blow you away!
2. Focus@will.
Focus@will offers music to enhance productivity and reduce stress: Lack of focus and productivity builds up workload and stress. In a world geared towards Twitter-speed information, individuals tasked with focusing for longer periods of time are finding it to be challenging. Taming the wandering mind is focus@will, a new music-streaming platform designed to increase user productivity and strengthen user focus while working, reading, studying and writing.
The service, backed by two years of in-depth productivity research, just launched their private beta and users can request a code for the service by going to www.focusatwill.com.
3. Sparqlight.
Free for SMB users, Sparqlight.com improves team workflow and eliminates emails and meetings! If you think Google docs is great for teamwork, then please check out Sparqlight. Sparqlight is an online ‘workflow app’ to make a small team work smarter not harder, it automates to-do lists or repetitive tasks to make teamwork a breeze. The app enables sharing, tracking, and the assigning of tasks and goals within a simple social interface. Sparqlight provides full workflow accountability with an analytics dashboard that tracks progress of all processes, such as milestones and deadlines. Instead of sending three emails you simply set a task and share it with the team. Google Docs integration enables the team to scroll the links to their project-related docs. In short, Sparqlight brings simple social media concepts to the small and medium business world, to make work more fun and more efficient. In short: no clutter, but clear analytics.
4. Liquipel.
Last not least: don’t let spilled eggnog ruin your holidays. Because now that the smart SMB leader has all his/her info in the cloud and on the mobile, and at some point this holiday season, we’ll all be toasting to the health and happiness of loved ones. And, usually after a few of those toasts, someone is going to accidentally let their cup run over and spill. If that liquid hits a business smartphone, say goodbye to not only all of your emails and phone numbers but also every holiday photo you just took.
That is unless that phone has been Liquipel’d. Liquipel.com is a new process that uses nanotechnology to protect smartphones and other devices from accidental exposure to liquids on the molecular level. It coats both the inside and out of the device, including the internal circuits, but is so thin that it’s undetectable by the human eye or touch.
Treatment prices start at just $59 for a turnaround time of one to two days (if you live in the LA/OC area,you can visit their Santa Ana headquarters and have it done while you wait).
Xenia von Wendel is a senior vice president at social media marketing agency SocialRadius.
