5G and Microsoft Flow – Two innovations that will change the way you work
Working smarter not harder is our motto at Computer One, and with that in mind, here are two innovative developments that are going to help you kick professional goals this year and next.
5G
The latest generation of cellular mobile communications, 5G is slated for launch in the first half of 2019. 5G succeeds the 4G (LTE/WiMax) and 3G networks, and offers increased network bandwidth and
In early 2019 Optus announced that it was commencing a 5G rollout across sites in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane and progress is steady despite concerns over Huawei technology that was set to provide the backbone of the network.
Most recently, Telstra announced that it was 5G ready, and just waiting on smartphone manufacturers to catch up.
With the launch of 5G, an exciting Intel/HP/Lenovo/Dell partnership will see the first 5G-capable laptops shipping in the second half of 2019.
By the end of the year we expect that commercial use of 5G technology will be a viable reality and with it, will come a world of new connectivity options, not the least of which is a fast internet hotspot when you need one!
Microsoft Flow
This one is particularly exciting for an IT company like Computer One! A new component of the O365 suite, Microsoft Flow is a powerful yet simple tool that allows you to automate actions and workflows based on common business scenarios, without the need for developer assistance!
At the touch of a button, you can specify what actions should take place when a specified event occurs.
What does this look like in practice? Well, let’s say you receive tonnes of emails every day, with lots of very important attachments and you must save each attachment because they’re, let’s say, sales orders. It would be very time-consuming to go through each and every email, and manually download the attachments to their designated folder and it also leaves space for human error (we’ve all accidentally missed an email right?).
With Microsoft Flow, you can deploy a workflow process that triggers when you receive an email with a specific kind of attachment and automatically downloads it to a designated location. You can include any kind of parameter that makes the job more accurate, including only downloading from specific addresses or when the attachment is below a certain file size. You can even configure it to download directly to SharePoint and send a push notification upon completion.
Of course, you can connect Flow to all kinds of software: Outlook, SharePoint, Dropbox, Planner, Dynamics, Twitter, RSS Feeds, Salesforce, Azure suite, Google Drive, Google Sheets and many, many more.
The best part of all however is the vast library of templates Microsoft has already set up and available to utilise. It means you can be up and running (and more efficient) in minutes, cross-connecting software like an experienced pro.
2019 is already shaping up to be a big year in the technology space – these innovations are just the tip of the iceberg!
