Category: Technology

How online reputation management consultant services can boost your business?

The twenty-first century is considered one of the most revolutionary periods when it comes to technology. And a significant boon of technology is digitalization. Nearly everything is carried out over the internet and the web nowadays. From transactions, purchasing, too daily life chores, every aspect of our lives are engrossed by the digital space. But what is gained the most significance through digitalization is the landscape of business. Online business is the forte of a substantial percentage of the population nowadays.

Here are many efforts that you need to lay to accelerate and div success in your online business in this saturated environment. And one of them is reputation management. Audiences look up to brands that have their roots delved deep into customer loyalty and trading transparency. This is precisely where the importance of online reputation management consultant services. Demonstrated below are some of the ways in which such services can help you enhance your business or get there and reputation back that you once lost.

Comprehensive attention and monitoring

The reputation management services offered by Non-stop digital media are ruling the choices and preferences of companies at present. They will track and monitor all the ongoing of your brand constantly to ensure you possess absolute control over your brand reputation. They shall not only lay an effort to fix the ailing aspects of your business reputation but take care of the project as a whole. Their approaches often involve advanced tactics like the implementation of SEM, SEO, well-versed strategies to help you enhance your reputation and keep it stable.

Addressing criticisms in the best way possible

Negative comments and posts have always been a part of the online presence of any business. These comments and feedbacks can be left by customers, clients, or even neighbor competitors. But just one negative comment can impose an adverse effect on the present stand of your business. As per a recent survey, a large percentage of trading bodies experience a significant loss in business transparency, customer satisfaction, and business reputation due to negative posts and feedbacks. The reputation management consultant service providers from Non-stop digital media are aware of the tactics of promoting positive acuities of brands, engaging effective audiences, satisfying flabbergasted customers, and more.

Shielding individuals allied with the business

These professionals also contribute to reputation enhancements of the individuals who are associated with the trade may include the executives, founders, and owners. They shall put efforts to groom your profile in a way so that you can attain the limelight in the industry and also keep your confidentialities and privacy secured. They offer solid reputation management agency tactics to keep your business and brand secured, highlighted, and on-the-go all at the same time.

No wonder reputation management stands as a leading need when you are operating an online business. Non-stop digital media with its years of expertise and experience in the field shall serve you as a reliable partner in your needs.

AR and VR Advertising: A Revolutionary Way to Boost Brand

In the business world, it is so important to bring unique contents and products to pique the interest of many. Don’t worry, it’s much easier to do that if you opt for virtual reality advertising. It’s worth the investment.

Consumers are always bombarded with a lot of ads. And with so many competitors – be it direct or not, it’s hard to stand out. What makes it even harder to market is that you only have a few seconds to catch their attention so they will stay with you until the end of your ad. Thus, you need something unique and something that will inform them a lot in just a few seconds. Or else, it’s either people will skip your ad or even block it. One of the ways that you can pique the interest of your audience is by opting for an augmented or virtual reality advertising method.

Today, augmented and virtual reality isn’t just for games. Thanks to experts, you can now use it as a tool that you can use in growing your business. Here are some of the ways how it can help your business.

1. It makes you unique

While it has already been years since AR and VR were invented, there are only a few brands who make use of it to market their brand. Thus, you will still be able to bring unique ads to your consumers with this.

2. Better attention and results

Since it is a unique way to market a brand, it surely piques the interest of many. As a result, it’s much easier to inform people about your offers. Some brands, such as Oreo and Coca-Cola, have already used augmented and virtual reality advertising and their marketing strategy was a huge success. So why not try it too?

3. Give a better shopping experience

Sometimes, people get discouraged if they purchase a product that doesn’t actually suit them (they got the wrong shade, size, etc.). But you can prevent this from happening if you have AR and/or VR tools made by good agencies like a VR and AR agency in Sydney because they can virtually try out your products to see if it suits them. It will help their purchase decision a lot.

There are still a lot more things that AR and VR can do for your brand. It’s really a game-changing tool that you need to consider. Especially if your ad is done right, like how a VR in Sydney is made, you will really reap a lot of benefits.

Monotonous advertising of your business is now obsolete. Get innovative with VR. For more, visit https://7dx.co/.

Which Aussie Cities Are Most Attractive For Tech Start-Ups?

Australia is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, offering a fantastic lifestyle for its population. Findings from Better Living Index demonstrate that the country ranks in the highest position for civic engagement and above average for income and wealth, environmental quality, health status, jobs and earnings, education and skills, subjective well-being and social connections. Australia has a lot going for it, right?

There are so many tech start-up businesses popping up all over the world… it’s an exciting time to be an entrepreneur. But is Australia a good place for seeking success for your start-up? Let’s explore which Aussie cities are ideal for launching your new business.

Melbourne

If you are looking to establish a tech firm, Melbourne has recently overtaken Sydney as the best location for new business. In fact, Melbourne was named as one of the best cities in the world for emerging tech firms, despite the decision of both Google and Facebook to set up their HQ’s in Sydney. The findings were based on whether a city attracted enough new tech talents, the general work culture of the area and the readiness of venture capital. In an ever-digitising world, Melbourne has set the tone of becoming an innovative hub to support the firms which will fuel the future. Some great tech firms which began life in Melbourne include MYOB, who operate in accounts and payroll, supplying over one million businesses across Australia and New Zealand. Others include Curo, a firm which ensures care in later life through modern technologies, who recently secured a $1 million investment to take the new business to the US.

Sydney

Sydney still has a thriving scene for start-ups, where budding business owners take in the breath-taking environment and sweet smell of entrepreneurial success. With a population of 4.6 million, Sydney has nurtured a plethora of businesses up through the ranks, where a work culture unparalleled to anywhere else exists. The laid-back perception of Australia is simply not reflected in Sydney, as the hustle and bustle of the city have turned many new firms into instant revenue spinners. In 2018, CNBC listed their start-ups to watch, and Canva was crowned number one. The graphic design platform is used by businesses across the world, awarded the unicorn title in the same year, a mark of recognition for start-ups which are valued over one billion. In six years, the company has enjoyed an astounding growth in popularity and finance, with 13 designs being produced every second by 10 million users worldwide. Innovations such as the Sydney Startup Hub have prompted the growth of new communities, supporting prospective business owners through the daunting process of formalising their business concept. These centres provide continuous support for the current and future infrastructure of start-ups in Australia.

Canberra

The future looks promising for start-up businesses choosing Canberra as their home. The increase in co-working spaces is a positive marker for new businesses looking to set up shop in Canberra, such as Entry 29, Good Work Canberra and Wotso Workspace. They are all setting the scene for a flourishing new lease of life in the capital, with creatives set to redefine Canberra. Various schemes function to provide assistance for those looking to start out, and government programmes such as Innovate Canberra sets out to assist new businesses in pursuing their ventures, providing information on marketing, planning and funding grants. A non-government alternative is the Canberra Innovation Network, which provides a similar service as well as business mentors. Their ever popular ‘GRIFFIN Accelerator’ program welcomes successful applicants into an intensive three-month initiative, whereby they invest in and develop hopeful business owners, aiming to ensure that they finish the program as fully sustainable business owners.

Got a business idea? Make it into a reality, Australia is certainly the place to be for transforming your pipeline plans into a successful venture.

Article brought to you by Where The Trade Buys Print, a company with expertise in printing brochures.

Hire outsourced IT support for your small business firm

Every company in Toronto needs a skilled team of IT support services because nowadays every firm runs on computers and many other types of electrical equipment. This equipment helps in elevating the output of any firm as well as help in providing better and convenient services to the customers. But, it is obvious someday or sometime, there might be occurring issues in this equipment and in that case, you will need a skilled technician to resolve those issues to maintain the quality and flow of services.

If you are an SME then it would be a large cost for you to hire a whole team of experienced technicians and engineers. In such a case, you can easily hire an IT outsourcing company in Toronto. They are not just cost-efficient but also their wide range of services will serve you great help.

Here are a few benefits of outsourcing your tech support services:

Managed IT services – These professionals will manage all your IT services and that means it includes everything from solving technical issues of PC, Mac and other devices to software installation, etc. They can also manage your onsite IT services that you provide to your customers. Also, to ensure that everything works fine in your firm they will proof all the equipment, devices and software with proactive services, so there will be least chances that would be facing any sort issue after hiring them.

Network security – In the highly advanced era, it has become very necessary that you have complete network security in your framework and these service providers will do that for you too. From installing antivirus in all the computers to securing your office network, they can do everything. With their remote services, they can fix all kinds networking or software issues even from their location i.e. you neither have to go to their office nor have to wait for them to arrive, issues will be solved at that very moment.

A guide for drivers: 3 great app recommendations

These days, many people feel that apps bring many benefits to their everyday lives. From apps relating to meditation, fitness, recipes and more… where would we be without them?

Research compiled during 2017 by Statista, identified that 197 billion mobile app downloads were made. With reference to our current world population (just under 7.7 billion), this means that around 25 apps are being downloaded for each person in a year. Now, we think that’s an amazing notion to comprehend.

With some clever input from experienced UK Volkswagen dealership: Vindis, here are a few useful apps for drivers that you might like to consider downloading to your smartphone today!

Android Auto or Apple CarPlay

We begin with a pair of smart driving companions which both carry out similar functions. However, the choice of which one you download will depend on the type of smartphone you have.

If you have a device with an Android operating system, then you’ll be wise to enhance your gadget with Android Auto. This smart driving companion essentially means that while you’re behind the wheel, you only need to mutter ‘OK Google’ in order to…

  • Set up real-time GPS navigation and be informed about traffic alerts.
  • Check your calendar for any occasions that you have scheduled.
  • Set reminders.
  • Get up-to-date news.
  • Setting up a do not disturb message on your phone.
  • Make or answer phone calls handsfree.
  • Access so many of your media apps, such as those containing your favorite music playlists, audiobooks, and podcasts.

Apple CarPlay functions in a similar manner to Android Auto and is made for an iOS smartphone. Featuring Siri voice control, here are just a few things you can do once you open the app:

  • Search for attractions while driving by simply asking for directions by the following means: “Siri, where’s the closest petrol station?”.
  • Have the app predict where you need to be by analyzing addresses on your recent emails, text messages, contacts, and calendars.
  • Make calls and listen to voicemail handsfree.
  • Have Siri read and reply to text messages, as well as send messages in new conversations too.
  • Gain access to content via your iTunes, Apple Music or other audio apps accounts, as well as even request for Siri to become your personal DJ for the duration of a road trip.

In effect, you can remain connected without taking your focus away from the road!

Download the app here:

Android Auto: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.projection.gearhead&hl=en_GB

Apple CarPlay:

https://www.apple.com/uk/ios/carplay/

HERE WeGo

Sick and tired of your mobile phone losing internet connection just as you’re hitting a busy city center that you’re unfamiliar with? We’ve all been in this nightmare situation, but the HERE WeGo app should mean that you never need to go through it again.

This is because the app allows you to safely download offline maps of the UK and other countries — including France, Spain, Italy, the US. This means that you can be navigated to your destination even when you haven’t got an internet connection.

The app even comes in handy when you’ve left your car at home, as it’ll inform you of carsharing opportunities nearby whenever you need it and can call a local taxi too so that you never need to worry about being stranded in an unfamiliar city.

Download the app here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.maps&hl=en_GB

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/here-wego/id955837609?mt=8

JustPark

If it isn’t your sat-nav losing internet connection at a vital moment that will get you stressed while driving, then not being able to find a parking space once you’ve arrived at your destination surely will. Again though, help is at hand — this time in the form of the JustPark app.

This award-winning service has been praised at the 2017 British Parking Awards and Richard Branson’s 2015 VOOM event. The app itself has made up a database of 1.4 million parking spaces, off-street parking options (think car parks, private spaces, and even driveways) and on-street parking possibilities (that’s stretches with parking meters and free parking zones).

JustPark doesn’t just come in handy when trying to find a space, however. You can also reserve a guaranteed space and pay for the spot via the app using either a card, PayPal or either Apple or Android Pay services. You’ll even be provided with easy-to-follow instructions and directions to space once it’s reserved.

Download the app here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.justpark.jp&hl=en_GB

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/justpark-parking/id519652671?mt=8

Make driving a lot less stressful and road trips much more entertaining by downloading these apps onto your smartphones without delay!

Looking to Make Your Company’s Content Available to Stream?

Live streaming is expected to take over the world. YouTube has attracted over 8 million views within 12 hours on the E3 stream alone. Live streaming is finally being taken notice by brands who want to stand out among the competition. Live streaming can effectively become a part of your marketing efforts. Here are reasons why you should invest in an over the top IPTV for live streaming.

1. Cost-Effective

There are hundreds of reasons why your business should take advantage of having your own live streaming channel. Small businesses use live streaming to increase business and gain more popularity by standing out in this new form of content marketing. But there are some business owners who are concerned with the costs associated with live streaming. Before you embrace any new form of marketing, you should ensure that it will generate ROI.

The reason why live streaming channels have increased in popularity is that they cost less than traditional forms of marketing, including video marketing. In order to live stream, you need a stable internet connection and an over the top IPTV camera that streams in HD.

2. Goes Beyond the Live Stream

Live streaming reaches beyond boundaries. Another reason why live streaming has become so popular for businesses is that it increases engagement. There’s no other channel, marketing strategy, or platform that provides such a high level of interaction. Live streaming has one of the highest engagements ranks across all forms of content marketing.

Real-time interaction allows your audience to get to know you. They can leave comments or ask questions. It gives them an opportunity to interact with you on a deeper level. When your audience is interacting with each other, it creates a sense of community that can’t be found on most social media channels. Live streaming eliminates those boundaries and brings everyone together in real-time.

3. Sneek peak Behind the Scenes

Your customers want to know what’s going on with your business. They want to know how you make products and put it all together. And with live streaming, you can give them a behind the scenes look at your business. Thanks to social media channels, brands are now able to show their customers what’s going on in real-time.

For example, you can do a demonstration of your newest product. Or, you can give them a behind the scenes look at your new office and introduce them to your employees. The great thing about live streaming is that they’ll feel as if they’re in the room with you. It’s impossible to provide that with the recorded video.

4. Provides a Human Aspect

No matter which technologies your business chooses to embrace, it’s important to maintain that human aspect. You can’t create that same feeling with recorded videos since it’s difficult for your audience to connect with the presenters. The secret with live streaming is that it opens up for human interaction. Your brand should maintain a personality that’s relatable to your customers.

Mistakes can be made at any time. If one of the presenters makes a blooper, the audience will appreciate the authenticity. There’s a reason why people love to watch silly videos online. It’s because they love to see people make mistakes. It makes those people more relatable.

5. Offers Educational Opportunities

Even though you’re a business, you can’t just sell all the time. You want to educate your customers on the ins and outs of your company. Live streaming allows you to offer training and tutorials, so they can learn how to use your products and services. They can also ask a question and receive an answer almost immediately.

This increases the value of your brand since it’s something interests your target audience. You can also record the live stream to playback later so they can refer to this educational resource time and time again. You can turn all of your live streaming content into conventional video. You’re educating your customers while shooting a video in real-time.

Technology reshaping hospitality industry

Advancement in technology is always make thing easier for human beings. By the help of technology human being improve the working of many business models. It will provide help to human beings to do their work quickly and efficiently. This will help them to complete their work on time with zero error. Because due to the advancement of new technology most of the work done through automation processes which reduce the chance of error in processing. The same kind of services technology is providing in the hospitality industry which will change their working style. A new app is introduced in the hospitality industry with the name of iLobby. This app will help in the registration management system @iLobby.

In the past, we see very limited services provided by hotels and these kinds of apps are not introduced in the hotel industry. But now the scenario is changed the more services a hotel is provided to its customer the more chances that he will be in profit. Now people start traveling a lot so he needs all basic services to make their stay comfortable. That’s why now the hotel industry is more focused on good service facilities.  Now they will provide all the facilities under one room. They have a swimming pool and other facilities within the rooms of their hotels.

These apps just not only help you to find good accommodation but also help you to plan your budget for your trip. These apps will also provide room rates and pictures of hotel rooms as well.

ILobby:

So what is iLobby essentially it is a registration check-in program which is utilized in hotels nowadays. Now the client did not need to connect with the assistant he basically can do hotel registration himself through this application and get his room key from the reception.

The working of this app is like that customer came and adds his details in with the help of a laptop or any other device. At that point, app clicks his picture and sends it to the server which guides that image to the front counter. When that client went to the secretary he will give him they require services which he referenced in the application.

Advantages:

The advantage of this application is that your worker on the reception of the hotel lobby can do different things at that time. Which they will spend while conversing with that client. At that point, the client feels great while including his own details which he won’t want to be missing utilized by some individual. Because their personal information is not shown to anyone so he can enter them freely. This app has the option of different languages because we know there are different visitors from different countries will stay in hotels. So this feature will cause ease for them to fulfill the required information easily.

Apps like these in hotel industry making it simpler for people to work yet increasing the competition level in term of facilities. Every company tries to provide its customer with the best facilities so they will not prefer their competitors over them.

Kanban in the Digital World: How Can It Help You?

Originally, Kanban was a streamlining system developed by the Japanese automobile giant Toyota in the 1940s. They used it to effectively reduce wastage of resources by matching production with the market demand, instead of producing first and selling later. The Kanban board consisted of various rows and columns that represented the project and its demands.

One can even consider it to be an advanced, industrial-grade to-do list, represented on a publicly viewable and accessible board. Employees had to change the cards on the Kanban board, in accordance with the progress that had been made in each division of the board, allowing others and, more importantly, managers to keep an eye on the progress, bottlenecks, and performance.

Immensely successful then and still successful now, the Kanban board is a productivity-boosting, lean manufacturing system that has now been digitalized and enhanced to meet the new standards and scale of modern business settings. Why and how a company can benefit from adopting Kanban software is what we are going to go through next.

Physical Boards are No Longer Feasible

Given the scale of production in the modern world, we can no longer consider physical Kanban boards to be feasible, as they would fill entire floors in no time! This is the primary reason why the Kanban model is now available as interconnected, industrial grade software systems.

If a company continues to use physical Kanban boards in 2019 and beyond, they are going against one of the core principles of Kanban, which is a reduction of wasted resources.

Eliminating the Shortcomings of the Physical Kanban Board

The advantages of adopting a Kanban system, in general, are plenty, but if you are reading this, you likely know about them already. Just in case you don’t though, Kanbanize explains everything about Kanban and how to use it with an online software in vivid detail, so do check out the link to understand the basics first.

Kanbanize offers one of the most advanced online Kanban software systems in the global market, so you will also find the right agile solution that’s fit for your own business.

After you have checked out the Kanban methodology in general and what it brings to a production facility from the Kanbanize website, consider the results a company would be able to achieve, if they were somehow able to eliminate the following from the Kanban system.

  • The need to physically go to the board in the office and update it
  • Inability to access the Kanban boards from outside the office
  • The lack of real-time and universal board updates
  • Insufficient history data and loss of worked out solutions

These are just some of the many other shortcomings which an electronic Kanban system eliminates, therefore, streamlining the agile process itself. In the long-term, the amount of time, effort, and money saved by switching over to digital Kanban boards would be nothing short of astounding.

Universal Access and Real-Time Updates

We briefly mentioned universal access and real-time updates previously, but a closer look at how it happens is required to make more sense of the statement.

  • No time is wasted when anyone and everyone in the project can update the Kanban board in real time
  • Employees instantly know when to take the next step, as soon as a step has been completed
  • Managers know which are the bottlenecks and, therefore, where to divert their attention
  • Simultaneous access to the board is allowed and conflicting steps are canceled automatically
  • Room for setting WIP limits reduces the chance of simultaneous and conflicting updates to the system
  • Remote employees outside the office or even country can access the Kanban board relevant to them
  • Modern online Kanban software solutions offer users the opportunity to access the system even from their smartphones
  • Any previously worked out solution can now be accessed easily and when required

Performance Tracking through Unlimited History Access

There is virtually no limit to the amount of history you can keep stored in the software system’s local or cloud servers, which means that it’s possible to analyze the data and find patterns, as well as problems in the production process.

More importantly, though, historical performance data enables continuous improvement. What this means is that when you adopt a software-based online Kanban tool, it automatically records and may even suggest the right solution for a bottleneck issue, if something similar has been solved already during one of the previous projects.

On top of all this, the security of important information from previous projects, such as the solutions we just mentioned, are stored in a more secure way than it would otherwise be on a physical Kanban card, which simply contains a few scribbled lines of info on it! The amount of data and information that an employee can add to each card and during each step is once again, virtually unlimited, making it so much more effective down the line.

Health problems caused by our digital world… too much screen time

Our world today is so busy with technology devices, constantly demanding our attention throughout our day. Most of us can be found staring at a screen, all day sometimes, be it our computer and phone at work, or our tablet and TV at home. Somehow, we have all become slightly addicted to some form of the screen and it’s fast becoming a major issue for our health. For the vast majority of us, our ‘screen’ is the only constant in our lives.

Browse through our guide below and consider your own digital screen usage. Do you need to seek ways to spend more time away from your screens?

Health concerns: digital eye strain and blurred vision

Everyone is aware that spending long hours in front of the screen is unhealthy, but not all will know that it can actually lead to illness. Computer vision syndrome (CVS) is also known as digital eye strain and caused by prolonged periods of looking at electronic devices such as computers, tablets, and phones. The syndrome can result in several symptoms including:

  • Eyestrain
  • Headaches
  • Blurred vision
  • Neck and shoulder pain

But why does this occur?

When the eyes spend extended periods of time looking at a screen, they are forced to work harder. Unlike reading from a book or a newspaper, in which the words are more distinguished and sharply defined, the contrast on a screen is significantly reduced and the likes of glare bouncing back from the screen poses more of a threat to an uninterrupted view.

Those who already suffer from poor vision and use eye-sight correction such as glasses or contact lenses are the most likely to be affected by CVS. Studies have found that even those who don’t usually require a general eye prescription may benefit from glasses specifically designed for use in front of the screen to prevent damage.

CVS can be treated through the administration of solution although often simply adjusting the way you view your screen can owe to a reduction in damage to the eye. Simple changes, such as altering your display settings, regularly exercising your eyes and taking frequent breaks from staring at the screen can all prevent the strain caused. Most employers should also have guidelines instructing you on how to set up your workstation appropriately.

Do you need to give your eyes a rest?

With all the technological advancements, it almost seems like backtracking to suggest that you should put aside the phones and tablets in exchange for a book, but it’s not. Scientific research has shown that by reading from a physical book or newspaper as opposed to an e-book or your digital copy, you absorb more information. This owes to two main reasons. Firstly, you get less distracted, mostly due to the fact the internet isn’t right at your fingers and secondly, having the material in your hands help you visualise just how much you’ve read. And you won’t even need two hands, you could also hold your cup of tea!

Similarly, if you’ve been working in a job all day that involves focusing on a computer screen and your equating to that aforementioned 1,700 hours, then use the evenings to give your eyes a rest. Findings suggest that using a blue light before sleep can disrupt with your melatonin and circadian cycles, making the process of getting to sleep a whole lot harder. On the other hand, reading some print is deemed an age-old remedy for those struggling with getting some shut eye.

No one is proposing that we scrap all the digital technologies that make our day-to-day life so much better, however it is worth reassessing the time spent looking at a screen and whether it essential – looking at the same posts repeatedly isn’t.

Turn your phone onto airplane mode at 9pm, keep track of your time spent on social media, and take in the view straight ahead as opposed to looking down.

Article provided by Where The Trade Buys: a leading UK based perfect bound brochure printing firm.

Taking a Look at the August Smart Lock Pro

The third generation August Smart Lock Pro is a smart lock that retrofits your existing deadbolt. From the outside, nothing changes—even your bolt remains in place. On the inside, your deadbolt mechanism will be replaced with August’s intelligence.

The August Smart Lock Pro replaces the original Smart Lock, which was first introduced in 2014. Since then, they’ve had a lot of time to improve. Pro’s most notable feature is the addition of Z-Wave Plus, allowing it to connect to third-party hubs. Also, when purchased online, the lock ships with an August Connect, a device which acts as an internet bridge. With the bridge, you can now control your lock from anywhere, not just within Bluetooth range. Finally, it ships with a DoorSense sensor which calibrates to the lock and reads your door’s status, ensuring that you don’t lock the door when you accidentally leave it ajar.

Our first impression of the August Smart Lock Pro was that it’s huge. We’ve seen it before at CES, but the vastness of Las Vegas can apparently miniaturize things. While testing the lock, we had a few guests stop by to visit. Their comments ranged from, “What is this?” to, “How do I get out?” and even, “IT’S HUGE!”

The lock measures about 3.4″ in diameter and is made to retrofit your existing deadbolt.

Installation was a breeze. All you need is a Phillips screwdriver and a little bit of patience.

Auto-Lock

The first feature you’ll come across is called Auto-Lock. When enabled, your lock will automatically lock itself if you’ve left it unlocked. The process is time-based and customizable. You can set the timer to a set time somewhere between 30 seconds and 30 minutes.

Smart Alerts

Speaking of notifications, August also supports Smart Alerts which allow you to set up push notifications for custom “alert me when” events. There are four events you can choose from:

  1. The door is locked or unlocked manually
  2. The door is locked or unlocked by a specific user
  3. The door is left ajar
  4. The door is Auto-Locked

Once you have your event notification setup, you next choose a time. There are two options here: any time it occurs and within a time range.

Choosing a time range allows you to set a schedule based on the days of the week and time of day. For example, you can set an alert to let you know if the door is left ajar on weekdays between 8 AM and 6 PM.

Overall, the August lock is feature rich and offers plenty of integrations. The features we disliked (auto unlock, laggy Alarm.com integration, and DoorSense) paled in comparison to the overall stellar performance of the lock. And remember, some of our issues were self-created thanks to Door Armor.

For a more in-depth review of the lock, check out http://www.portable.technology/august-smart-lock-pro-review/.