Confirm Google Play Protect is on
Downloading apps always presents a challenge, as you can never know if there is a risk to downloading the wrong one. Google Play Protect is a system put in place to keep this from happening. This feature can constantly scan your device for threats with the intention of keeping your device as secure as possible. If it’s not activated by default (which it should be), you can do so by going to Settings > Security > Google Play Protect. If all of these toggles are active, it’s already activated, so you have nothing to worry about.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication
This isn’t necessarily an Android-native feature, but you can enable two-factor authentication for your Google account. This makes it so that your phone has an additional level of security that can prevent some hackers from accessing important information located on the device. You can set up two-factor authentication by accessing your Settings > Google > Security, then following the instructions for 2-Step Verification.

Limit Lock Screen Notifications
Notifications on the lock screen are helpful for the user, but they can be a breach of privacy for those who don’t want others to see them. You can limit the information displayed by lock screen notifications by going through your Settings > Lock screen > Notifications. You can then toggle which apps you want to display the full notification, or just the app’s icon.

Pinning Your Screen
If you have other people using your phone every so often, you don’t want them to be accessing your applications or files. To keep this from happening, you can “pin” your screen to a particular application, meaning that any time the device accesses the application or function, it is the only application that user can access.

To pin your screen, all you have to do is access your Settings > Biometrics and security > Other security settings. Once you’ve done this, just scroll to the bottom of the page and toggle on Pin windows. You can enter a menu item and make sure the Ask for PIN before unpinning switch is toggled.

Once you’ve activated screen pinning, you can then set it so that the one app they need to use is the only one that they can use until the application is unpinned. You can pin usage to a single app by opening the application and pressing the Recent button. You’ll see a pin icon on the screen. Press it to pin the application. Once you’re ready to allow other apps to be used again, you can just hold the Back and Recent buttons at the same time. This unpins the device and locks it, requiring your PIN to be plugged in before it can be used again.

If you’re having trouble keeping your device secure, Patriot Tech Services Inc. can help. To learn more, reach out to us at 877-874-4629.

What Are Templates?
Evernote templates basically provide users with pre-built structures for their notes. This gives users a way of organizing information that may have previously taken more time than usual. These are particularly great if you are one who struggles with formatting each and every time you open a new note. Evernote also offers other templates on their website, and with a subscription to Evernote Plus, Premium, or Business, you can use formatting that you’ve used in the past to create your own custom template for future use.

Applying Templates in Evernote
Once you’ve found some templates you’d like to use, either from Evernote’s website or from one of your past notes, you can apply it to any new ones.

• In Evernote, start a new note.
• In the body of your note, click on Templates to see the ones you have saved.
• From here, you have several options. You can search for templates, delete ones you don’t need, edit their names, or apply them to notes.
• If you have Plus, Premium, or Business accounts, you can edit templates. To edit a template, follow this same process. Once you’ve finished making the edits, save it as a new template.
• Plus, Premium, and Business users can also create their own templates this way.

What are your thoughts on these changes to Evernote? If you don’t already use it, will this be enough to convince you? Let us know in the comments.

I bet that you could easily list three such processes off the top of your head, right now.

These processes, while needed, can ultimately be more of an annoyance than anything else. There’s just so many to see to, and your efforts could really be better used working on another task.

A Hands-Off Solution
The technology that could help you the most is known as automation, where certain processes can be automatically seen to once another has been completed. This is already a common enough solution.

For instance, many websites have a handy dialogue box to help you better find what you are looking for, returning contextual answers that may solve your problem without the need to call in one of the website’s human support team members.

The infamous Clippy, the Microsoft Office Assistant that would pop up and offer assistance with certain processes in Office applications, could be considered a very basic use of automation. If the user began to format their document in a certain way, Clippy would appear and try to advise them on how to do it properly, along with other pieces of unsolicited advice.

Fortunately, not all automation is quite as insistent or obtrusive as Clippy was. Most of it can take place entirely behind the scenes, eliminating many of the time-intensive requirements that hold back significant productivity.

Automation solutions today offer three particular benefits to those that leverage them:

• As we’ve mentioned, smaller tasks no longer require a user’s attention. This allows your employees to focus more on their bigger responsibilities in service to your customers and clients.
• Instead of spending time scheduling certain tasks to move to the next employee in line to work on a project, the right automation can take care of this, well, automatically. As a result, it is easier to maintain productivity and a standard operating procedure.
• Automation is also less error-prone than a human being would be, making it a faster and more accurate means of routing information to the applications that require it.

Concerns
Of course, no solution ever comes without any challenges, automation included. Some are more technical, but the major one that always comes up speaks to deeper human concerns.

One the technical side, automation presents two major challenges:

• Automation still requires at least some monitoring by a human resource to ensure that the automation is functioning properly, and is also delivering a better return on investment than a human can. Otherwise, it may not be worth the effort it takes to implement and, again, monitor. This is something that many delegate to an outsourced provider.
• All of your different solutions and systems may not play so nicely with each other, making it necessary to integrate them into a single chain of automated processes. A technology professional from Patriot Tech Services Inc. can assist you in selecting the right ones for your needs.

Finally, the last (and in many ways, worst) obstacle you may encounter is pushback from your employees.

Yes, I know, you’re actually making their jobs easier and allowing them to tackle more important responsibilities - but look at it from their perspective for a moment. If you don’t fully explain the benefits behind your choice to implement automation, they may see it as their job being replaced by a machine.

Therefore, to avoid this, bring your employees into your implementation process. Make sure that they are made clear of the fact that this is to help the entire business, and that they are a part of that business. Giving them more significant tasks and responsibilities will also help with this.

If you want assistance in planning and implementing your business automation strategy, give Patriot Tech Services Inc. a call. We’d be happy to assist you with any of your technology needs. Call 877-874-4629 today!