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When tracking mileage for your business, you may have used scraps of paper, notebooks, or even the napkins you get from fast food restaurants. Most probably, a lot of you have tried any or all of these. After you record the mileage, you may even have tried to calculate on your watch calculator (assuming you have one) or your phone, in order to determine the difference between your ending and beginning points.

Fortunately, modern technology has provided us with special fleet tracking app mechanisms that can make the procedure for tracking mileage, fleet management, and reporting expenses so much easier.

The following are some of the benefits of using fleet management and mileage tracking app for your business:

1. You will be able to make IRS Compliant Reports

A certain fleet tracking app such as the vehicle mileage log for taxes made by TripLog enables you to generate reports that are in line with IRS rules. It allows you to subtract $ 0.575 for every mile. However, to be able to claim the deduction (and save a substantial amount of taxes every year) it is important that you keep a thorough record. The IRS is requiring every business to save all the receipts related to operations or vehicle expenses beyond $75. With the help of a tracking app, you will be able to take a snapshot of your receipts and then upload them to the cloud storage for safekeeping. This application is capable of creating IRS compliant reports that will assist you in claiming the highest amount of exemptions.

Vehicle expenses may include parking, fuel, tolls, insurance, maintenance, registration, etc., while other business expenses may include lodging, travel, meals, gifts, along with various other business related expenses.

2. Capability to function on a Mobile Device

Rather than giving your employees bulky and expensive laptops, applications enable them to use a tablet or mobile phone to track the mileage. Apps can be connected via a Bluetooth device, and then it will automatically start recording mileage, and will also stop the recording automatically as the vehicle stops. Users will also have the ability to track locations with GPS. Another feature of having a tracking app on your mobile device is that you can sync data between a mobile device and web services. These apps also have the ability to record the route taken and show it on maps. However, it is best to be aware of the laws in your state regarding the use of a mobile device while operating a vehicle. You may also and provide your drivers with a hands-free device or a dash mount.

3. It Connects with Accounting Software

With the help of a tracking app, you can be spared of the painstaking effort of manually inputting data into the spreadsheets. Instead, you can connect with and upload the expense and mileage data straight to Intuit QuickBooks. You may also be able to upload additional expenses such as parking receipts. This allows you to quickly and easily reimburse your employees for mileage.

Other fleet tracking apps that are available include those that will keep your employees safe while driving so they will be kept from accidents and keep insurance costs at low, which will ultimately save you both time and money.

In business investing in a robust industrial security system always pays off. The level of security each type of business requires may differ, but all of them require some form of industrial security system to protect not only their personnel and but also their resources.

The worst thing a business owner can do is to procure security equipment and get them installed without the advice of a security professional. There is always a danger of getting a system that cannot handle the perceived threats or obtaining a system that is far more sophisticated than is necessary. Both result in waste of valuable resources; the former because it will not work properly, and the latter because a simpler and cheaper version would have sufficed.

What To Look For In Security Systems

Security systems are made up of detection, alarm, surveillance, monitoring and recording equipment. The entire system is coordinated by software which is the main component of security system command and control centers. The following are the basic features of industrial security systems:

1. Access control systems: This is made up of ID cards and badges which contain access permissions and card/badge readers deployed at entry and exit points as well as elevators in a building. Access control systems are set up for two main purposes: to keep unauthorized personnel out, and to monitor entry and exit of a company’s own employees. Both result in greater security for the facility, personnel, and the company’s resources.

2. Intrusion detection & security alarms: This is made up of sensors and alarms deployed at strategic locations within a facility which are designed to detect entry of unauthorized persons into restricted areas. There are many types of detectors which can be used, and these are chosen based on the nature of the threats a company faces. Glass break detectors, motion detectors, heat detectors, pressure change detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors are a few of the most common types

3. Video surveillance cameras and recording equipment: Video surveillance deters people from stealing from the company; it deters people from outside the company as well as its own employees from doing anything illegal. Keeping video footages also protect the company and its staff from false claims made by its clients. It also provides a fair and reasonable way of settling disputes.

4. Monitoring system: Some companies prefer to hire their own security personnel to monitor the entire security system. In such cases the control center is usually built onsite and is powered separately from the rest of the facility. Some industrial security control centers are as simple as home security panels, while the most complex control numerous cameras, sensors, and alarms through several large screen monitors. The most complex systems are controlled externally by the staff of a security company on 24/7 basis.

5. Remote access: The proliferation of laptops, tablets and smart devices make it desirable to be able to access an industrial security system through the internet. This ability enables better and faster responses to any incidents.

The above are only the basic. Companies who work on sensitive US defense department contracts, for example, are required to adhere to stricter security standards. Carefully choosing an appropriate security system is always a smart move.

There are many open frame touch screen models available in the market. These screens use different technology, but the most common are projected capacitance (ProCap), infrared (IR), and surface acoustic wave (SAW). A small open frame touch screen is most likely to use projected capacitance technology.

 But what are open frame monitors and what are they normally used for? An open frame monitor has a screen plus enough support to house the electronic components for such screen. A structure needs to be provided to support such types of screens. Open frame monitors are usually designed to be the viewing and interactive part of certain pieces of equipment, thus most of them are small.

 You may have seen some of these monitors built onto the cabinets of arcade games. Some may be used in the information kiosks that you often find in museums, hospitals, exhibits, and trade shows. Industrial applications include the viewing and input screens of various types of usually automated machinery.

 Larger open frame touch screens are usually of the infrared and surface acoustic wave types. These have to be integrated into supporting framework, such as cabinets, recessed into walls, partitions or tables. Their size makes them ideal for a greater number of useful applications, such as:

Advertising Billboards: Large size touch monitors make an ideal platform for creating an impressive display of offered products and services. They are especially effective when used indoors or partially sheltered outdoor locations such as covered walkways with high foot traffic. When intended for use by prospective clients, who may not know how to properly use them, the monitors need to be appropriately protected. You may ask for a tempered glass covering, software that rejects palm touches, and security enhancements to limit access.

Work Collaboration: These touch monitors may be embedded onto walls or tables to create a place to interact with colleagues or clients. This is especially effective when discussing engineering projects, advertising campaigns and exhibition particulars with clients. Feedback can then be instantly recorded and acted upon, tremendously increasing work efficiency. Large touch monitor frames embedded in conference room walls are great at facilitating presentations and discussions.

As Teaching Aides: It is not only professionals who benefit from the interactive qualities of touch frame screens, students also do. While not all students are verbally articulate, such screens enable majority of students to fully express their ideas on the spot. For young students especially, the attraction offered by interactive screens is very effective in facilitating both learning and retention.

In Arcade Games: Large multi touch monitor frames used on arcade game consoles take gaming to higher level of interaction and enjoyment. Multiple players can use such screens either as a team or as protagonists. If arcade games are to pick up again, using large touch monitors may just be the thing that makes it happen.

Whatever size open frame monitor you need, it is probably available in the market and organizations like the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) can help you find them. When you don’t need your touch screen monitor to be able to stand alone, open frame touch screens are great alternatives.

 

The telephone provides us with a convenient way to communicate. Companies are only too glad to have an easy way to reach their clients.  Their clients took advantage of easy communication links to convey their concerns to companies which provided them some form of service or product.  Soon there were so many incoming calls seeking information or issue resolution that companies were forced to hire multiple people to handle them.  When calls still continued to grow call centers offering specialized call handling services to every type of business became popular alternatives to hiring in-house phone receptionists as they were called then.

But even professionally trained call center agents have limits.  When calls became more than their agents can handle, the first impulse of contact centers were to hire more people.  There were problems with that:  it is hard to find and train good call center agents, and hiring more people is a very expensive option. So the call centers turned to better training and equipment they were seeking to improve call handling efficiency so they will require less skilled people.  While they succeeded initially, the proliferation of phones soon had them scrambling to find a way to handle the volume of incoming calls from clients.  Industry associations like the Contact Centre Nova Scotia are never satisfied and seek to continuously improve call center performance.

The most effective way contact centers have found to handle large volumes of incoming calls is to use what is known as an acd call center, a type of inbound call center solution ; acd is an acronym for automatic call distribution. Now it seems the call centers have found a relatively inexpensive way to accommodate calls from thousands of clients with ease.

With automatic call distribution software incoming calls are routed systematically at a pace much faster than humans can achieve on their own. ACD uses a complex algorithm to route calls to call center agents.  The software takes into account information from or about the caller, the phone line the caller dialed, the caller’s are code, availability of call center agents, the skill level of the agent and rules provided by their client company.  Calls are more accurately distributed using these data, allowing the call center to respond confidently to the client.  Learn more about automatic call distribution by visiting www.unisrc.com.

The acd call center is often complimented by interactive voice response (IVR) and computer telephony integration.  IVR aids in speedy routing of calls to the right person by allowing the client to narrow down the choices based on his needs.  This is usually done by asking the client to punch a series of numbers that correspond to the type of call, product or information he requires.

Computer telephony integration helps the call center agent resolve issues faster.  The feature provides the agent information about the client, previous call history and other previously collected data during the duration of the call.  Armed with the information the call center agent is able to sound authoritative and completely aware of the client’s concerns; the shorter duration enables him to handle more calls.  This is how software helps handle large volumes of incoming calls.