Computer Support Blog

The ability to speak voice commands to operate mobile devices and apps has transformed how people interact with their phones and is a useful way to get things done.  Now, a company called Saygent is launching mSay, a mobile feedback solution that developers can insert into any app to collect feedback from users.  For businesses, getting valuable and timely feedback from customers can be a difficult challenge, one that mobile technology offers a way to make much easier and more attractive to consumers.  If a retailer can get faster feedback on what is and is not working, they can respond faster so they can prevent bigger problems by reacting quickly.  Surveys have their uses, but studies show that the number of people who use them, even with incentive to do so, is incredibly low.  mSay asks one question, letting its technology figure out what is important to a customer while giving merchants a way to solicit almost instant voice feedback. Read more »

A main intent behind developing technology has always been to make things faster and easier, and voice recognition is a great step forward in doing just that.  Dragon is a product from Nuance, a leading provider of cutting-edge voice and gesture recognition technology, applying voice recognition to aid in many different functions.  It gives you quick access to everything you want on the mobile web, and its revolutionary software not only hears but understands what you want more accurately and swiftly than previous versions of the technology.  Consumers can download it to a variety of devices including phones, tablets and televisions.  Dragon serves four functions in particular: speech-to-text, email, online search, and app access. Read more »

Before the Internet took over popular media, television was not only the dominant medium for entertainment, but in many ways was also a very social medium.  Groups of friends and families would often watch television together as a collective activity.  They would talk and interact while their favorite shows were running rather than sit in silence.  People would do this especially often during sports broadcasts, and in fact, many still do, as Super Bowl parties are part of a lot of people’s yearly social calendars.  However, for most situations, the social element of TV has transferred online.  Rather than talk about what’s happening on a show with friends that have come over for the night, people go on Twitter and Facebook to post status updates about it.  Cool product in technology Tok.tv is working to make the social aspect of watching television more interpersonal again and ironically, is doing so with the use of technology itself.  Tok.tv is a mobile app that combines a second screen experience for television with group voice chat over the Internet.  Users who have issues downloading the app can get help from an Android support or Apple support professional depending on the device that they own. Read more »

Any medical professional who runs a private practice knows that communicating with patients can sometimes be a major problem.  Patients miss appointments and don’t reschedule accordingly, causing havoc for a practice’s calendar.  Cool person in technology Brandon Rodman is the CEO of a company that’s coming up with a better system to communicate with patients for one type of medical professional: dentists.  Rodman’s company Weave provides communication technology and software to dental care offices with their specific needs in mind.  Rodman designed his company’s software to address specific issues related to dental care practices and their patients.  Rodman’s software connects telephone communication, text communications and scheduling all together for one seamless experience.  Normally, dental practice office workers would have to make calls and work with scheduling and customer directory software separately. Weave combines these systems to reduce hold time for patients over the phone and streamline the process for office workers to avoid careless mistakes.  Any office interested in Weave may be better off having strong business computer services available to them to help with the transition to Rodman’s software. Read more »

Social media has taken many different forms as it has expanded.  People use Twitter for text content, Vine and YouTube for video, and Instagram for photographs.  However, cool person in tech Thomas Clayton believes there is a medium that people have underutilized in social media up to now: voice.  Clayton is the CEO of Bubbly, a social network where users post short voice messages instead of videos, pictures, or statuses.  Clayton’s social network is completely mobile focused.  Bubbly doesn’t even have a basic web based counterpart to its smartphone applications.  In a way, it makes perfect sense.  Since Clayton was creating a social network based on voice communication, why not focus entirely on devices specifically built for voice communication—phones?  Clayton believes that people want to have a literal voice on social media and not just a figurative one. In past interviews, he has described his company’s service as “Twitter with a voice.”  Anyone who has trouble downloading Clayton’s app for their iPhone or Android device will need smartphone tech support. Read more »

Static and bad sound quality commonly plague conference calls.  However, group calls themselves are often essential for efficient communication within a company.  Cool person in technology Stephane Giraudie has set out to fix this problem by creating Voxeet.  Giraudie claims Voxeet offers a better solution for business owners than standard conference calling due to the high quality experience that the product offers.  On the company’s website, Giraudie states that users will find a much higher quality of sound when using Voxeet.  Also on the website, Giraudie’s company cites “3D immersive sound” and HD audio technology to remove unwanted static from group calls as key factors in Voxeet’s user experience.  If Giraudie’s product live up to his claims, business owners could avoid miscommunication from misheard calls due to bad sound quality. It’s easy to imagine that most owners and managers would greatly appreciate higher quality audio in their group calls. Voxeet runs as computer software rather than a product you integrate with your phone, much like consumer-focused conferencing products such as Skype and Google Hangouts.  That means businesses will need access to good PC tech support if they have technical issues with the product. Read more »