So what are the must have “tech” items for an organisation or individual? These don’t have to be the very latest, greatest and most expensive but the “must have” items that i recommend and use myself.

For an organisation

• Office 365 (the foundation for any organisation in my view). Ensure you get either Business Standard or Business Premium licenses so you get the desktop versions of Excel, Word etc, email and cloud storage all bundled in.
• A solid performing laptop. Try and spend at least £500 and keep to brands such as HP or Dell in my view. If budget is tight then Lenovo provide good performance for the money you spend. Build quality may not be the very highest but if it’s pure performance that you are after then Lenovo provide a good budget offering.
• Some form of Cloud telephony. A number of providers like Gamma, 3CX are much of a muchness in terms of features so just try and get the best value you can with the minimum features you require. The beauty of cloud telephony is you can take it anywhere!
• Decent Endpoint Security software that provides both anti-virus and anti-ransomeware protection. We recommend providers like Sophos or Eset as in my view their software is excellent and performs well on most devices.

The above is not a particularly innovative or exciting list but it provides all of your fundamentals. For something thats a little more exciting then why not check out my further list below.

• Wireless Keyboard or mice to make your desk that little bit tidier.
• Screen mirroring devices like Google Chromecast so you can “cast” or project your laptop screen to another TV or monitor.
• Conference Meeting Room Equipment like the “Emeet Conference Speakerphone”. If you need an easy way of sharing audio from a number of people to someone online, this is a great, cheap way of doing it. There are plenty of other systems that do a similar job to this too.
• Digital Notebook’s – replace the humble notebook with a digital version like the reMarkable 2.  It digitises handwritten notes and integrates with a cloud storage app for note accessibility.
• USB Hubs – Cheap and easy litttle tools that expand the number of usb ports your laptop has. Simple plug and play technology.
• Tablets – The Samsung Galaxy or Ipad provides another alternative to taking your bulky laptop or notepad to your important meetings.
• Portable Projectors – Do you need another way of sharing your screen into a room but don’t have another device in the room. A portable projector might be the answer to your problems.
• Video Conferencing webcams – An expensive addition to your meeting rooms but one that really adds some quality. The Poly Studio video conferencing system provides both webcam and microphone technology to virtualise your meetings so that both people in the room and coming in via tools such as Zoom or Teams can equally play their part in the meeting. There are plenty of other systems that do a similar job to this too.

Contact Us

Please contact me at matthew.morling@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk or on 01473 345321 and I’d be happy to have a discussion about anything in this area.