DIGITAL TOOLS IN MY WORK
I work as a telecommunications expert, so digital tools play a very big role in all my work tasks. Our company has contributed to the digitalisation of society. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been working for the last two years mainly from home. Teleworking is now possible in many areas thanks to mobile technologies and VPNs, i.e. virtual private networks. My job is largely to maintain telecommunications networks. There are several systems and digital tools needed to maintain different systems and configure devices and they are in daily use. In addition, I have numerous digital tools at my daily disposal, which are part of my general working day practical activities and planning my work. Let me now introduce some of the systems I use every day to enable my actual core tasks to be carried out:
Communication and collaboration platform: Microsoft Teams
Teams is in my daily use for instant messaging and video meetings, mainly with my colleagues. In addition to the actual communication, the features I use continuously include file sharing and planning and monitoring of work progress.
E-mail: Microsoft Outlook
I use email daily to communicate with internal and external clients. Outlook Calendar is part of my work planning and scheduling. The collaboration between Outlook and Teams on meetings, for example, works well and is reflected daily in my work.
Logging and tracking working hours: Nepton
Our time tracking is arranged with the Finnish Nepton cloud service. You can easily record working hours both on the workstation and on mobile. Special cases included in the working day, such as temporary absences and overtime, can easily be recorded in the system by yourself. Any forgetting or errors in the entries is also convenient to correct.
Travel billing system: M2
I move around other localities to some extent in relation to my work tasks, which is why I am entitled to daily- and kilometer allowances. We have a Visma M2 system in place, where travel days and kilometers can be recorded easily and clearly, and the necessary receipts can also be added electronically to the archive. M2 works handily on mobile, so it’s easy to log business trip information anywhere, anytime – in real time. Through system interfaces, different automations are possible.
ERP system: Efecte
We use the Efecte ERP system, which I use in my own work every day to reserve and process the tickets that are the basis for my work tasks. The resourcing of our work is controlled through the ticketing and service configurations created at Efecte. I can record and target internal and customer work in the right place, and, among other things, communicate with customers about their service orders.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media has been a part of internet use for over 20 years. Current giants include Facebook and Instagram. On social media, users can act as creators and communicate with other users. For example, everyone can share what they are doing about their own life, share information about their work tasks, or follow what others are doing based on their social media posts. With the internet and social media, the world has become smaller, as communication and dissemination of information around the world is easy and fast. The possibilities for a huge amount of information and human contacts are endless – for better or for worse. The good news is definitely that we have a greater number of opportunities than ever before. Social media travels with us wherever we move, on our phones, tablets, computers and watches. We can share our own lives and connect with people regardless of place and time, and our network of contacts is wider than ever. We can easily establish new contacts with other members of our own profession or hobby community, even if we have never met them even in real life. At the same time, therein lies one of the many dangers of social media: if we’ve never seen any of our social media contacts outside of social media, how can we be sure of his identity or intentions?
The web and social media are full of criminals and those who try to exploit other people. When using social media, it’s important to remember a few rules of the game. It is important to behave politely towards other people, not to publish or communicate anything that you are not prepared to say to anyone normally when faced with people. It should also be remembered that all information shared on social media can remain online forever, so consideration and composure must be taken into account in communications and posts. Although contacoting people is easier and the threshold to tell people about their own lives and thoughts is easier and easier in many respects compared to traditional meeting and communicating with people, it should be remembered that not everything is always what it seems.
Five new digital tools for me (to use when working)
Below, I will present a few digital services that I have not used, or their utilization has been limited. However, they could be very useful in my own work as an information technology expert, but also as a personal trainer in the future.
LinkedIn is an online social networking service where users can create their own professional profile with resumes, testimonials and interests. Through the service, it is possible, for example, to network with representatives of the same professional group, and to get contacts and even job offers. Networking and cooperation with other experts have long been a big and important part of professional competence and growth, as well as the success of individuals and communities in their own work.
Evernote
Although digitalization and digital tools have reduced and even eliminated many previously manual tasks in both civilian- and work tasks, the number of jobs has not decreased. Digitalization has created new opportunities for us to do something new that was not even possible to do before. We live in a world of numerous systems and tasks. We need to be able to manage documents more and more electronically and be able to schedule many different tasks so that we can cope with all our responsibilities in the best possible way. Evernote can be used to store information about meetings, lectures, and your own affairs as notes that can be accompanied by images, sketches, audio recordings, drafts, and documents. Scheduling different things, plans, and projects, and storing and arranging related reminders and files seems to be clear and simple with Evernote. It seems to be useful for performing one’s own work tasks, but also at school and in leisure time.
Youtube
Youtube nowadays has a lot of very up-to-date and competent video footage from all walks of life. Personally, I could make more use of Youtube in some of my work tasks, for example, while studying new techniques. Video footage often provides really good support in addition to just theoretical information.
I haven’t been a big fan of social media because, as in the media anyway, the information the reader receives can be very coloured or distorted. However, social media such as Facebook now plays a significant role in networking and advertising. Compared to traditional radio and newspaper advertising from years and decades ago, anyone can advertise themselves and their company on social media channels according to certain rules, and practically for free. Facebook offers the ability to add images, audio, and video footage to one’s own “status update” in addition to text. As far as advertising for public distribution is concerned, it is important that our own social media network should be as large as possible, so that own advertising covers as many pairs of eyes as possible. I believe that I will take advantage of this opportunity when providing personal training services in the future.
Together with Facebook, Instagram is the most used social media platforms in the world. In both, it is possible to request and accept other users of the platform as new friends or contacts, comment on other users’ posts and updates. As on Facebook, photos and videos are posted on Instagram. Compared to Facebook, Instagram seems to be more of a social media platform geared to the sharing of images and videos, where the importance of the visual eye to your own posts is more emphasized than Facebook. I’m sure the user base is also divided. My own view is that at least young people are using More Instagram these days. Unlike Facebook, some features of Instagram are only available on mobile devices. All the same, marketing yourself or your own company on Instagram is a modern-day thing. As on Facebook, on Instagram I could promote my personal training services with appropriate visual material, as well as post well-being posts, while bringing out my own expertise and building up my own network.
SUCCESSFUL USE OF DIGITAL APPLICATIONS
One very important feature when talking about the successful use of a digital app is the possibility to use it with different platforms. In another words, it is possible to use the application on several different medias, such as mobile phone and laptop, as well as regardless of the operating system. It is a very important feature, as it is often important to get things done as soon as needs arise – at work and in leisure time. At the same time, certain important applications and related services must operate regardless of time, and, for example, in a case of power failure or similar disruption on the service provider’s side must not hinder service production.
In order to get the best possible benefit and user experience from the service or application itself, the user interface and other structure of the service must be clear, comprehensive and functional. The information sought shall be easily found and the functions to be carried out shall be done easily and efficiently. It must be so easy to use the app that the target group can be expected to be able to use it correctly and efficiently. The digital service must meet the above considerations in order to justify its use. In addition, for example, in terms of data security and data protection, user identification in existing well-functioning and smooth applications has been implemented by facial recognition, fingerprint recognition or pin code, for example. In apps that have been created for paying purposes. i.e., e-commerce purchases or invoices, using your bank’s mobile app is very convenient. In any case, the digital app must bring the user the feeling that it was easy and smooth to take care of your own business, whether you are at work or in your free time.
SELF-EVALUATION
It was a very good time to get to know many of those widely used applications that I haven’t use by myself. It is important to remember, that everyone need contacts and networks for successful operating in working life. We just have to remember the good practices when using social media – and applications.