Author Archives: Jeb Brilliant

iWork Still Isn’t A Competitor, Hopefully That Will Change This Week

by Jeb Brilliant

This is going to be a big week for Apple with the launch of iOS 7 and their 2 new phones, the iPhone 5c and 5s but along with the new OS comes iWork. iWork is Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office online option and Google Docs (now called Drive). Apple has decided to give iWork away for free to customers purchasing new iOS 7 devices. That will include new iPhones, iPod Touches and iPads.

This freebie may be a big deal or just a splash in a large pond. The real question is will you consider using iWork on your iPad? What about for kids, will this be a suitable resource for their school work?

I for one have used SkyDrive which is the free version of Office (in the cloud), Google Docs and iWorks Pages (on iOS), the first two are competent word processors but unless Apple updates Pages and more than likely all of iWork I don’t think it will come even close to being able to play in the big leagues of the other two cloud services. iWork looks very basic and unpolished at this point. Granted it is a cloud version still in beta but the iOS app is not though still lacks a great deal of functionality and modern necessities. Unlike Google Docs you can’t collaborate with others to input data into a spreadsheet or document. This is 2013 soon to be 2014 and that’s a basic feature and necessity, at least it is to me.

My personal pet peeve in Pages on iOS and in the cloud is not being able to easily add and edit hyperlinks. I’m writing this post in iWork (beta) on a computer browser and I’m unable to add a hyperlink to an old Phone.com blog post and on my iPad it’s a ridiculous experience to try to create hyperlinks. I will have to complete writing this blog post by copying and pasting it into Google Docs add the hyperlinks to the post I’ve already written. This is an injustice to the user and a sad state of affairs IF this is what’s going to be presented to the public this week.

I for one will stick to composing all of my documents in Google Drive and on the rare occurrence I’m not able to edit or email the document to a Microsoft Word user I’ll use my MS Office suite on my computer for this purpose. I hope Apple will fix Pages because at this point I wasted the $10 I spent buying it on the iPad. Maybe that will change this week, we will just have to wait and see.

The iPhone 5s Is The Security Device Of The Year

by Jeb Brilliant

Leave a reply

I just got done watching Apple keynote announcing the new iPhone 5c and 5s. I’m a mobile phone fan in general and new technology in the industry of any kind excites me. There was a great deal of news from the event but I want to briefly cover the new fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5s.

With Phone.com being a small business phone service I have SMB’s on my mind a lot. What I got from the announcements is that the iPhone 5s is absolutely the most important device of the year for companies in terms of security. Every week I read or hear another story about how a company lost it’s secret work because some employee left his or her phone at a restaurant or in a cab and inevitably they never thought they would so even though their IT department or boss mandates they utilize the passcode on their phone they thought they knew better and did not.

To let you in on the news if you haven’t read or seen it yet somewhere, Apple has put a fingerprint scanner on their new flagship device. This will enable folks to avoid the delay in unlocking their phone associated with using a password. Now they can just place a finger on the home button and the unlocking magic happens.

What’s important is that now the thought is that users will be much more likely to protect their phone by fingerprint protecting it. The hope is that now all the employees required to lock their phones (plus the ones that are not) will lock their phones and keep their data safe. A recent report found that 79 percent of small businesses experienced mobile security incidents much of this can be avoided if your phone is locked, it’s a deterrent for petty crime which is the most common in terms of mobile phone and in turn data theft.

My hope is that many small businesses will realize that when it’s time to update their companies cell phones they’ll purchase iPhone 5s’s and take advantage of this new implementation of security technology and get their employees using is. Don’t allow your company to become a victim when it’s so easily can be avoided.

I’ve Decided iOS Over Android and So Should You

by Jeb Brilliant

Leave a reply

When I talk to people about what phone they want next the conversation inevitably makes its way to Android or iOS. I’m sure most of you have had this chat with someone before. I’ve finally made my choice and I want to share it with you. I’ve thought about this a great deal and up to this point I’ve always tried to be neutral and I will tend to continue down that road for the most part but now I know I lean toward iOS for more than just “it looks nicer”, “it’s easier to use” or “it has more apps”.

All the time I hear these excuses and they’ve been valid but are losing their importance due to Android rapidly evolving. The one thing that hasn’t changed is security. It’s a big deal but what does that really mean? Well it was brought to the surface for me recently. I’m running the new beta Apple iPhone operating system iOS 7 on my iPhone 5 and it’s very nice but my bank’s check deposit app doesn’t run properly. I’m lazy and don’t want to have to run to the bank to deposit my Phone.com check so I pulled out my newest Android phone I’ve been reviewing, the Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s a fine phone and I really like it but it’s Android. And once I downloaded my banks e-deposit app I started to put my bank credentials in and then it dawned on me. I’m giving access to my phone to my bank account. I never faltered doing this on my iPhone but I decided it wasn’t the best idea to do on an Android phone. We regularly hear about security issues on Android and I just had some niggle in the back of my mind saying don’t do it.

I waited till my wife got home and used her phone to deposit my check but that was a turning point for me. I don’t think I’m comfortable putting my entire life and trust into an Android phone that seems to be more prone to being violated than my iPhone. This is what I’m going to tell my friends that ask me what they should purchase for their employees, family and friends. No reason to put your security at risk which I feel you are doing using an Android phone at least for your most important details, in my case it’s my banking. I’m just not willing to take that chance.

Small Businesses Are Out Hiring Big Ones

by Jeb Brilliant

Leave a reply

I came across some exciting news yesterday. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees created 45 percent of the reported 188,000 new jobs in June. According to SmallBizTrends.com “84,000 jobs created by small firms represent nearly half of the jobs created by U.S. businesses and the percentage of jobs created by small companies continues to grow.”

They continue, “This is the second consecutive month for growth in job creation among smaller firms. In May, small businesses created 63,000 jobs, up from 57,000 in April.”

What does this mean for Phone.com customers? Are you adding new employees? Is your company growing? What can we do to help your company grow? We want to be part of the solution and help your company in any way we can. Drop us a line on Twitter or Facebook and tell us what we can do.

Travel Tips and Tricks Part 1

by Jeb Brilliant

Leave a reply

Business Travel I do a fair bit of travel and I’ve learned some things I thought I’d share with you. Here’s a list of 8 tips. There are a whole bunch more but I didn’t want to go overboard, and in all honesty, I couldn’t think of any more at the moment. I should really make a complete list.

For starters:

Every piece of luggage I travel with gets a bright red handle cover. If I have to check a piece of luggage I can easily spot it on the conveyor belt at baggage claim. Additionally if it’s lost for any reason it now stands out. I tell this to the agent and it makes it a lot easier to find.
Use technology. I use my phone now to check in and as my boarding pass. Additionally I can check the weather, make Phone.com calls and keep track of all my reservations.
Join every loyalty program and be loyal. My father-in-law taught me this. He joined every program he could and so have I. Over the years I’ve gotten 5 international airline tickets and some rental cars just from my miles alone. Whenever I get the opportunity I point my miles to American Airlines, my airline of choice.
Get a credit card that gives you miles. I personally chose a credit card that gives me miles on most major airlines. Some cards give you points versus miles and typically those don’t give you the most bang for your buck in my calculations. Typically the cards that give miles 1:1 or better for every dollar spent have an annual fee, but that’s ok with me. It’s always worked out in my favor.
Always carry food with you. I’m not suggesting you act like my mother and carry an entire chicken or a salami, but I always carry some snacks. Whether it’s a granola bar, a bag of nuts or some junk food, there’s always a few snacks in my bag. My mother was right, sometimes you get stuck on a runway, in the airport or you just get hungry on a long flight. Starving yourself isn’t good especially when traveling.
If you’re flight is canceled or you’re going to miss your connection I suggest calling the airline on your cell phone versus standing in line with everyone else to face that poor unfortunate counter attendant that is getting an earful from upset passengers.
On that note, be nice and smile. Even if you’re having a horrendous trip or are stressed to your breaking point, I suggest you be nice if you want to get anything from anybody. Want to rebook a canceled flight? Don’t scream at the unfortunate soul behind the counter; talk to them nicely and they’ll likely do their best to help you out.
If you’re a frequent traveler, need a tax deduction or can get your company to splurge for you, a membership to an airline club can make your travel significantly better. Private bathrooms/showers, quiet secluded areas, free food and drink plus a whole list of other benefits make club membership one of a traveler’s best friends.

One friend of mine always flies with a scarf that he pulls up over his mouth and nose when he sleeps on planes. He claims he doesn’t get sick from flying because of this. Do you have any tips or tricks you can share with us? What do you know that others may not? Please share on Facebook or Twitter.