Let’s get this out of the way first: like so many of us who are working from home, Zoom is probably the most important technology in my day to day. It’s kind of scary, the number of Zoom calls that I (and the rest of the world) am on each week. However, Zoom is only as good as ones bandwidth and for me personally, bandwidth has unfortunately been a bit of an issue.
My home internet was always “ok” but certainly not great. It’s a whole other story as to why this is the case and something I’ve tried to fix over the years, but the conclusion I ultimately came to was if I could stream Netflix without too much caching, it was good enough.
However, I’ve found this isn’t sufficient in the age of Zoom. So much so that I ultimately had to change my router from the standard Comcast unit to a higher-powered TP-Link (disclosure: client), which was no easy task, but has made all of the difference in the world. So I’d say having a solid and consistent Internet connection is the most important technology, especially as while I work, my daughter is simultaneously live streaming her classes. There are certainly more “glamorous” technologies than Internet access, particularly on the hardware side, but this has been a good reminder for me that solid “plumbing” and infrastructure is really key.
The second most important technology hands down has been Microsoft Teams. I’ve dabbled in it in the past, but man, what a revelation it had been this past month. I’m on Teams all day, every day and will without question continue to use it as my central “command center” even after things return to normal. It enables easy one-to-one dialogue with both individuals, along with account teams and as someone responsible for managing multiple offices, it has been absolutely invaluable. I also like how quickly you can move from a threaded conversation to a video or audio call. Furthermore, it’s completely intuitive to use. I can’t speak highly enough of Teams.
The third most important technology has been my MacBook Air. A functional laptop might seem blindingly obvious, but I am one of those folks who’s tried to move from a laptop environment to an iPad (mostly because I travel so much, and one device is easier to carry than two). The bottom line is that the Macbook just works easier, most especially for Zoom calls. And when you couple an iPad with a case, weight-wise, they are essentially the same. Consider me firmly back in the laptop camp; for now, anyway.
The fourth most important technology for me is one I don’t have, but very much wish I did: a good webcam. The irony here is that a former client of ours makes the best webcams in the business, but pre-pandemic, I never saw the need as my video calls were essentially few and far between. However, now every time I go to make a video call (which seems like every twenty minutes or so) I need to disconnect my computer from my monitor and prop it up. It’s a minor thing for sure, but do it enough times in a day and it becomes annoying, fast. The Apple camera certainly works well enough, that isn’t the issue; rather, it would be really nice to simply have one attached to my monitor.
The relatively new Three-in-One charger by Logitech is definitely a “nice to have” as I can charge my iPhone, Airpods and even Apple watch without the hassles of multiple cords in a relatively confined workspace.
And last, but certainly not least, are my Apple Airpod Pro’s. I’ve long maintained that the Airpod is the best Apple product of the last five years and the Pro’s are a whole other level. I alternate between using them and my Jaybird’s for my morning run and business-wise, I use them all day long for various phone, video calls, etc. If I need to concentrate on something I will put them on simply for the noise cancelling feature. I also use them for my afternoon walks and for listening to music or podcasts in the evening. They’ve always been valuable to me, but never more so than now.
So, that’s my take on business technology in the Covid-19 era. Not enormously revelatory relative to “normal” life, but I have found that a few adjustments — faster Internet and Teams most especially — make a vast difference in my remote day-today productivity.
Perpetual Motion 