MicroTech

  As Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric said, “the economy today is going through a fundamental ‘reset.’ The old rules just don’t apply anymore. We are seeing a genuine explosion of distributed/mobile/flexible work across all market segments, including large organizations, small businesses, and free agents/entrepreneurs. In fact, our research suggests that fully 15% of the U.S. workforce now spends one or more days a week working outside a corporate facility, and we project that number to grow beyond 25% within the next five years.”

Mobile workers are increasingly becoming dispatched to different locations away from the traditional office. Teams might be working at home, out in the field at a satellite office, or constantly on the go within a corporate campus environment. While the benefits of virtual leadership are plentiful and provide the advantage of obtaining talent anywhere in the world with around the clock work progression, there are still many challenges that managers face.

Whether employees are referred to as remote workers or as being a part of a mobile workforce, they have become the rule and not the exception, and companies face new terrain in managing these virtual employees. Engaging mobile workers can be a difficult challenge, as they must stay focused and connected with each other and the larger organization while working asynchronously at great distances. Virtual workers can often feel a sense of isolation, and building bonded teams becomes more difficult when there are few opportunities to meet face-to-face.

How can you keep your team connected – internally and externally – in a world where almost everyone you want to be connected to is mobile a majority of the time? Effective leadership means motivating your followers to want what you want. When their goals are consistent with the organization’s objectives, they spend more time and put forth more effort focusing on doing work they see as contributing to those goals. Connecting and leading virtual teams is not impossible, but does require some new policies and updated management practices that reflect the realities of the “new economy.”

To be successful, there are four specific measures that managers of distributed teams must do to ensure success:

- Use highly participative approaches in establishing distributed work environments - Define and publish formal policies and procedures for distributed work - Establish explicit, tangible performance measures - Develop formal agreements about regular interaction

Once a virtual team has been established, a manager must first assess the team’s working patterns and determine which tools are needed to get the core job completed, while simultaneously maximizing the amount of meaningful communication among team members. By understanding such work patterns, a manager can effectively match both technology support and personal management practices to the employees’ particular needs. Through continued communication, the manager must be proactive in reaching out and paying attention to both the personal and social side of employees.

Here are some ways leaders are using social technologies to promote collaboration amongst virtual teams:

- Live videoconferencing to make virtual interactions feel more realistic - Frequent contact to keep connections to virtual workers fresh - Viewing a job as being both the creator and the hub of a distributed team network - Mixing media, such as the use of forums, vlogs, blogs, and discussion groups to allow people to interact in a style most comfortable to them - Focusing equally on formal tasks and personal relationships - Meeting face-to-face at least once to create a bond that can be connected virtually - Using simple technologies, such as a personal phone call or instant message to help motivate a virtual worker and letting them know they are not out of sight, out of mind - Providing staff with the technology they need to connect easily with each other and with the information they need to be productive

Digital signage is not a new concept by any means, but as the innovative applications for its use continues to rise; the adoption of this more efficient medium is likely to increase as well. Seen in airports, on factory floors, in university dorm common areas and corporate lobbies -- whether consisting of text signs that can be changed on the fly, or sophisticated interactive kiosks that allow users to select informational video feeds, digital signage is finally coming into its own. Churches have begun using digital signage to communicate with their congregations and schools and transportation hubs are using digital signage to share messaging throughout their campuses and locations.

A hybrid of television, traditional out-of-home advertisements like billboards, and Web-based content - digital signage is a network of electronic displays that can be used to deliver information, entertainment or advertising across a wide variety of venues, including retail shops, manufacturing floors, transportation hubs and corporate offices. However, the use of this technology doesn’t stop there. We’ve compiled a list of some innovative applications of digital signage in some rather unexpected places. Who would have guessed digital signage could serve a purpose in a restroom?! It’s true… take a look below.

1. Public Venues

Through the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) Smart Posters technology, digital signage can be located anywhere and are frequently seen in city theaters, restaurants, and at bus or train stops. Through the use of this technology, users are called to more actively engage with the services that are offered through a digital exchange of content. Today digital signage no longer means just electronic screens, but print signage that has gone "digital."

Examples of print signage gone digital include:

A printed poster sending real-time local inventory and pricing information for the product or service being depicted directly to the viewer’s smartphone.

A direct mail piece promoting  only those items that are on sale and in stock at the closest store to the reader directly via their smartphone.

  Photo Courtesy of: NEC Forum

The tourism industry has recently deployed NFC technology to offer a completely new experience to tourists. One of the first projects to utilize the technology is the ‘NFC Parcours Princesse Grace Monaco,’ which enables NFC device users to touch NFC Smart Posters to instantly download information and directions at the memorial sites during each stage of the itinerary for the Parcours in Monaco. This project demonstrates how NFC technology can reduce the number of printed brochures used in the tourist industry, while providing users with interactive and real-time information through the simplicity of touch.

  Photo Courtesy of: NEC Forum

NFC Smart Posters have also been successful at driving traffic to merchant locations. In multiple train stations across the San Francisco Bay area, posters for ‘Jack in the Box’ were deployed. Participants were able to tap their phones in order to receive promotional information and directions to the nearest ‘Jack in the Box’ location. Once there, they could simply tap their phones at a contactless payment reader to pay for their meals.

2. Vending Machines

Even old-school technologies like vending machines are getting a new-school technology upgrade. Interactive touchscreen technology has helped create a new wave of intelligent vending kiosks, producing a more immersive and personalized experience for the customer that supports a growing trend toward automated retail processes. Along with digital signage displays of the machine's product offerings and caloric information, many touchscreens are compatible with cashless payment options like NFC via Google Wallet and Isis and can connect wirelessly to provide real-time sales data, machine alerts and inventory tracking to operators.

  Photo Courtesy of: Digital Signage Today

3. Interactive Window  Displays

This use of digital signage technology allows for full interaction with a touch screen’s capabilities and can operate through a traditional store-front window. By using popular back office computer systems or digital signage controllers, customers can browse a product catalog at the storefront window at any time of the day or night by simply touching the interactive smart glass window. Another innovative application suggests the use of this technology in the home by using a bathroom mirror to display an interactive daily schedule, to-do list and organizer.

                                                Photo Courtesy of: Screen Media Daily

4. Outdoor Memorials & Parks

  Photo Courtesy of: Digital Signage Today

No longer must outdoor memorials, park dedications or sponsorships be “set in stone,” but rather the use of digital signage allows for interactive and dynamic content that truly represents the project.

The Historic Prospect Hill Cemetery Heritage Foundation was a project that results from a promise made to local families in 2010 when the cemetery retired a temporary memorial of over 4,400 flags representing the soldiers lost in Iraq. Encased in black granite, the interactive digital sign honors more than 6,600 soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by rotating through an album of pictures submitted by families of the deceased.

These creative applications are driven by the many advantages digital signage has over the traditional, static ways of displaying information. While digital signage can allow for a faster roll out of content, it can also display content in high-definition (HD), making the overall aesthetics of the material richer and cleaner. Many businesses adopt digital signage because of its low maintenance demands. Content can be updated instantaneously, via remote control, and can be tailored to particular audiences, locations or even times of the day.

From a kitchen table to the Inc. 500 Hall of Fame – MicroTech, a leading services provider and technology integrator, is celebrating its ninth anniversary this week.

Tomás Esterrich, SVP/Executive Director, MicroTech International, and José F. Niño, Consultant, MicroTech International, attended the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC) inaugural Top 50 Leaders in Latin America Summit and Gala at the Mayfair Hotel in Miami, Florida last week.

MicroTech, a leading services provider and technology integrator, has added two new senior vice presidents to its leadership line-up of impressive tech-focused thought leaders: Lynn Wasylina, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Bill Collins, Senior Vice President of Product Solutions.

The frequency of cyber attacks is increasing while the sophistication required of attackers is decreasing. –Tony Jimenez, MicroTech President & CEO