Majority companies’ will be using music on hold to play recorded music to entertain callers when they are put on hold, to fill the silence. People sometimes refer to it as message on hold, phone on hold, or hold messaging.

Whatever it is, in fact, all businesses are suggested to have music on hold to enhance company’s image. The correct choice of music on hold will present a professional image to your business.

Let’s look back at the history. The founder of music on hold was Alfred Levy. He was an inventor, factory owner and an entrepreneur. Music on hold was accidently founded in 1962 where he discovered a problem with the phone lines in his factory. He then patented his ‘on hold electrical circuit’ in 1966. Hence, the ‘hold button’ was invented.

You may wonder why it is necessary to install music on hold. A survey by CNN found out that callers hearing music on hold will stay on line longer compared to caller hearing only beep or experiencing silence. (Source: Wikipedia)

In actual, besides helping to fill in the silence, to pass the time, music on hold also serves as an important message to the caller. That’s why it is important to choose the correct music to portray your business.

You have had your PABX system in place. You are happy and your employees can do their work steadily. But! Unexpected recent power failure cost your organisation in losing some potential customers. This can be avoided if you take extra precaution. In this matter, you are seriously advised to install backup battery for the PABX system.

What is a backup battery?

A backup battery provides power to the specified location/equipment (system) when the primary source of power is unavailable. Its duty is to keep the PABX system running even during a power failure. It is also useful to protect the PABX system against lightning strikes, power surge from motors or equipment being turn on and off, frequency instability and high frequency disruption, etc.

The installation of a backup battery for PABX system can save data, the system itself and most importantly, no disruption in the telecommunication process be it to entertain customers or potential customers, teleconference with a few parties or tele-conversation among employees.

How to choose your backup battery?

You are suggested to buy a battery with the greatest capacity that using proper ampere hour battery as per the maximum load. Other points to consider are the size, cable and terminal type.

Finally, remember this, prepare your organisation for the unexpected.

Ask your vendor on the most suitable backup battery for your PABX system.

Walkie talkie is half-duplex communication gadget, portable radios, handheld. Communication is done wirelessly using radio waves on a shared frequency band. Walkie talkie allows you and the other party to talk and listen but only one person can talk at a time.

Who likes to watch combat movies will surely see that walkie talkies are commonly used by the military. That is common since the walkie talkie was invented during the Second World War.

After the war, walkie talkies are widely used by the public especially among the personnel in safety and security units, emergency units or disaster control units. By which, in any emergency cases, walkie talkie is very useful to provide instant communication and allows people to ask for immediate help.

Normally on flat ground and depending on the configuration, capability, make – normally a walkie talkie allows communication with no obstruction from 1 kilometer up to 5 kilometers or up to 8 kilometers. However don’t be surprised because there are walkie talkie that allows communication up to 50 kilometers, provided that there are no obstacles blocking the radio wave.

Do you aware that cinema’s personnel nowadays also using walkie talkie to check the availability of the theatre halls?

It is normal to have a conference meeting in office between a few staff from various departments. Some meetings will last for at least two hours or a few days. Some will be very brief, around half an hour. It is all depending on the issue. Once the decision has been made, every member in the meeting will continue with their own work and proceed with the agenda concluded in the meeting.

It is very easy to manage if everyone is in the same office/building. But how to arrange a meeting if some executives are miles away? Maybe manager A is in Kuala Lumpur, but manager B is in Ipoh and manager C is in Jasin?

This means, you need to arrange a conference call. A conference call needs a conference phone. Doesn’t matter if you are far from each other, a conference phone can bring people together, fast and efficient.

Conference call is a platform for people that are apart from each other to be connected, in a meeting (conference). With the use of a conference phone, the managers in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Jasin can have a discussion, at the same time. Be it the people involve is in Malaysia or overseas, it is manageable with the conference call technology.

In 1964, ‘Picturephone’ from American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) was publicly exhibited in the New York World’s Fair. The price was very expensive and the device was bulky. Conversely nowadays, you have many choices of conference phones. You can choose from audio technology conference phone, wireless audio technology conference phone, video conference phone and many more.

One of the most important thing or equipment or tools in an office is a telecommunication system, i.e keyphone system. Must have. You should invest in the best product that suits your business needs. You may want to consider brand, features of the equipment (telephone), quantity and not forgetting, the cost.

Another issue to consider is whether you might need to upgrade the system in the next few years, with the growth of your company.

For a small businesses located in one building, the ideal choice is to use a keyphone system. The keyphone system works like a traditional phone but with added features whereby you can transfer calls among employees/colleagues. You can also do conference call besides conveying messages and transferring information to one another.

The standard features for key phone system are:

• make and receive calls
• placing calls on hold
• call log
• caller-ID display
• voicemail
• auto attendant.

Do think about it because be it small, medium or large scale enterprise, every organisation needs an effective and clear mode of communication to express thoughts, convey messages, setting an appointment and many more.

Do not fear because the system does not need a special operator to handle incoming and outgoing calls. In fact, anyone in the company can learn and master the technic.

Every one of us wants to live in peace and harmony, no interruption, no danger. Those days, people will rely on guard dogs, reinforce the fences or border and entrance, install bell at their door or even let loose of their goose to scare intruders.

Nowadays, to reinforce security, you have a choice to:

1. Install door chain and add additional lock(s) to your door.
2. Drill a small hole and install fish-eye lenses at the main door.
3. Or, if you want to allow interaction, you can install door-window.

As for the offices, employers can hire security guards or install security alarm system. The world first electro-magnetic alarm system was patented on 21^st June 1853. It was the invention of Augustus Russell Pope from Somerville, Boston. Since then, the system has evolved and becoming more sophisticated with the technology.

The basic alarm system was designed to protect against theft. Once anyone break into your office/building, a silent alarm will trigger to warn police or guards without the knowledge of the intruder. This will increase the chance to catch him/her. You also have a choice to choose a combination type by which, it is designed to give protection against force entry and also fire. Normally this system comes with CCTV system (closed-circuit television surveillance). Whatever your choice is, choose wisely. Talk to your local vendors. Safety is the priority.

Remember that peacefulness creates comfortable and warm environment for everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are, at what age, what is your occupation etc.

An alarm system works 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Be it day or night, shine or rain. It works like a security guard but does not replace the security guard. Instead, it enhances the security service with the CCTV, monitor, detector and sensor. In addition, the system also allows communication between the installed security system and the central station of the service provider.

The most popular alarm system is burglar alarm. Current market offers you an alarm security system that can detect, determine and prevent threatening situations mostly caused by unauthorized entree and criminal activity. With the advancement of technology, there are several advanced features built within the alarm system.

For example, with the internet, you can connect your home smart security system and the home WiFi. So you can control the security device app using your smartphone. This enables you to lock the door and control the lights remotely especially when you are away from your home.

Nowadays, alarm systems are designed to detect threatening event such as fire, smoke, gas leakage or flood. For example, if a smoke detector has been triggered, the system will automatically contact the central station to contact fire department.

Of course all the advancement in the technology is designed to allow the authorities to be on the scene as soon as possible.

In the beginning, employer monitor their employee’s attendance with log book. Whereby, staff has to sign in and out in the log book. On the other hand, employer can also install time clock. With the time clock, employee has to clock in and out using attendance card. Unfortunately, there are some issues in both systems:

• Misplace of log book
• Missing attendance card
• Forget to sign in and out / clock in and out
• Not recording the actual arrival / leaving time
• Issue of sincerity – another person clock in / out on behalf.

Nowadays, employers can opt for a more up-to-date ‘time attendance system’ in the office. Time attendance system is a software. It is used to record the working hours of employees, break hours, early departures, non-attendance and related matter. Attendance can be recorded with electronic tags, barcode badges, magnetic stripe cards and fingerprint and many more.

Time Attendance System is useful to maximize cash flow and minimize waste whereby it increases productivity by

• Reducing manpower on supervising the matter
• Reducing tedious manual administration processes
• Reducing risk of errors that are common in manual system
• Reducing the risk of over payments due to transcription error or intentional error

On top of that, automated time attendance system comes with security system, accountability and efficiency.