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.

Know Your Tech: A/B Testing

Know Your Tech: A/B Testing

A key component to effectively attracting your audience is to better understand their preferences. Even the most seemingly insignificant change, like changing the color of the buttons on your website, can have a major impact on how effective your materials are. Fortunately, through a process called A/B testing, observing the impact of these changes is somewhat straightforward.

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Tip of the Week: Your Guide to Using Multiple Displays

Tip of the Week: Your Guide to Using Multiple Displays

Depending on the task you’re trying to work on, it can sometimes seem like there just isn’t enough space on your computer monitor. One of the best solutions is to add another monitor. However, this sometimes requires more that just plugging another display into your system. For this week’s tip, we’ll review the steps to connecting multiple displays to your workstation.

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Technology Has the Power to Bring the Office Together Like Never Before

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The technological landscape of the office has changed significantly over the years. Only a decade ago collaboration could only be accomplished through sitting down in a conference room and discussing issues face to face. Today, however, technology is changing the way that we as a society view collaboration, and thanks to various achievements in software development, it’s easier than ever to work together on team initiatives.

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Wearable Technology is Trending: Is This Good For the Workplace?

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You’ve probably seen the new fancy-schmancy watches that some people wear and wonder to yourself, “What’s so special about them?” Smartwatches like these are considered wearable technology and are typically meant to perform the various functions of a smartphone, minus the phone. Some devices are even used to monitor the body’s physical activity with health apps. They might seem useful now, but what’s the endgame for wearable technology?

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Tip of the Week: 3 Ways to Take Back Your Day From Workplace Distractions

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In today’s competitive workplace environments, productivity is at a premium. Although, thanks to our gadgets, the allure of the Internet, and of course, having to interact with people, working at the modern office isn’t without its fair share of distractions, which hinder productivity. Here are three tips that you can use to tune out the distractions so you can get more work done.

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Be Sure to Take These 4 Actions Before Leaving Your Desk Unattended

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We’ve published several blog articles about enterprise security technologies, but it’s equally important to focus on the other side of the security equation and make sure people know how to properly log off, lock, and walk away from their workspace. To that end, even something as seemingly-mundane as forgetting to lock your computer can leave your network vulnerable, big-time.

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“It’s Dead Jim:” When to Walk Away from Your Failing Business

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Running a business can be an exhilarating experience, mainly due to the degree of risk that’s involved. When you’re the one calling the shots, your success is only limited by your ability to lead. Then there’s the chance that things won’t work out and you’ll fail miserably. When your business goes the way of the latter, how do you know when your your company is finished and it’s time to call it quits?

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Tip of the Week: Keep Your Employees By Keeping them Engaged

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As far as you’re concerned, managing a business is a highly engaging job. However, your staff might feel differently about their jobs. According to a recent study by Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends, only 13 percent of employees are legitimately engaged in their work. A disengaged worker is a serious problem for any workplace.

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Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Dramatically Reduce Workplace Stress

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"Work smarter, not harder.” When you’re at your wit’s end, it’s annoying to be told this by a relaxed, know-it-all coworker. However, this productivity axiom holds up. Following this rule will allow you to get much more done, in a much shorter amount of time, and in a much more relaxed manner. Here are five productivity tips to help you “work smarter, not harder.”

Or, don’t follow these tips. Keep doing things the hard way and stress yourself out. The choice is yours.

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Study: Checking Your Inbox Can Increase Your Stress Level

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If you’re one of those people who are always checking their inbox, you might be dealing with a lot of unnecessary stress in the workplace. A study has linked constantly checking your email inbox to higher stress levels. While this might not come off as much of a surprise, researchers at the University of British Columbia have managed to put a number to the maximum amount of times you should be checking your email to minimize stress.

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Tip of the Week: 5 Ways to Prevent Getting Burned By Your Job

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Occupational burnout is a real risk for the busy business owner. Wikipedia defines it as, “Characterized by short-term exhaustion, lack of enthusiasm and motivation, feeling drained, and also may have the dimension of frustration and/or negative emotion and cynical behavior, and as a result reduced professional efficacy.” Can you relate? How can you prevent occupational burnout?

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Tip of the Week: How to Get Some Exercise in the Office

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the new year, and that means it’s time for New Year’s resolutions. Sitting down at your desk all day can make you realize that you’d like to get some more exercise into your lifestyle, but you also might realize that you have nowhere near enough time to make it to the gym. If this sounds like your predicament, you can try working out in the office.

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Don’t Ignore Communication with Your IT Department

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When dealing with a large infrastructure, like that found within your business, it’s important to be clear and concise. This is especially true when it comes to your IT department, as miscommunications can lead to lost work or even fatal issues. If a problem does arise, you want to make sure that they are available to take care of it. In order to keep your issues to a minimum, it’s a good idea to plan out your IT communications systems and stick to them at all times.

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3 Sure Ways to Increase Workplace Productivity

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The office is a unique place designed solely for the purpose of getting work done. Therefore, no matter how your workplace is designed, there's always room to improve it in order to squeeze out a few more precious minutes of productivity from each worker. As productivity goes, every minute saved adds up!

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Troubleshoot Performance Issues with These 3 Network Cabling Tips

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When you experience an error or a performance issue with your company's computer system, you will troubleshoot the problem in hopes of resolving it quickly. Before you open the case of your hardware and start messing with components, check your cables. Even a small cabling issue can cause big problems with your entire network.

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Prevent the Summer Heat from Roasting Your Servers with this Portable Solution

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Technically speaking, it needs to be 158°F for a raw egg to become firm. The summer heat doesn't get that hot, but outdoor objects like sidewalks and car hoods that come in contact with it can. Thus the phrase, "It's so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk!" When it's hot outside, you need to keep your server units cool inside.

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Turn Up the Cuteness with Pets at Work!

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We've come across a fun, furry idea to relieve workplace stress. Kitties and puppies! In a fun twist to the workday, many companies are allowing staff to bring their pets with them to the office, and the results are adorable!

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Winning from Home Part One: Employees Benefit

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They say that home is where the heart is, and thanks to easily accessible remote networking tools, home can also be where your work is! One evidence of just how much employees love working from home comes from a recent survey of office workers where 25% admitted that they would take a reduction in salary if it meant they could work from home.

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How to Reduce the Noise from Your Servers

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One IT problem that you may have heard about is server noise. A server unit is a noisy piece of equipment because it comes with multiple fans used to keep the machine cool. One big reason why servers are banished to their own room is because of all the noise they make. Here's what you can do to quiet your servers.

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Make Gmail More Efficient With This Trick

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One of the biggest time wasters we all face is sorting through our email inbox. This is a tedious task made worse because you have to sort through emails from the same sources every day, like newsletters and social media updates. Here's a tip to help you better organize your incoming Gmail messages.

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