Category EasylifeIT™ News

Some much needed enhancements for Teams – coming your way in May 2020

May 2020 is to be an exciting month for those of us who use Microsoft Teams, with some new features that will help overcome some irritations and limitations that have become more apparent in the past few weeks with us all decamping home to work

The big one – increase in the number of simultaneous video streams

Teams until now has had a limit of 4 simultaneous video streams. The reasoning behind this has been “focus”, and for those of us who have also been using Zoom in the past few weeks, there is some merit to that! Last week I had 58 in a Zoom meeting and it was a blur and almost impossible to focus on the speaker. It is a relief that Microsoft hasn’t gone in that direction, but we will see shortly up to 9 individuals on our screen with layout adaption based on who is speaking and their bandwidth capabilities Read More

If you found this article useful, then please share for others

EasylifeIT™ – COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan

Update 11th May 2020 – following Prime Ministers statement 10 May 2020

For EasylifeIT™, the Prime Ministers statement really brings no substantial change. After consultation with staff and managers last week, I have decided that reopening the office on a full-time basis will bring only increased risk to staff and their families while providing only negligible benefit to our customers or service levels. We shall largely therefore continue to work from our homes. Read More

If you found this article useful, then please share for others

EasylifeIT™ appoints James Allison as Strategic IT Consultant

From today, 3^rd April, I have joined EasylifeIT™ in the new role of Strategic IT Consultant.

Based out of our Norwich office, but working with clients across the UK, my job is to advise customers who do not need a full-time senior IT specialist, but could definitely benefit from some structured, strategic guidance periodically.  In practice that could mean helping clients with any or all of the following: choosing between bespoke or off-the-shelf software; developing business continuity plans; undertaking marketplace appraisals and running competitive tenders; practical cyber security advice; data protection auditing and planning; IT policy development and training; project management.

James Allison

Strategic IT Consultant

EasylifeIT™ – Suite 2, Level 1, London house, 68-72 London street, Norwich, NR2 1JT. 01603 562996

Related articles

• See James’s posts
• See more information on EasylifeIT’s services in Norwich 

If you found this article useful, then please share for others

It’s amazing how quickly things evolve. Just 10 years ago, the remit of an SME’s IT partner was covered by a fairly narrow set of requirements. The primary job centred around keeping the IT running and repairing things when it went wrong; IT security was just beginning to emerge as a distinct speciality. In those halcyon days, an antivirus and half-decent firewall was considered enough to tick the “due diligence” box for IT security. How times have changed. Read More

If you found this article useful, then please share for others

As of August 2018, EasylifeIT™ is recertified under the Cyber Essentials scheme; which will assure you that we as a supplier practice the IT security that we preach.

Cyber Essentials (CE) is a government-backed cyber security certification scheme that sets out a baseline of cyber security suitable for all organisations. The scheme’s five security controls can prevent “around 80% of cyber-attacks”. Developed as part of the UK’s National Cyber Security Programme and in close consultation with industry, it provides businesses with clarity on good cyber-security practice. Read More

If you found this article useful, then please share for others