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You can get fancy with other parts of the document, but the fax header only needs three things: Date and time. Name of the sender. Fax number of the sender. We’ll cover everything you need to know about fax headers, formatting, and fax cover sheets below. Whatever you are faxing is probably important — I’ll help you get it there. The three essential parts of a fax header Fax headers include vital information needed to identify the sender and ensure the document is successfully delivered to its destination. Without a proper header, faxes can get lost and delayed — which can be incredibly frustrating and inconvenient for every party involved. A fax header is not the same thing as a fax cover sheet, which can hold lots more information, like company logos, notes. There are really only three essential parts of a fax header, and if you are using an online fax service, it should be fairly straightforward to update this information. 1. Date and time The date and time on the fax header mark the moment the transmission begins. This allows the receiver to determine how long ago the fax was sent and when it should have been received. In situations where there are any delays or errors, the date and time will show exactly when the fax was sent. This protects you in a situation where the receiver misses an important fax — you will have a confirmation from your machine with the date and time listed. This is about more than just covering your bases at an informal level — the timestamp in the fax header can serve as evidence in case of legal or financial liability, too. Most fax machines and online fax services include the date and time each page of a fax was sent out, so if you send a fax with multiple pages, they might appear with slightly different times. One last thing: make sure your fax machine is set to the right time zone to avoid any confusion. 2. Name of the sender Make sure your fax header includes your full name and/or company name so the recipient knows who sent them the document. A fax server at a busy office or government agency may receive hundreds of faxes per day, so this is important. By including this information in the header, it helps the recipient who is expecting a transmission from you or your company. If they are using cloud fax, the message could be routed directly to the recipient’s email inbox. This is important from a legal standpoint as well, in case there are any issues with the fax transmission. 3. Fax number of the sender A fax header should include the sender’s fax number to identify who sent it and verify their authenticity. Doing this makes it easy if the recipient needs to send a fax back to you. If you’re sending a fax from an office with multiple lines, include the extension number so the receiver knows which line to use. Can you include more info in a fax header? While date, time, name, and number are the only essential elements, there may be scenarios when you want to include additional elements in your header. When you send a professional fax, you should also include a cover sheet with all the pertinent information on it. Keep the additional information you want to include on the cover sheet, and only add what you think is absolutely necessary to the header. More on that below. That said, here are some elements you can choose to include in your header: Number of pages: If you’re sending a multi-page fax, including the total number of pages can help the recipient keep track of how many pages they should be receiving, and it can also help them keep the pages in order. Description: A few words or a phrase that identify the type of document, such as “Lease Agreement.” Again, most faxes do not include these elements in the header. Only include what you think is absolutely necessary on the header, and leave the rest for the fax cover sheet. Fax header vs. fax cover sheet A fax header and a fax cover sheet are two distinct elements of a fax. The fax header is located at the top of each page and usually includes very basic information: date and time of the fax transmission, name of sender, and the sender’s fax number. The fax cover sheet is an attachment to a fax. Sometimes you are required to send a cover sheet with a fax, but you can also include one as courtesy. As a standalone document, a cover sheet gives you more room to include information like: Urgency level of the documents. Confidentiality or privacy statements. The subject and scope of the fax. A quick message regarding the fax. Your company logo and information. Additional contact information. Recipient’s name and fax number. Another notable difference between a cover sheet and a fax header is that the first will only be included once, while the latter repeats on each page. The reason for this is simple: The header includes very basic information meant to help you and your recipient track your fax pages. The fax header unifies all the elements of a set of faxed documents so that all the sheets of the fax are automatically linked to one another. The fax cover sheet acts as an introduction to the set of faxed documents, which can include helpful information for the recipient. If that’s what you are looking for, feel free to use these fax cover sheet templates to get started. Final thoughts about fax headers Fax headers can easily be overlooked, but they’re a simple way to add clarity and professionalism to your faxes. This is especially important when it comes to transmitting confidential information. While more modern means of communication, like email, texting, and VoIP phone services, can be speedier, fax is still used by many important institutions. Secure faxing

Apple’s Mac mini, a compact, computer-only package without included peripherals, now follows the tech giant’s trend toward in-house silicon with the latest M4 chip upgrade. The form factor of just five-by-five inches — half the size of the previous version — holds 16GB in the base model. The Mac mini starts at $599 for the 16GB model, with the M4 Pro version priced at $1,399, featuring 64GB of unified memory and 273GB/s of memory bandwidth. Customers can pre-order now and pick it up in stores on Nov. 8. The 2024 Mac mini is just five inches by five inches square. Image: Apple “The new Mac mini delivers gigantic performance in an unbelievably small design thanks to the power efficiency of Apple silicon and an innovative new thermal architecture,” John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, said in a press release. Both models include HDMI, while M4 Pro doubles data transfer throughput with Thunderbolt 5 The 2024 Mac mini features: 10-core CPU. 10-core GPU. Thermal venting through the foot to keep the small form factor cool. An HDMI port. An audio jack. Two USB-C ports, which support USB 3. Three Thunderbolt 4 ports. Gigabit Ethernet, configurable up to 10Gb Ethernet. Support for up to two 6K displays and up to one 5K display. The M4 Pro version swaps the three Thunderbolt 4 ports out for three Thunderbolt 5 ports, capable of supporting up to three 6K displays at 60Hz, run at 20 Gb/s data transfer speeds, and, Apple says, more than double the throughput available with Thunderbolt 4. Additionally, M4 Pro boosts the hardware to up to 14 CPU cores and up to 20 GPU cores. The M4 Pro’s Neural Engine speeds up Apple Intelligence generative AI features. Must-read Apple coverage Generative AI software rides along with macOS Sequoia Apple emphasizes the Mac mini runs macOS Sequoia 15.1, which incorporated Apple Intelligence starting Oct. 28. More generative AI features, including closer integration between Siri and ChatGPT, are expected later in the year. Apple is betting that some users will turn to generative AI as their gateway to broader computer functionality, with Apple intelligence able to carry out commands across applications, including Siri. SEE: Apple devices can easily integrate into an office setting based around Microsoft software like Outlook. Apple Intelligence is only available when the system and Siri languages are set to U.S. English, with other variants of English to come in December and other languages to follow in April. MacOS Sequoia also brings: iPhone mirroring. Highlights, a feature of the Safari browser meant to emphasize the most important elements of websites. A new, distraction-reducing Video Viewer layout. Distraction Control, a way to hide videos, ads, or other elements of websites. The Passwords management app. Contemporary gaming. How does the Mac mini compare to an iMac? The price of a Mac mini and a monitor can be significantly more affordable than a $1,299 2024 iMac, even if you purchase Apple accessories. For example, Apple suggests pairing the Mac mini with the Magic Keyboard ($99), Magic Mouse ($79), and Thunderbolt 5 Pro Cable ($69). On the other hand, the 2024 iMac offers up to 2TB of storage at the high end, making the full desktop model a worthwhile investment if you need extra space. This example of a home office setup shows the Mac Mini with Apple accessories. Image: Apple If you’re a professional who primarily uses a laptop as a home workstation, rarely transports it, and relies on a separate monitor, the Mac mini can be an appealing alternative to both a desktop or laptop. source

Content plan templates make it possible to track content ideas from brainstorming and creation to design, publishing, and packaging. Using a template (or full on system) makes it possible to align these low-level plans with overarching business goals. However, “content plan” is a pretty broad category and means different things to different people. For some, this means a simple editorial calendar. For others, it’s a full-scale project management and content operations system. I’ve used dozens of different tools, configurations, and templates to manage content over the years. Here are my favorite templates that span the spectrum from simple to advanced. Content plan templates for ClickUp ClickUp is a project management and task management software with a comprehensive free plan you can use to get started. It has hundreds of free templates you can start with and you can customize just about everything to match your needs. You can use it to collaborate with your team and manage each stage of the content planning and production process — from brainstorming and assigning to creation and publishing. More ClickUp coverage: ClickUp review | ClickUp vs Notion | Smartsheet vs ClickUp.  A template for tying content and subtasks to high-level goals ClickUp’s content plan template is a great resource if you like having all of your goals and tasks connected. Image: Clickup.com If you’re anything like me, you prefer everything from objectives and goals to content and subtasks to be connected. That’s exactly what this ClickUp template helps with. It lets you start with broad content goals and other big-picture objectives. You can lay out everything you want your content to accomplish and always have that close by in case you or anyone your team forgets. From there, you can add content ideas and subtasks for each one. This lets you get incredibly granular while keeping everything tied together. There are multiple views, including calendar, Kanban, list, grid, more. Everyone from managers and editors to writers and uploaders can view their work in whatever way works best for them. You’ll also be able to set up content pillars and track progress for each one. A beginner-friendly social media content planning template Plan and schedule all of your social media posts across all your profiles from a single template. Image: Clickup.com Need a simple way to keep track of social media content? ClickUp’s free social media template is great for individuals or businesses that need help managing social content at high volumes across multiple channels. This template makes it easy to plan from the top down. After the initial set up, you’ll know what to publish, which channel it’s going on, and when to push it live. Within each piece of content, you can assign subtasks to different team members as needed. Say you need a copywriter to put together a few lines for a LinkedIn post but you also need a designer to create custom images. With this template, you can do both and track progress for the entire piece at a higher level. It also includes a built-in prioritization field and the ability to reschedule content or shuffle priorities at a moment’s notice. monday.com: Plan full projects and content work in one place Like ClickUp, monday.com is an all-in-one project management solution. Unlike ClickUp, it’s built on relational databases that make it far more customizable and flexible if you want to put in the work to customize it. It’s free to sign up if you have one or two people but you’re limited to three projects. That’s more than enough to try the template out, but it won’t get you as far as other free plans out there. More monday.com coverage: monday.com review | Notion vs monday.com | Asana vs monday.com. Get multiple content plan views with this planning template from monday.com. Image: monday.com monday.com’s content planning template comes with everything you need to brainstorm, manage, review, and schedule all of your content. Whether you’re running a blog, preparing videos on YouTube, creating social posts, or a combination of all these, you’ll get all the elements you need. While it does require more customization than others, it gives you full control to make the template work how you do. You can easily switch between board, table, Gantt, and calendar view (depending on your plan) to see the right level of detail for what you’re doing. Want to understand overall timelines at a glance? Gantt chart or calendar view will work well. Need to see what tasks are assigned to you and when they’re due? You can set up a filtered view that shows all of your work across the entire board in one place. With a full suite of automations on higher tiers, you’ll be able to set up fully automated workflows that update statuses, assign the right people, adjust due dates, and more. One of the more unique aspects of this template is the ability to upload and organize files. Notion content planning templates I think of Notion as a blank slate that can be turned into just about anything as long as you’re willing to put in the time. It doesn’t come preconfigured for project management like ClickUp and it’s more customizable than monday.com. For some, that’s exciting. For others, it’s debilitating. If you’re the former, you’ll love being able to tweak every setting and format your system to match your preferences. Like the others, it has a free plan you can use to try it out. If you’re an individual, this will likely be more than enough for quite some time. For teams, the free plan is more of a free trial to see if it’ll work for your business. More Notion coverage: Notion review | Coda vs Notion | Notion vs OneNote.  A bare-bones content plan template with Kanban and calendar views This template is a great way for individuals and small teams to keep track of content ideas and manage simple production pipelines. Image: Notion.so If you’re currently using handwritten notes or a blank Word doc

If you combine enterprise network monitoring tools with industry best practices for network management, you’ll gain fuller visibility over your assets and establish a healthier network environment. Depending on your company’s security requirements and levels of risk, you can get advanced network monitoring features or just the basics with our picks for the top tools. Top network monitoring tools: Comparison table We have a more detailed look at each product below, but if you’re looking to quickly compare these tools in a few key areas, here’s a comparison table of all the products we’ll cover: Software Starting price for paid plans Forever free plan available Free trial available Business size Supported platforms Deployment options Progress WhatsUp Gold $899 per year for 50 devices Yes Yes. Any business size. Windows Server. Cloud or on-premises. Cacti $0 Yes No, but the software is free. Small businesses. Windows, Mac OS/X, Linux, Unix and any platform that meets the minimum requirements. Cloud or on-premises. Nagios $2,495 per year for 100 nodes Yes Yes. Small to medium-sized businesses. Windows, Mac OS/X and Linux/Unix. Cloud or on-premises. Zabbix $0 Yes No, but the software is free. Large businesses. Linux, IBM AIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS/X, Solaris, Windows and HP-UX. Cloud or on-premises. ManageEngine OpManager $245 for 25 devices Yes Yes. Large businesses. Windows, Linux or Chrome/Firefox/Edge browsers. Cloud or on-premises. Datadog $15 per host per month Yes Yes. Medium-to-large-sized businesses. Linux, Mac OS and Windows. Cloud or on-premises. Paessler PRTG Network Monitor $2,149 per year for ~50 devices No Yes. Any business size. Windows Server and Windows 10/11. Cloud or on-premises. Wireshark $0 Yes No, but the software is free. Any business size. Windows Server, Windows 8/8.1/10/11 and Unix/Unix-like platforms. Cloud or on-premises. 1 Site24x7 Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Alerts / Notifications, Analytics / Reporting, Application Performance Monitoring (APM), and more 2 ManageEngine Log360 Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Micro (0-49 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees) Micro, Medium, Enterprise, Large, Small Features Activity Monitoring, Blacklisting, Dashboard, and more Progress WhatsUp Gold: Best overall Image: Progress WhatsUp Gold logo. Source: Progress WhatsUp Gold. Progress’s WhatsUp Gold is an IT infrastructure monitoring solution that gives users full visibility into everything connected to their network. You’ll be able to see your servers, virtual machines, network devices, and cloud and wireless environments. This approach will help you make better diagnostic decisions when fixing network or component-specific problems. SEE: How to Create an Effective Cybersecurity Awareness Program (TechRepublic Premium) This is an SNMP-based network monitoring solution that you can expand with different add-ons. A great benefit of this platform is that it’s easy to use. Thanks to its interactive map, you’ll easily get the information you need to evaluate the status of your devices. Pricing Progress WhatsUp Gold does disclose starting prices on its website, but you’ll need to contact the sales department for a more accurate quote. There are three paid plans in addition to the forever free edition: Free edition: $0 for up to 10 devices. Business: starts at $899 for 50 devices. Enterprise: starts at $1,499 for 50 devices. Enterprise Plus: starts at $2,199 for 50 devices. Standout features Image: WhatsUp Gold dashboard. Source: Progress WhatsUp Gold. Popular features of this platform include: Log management. Alerts. Configuration management. Cloud-based resources. Application performance monitoring. Wireless network management. Flowmon NPMD/NDR. Network performance monitoring. Network mapping. Pros and cons Pros Cons It’s suitable for any business size or industry background. The number of features may be overwhelming for some users. The interface is user-friendly. It may be complex to manage your notifications. There are plenty of accessible and useful features. It can be costly, depending on the plan you select. Use cases I recommend this tool for any business that is willing to test or demo the solution first. It has plenty of basic and advanced features that cater to most needs, but you’ll still want to get a feel for its capabilities before committing. Why I chose Progress WhatsUp Gold I chose WhatsUp Gold because it offers a modular pricing system that lets companies pick and choose the extra features they need. I also like its modern UX and interactive network mapping, which helps companies build the right monitoring system for their specific needs. Cacti: Best bare bones option Image: Cacti Cacti is a monitoring and fault management framework that integrates with the Simple Network Management Protocol and is useful for making graphical representations of network traffic. While it’s built for statistical modeling, the tool is a good option for those with the technical chops to integrate their SNMP data. Cacti offers six built-in themes for you to customize your experience and has been translated into many languages. Pricing Cacti is a forever free tool released under the GNU General Public License. Standout features Image: Cacti dashboard. Source: Cacti. Cacti is an advanced template-based solution that allows you to work with the following features: Device templates. Graphs and graph templates. Data source management. Profiles. Data polling and collection. Packaging. Discovery and automation. Different graph-viewing options. Plugins. Group and domain management. An intuitive dashboard. Pros and cons Pros Cons It’s free. Features are limited for many business use cases and requirements. It’s RRDTool-based. The user interface is simple; some users may find it dated. The graphs are based on the SNMP protocol. Use cases Cacti is recommended for small businesses that may not need a complex network device monitoring service. Even though the platform offers plenty of features, others may give you a better experience via automations or quality-of-life updates. SEE: Best Home Network Monitoring Options (TechRepublic Forums) Why I picked Cacti Cacti is a free tool with the capabilities to provide the basic functions of network monitoring, provided that your team has staff that can understand statistical modeling and can connect and maintain the

Do you know what kind of Google account you have? Do you even know if you have a Google Workspace account? There are many variations of accounts associated with Google, from a basic Gmail account to a paid, fully secured Google Workspace account. If you are confused about the different types of Google accounts, you are not alone. As Google’s products evolve, the company has changed the name of account types and services. TechRepublic has provided several types of Google accounts you should know. SEE: Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: A side-by-side analysis w/checklist (TechRepublic Premium) What is a Gmail account? A Gmail account is a free Google account with an email address that ends in @gmail.com. Gmail accounts arrived on the scene back in 2004, and they were such a hot commodity that people needed to receive an invitation in order to acquire an account. At the time, the 1 GB of storage space and the clever threading of conversations seemed modern when compared with Yahoo or Hotmail accounts. As the amount of free storage space grew, so did the applications people associated with a Gmail account. People who use Gmail can also access Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Calendar. The account allows access to other Google applications like Photos, Maps, and YouTube. Many Gmail users like the applications and the anytime/anywhere access so much that they arrange to have their work email forwarded to Gmail. This is more common in smaller organizations where email security is more relaxed. The account settings of Gmail allow you to display a business email address as the “reply from” address. A Gmail account is managed only by the individual who owns the account, not an organization’s IT administrator. What is a Google Account? A Google Account is a username and password that can be used to log in to consumer Google applications such as Docs, Sites, Maps, and Photos. But a Google account doesn’t necessarily end with @gmail.com. Think of it this way: All Gmail.com accounts are Google accounts, but not all Google accounts are Gmail.com accounts. For example, a user can sign up for a Google account with her @yahoo.com email address. Using this account she can create, edit, and collaborate on Google Docs without using Gmail. A common myth is that Google Workspace users cannot share and edit Google Docs with users who do not have a Google Workspace account. Anyone can sign up for a free Google Account and use it to access and edit Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more. SEE: How to manage your personal information for your Google account What are Google Workspace accounts? Google Workspace accounts come in many editions: Basic, Business, Enterprise, and configurations for Nonprofit, Education, or Government organizations. Google Workspace accounts previously were known as G Suite accounts. In earlier days, these were referred to as Google Apps or Google Apps for your Domain. All of these product names refer to successively offered Google services that provided administrator-managed accounts. What are the main differences between Gmail and Google Workspace? Unlike a standard Google or Gmail account, a Google Workspace administrator manages all accounts associated with each of these editions. Google Workspace provides access to a core set of apps that include Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Google+, Hangouts Meet, Hangouts Chat, Sites, and Groups. Subscribers to Google Workspace receive access to email and phone support as well. Other differences between Gmail and Google Workspace include: Gmail account Google Workspace account Price Free. From $7.20/£5 per user, per month. Storage 15 GB of storage, which is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos. At least 30 GB, depending on the pricing plan. Services and features Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Maps, News, Play, Sites, Meet, Forms, YouTube. All of the services available to free accounts plus custom Gmail domains, enhanced Meet features, Admin Console, Endpoint Management, AppSheet, Work Insights, enhanced security features, and more. What are the pricing options for Google Workspace? There are several different pricing options available for Google Workspace accounts: Business Starter: $7.20/£5 per user, per month. Includes 30 GB storage per user, 100 participant video meetings. Business Standard: $14.40/£10 per user, per month. Includes 2 TB storage per user, 150 participant video meetings, appointment booking pages. Business Plus: $21.60/£15 per user, per month. Includes 5 TB storage per user, 500 participant video meetings, appointment booking pages, enhanced security. Enterprise: Price individual to organization. Includes at least 5 TB storage per user, 1,000 participant video meetings with special features, appointment booking pages, enhanced security, and support. Gemini, Google’s AI ecosystem, is available as an add-on to all of these plans. Can I use my Gmail account with Google Workspace? Yes, you can use your free Gmail account login details to access many Google Workspace services, including Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. However, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan to use the full set of Workspace features, including custom domain addresses, enhanced admin controls, and additional storage capacity. More Google news & tips What are Managed Google Play and Cloud Identity accounts? Google also allows companies to create and manage two other types of organizational accounts: Cloud Identity and Managed Google Play. Cloud Identity accounts can be created and managed by an administrator but lack access to Google Workspace’s paid apps. A Cloud Identity account can help an administrator manage mobile devices, provide and sync directory services, and give people single sign-on services to other apps, among additional features. Managed Google Play accounts let an organization’s administrator deploy and manage Android apps. Managed Google Play Accounts lack access to paid Google Workspace apps. How do I switch between multiple Google accounts? Many Google users have multiple types of Google accounts. Google lets you sign in and switch between various Google, Gmail, and Google Workspace accounts in Chrome and in mobile apps. For more details on how to use and switch between multiple Google accounts, you can read some tips for managing multiple

Busy contact centers handle millions of conversations across multiple channels each year. This means any improvement that resolves calls quicker, even if only by a second or two, can result in thousands of hours saved each year — and that translates into improved customer services, lower costs, and more efficient operations overall. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the technologies that can make this a reality. These essential, premium, and cutting-edge contact center technologies can play a key role in the optimization of your contact center both today and in the future. Essential contact center technology Let’s start by covering the standard, must-have capabilities for a platform to work well for modern contact centers. First we’ll cover channels, then we’ll look at capabilities. Contact center channels The ideal solution in terms of viability will support every channel you rely on now, or plan on using in the near-future. Most businesses are looking for most, if not all, of the the following contact center channels: Phone. Text. Chat. Email. Fax. Social media. Videoconferencing. Conference calling. Public address systems. Not everyone will care, but some contact center solutions do not support fax. That’s going to be a curveball during deployment. Others rely on third-party apps for certain channels. That might not be as efficient or as easy to secure as a built-in service. If you are looking to purchase or upgrade your contact center software, why not focus on vendors with the infrastructure to support the channels you rely on? For each channel, make sure the specific tech you rely on is supported. To make calls, for example, are you using a VoIP phone system, an on-premise PBX, or SIP Trunk? Does the vendor support it today? Will it continue to work in the next few years? Must-have contact center capabilities I’ll admit, I have seen some of these capabilities listed as premium features by certain contact center providers. Some people may not agree, but I consider all of this technology essential for the success of a contact center: Customer relationship management (CRM) integration helps businesses manage and track customer information in one unified and streamlined location. Call queuing technology helps contact centers organize their incoming calls, simplifying the process of improving call resolutions and cutting down on call wait times. Call recording has many uses for contact centers, including training material for new hires, dispute resolution with customers, and providing opportunities to gain useful insights. Automatic call distributor (ACD) systems answer and route calls to the specific agent who is best suited to resolve an issue, cutting down on wait times, boosting efficiency, and improving customer service. Interactive voice response (IVR) is a form of automated technology that lets incoming callers get the information they need without having to talk to an actual agent, lessening the burden they have by reducing call volumes and providing faster resolutions. Intelligent callback technology allows customers to hang up and be called back by an agent later on so they don’t have to wait in a call queue, leading to improved customer satisfaction and a less hectic call volume for agents. If the idea is to centralize communication across channels, CRM integration is a must-have, as is a built-in IVR hosted by the vendor that can route calls across multiple channels. Tying in other software and services is always possible, but it’s going to slow down your deployment, migration, or day-to-day work. SEE: Discover why a fully hosted IVR is better than managing your own.  Premium contact center technology The following tools are not necessarily new or uncommon — they simply tend to be limited to premium subscriptions or available as add-on services. In other words, you are less likely to find these features bundled with basic contact center software. For the right use-case, the premium cost translates into healthy ROI. Auto dialers Auto dialers are a type of software that automatically dials outbound numbers for agents. This technology is very useful since it boosts productivity and efficiency for call agents, as they don’t have to do the manual grunt work of dialing outbound numbers all day long. There are several types of auto dialers, including progressive, predictive, preview, and agent-initiated versions. The best one for your business will depend on your business needs and the kinds of calls you tend to make. In any case, auto dialers are most useful in situations where agents need to make a high volume of outbound calls throughout the day. Call analytics Call analytics technology is vital for having a better understanding of the customer journey, gauging performance, and obtaining insights into valuable metrics. With a call analytics system, you can gain a detailed look into KPIs such as call volume and resolution time. You can also view historical data, generate reports, and gather information necessary to make key decisions. Adding analytics to the mix can be a great choice for businesses and organizations looking to gather more data quickly and efficiently, as well as those looking to optimize their call centers with data-backed decision-making. Contact center workforce management (WFM) Workforce management (WFM) technology in contact centers streamlines staffing and scheduling by using historical data to predict call volumes and optimize agent availability. With minimal oversight, this tech automates tasks like forecasting, shift assignments, and real-time monitoring, ensuring the right number of agents are always available to handle customer demand. This reduces idle time, minimizes overstaffing/understaffing, and gives contact center managers excellent visibility. The key benefits of contact center workforce optimization include improved efficiency, lower operational costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Accurate forecasting reduces wait times for customers while helping contact centers meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Email response management systems Email response management systems gather, analyze, and organize email inquiries submitted by customers and then route them to the right team for an appropriate response. This technology offers many benefits, such as faster email response times, improved customer satisfaction rates, and a more streamlined email response process overall. It works especially well for organizations

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Over the past two years, the market has been flooded with sparkly artificial intelligence tools that promise to improve our writing. Generative AI’s primary function is content creation, and chatbots are its most accessible form, so it is not surprising that the number of so-called “copilots” has grown quickly. However, many are based on the same large language models and produce varying results. It is widely accepted that, without the human touch, AI favours cliched, repetitive content. This is especially the case for tasks used in a professional setting, such as drafting emails and marketing content. Saying that, bespoke AI writing aids can be beneficial when used correctly. They can significantly speed up tasks, highlight grammatical errors you didn’t notice, keep your copy’s style on-brand, formulate scattered ideas, and help you overcome writer’s block. The best tools will also gear the user away from generic content that both puts off readers and flags AI detectors. To help writers cut through the noise and find the AI that will do the best with the task at hand, TechRepublic has compiled a list of the top five tools for different writing tasks. SEE: Scale Your SEO Writing With This AI-Powered Tool for Google Sheets Best AI writing tools: Comparison table Tool What it does Cost LLM Grammarly Checks spelling, grammar, clarity, and style. Free for basic plan. Proprietary. ChatGPT Powerful, multipurpose chatbot. Free for basic plan. GPT-4. Jasper Produces written and visual content in a brand’s style. $39/£30 per month, per user. GPT-4. Flowrite Writes emails, social media posts, and other everyday messages. $5/£4 per month for 15 messages. GPT-3. DeepL Translate Accurately translates text into 30+ languages. Free to translate up to 25,000 characters a day; $28.74/£22.18 per month for unlimited. Proprietary. Best for spelling and grammar: Grammarly The Grammarly widget suggests spelling, grammar, and style changes as you write. Image: Grammarly/Screenshot by TechRepublic Grammarly is one of the most well-known writing aids. It has been around since the pre-ChatGPT era, aiding users with their spelling and grammar wherever they’re typing, be it Word, Gmail, Teams, or just their to-do list. Additionally, the Grammarly widget will include suggestions on sentence structure, style, and clarity, on top of highlighting the typical typos and misplaced apostrophes. You can apply these edits with just a click. This writing tool goes deeper with its suggestions than a simple spellchecker, especially if you upgrade to Pro level. One of the coolest things I’ve noticed is how it can direct you away from unconscious biases in your writing, such as suggesting “spokesperson” over “spokesman.” But it can also highlight “weak” choices of adjectives and when a more optimistic, convincing, formal, or otherwise appropriate word could be used within the context of the sentence. Grammarly is more powerful than other AI writing assistants, in part, because it uses a proprietary LLM, rather than relying on offerings from OpenAI or another tech giant. Plus, if you like chatbots, it has also recently added the GrammarlyGO writing assistant that can respond to prompts based on your text. Price Free for basic plan. Pro level costs $12/£10 a month and includes plagiarism detection, tone adjustment, sentence rewriting, and more. Top features Spellchecker, plagiarism checker, personalised weekly email with writing stats. Pros and cons Pros Cons Regarded as the most accurate tool for spelling and grammar. Poor for fiction writing. Provides explanations with each suggestion. Over-reliance can make text read generically. Best for generating ideas: ChatGPT ChatGPT is useful for writers looking for starting points or fleshing out ideas. Image: OpenAI/Screenshot by TechRepublic By now, it would take a dedicated technophobe to have not heard of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The chatbot has become almost synonymous with generative AI, since its release in November 2022 brought the power of the technology into the public consciousness. While it has brought about much valid criticism regarding its hallucinations, biases, security issues, and environmental impact, it can certainly prove helpful when writing if used responsibly and smartly. ChatGPT’s intelligence means that it can interpret disparate ideas or half-baked questions, so it is useful for brainstorming. For example, if there’s a word on the tip of your tongue, you can prompt the bot with what it sounds like, the letter it starts with, and a general definition, and it is likely you’ll get your answer. The chat interface makes it easy to build on ideas, and the LLM’s wide breadth of knowledge means it can give you a starting point for almost any topic. However, those that use ChatGPT regularly can quite easily spot its telltale signs; lists of threes, bullet point lists, “in the ever-evolving landscape,” to name just a few. This means that it is unwise to copy and paste large chunks of outputted text without any amendments. ChatGPT’s ideas are also often basic and vague, as everything it generates is based on already-published text, so use with caution. SEE: ChatGPT vs Google Gemini (2024): What Are the Main Differences? Price Free, for the most part. If you would like access to OpenAI’s most powerful LLMs, then you will need at least a “ChatGPT Plus” membership, costing $20/£16 a month. Top features GPT-4 access, DALL-E image generation for paid users. Pros and cons Pros Cons One of the most intelligent LLMs available for personal use. Its default output is recognisable in style, so should be edited before publication. Useful for overcoming writer’s block, as it can suggest starting points. Prone to inaccuracies when asked factual questions. Best for creating marketing content: Jasper Jasper is a content-generating tool especially for marketers. Image: Jasper/Screenshot by TechRepublic Unlike ChatGPT and Grammarly, Jasper is intended to aid writers working in a specific industry: marketing. Users will feed it information about the company, be it tone of voice or product details, as “memories” to draw from. Then, its chatbot interface can respond to prompts asking for blog and social media posts, product descriptions, emails, scripts, and other marketing content. On top of being knowledgeable of the products and services, Jasper’s

Yes, virtual private networks are worth it. In today’s digital age, it’s become increasingly important to protect online data. In the fourth quarter of 2023 alone, more than eight million data records were exposed to data breaches all over the world. VPNs address this by encrypting the connection between a device and an online network, securing data against hackers and bad actors. While quality VPNs typically require a paid subscription, they are relatively inexpensive compared to possible losses incurred from a breach or a cyberattack. IBM reported that the global average cost of a data breach this year can reach $4.45 million. In this article, we’ll offer reasons why VPNs are worth the spend, how free VPNs fare against paid ones and what VPN services can be best for you and your business. ESET PROTECT Advanced Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Any Company Size Any Company Size Features Advanced Threat Defense, Full Disk Encryption , Modern Endpoint Protection, and more ManageEngine Log360 Employees per Company Size Micro (0-49), Small (50-249), Medium (250-999), Large (1,000-4,999), Enterprise (5,000+) Micro (0-49 Employees), Medium (250-999 Employees), Enterprise (5,000+ Employees), Large (1,000-4,999 Employees), Small (50-249 Employees) Micro, Medium, Enterprise, Large, Small Features Activity Monitoring, Blacklisting, Dashboard, and more What does a VPN do? A VPN protects your online traffic by generating a secure and encrypted tunnel which all your data is passed through. This hides your online activity and makes your data illegible to malicious third parties. VPNs protect sensitive information such as IP addresses, browsing history, DNS queries, files downloaded, and other types of personal data. SEE: Does a VPN Slow Down Your Internet Speed? (TechRepublic) VPNs also give you the ability to select an alternate IP address and location and access region-blocked websites. This allows you to view geo restricted content like streaming services, news articles, and locked websites. To learn more about VPNs, you can check out our full article entitled What is a VPN? Why you need a VPN for your business VPNs are a cost-effective way to ensure that your business’ data is protected against cyberattacks and hackers. As more organizations rely on the internet for their regular operations, it’s important to be proactive in securing internal resources. Confidential information like inventories, business strategies, and internal communications are just a few examples of data that VPNs can protect. SEE: How Much Does a VPN Cost? + Savings Tips (TechRepublic) VPNs also bring an additional layer of security to client/s’ confidential data. Through VPN encryption, you can ensure customers that their information is in safe and secure hands. Additionally, VPNs help secure resources for employees that access a company’s network remotely. As more organizations shift toward hybrid setups, VPNs ensure that no data is accidentally exposed when remote employees access materials on the company network. What is the downside of having a VPN? While using a VPN adds a layer of security, there are a few drawbacks that come with it. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is slower VPN speeds or higher latency. Since a VPN encrypts your online traffic and routes it to a VPN server, additional steps are added to the overall path of your connection. With these additional steps, your internet speed is likely to get slower compared to when you’re directly connected to your internet service provider. Fortunately, most quality VPNs will only have a 10-30% decrease in VPN speed that is almost negligible in real-world use. SEE: How to Tell If Your VPN Is Working Properly (TechRepublic) There’s also a danger of errant VPNs doing the opposite of protecting user data. Usually done by free VPNs, some providers will outright log or record your data and sell it to third party agencies or marketing companies. This is why it’s important to use a VPN with a no-logs policy that’s been independently verified. You can check out our rundown of the best no-logs VPNs here. Finally, online sites or services may block or restrict VPNs altogether. Examples of websites that may not play well with VPNs are streaming services or social networking sites. Free vs. paid VPNs Free VPNs Paid VPNs No payment information required Requires a monthly payment Limited security, speed and features Heightened security and performance Only offers a handful of servers Full server network Free VPNs offer access to an encrypted connection at zero cost. Because they’re free, they don’t require users to hand over financial information, such as credit card numbers or bank details. Some paid VPN providers even offer free tiers of their services. This is a great way to trial a particular vendor’s VPN implementation before purchasing a subscription. However, there are drawbacks to free VPNs — chief among these is the limited security and performance. Most free VPNs possess weaker overall encryption and have a smaller network of servers. It’s also common for free VPNs to restrict connection speeds and have a cap of only 2-5 GB of usable data per month. Because the service is free, there’s a good chance that free VPNs sell your data to marketing companies to make up the costs. SEE: Free VPN vs Paid VPN: Which One Is Right for You? (TechRepublic) Paid VPNs address all of these issues. They offer the highest quality of encryption and security, grant you access to a full server suite, and typically provide more reliable performance and speed. With a paid VPN subscription, you also get extra security features such as built-in anti-malware protection, ad-blocking, and specialized servers for streaming or torrenting. Paid services usually offer more robust independent testing on their security claims. While most VPNs carry no-logs policies on user data, not all vendors back these claims through third-party audits. On the same note, paid VPNs are also less incentivized to sell your data since they already make a profit through monthly subscription fees. Other benefits of paid VPNs over free VPNs are better customer service, more intuitive user interfaces, and support for multiple platforms. More cloud