DiscountCall.com - Tip of the Month

DiscountCall Tip of the Month

Part of DiscountCall�s mission is to educate the consumer. By being an informed consumer, you will be able to make the best choices in terms of your telecommunications needs. Randy Berlin, president of DiscountCall, along with DiscountCall�s Director of Operations Rob Michael and Project Coordinator Tony Miyares offer tips to help solve a variety of telecommunications and business issues.

November Tip of the Month � Daylight Savings Time and Phone Systems by Andrew Gambini

Recent Tips:

October Green Tip of the Month- Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey
September Green Tip of the Month- Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey
August Green Tip of the Month - Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey

Archived Tips:

July Tip of the Month - Security Issues with your VoIP system by Rob Michael
June Tip of the Month - Cell Phone Safety Tips by Randy Berlin
May Tip of the Month - Office Remote Access by Tony Miyares
April Tip of the Month - Domain Email Accounts by Tony Miyares

November Tip of the Month � Daylight Savings Time and Phone Systems by Andrew Gambini: :

DiscountCall feels that ensuring your Samsung phone system’s time is correct is important. In business, our voice mail system acts as a valuable tool. That is why twice a year, in most parts of the U.S., it is critical to ensure that the time is set appropriately. If the time on your Samsung phone system is not correct you won’t gain the benefit of knowing what time you received a call; in some industries this is a great handicap.

For better or worse, most of the United States participates in Daylights Savings, or Daylight Time. The rules recently just changed again. Luckily, the business impact on technology was minimal, unlike the Y2K experience of the past, but, nevertheless, time in technology is important. The recent changes are accounted for in newer systems but for older systems, manual intervention may be required. We have listed the current rules below according to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/daylight_time.php. We hope you find this helpful.

“Starting in 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On the second Sunday in March, clocks are set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time, which becomes 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. local standard time. These dates were established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005).

Not all places in the U.S. observe daylight time. In particular, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it. Indiana adopted its use beginning in 2006.

In 2006, daylight time begins on April 2 and ends on October 29.

In 2007, daylight time begins on March 11 and ends on November 4. [New law goes into effect.]

In 2008, daylight time begins on March 9 and ends on November 2.

In 2009, daylight time begins on March 8 and ends on November 1.

Information retrieved from:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/daylight_time.php

The most important thing to remember is that technology and, in our case, phone systems are only as good as the professionals who support it. At DiscountCall, we are here to meet that need and we believe that technology must serve business not vice versa.

October Green Tip of the Month- Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey:

With gas supplies limited, people need options. Among those options are telecommuting, if it is available to you. How can you telecommute successfully? Of course, DiscountCall has the tools, including VoIP to make communications between main offices and telecommuters seamless. Here are a few more tips for telecommuters:

Keep track of your time: Trust is important when you are telecommuting. Part of building that trust is accounting for the time you have worked on various projects. Keep track of all accomplishments and how long it takes. It may seem like extra work, but it helps you if you ever need to reference that information.

Phone calls kill, keep them short: Phone calls, while important, can be tremendous time eaters. And when you�re a telecommuter, you are getting a mix of business and personal calls. Schedule time blocks each day for phone calls. When making calls, keep them short and stay on topic.

Try not to answer personal emails: Kind of goes for in-office employees as well. Schedule time for email, and while you�re working, only do work emails. Do the personal emails later, when you�re done for the day.

Set limits for a task. If you�re going to work on a task, set a time limit for it. The time limit could be 30 minutes or two hours. This way, you don�t get bogged down with a task. If you don�t finish within that time limit, try scheduling more time for it later.

September Green Tip of the Month- Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey:

In our continuing series on telecommuting, we will offer several more tips to help people transition from cubicle life to the home office. Of course, DiscountCall has the tools, including VoIP to make communications between main offices and telecommuters seamless:

Pick a quiet place. This is especially true for those of you that have families or live with people. Turn off the TV; get someone to take care of that baby. Your office should never be in the living room.

You need an office. What’s great about telecommuting is that you are in control of the size and amenities of your space. Your working area should not only be quiet, but also spacious enough for you to have room to work, with a place to put your files, your supplies, etc.

When do you work best? There are times during the day when you are more productive than others. Make sure that you schedule your most critical tasks for that time of day.

Communicate. As a telecommuter, communication with co-workers is critical. This includes communicating about projects, the progress you’re making, deliverables, issues, and anything that needs to be followed up on. Communicate as often as possible so that it doesn’t look like your loafing on the company dime.

Get ready for work each day. Working from home is not about sitting in bed with your laptop and phone. To be productive, you have to get into a productive mindset. That means getting up at a proper hour, taking a shower, and getting dressed. It doesn’t have to be a suit and tie, but a jeans and collar shirt is a good start.

August Green Tip of the Month - Tips for Telecommuters by Johnny Crosskey:

With gas prices well beyond 4.00 per gallon, ever growing commutes, and smog alerts, consistently at code orange levels, people are considering their options when it comes conserving energy, protecting the environment, and, of course, saving money. Over the next four months, we will be examining how individuals can become effective telecommuters. Telecommuting is at the heart of many companies� efforts to save energy at work and put less of a financial burden on its employees. Of course, DiscountCall has the tools, including VoIP to make communications between main offices and telecommuters seamless. Here are a few more tips for becoming an effective telecommuter.

Create a consistent routine. One of the main problems with working from home is that, over time, we lose the distinction between work and home. It�s an easy way to become ineffective. So start your work day with a pre-work ritual; a set of procedures that is as consistent as your old commute. You might take a shower, dress for work, eat breakfast, and plan your day, for example. But the main thing is to give yourself a signal that you�re beginning work and leaving home behind.

Prioritize. Work can become complicated if we let it, leaving our days filled with a million tasks, stretching to infinity. Simplify your work day by focusing only on those tasks that really matter. Try to eliminate distractions, the little things that can eat time away from your day. Or select one point in your day or week when these bugaboos can be knocked out.

Plan out your day. Plan out what you want to do each day- picking out a few important tasks or projects and structuring your day accordingly. It is helpful to break days out into two-hour increments.

Set a beginning and end to the work day. It�s very important for you to have a set time period within your day, especially an ending point to the day. Just like there isn�t anyone telling you to start work or to work hard every minute of the day, there�s also no one telling you to go home. You could easily work way longer than you would at the office. When it�s quitting time, wrap everything up, shut down, and go spend some time with your family or friends.