Intelligence is Value

Every couple of years, a new technology comes along to improve our lives and the way we do business. One of such technologies that made a significant change in the world of business and communication in Singapore is Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Voice over IP uses the Internet instead of traditional telecommunication networks to make and accept calls. Because of its flexibility, rich features and minimal charges, many businesses in Singapore switched their standard landlines to VoIP. Beyond all these perks, VoIP in Singapore offer many opportunities to entrepreneurs that boost their productivity and enhance their competitive advantage. Here are some of the most essential and useful features.

1. Audio-Video Conferencing

Voice over IP with a top notch cloud voip in Singapore takes audio conferencing to a higher level, enabling collaborative features so participants can share files, sync calendars and communicate through video calls. The built-in feature also allows users to join conference calls anytime without the hassle of making specific arrangements in advance. Whether you need three, four or more callers all together, it’s easier with VoIP’s conference feature.

2. Voicemail Transcription

As the name implies, this feature transcribes voicemail to text and sends them as an e-mail. There’s no need to furiously jot down names, addresses, and contact numbers when a caller drops info about a client. You can just leave the e-mail and read it at a convenient time. Also, this allows you to search, organize, and delete your voicemails in a way you thought you could never do with standard phone line.

3. Call Forwarding and Routing

Executives who travel a lot will benefit the most from this feature. Call routing allows you to make a list of contact numbers where you can be reached before the caller gets directed to your voicemail. For example, your office phone rang twice, but on the third and fourth, your cellphone rings. If there’s still no answer, the fifth ring will be on your home phone. After the call made its route to your contact numbers and still there’s no answer, that is when the caller is diverted to your voicemail.

4. Automated Call Distribution

Automated call distribution is a VoIP feature that distributes incoming calls to available agents or automated greetings. In a busy work environment, like call centres, this is a must-have feature since you’re dealing with multiple customers at once. With this VoIP feature, your business will appear more professional and impressive for not missing a client or have them wait for too long.

5. Coaching Tools

Rather than giving advices after an employee has ended a call, give them tips while they are still on the call. Two VoIP features can let you monitor and train an employee in terms of taking professional calls: barge and whisper. The former lets you listen to a conversation between a client and an employee and have the choice to alert them or not; while the latter, lets you provide tips and advices to an employee while he is on the call without the client being aware of it.

6. Bandwidth Utilization

As a business, tracking your data is important to know where you should direct your company’s resources. A cloud-based voice over IP can provide bandwidth utilization monitoring, allowing you to view your data usage over a specific span of time. Outbound and inbound call reports allow you to know the details of your company’s call history, including the call duration, destination, cost, and caller’s info.

7. Priority Alert

With this feature, you can set a unique ringtone to a certain telephone number. When this telephone number calls you, the phone will ring in a unique tone—different from the phone’s default ring tone. This is a great VoIP feature especially when you don’t want to miss a call from a VIP, a boss, or an important client.

8. Call Screening

A feature of VoIP in Singapore that’s often overlooked by users is the call screening. This tool lets you view the caller’s number through the caller ID and decide on what action to do with the caller. For instance, if it is your wife who’s calling, you can redirect them to your personal number. If it is a telemarketer who keeps selling their products, you can choose to disconnect them in one click.

9. Do Not Disturb

As what the name says, this VoIP feature leaves you undisturbed. If you’re on a break, you can switch this feature on and block incoming calls from reaching your line. Besides during lunch breaks, this feature is also handy during meetings and conferences. Best of all, you can set it so calls are not just ignored, but directed to your voicemail or to another receiver.

10. Music On Hold

If your business often requires putting callers on hold, this voice over IP is a necessity for your company because of this feature. Do not put your callers or clients on hold under awkward silence or worse annoying elevator music. You can choose to play a song to keep them entertained or a business-related audio advertisement that tells about your products and services.

In today’s arena of modern business, advanced technological equipment that can effectively multi-task offers great advantage to a business in Singapore. It is no longer a viable option to rely on traditional equipments like standard landline phones and depend so much on people to run it. Apart from the fact that VoIP in Singapore are relatively affordable to install, since they operate through the Internet, the mentioned features are vital additions to enhance and make a difference on a company’s bottom line.

Congratulations, you’re having a baby! While pregnancy is one of the most exciting moments in a couple’s lives, all the costs associated with it, particularly during delivery, can be overwhelming. That’s why you have to be as smart as possible when it comes to planning for your delivery. You’d want to save as much as possible on your hospital bills, so you’ll have more for your post-partum care. Here are some tips on how you can do that.

1. Check Your Health Insurance Plan

Every health insurance is unique and provides varying levels of coverage. If you want to know more about what your insurance plan covers, call your insurance company for a consultation or call the HR department of your company if that’s where you got your insurance plan.

Even how much or little your insurance plan will cover, knowing in advance what is and isn’t covered  will let you know how much you need to shell out from your pocket. Then, you can begin saving up to reach that amount.

2. Shop Around

Hospitals in Singapore have different charges on performing a delivery. Call several hospitals and ask for their delivery rates, and make sure to also ask about anaesthesia and any post-partum care. It is critical to compare apples to apples.

However, do not let the price be your only deciding factor. Some OB-gynaes deliver at two or more hospitals. In that case, check the prices of your gynae’s hospitals, unless you are willing to switch doctors just to save on hospital bills.

3. Find a Paediatrician in Advance

Do not forget to find a good paediatrician for your future baby before going to the hospital for your delivery. A lot of new mothers choose to avail their hospital’s paediatrician only to find out that they were not under their insurance company’s network or that they cost way too much. Plus, doing this will give you peace of mind, as you know that a paediatrician is already waiting to care for your baby.

4. Go Natural

A delivery that’s natural and drug-free will always be cost-efficient. While this isn’t always desirable, it’s something you might want to consider when looking for ways to save on your hospital bills. Some mothers choose to skip the epidural and other pain medications for painless delivery. Sometimes a caesarean section is necessary, but when you choose to go as natural as possible, it can save you thousands of dollars.

Hopefully, these tips will help you save money on your delivery. For questions and inquiries, call your doctor and your insurance company beforehand. Nothing is more cost-efficient than coming in knowledgeable and prepared.

A lot of us are over-thinkers—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Over-thinking is said to be a sign of a creative mind and good problem-solving skills. However, those who over-think too often or too much may find themselves in the never-ending cycle of what ifs and should haves.

Those who over-think every situation constantly wonder on the things they could have done, and those who often think negatively are prone to stress and anxiety. Nobody wants that mental torture, so it’s important to control your thoughts and remind yourself more often to relax. Here are some ways to bring peace to your mind and stop yourself from over-thinking.

1. Be Positive

One of the best ways to stop negative-thinking is to focus on the positivity that’s happening in your life right at the moment. This helps change the focus of your thoughts and pull you out of the negative cycle that you’re in. Some of the ways you can increase positivity include keeping a gratitude journal or an achievement log and saying thank you more often.

2. Recite Peaceful Mantras

You may sound silly with this, but whispering mantras to yourself work to help reduce the amount of negative thoughts running in your head. If you’re feeling anxious about the things you need to do or someone said something that made you feel upset, it helps to mentally recite calming words to yourself. Chanting mantras like “Everything is going to be okay” or “You can do it” can instantly raise your spirits and make you feel a lot lighter.

3. Get Physical

What should you do to stop your mind from over-thinking and creating negative thoughts? Distract it by doing something physically challenging. Play with children or a pet, do yoga, play sports, go swimming or hit the gym. Activities that are physically engrossing require more attention that will pull you out of your obsessive thinking patterns.

4. Be More Forgiving

There’s no surprise that misfortunes and being treated undesirably leads people to repress and suppress anger. Forgiveness is highest of the human virtues, but not just because it’s morally correct or a commendable trait. It is special because it is single-handedly given to induce peace in people. Forgiveness has also shown to help develop self-esteem, improve mood and boost health. It is a forecaster of relationships and is said to increase longevity.

Be mindful of your feelings and thoughts, because they have power, more than you realize. Worrying is a misuse of your creative energy. You have the power to control your thoughts and live a worry-free and positive life.

Plenty of homeowners want to be able to do home repairs on their own. While some home repairs are perfect for DIY, electrical works simply are not. Especially when you encounter these electrical issues, calling a professional electrician in Singapore is your best and safest solution.

• Lights are Flickering for Unknown Reason

One of the most annoying electrical problems at home is the lights flickering on and off for no reason. You may be trying to clean the room, cook, or read a book. Whatever the reason may be, your best bet is to seek professional assistance. The electrician will check the wiring, socket fittings, and circuit breaker to find out the root of the problem before coming up with a repair solution to do.

• You Need a New Doorbell

Whether it is a residential or a commercial building, it’s important to ensure a well-functioning doorbell. For homeowners, you may miss a package. For business owner, you may lose a potential client. Therefore, when your doorbell isn’t functioning, it needs to be repaired right away. Call an expert to handle this situation. Never attempt to do it yourself as there’s a lot of little wires that can easily get messed up, and ruin the entire system. A professional electrician can come to your home and repair or replace your doorbell wirings quickly.

• Telephone Stopped Working

If your home telephone stopped working—no dial tone or it doesn’t ring—there could be a problem with the wiring or the phone socket. Let an electrical expert fix the problem for you. There are people that say that taizhe recommended for electrical works in Singapore because of their expertise. They will inspect the sockets and the wiring inside and outside your home. If it’s not the socket, it could be that the wire is damaged or may have just come loose, and needs to be replaced. Whatever the reason why your phone has stopped working, a good electrician can locate and fix the problem right away.

• New Construction or Remodelling Home

Whether you’re constructing a new home or doing extensive renovation, you will need an electrician to ensure that your home’s electrical wiring is done right. Besides providing electricity throughout your home, your electrician can also set up your network cabling, A/V cabling, and wiring for your security system. During a remodelling project, you may find the need to add new wirings and power connection for new appliances. Again, an electrical expert can do that for you.

• Re-Wire Older Homes

Houses and properties built in the 90s need to be re-wired to ensure safety and meet the new standard codes. Electrical issues are very common in older homes because of worn out wires and other electrical parts. If you have been experiencing regular trips of the breaker, short circuits, faulty electrical outlets, and other deteriorating power connections, an electrician can step in and solve these issues. Even if you are not having any particular problem but your home already shows signs of aging, check-up and maintenance of your electrical system done by a licensed electrician will greatly increase the safety of your home.

• Repair for Disaster Damage

While we don’t want to think about our home getting damaged by high winds, fire, or flood, it’s best to be always ready. If worst should happen, an electrical contractor is going to be a part of the solution. A licensed electrician will work with you to repair your damaged electrical system and restore the power to your home, giving you and your family a comfortable and safe place to live again.

• Buying or Selling a Home

Electrical survey is a growing trend for property buyers and sellers in Singapore. If you are buying a new house, a qualified electrical constructor will help you inspect the electrical system of the property you’re buying. They will check whether there’s anything wrong, and if so, will give you an estimate of how much it would cost to repair. For sellers, electrical surveys assure prospect buyers that the house is safe and eradicate possibilities of negotiating the price. Proper light fittings and wirings enhance the value of a property, just like renovation and redecoration prior to sale.

• When You’re In Doubt

Even if it is as simple as changing a light bulb, when you’re in doubt, it’s always better to lean towards the safer side. If you’re clueless or unsure even for just a bit on how to handle sudden power issues at home, seek professional help from electrical services in Singapore. While you can save a few dollars on DIY-ing, the result of a poor repair can cost you even more than the amount you saved from hiring a professional. So, unless you are an electrician by profession, never attempt to do electrical works at home.

When You Don’t Need an Electrician

There are also some problems that don’t require electrician services. Usually, these issues are beyond the scope of an electrician’s job and will require other professional to solve the problem.

• Broken Appliances
Freezers, fridges, washing machines, cookers, microwaves, and other home appliances are fixed by the brand’s repair team. Broken audiovisual equipment, like TVs, DVDs, and sound systems, should also be referred to a specialist repair men, not electricians.

• Power Outage
If the power suddenly fails in your house, take a look out of the window to see what’s going on outside. If the neighbourhood is dark, there’s probably a power outage. If this happens, contact your power supplier; their number should be in your electricity bill.

When it comes to your property’s electrical set-up, it is always best to leave the job to the professionals. Electrical lines are very dangerous to handle, so a quick call to an electrical contractor is your safest solution. Moreover, if you decide to do it yourself, there’s greater risk of doing it wrong and inflicting more damage, which would likely result to a more costly repair later on.

It is said that with power comes responsibility. If you undertake a big role, you have to step up and do your best since many people are counting on you. Life will throw many things at you and sometimes it will test your spirit. When serious problems arise at work, the first instinct is to panic. That is normal but panic, anxiety and stress can lead to a complete meltdown.

If you suffer a meltdown, you have to get back on your feet right away because if your response is too long, it can have a long and lasting damage to your health as well as your productivity. Pressure is a natural part of life. Many achievers like athletes, entrepreneurs and artists reached success face pressure but they have learned to stay calm.

As these people are summoned, no matter the situation, they somehow maintain a mental readiness of what is to come. This is because they mastered the art of calming when they find their selves in a stressful situation. When you are mentally ready, you will be poised for success. Here are some tips on calming when you find yourself in a stressful situation.

1. Do not hurry. When things are happening too fast, you tend to hurry too. Sometimes it is helpful if you slow down and do not react immediately. You have to practice patience. While doing it, make sure to collect relevant information so you have an idea of what is happening.

2. Stay positive. Sometimes, it is easier to think negatively when faced by a stressful situation. This will not help you. You have to maintain that positive outlook regardless of the situation. You have to keep in mind that you can solve it.

3. Do not think of “what ifs”. Asking what if is the worse question that you will ask when faced with a particular crisis. The truth is that “what ifs” can multiply the fear thereby escalating the problem.

4. Minimize caffeine intake. When you are faced with something serious, you tend to curl or run to the break room and make a cup of coffee. You think that caffeine can help you think but it is not the case. Caffeine can actually trigger adrenaline at a time and then followed by fatigue and irritability. Instead of drinking coffee, why not choose water instead? It is good for hydrating your body.

5. Disconnect. You have to disconnect from that situation if only for a few hours. This is so you can think of better things to do. Again, do not rush. Give yourself time to cope and think of better solutions.

Hiring a real estate management company is highly beneficial to securing your investments and keeping the frantic processes out of your hands. Although it’s possible to manage your own properties, hiring someone to do the task is something you might want to think about, especially for those who does not have the skills to maintain, say, a condominium, a house, or any building for rent.

Looking for the right estate managing agent can be a daunting task. If you’re considering this option for the first time, you may not have any idea how to judge and what to look for in every company. Though we can’t pinpoint which manager to hire, we can certainly suggest a few important points to cover when interviewing Singapore estate management companies, and these are the most important to include in your list.

• Marketing Vacancies

A good condo management company is aggressive when it comes to marketing their products. No landlords and estate owners want their property to stay vacant for a long time. Remember that the purpose of hiring a management firm is to spare yourself the headache, not to create them due to inefficient management personnel.

• Showing of Properties

Asking about the procedure of showing properties to prospect tenants will not only only describe the precautions that the property management uses, but will also help obtain quality renters. For instance, showing properties only on weekdays 9 to 5pm, decreases the chances of getting tenants with regular jobs.

• Qualification of Tenants

This item is probably the most important matter to cover when interviewing property management companies. Make sure to hear something about background checks as part of the process of screening prospect tenants. A simple background investigation can already be a big help in finding negative history about a potential renter, thus saving you from great loss.

• Collecting Late Rents

Find out how the company collects late rents and how they handle eviction cases. Usually, legitimate firms provide late payment notice, which should state the deadline of the payment, the rental fee that is due, and the amount the tenant will accumulate each day the rent is not paid.

• Maintenance Works

For the convenience of your tenants, make sure your company that you have appointed to carry out condo management in Singapore undergoes regular maintenance. Quality agents can provide their own team of workers to do the necessary upkeep of the building, such as plumbing, painting of walls, regular cleaning, and waterproofing.

• Type of Accounting Offered

It is best to find out beforehand the kind of accounting services that a managing agent offers to the property owners. Bear in mind that good accounting scheme means lesser hassle when taxes season approaches.

• Service Fee Structure

From the aforementioned items, you should be able to gauge whether the agent you’re dealing with is appropriate for the price. Typically, legitimate property agents is Singapore charge 6 to 12 percent of the rent as their service fee, though this may vary from agent to agent.

Finally, if you find yourself torn between two condo management companies or you’re still unsure whether you’ve covered everything that is necessary, review the contract and make sure to read all the fine prints. Do not hurry things up and, if possible, ask for a copy of contract from each company so you can compare and study them at home.