Business leaders within UK SMEs have been told ten of the most commonly misunderstood technological terms to avoid misinformation negatively impacting performance.
Experts from business communications specialists TelephoneSystems.Cloud have warned that the most commonly used terms are often the most likely to be misunderstood.
Incorrect definitions of technical terms can easily be spread throughout a business leading to assumptions being made.
This can be driven by non-tech leaders who are tempted to suggest business changes despite not truly understanding what it is they are suggesting.
Juliet Moran, founder of TelephoneSystems.Cloud said: “Understanding what key terms really mean and how best to utilise ‘the cloud’ can dramatically improve the way a business operates and communicates, bridging the gap between vision and execution.
“It is easy for misunderstandings to spread throughout a business, particularly around technical terms that are in common use.
“Because we are used to hearing these terms every day we assume we understand what they mean and therefore we think we understand what the impact of any technical changes would be on our businesses.
“But when business owners and employees grasp concepts like ‘cloud computing’ and ‘big data’, they’re better equipped to make informed decisions, optimise resources, and avoid costly misunderstandings.”
TelephoneSystems.Cloud’s ten most commonly misunderstood business tech terms:
- Cloud computing
‘The Cloud’ is a term, the meaning of which has arguably shifted over time as technology has advanced. Many think “the cloud” is just online storage, but in reality, it refers to a broad range of services provided over the internet, including storage, servers, databases, networking, software, and more.
Clouds can be both public and private with the difference being a private cloud is shared within your organisation whereas a public crowd shares infrastructure with other organisations. The Cloud has quickly become one of the most commonly used business tech terms because it can save your business so much due to reduced infrastructure and maintenance costs whatever industry you are in.
- VoIP
Confusion can arise as your office phone system can look just like a standard, wired-line PBX, but if it’s coming from an Internet line instead of a landline connection then all calls will be via VoIP. If your business uses a Voice over Internet Protocol system for your phones, then it works over an Internet connection.
- Phone “Lines”
With modern, business cloud based phone systems, you no longer have multiple phone lines going into your building. The “lines” are just network connections that go over the internet and you can have as many connections as the speed of your internet connection allows. Even on a standard DSL connection you can typically have around a dozen simultaneous calls, and on fibre internet you can have hundreds. Therefore when setting up a new phone system you should not worry about the number of lines, but instead think about the number of phone users you will have.
- Big Data
It’s easy to think “big data” just means a large volume of data, but it actually refers to data that is not only large in volume but also complex and difficult to process using traditional methods. It involves techniques for handling and analysing large, fast, and varied datasets to extract valuable insights.
- Wi-Fi
We often find customers confuse Wi-fi with their internet connection and get them mixed up. Your internet connection is what comes out of the router and down the wire and is provided by your ISP. Your Wi-Fi is a wireless service that runs off the router device. It may also have booster devices to make the signal run throughout your building. While your supplier might provide a router with Wi-Fi, if your router is up and running and you can get on the internet, but your Wi-Fi isn’t working, the problem isn’t with your internet connection.
- Security Certificates
Sometimes called by their old name “SSL certificates”. This is a special type of file which is used to encrypt data that is transferred between a website and the customer. The use of a security certificate is indicated by a small padlock icon at the top of your browser window. It is important to note that a security certificate alone does not make a website secure. A website can still be hacked if the code is not maintained and kept up to date.
- A.I.
Artificial Intelligence is mentioned a lot in the news recently and is attracting a lot of attention. The term conjures images of computers thinking for themselves in the same way humans do. The A.I. we have to date does not do that. In fact, the best experts in the field still don’t know how consciousness works or how to recreate it. The A.I. programs we have today tend to be focused on specific tasks such as speech recognition, image generation or image recognition. Here they can mimic some aspects of intelligent behaviour, but they are not conscious. We don’t need to fear a robot uprising just yet.
- Bandwidth
Bandwidth is often mistaken for internet speed when it’s actually the volume of information that can be sent over a connection in a measured amount of time – calculated in megabits per second (Mbps).
- Scalability
Scalability is a popular buzzword within organisations, but it is easy to forget that business and technology are different. Scalability in business usually means that you also have to scale your tech. Failure to do so will slow growth as tech can no longer support your expanding business. It is important that your technology can easily scale up as your business grows.
- API (Application Programming Interface)
People tend to think that APIs are just a product or a single tool, but an API is actually a set of rules that allows different software applications to communicate with each other. It’s more of a bridge or a contract between systems rather than a standalone product.
For more information on how technology can be utilised for better business communication visit https://telephonesystems.cloud/.