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If you’re in the market for a new TV, chances are you’ve pondered which type of display to choose. There are currently three different display technologies on the market – LCD, LED and plasma. Opinions vary regarding which is best, so how do you know what to go with? Check out our run down of the three varieties to learn more about them so you can make an informed decision before you buy.

What’s the difference?
The similarities are clear – they’re all flat-screen HDTVs available in a variety of sizes from a host of different brands. They are also all available at screen resolutions up to the industry standard of 1080p. But what is the difference between LCD, LED and plasma? The main element that makes these technologies vastly different from each other is the way each screen is lit, which affects picture quality.

• Plasma: With plasma display technology, the phosphors that create the image on the screen are self-lighting, meaning they don’t require backlighting. This allows for deeper black levels and crisper picture quality.
• LCD: Liquid crystal display, or LCD, is technology that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals to display video. The liquid crystal does not illuminate, so a separate light source, cathode florescent lights (CCFLs), are required. What we know as “regular” LCD TVs are also referred to as CCFL-backlit LCD TVs. LCDs tend to be cheaper than other screen types, but sacrifice some picture quality.
• LED: LED TVs are essentially an LCD TV that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to illuminate the display instead of CCFLs.

How do I choose?
Simply knowing the difference between the technologies might not be enough to help you make your decision. That will largely come from whatever is driving your purchase. Are you a “bigger is better” kind of person? Is energy efficiency a priority? Figuring out which elements you can’t live without will help you decide which kind of TV to purchase. Below are some of the most popular factors that influence consumers’ TV purchases.

Picture quality
Above all else, a high-quality image is what people look for in a TV. Brightness and contrast are specifically what contribute to a crisp, clear image. While plasma technology once reigned supreme in this category, LED TVs are beginning to gain a foothold due to the clearer image, brighter whites and darker blacks produced by the LED lights. Recent advancements in technology have some varieties of LCD TVs edging out LED TVs for brightness and contrast quality, but LED is a safe bet when you’re looking for an HDTV with the best quality picture.

Size and thickness
While most focus will be on picture quality, many people also base their decision on screen size and thickness. This is particularly true if an ultra-thin, modern-looking TV is important to the design element of your home. Plus, the thinner varieties are typically easier to hang up on the wall, relocate, or arrange inside an entertainment center. If you’re looking for thin, LED TVs are the way to go. With no CCFLs attached for backlighting, LEDs are much thinner than LCD TVs. Plasmas are a close second weighing a bit more than LEDs, but still offering the thinness that many people look for.

Energy efficiency
Something else that sets LED, LCD and plasma TVs apart is their energy efficiency. Because of the way LED TVs are lit, they require the least amount of energy to run in comparison to the other two technologies. CCFL-backlit LCD TVs come in second in power consumption, while plasma TVs are hands down the most power hungry variety. So, if going green is a priority, a plasma TV probably isn’t for you.

Price
Of course, cost is also a major consideration when buying a TV. If money is no object, the higher priced LED-backlight TVs will give you the best in thinness, energy efficiency and picture quality. For the budget-minded buyer, a plasma screen TV will give you great image quality for a much lower price. High-quality CCFL-backlit LCD TVs can also be found in a moderate price range.

The final decision
Ultimately, choosing an HDTV will depend on which of the above factors are most important in your personal buying situation. With today’s ever evolving modern technology and wide range of options to choose from, you likely won’t have a hard time selecting a quality TV that meets your needs.

Post is sponsored by h.h. gregg.

SharePoint 2013 is due for release in Quarter 1 of 2013 and has been modified to meet new and growing business needs and expectations. One of the most significant of these is the new social networking aspect of the platform, which has been boosted and strengthened by Microsoft’s $1.2 billion acquisition of Yammer in June 2012.

It’s Yammer Time

Microsoft has now bundled Yammer into SharePoint, and this will make it easier for business users to embed social feeds and interactivity in SharePoint sites – whether internal or external. One example of where this has worked is Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide recognised the value of an internal social network back in 2008 when Yammer was first released.

Since then, the company has posted over 350,000 messages using the platform. Almost the entire staff of 30,000 signed-up voluntarily and there is a massive contribution rate of 50%. Anyone who has ever chaired a large-scale meeting will understand the importance of that statistic – a contribution of 10% is more likely on such a scale! This system allows everyone, from the CEO to the apprentice, to see at a glance how the company is doing, catch-up with new developments and comfortably have their say on processes and products.

How can Yammer help you?

Any company, large or small, can reap the same benefit from setting up and maintaining a business social network; and the benefits of doing so are immense. Networks make it easier for colleagues to share ideas, especially in a format where many people can express their ideas quickly and easily to appropriate colleagues. Online chat or video conferencing allows for ‘face-to-face’ communications where ideas can flow without being restricted by crackling telephone lines or slow and poor-quality fax reproductions, but even without these features SharePoint and Yammer allow for the fast exchange of ideas to take place.

With a free flow of information and ideas, productivity can be boosted. One person sitting alone at home or in an office can feel pressurised and isolated, leading to stifled creativity. A constant means of communication can alleviate these feelings and colleagues can bounce ideas back and forth, energising each other until they both feel positive and motivated to perform at the top of their ability.

Projects on SharePoint will never look the same again

This type of colleague support is not limited to individual projects and brainstorming sessions. Seeing the development of a project, commiserating with set-backs and celebrating successes can boost collective company morale. This helps the entire company or business to function as a single unit, particularly when objectives are clearly laid out for all to strive for. Social networking can also make it easier for managers and team leaders to pick up when an employee starts to fall behind or lose morale. Picking up on such problems early can help the employee to feel appreciated and understood, boosting his or her productivity and loyalty to the company, as well as preventing potentially worse issues with that worker in the future.

If workers are scattered in multiple locations, either different company offices or working from home, it can be difficult for remote colleagues to fully understand concepts, statistics and diagrams without being able to see them clearly. SharePoint allows documents to be shared easily, literally at the click of a mouse. Files or documents to be shared are simply stored in a file to which all the necessary parties have access, enabling all the team members to have full access to the entire project. This has an end result of producing a well-rounded project where all the individual employees have worked together as a team, rather than as solo workers producing single components and then hoping that they will fit together.

Internal-departmental communication is vastly improved using SharePoint 2013 and Yammer. Just as messaging friends on traditional social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be practically instant, so too can the business model. If all employees have a news-stream running in the corner of a screen, it is possible to collaborate with different departments while working, meaning that even the largest changes to a design, product or document can be implemented immediately, across the entire company.

How to get your staff interested in Yammer

Providing the framework for a business network is not sufficient to ensure that it will be seized upon by the entire staff. The fastest way to ensure that everyone joins the program is to make it a mandatory condition, all staff members must sign up. Some companies provide usernames and temporary passwords to employees so that all they have to do is log-in and are ready to go. However, this may not be the best way of encouraging employees to use the system, some people are resistant, on principle, to anything that they are forced into. To this end, it may be preferable to invite people to sign up voluntarily over a few weeks.

Directors and managers must lead the way, signing up first and using the system frequently to send messages, and welcoming and responding to feedback. Not many employees will risk being a guinea pig for a new system, but are more are likely to follow a team leader’s example.

Finally, and most importantly when setting up a brand new social network for a company, encourage interaction. Invite feedback from everyone who uses the system, and encourage staff to log in daily to check for updates. While the system is in its infancy consideration could be given to running a fun campaign, such as ‘joke of the day’, or ‘funniest pet photographs’; something light-hearted and entertaining that will encourage workers to log onto the system eagerly and promptly, until it is an ingrained habit.

Business social media is the next big thing, helping companies to connect with customers, staff members and to stay on top of industry developments. Microsoft’s blend of SharePoint 2013 with Yammer looks set to perfectly balance business needs.

About the author:
Marcus Austin works for Firebrand Training as a Technical Author. Marcus has over 25 years’ experience in the technology and business sector. His recent work includes constructing a mobile strategy for the Guardian Media Group, together with writing and editing for magazines and websites including TechRadar, Internet Retailing, IT Perspectives, and Santander Breakthrough.

Have you ever made a call to an insurance company or customer service line and heard that “this call may be recorded”? Have you ever wanted or needed to record a phone call yourself, whether it was a phone interview or a business-related conference call?

Start by checking your local laws
Before you start recording phone calls, you should first check your state’s laws regarding recording phone calls (in some places you have to inform all parties involved). Once you’re ready, try some of these free services.

1. Free Conference Calling

Do you need to record a conference call for your business? Give Free Conference Calling a try. This free service records your call and makes it available in an MP3 format within an hour. This is useful for those who need a copy of the call for reference or team members who couldn’t participate in the live call and need to listen to it on their own time. Simply provide the playback number and access code, and they can listen to it anywhere, anytime.

2. Oreka

Oreka is a free, open-source software that allows you to record phone calls. It is designed for business use and records using VoIP (Voice Over IP). The open-source format allows you to receive updates, add-ons and plug-ins. Once you are done recording, you can retrieve the file online.

3. Google Voice

Google Voice is a phone management service that allows you to make phone calls using either the Internet or your regular phone. You can tie all your phones together with one number to make things easy. By pressing the number ’4,’ you can record any call. Once complete, your file will be sent to your Google Voice inbox.

4. Skype

Skype is an inexpensive way to make calls to anywhere in the world. If you are placing a call to another Skype user, the call is free. With your choice of an add-on, recording Skype phone calls can be simple, and you can store the audio directly onto your computer. You have the potential to get good, clean audio. Of course, it all depends on the quality of your equipment and Internet connection, but recording online can reduce the hums and buzzes that one might encounter when dealing with a regular phone system.

5. Cell Phone features

Some cell phones have a built-in facility to allow call recording. This might be the easiest way to store a recorded phone call. If your phone has this feature, and you want to record the conversation, you will generally have to initiate the call. Once the call is in progress, just select the ‘options’ or ‘preferences’ button and tell the phone to begin recording. It will stop recording automatically once the call has ended, or you can manually stop recording at any time.

If your phone doesn’t have this feature, there are call recording apps available for iPhone and Android.

Whatever your reason may be for recording phone calls, these tips and services can help to make your job easier, and you’ll always have the files for future reference.

About The Author:
Karen Goor is a Customer interaction specialist at Nice, a firm specializing in call recording strategies.