#integrated communication tools

[tech-developer]

Microsoft Office 365 The Productivity in Your Hands

In today's fast-paced and technologically-driven world, productivity is of utmost importance. With numerous tasks to juggle, deadlines to meet, and projects to complete, professionals are constantly searching for efficient solutions to manage their workload.

Microsoft Office 365 is one such solution that puts productivity directly in the hands of its users.

Office 365 encompasses a suite of popular productivity tools, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more. However, it goes beyond the traditional desktop software by offering cloud-based features and collaborative capabilities.

This means that users can access their documents, spreadsheets, and presentations anytime, anywhere, with any device, as long as they have an internet connection.

The flexibility offered by Office 365 allows individuals and teams to work remotely, ensuring that productivity is not limited by physical boundaries.

Whether you are at home, on the go, or in the office, you can easily collaborate with colleagues, share files, and engage in real-time communication. This eliminates the need for constant email exchanges, tedious version control, and delays in decision-making.

One of the key highlights of Office 365 is its real-time collaboration feature. Multiple users can work on the same document simultaneously, making editing, reviewing, and finalizing projects a seamless process.

Whether it is a group brainstorming session, a finance spreadsheet, or a marketing presentation, everyone can contribute and see updates in real-time.

This not only saves time but also enhances teamwork and fosters a sense of accountability.

Furthermore, Office 365 offers integrated communication tools like Microsoft Teams, which facilitate efficient collaboration and streamline project management.

Users can create channels for specific topics, have virtual meetings, and chat in real-time. This ensures that team members are always connected, eliminating any communication barriers and allowing for quick decision-making and problem-solving.

Another significant advantage of Office 365 is its scalability and cost-efficiency. Users can choose from various subscription plans, tailored to meet the needs of different individuals and organizations.

This means that whether you are a freelancer, a small business owner, or part of a large corporation, Office 365 can be customized to suit your requirements.

Additionally, with automatic updates and continuous improvements, users always have access to the latest features and security enhancements without the need for manual installations or expensive upgrades.

Some tips for getting the most out of Microsoft 365:

Take advantage of the training: Microsoft offers a variety of training resources for Microsoft 365. This training can help you learn how to use the applications more effectively.

Use the cloud: Microsoft 365 is available in the cloud, so you can access your applications and data from anywhere. This can be a great way to work from home or on the go.

Collaborate with others: Microsoft 365 makes it easy to collaborate with others on projects. Use features such as document sharing and real-time co-authoring to work together more effectively.

Use the latest features: Microsoft 365 is constantly being updated with new features. Make sure to check out the latest features to see how they can help you be more productive.

In conclusion, Microsoft Office 365 is a game-changer when it comes to boosting productivity. By providing users with cloud-based access, collaborative features, and integrated communication tools, Office 365 ensures that productivity is no longer confined to a physical workspace. It empowers individuals and teams to work efficiently, streamline workflows, and achieve more in less time. With Office 365, productivity truly is in the hands of its users, offering a seamless and powerful solution to manage the demands of the modern world.

[system-of-a-feather]

Alternative System Mind Mapping Method for Communication

[DISCLAIMER: This is not a professional or scientifically or anything really backed method, this is something coming solely from peer / personal experience.]

In regards to an anon ask earlier, I was thinking about it and one of the ways we've approached improving communication - particularly internal - in a way that is a lot less prone to flooding or dealing with trauma or anything too overwhelming - is by approaching it following the concept of Memory Webs

I haven't read up on them recently, but "Memory Webs" were a thing that our AP Psychology teacher in highschool made us do because the AP Psych test was term / jargon heavy. Memory in the human brain has been shown to be HEAVILY associative and the ability to remember and connect things tends to rely on following a "web" of connected topics, ideas, concepts etc from one idea to the next.

So in our AP Psych class, she gave us these GIANT books for Vocabulary Webs that we had to slowly work on, each of which required 6 other vocab words / related concepts, a summarized definition, and an image to represent it. By doing this, you added 6 cues to recall the word (increasing the chance you'd remember it), a visual cue, an episodic memory of working on it, and a definition - all in all improving how connected the word is to other concepts in your brain and making it easier to recall it.

I personally like to look at DID and our parts in a similar manner sometimes where the large issue is that a lot of the nodes in the web of associations are either disconnected or connected through a hard-to-find and/or small chain. In that sense, parts struggle to be held together because they are not associated concepts. It's hard to reach other parts because the dissociative walls (which in our unsubstantiated opinion is less a 'wall' and more so a lack of reinforced neural connections, so I would call them dissociative caverns) keep associations from forming

As a result, alternative to more traditional ways of mapping your system and parts, a method I've liked to internally visualize systems and navigating system dynamics is through a memory web manner. (I actually have never done it physically cause the Ray part of my brain - also the most prominent part writing this rn - rarely liked to front if he didn't have to and did a lot of stuff internally)

Here's a bit of a breakdown using six of our parts if any of you want to try it out.

We personally like it because it strips a lot of trauma and stress off of it and makes it a lot more of a positive and present engaging activity. For the purposes of this, I'll be using the free online app of Milanote cause we've used it before for OC associative webs and I think it'll do fine enough. (Honestly it actually might just be a good way to log alter information now that I'm looking at it if you are at a place in recovery where keeping track of that physically helpful)

So we can start by dropping down the parts we want to include in the form of boards

So from here, we have a bunch of disconnected parts. However, we find that a lot of these parts have things that mean a lot to them, that illicit a strong emotion or reaction from them.

Some parts may lack it more than others (often in our case trauma holders and/or trauma locked parts) and that's okay and to be expected. This is a visualization method and if there isn't much connecting a part that is 100% okay.

For demonstration sake, I will now add bubbles around each part of things that were pretty early apparent that each individual liked.

Also for the purposes of how I know our system works and how I plan to do this, I am actually moving Riku to the center and you will all see why Riku is such an S tier center point with this model

So you can see some connections forming.

Some key things you can take from this visual that also applied to earlier stags of how we connected

Lucille and Riku are and have always been pretty darn connected, they go back as one of the longest duos and were split almost as a pair to deal with academics

Chunn and Ray have a very shared interest of "I don't want to do anything leave me alone"

XIV literally was just a piece of shit early on and didn't have any immediate HARD connections with anyone largely because he never was interested in actually engaging in things he liked in a positive way as his "favorite emotion" at the time was "being pissed off"

Lin - an originally trauma stuck / loop - is very very poorly associated with anything that isn't overtly trauma related (and that is saying something cause Vocaloid is trauma related) and thus has very few connections to other parts

So looking at this though, there are a few things that have some similarities between parts. What you can do is make plans to try to foster the interests that you do have and try to generalize it a bit more to also encompass what interests other parts have. So lets engage in hobbies a little more - explore a few concepts that mean a lot to parts independently - and find some more generalized version of those hobbies

(forgot to add easy listening to Ray's and "only wearing monochrome*" to XIV's earlier) (*there are a lot of nuances and caveats)

Damn, look at that. It's messy and ugly to have in a 2D form. I absolutely hate it, this would be so impossible with our whole system. But HEY, it's very connected - and that's the goal.

Compared to the previous one, you can see how easily it can be for one part's interests to start to drift into another. Because they are largely and strongly associated features to each part, they are a lot more accessible when engaging in their shared / associated connections and interests which makes it easier for the them to stay together near the front, stay associated with one another, and work with and communicate with one another.

Of course anyone following this blog goes "Where tf is Birds" and that I left out because it would ruin the point of the web as it actually is one of our traditional "you are around the system a lot? okay pick a bird" which serves to 1) be a fun system culture thing 2) be a means of welcoming a part in and 3) helps establish a foundational connection; we do the same with music but with music its a lot more elaborate and I probably wont explain it for other reasons.

But overtime, by fostering interests that were already present and encouraging parts to broaden and generalize their specific interest a bit, you end up with a lot of overlapping associations that can greatly improve internal communication, co-fronting ability, and just general fluidity and easy of moving around the brain web.

It becomes a good way of trying to figure out what you can do to encourage and help build connections and associations between parts by seeing where things are similar / could have more overlap (combat and martial arts, different types of fashion, different types of music, different appreciation for arts, taking over the world, yada yada yada)

And you wanna know the coolest thing? When you step back from the whole web you can see certain things appear that stand out the most and have some of the most connections.

If you ever intend to go to Final Fusion, those are the things that will likely be the most prominent traits of your whole self

For us? [REDACTED BIRDS for the point of the demonstration], Music, Fashion, Taking over the World, Recovery and Healing, Buddhism, Martial Arts, Arts in general - they're all some of our largest traits that persist in almost all forms as individual parts, partially fused parts, and fully fused parts.

And the BEST part? Doing this didn't require us to touch trauma at all.

Of course in recovery that will come up cause PTSD doesn't ask permission, but its a very low stress way to help improve internal communication and engagement with one another.

[smsgatewayindia]

Big update from SMPP Center! 📬 Version 7.0 brings Contact Form Integration for seamless customer engagement. Boost your SMS campaigns now! #SMPPCenter #Version7 #SMSMarketing

🎉 Introducing Contact Form Integration in Version 7.0

[jcmarchi]

Combining forces, GSAP & Webflow!

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/combining-forces-gsap-webflow/

Combining forces, GSAP & Webflow!

Change can certainly be scary whenever a beloved, independent software library becomes a part of a larger organization. I’m feeling a bit more excitement than concern this time around, though.

If you haven’t heard, GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) is teaming up with the visual website builder, Webflow. This mutually beneficial advancement not only brings GSAP’s powerful animation capabilities to Webflow’s graphical user interface but also provides the GSAP team the resources necessary to take development to the next level.

GSAP has been independent software for nearly 15 years (since the Flash and ActionScript days!) primarily supported by Club GSAP memberships, their paid tiers which offer even more tools and plugins to enhance GSAP further. GSAP is currently used on more than 12 million websites.

I chatted with Cassie Evans — GSAP’s Lead Bestower of Animation Superpowers and CSS-Tricks contributor — who confidently expressed that GSAP will remain available for the wider web.

It’s a big change, but we think it’s going to be a good one – more resources for the core library, more people maintaining the GSAP codebase, money for events and merch and community support, a VISUAL GUI in the pipeline.

The Webflow community has cause for celebration as well, as direct integration with GSAP has been a wishlist item for a while.

The webflow community is so lovely and creative and supportive and friendly too. It’s a good fit.

I’m so happy for Jack, Cassie, and Rodrigo, as well as super excited to see what happens next. If you don’t want to take my word for it, check out what Brody has to say about it.

Direct Link →

[vague-humanoid]

At the California Institute of the Arts, it all started with a videoconference between the registrar’s office and a nonprofit.

One of the nonprofit’s representatives had enabled an AI note-taking tool from Read AI. At the end of the meeting, it emailed a summary to all attendees, said Allan Chen, the institute’s chief technology officer. They could have a copy of the notes, if they wanted — they just needed to create their own account.

Next thing Chen knew, Read AI’s bot had popped up inabout a dozen of his meetings over a one-week span. It was in one-on-one check-ins. Project meetings. “Everything.”

The spread “was very aggressive,” recalled Chen, who also serves as vice president for institute technology. And it “took us by surprise.”

The scenariounderscores a growing challenge for colleges: Tech adoption and experimentation among students, faculty, and staff — especially as it pertains to AI — are outpacing institutions’ governance of these technologies and may even violate their data-privacy and security policies.

That has been the case with note-taking tools from companies including Read AI, Otter.ai, and Fireflies.ai.They can integrate with platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teamsto provide live transcriptions, meeting summaries, audio and video recordings, and other services.

Higher-ed interest in these products isn’t surprising.For those bogged down with virtual rendezvouses, a tool that can ingest long, winding conversations and spit outkey takeaways and action items is alluring. These services can also aid people with disabilities, including those who are deaf.

But the tools can quickly propagate unchecked across a university. They can auto-join any virtual meetings on a user’s calendar — even if that person is not in attendance. And that’s a concern, administrators say, if it means third-party productsthat an institution hasn’t reviewedmay be capturing and analyzing personal information, proprietary material, or confidential communications.

“What keeps me up at night is the ability for individual users to do things that are very powerful, but they don’t realize what they’re doing,” Chen said. “You may not realize you’re opening a can of worms.“

The Chronicle documented both individual and universitywide instances of this trend. At Tidewater Community College, in Virginia, Heather Brown, an instructional designer, unwittingly gave Otter.ai’s tool access to her calendar, and it joined a Faculty Senate meeting she didn’t end up attending. “One of our [associate vice presidents] reached out to inform me,” she wrote in a message. “I was mortified!”

[whatsappapiautomation]

whatsapp api role in e-commerce

[relto]

it weekend now so i cant continue fiddling around with it (and most likely i wont have much time for fancy projects next week) but i was so excited to install a usb sniffer on the windows computer and see what the traffic to the spectrometer looks like. and then the stupid driver issue happened!!

[cosysta]

Connect your Applications with our Expert API Integration Services

[smsgatewayindia]

Send WhatsApp from Google Spreadsheet: Automated Messaging Made Easy

https://www.smsgatewaycenter.com/integrations/send-whatsapp-from-google-spreadsheet/

Discover the power of automated WhatsApp messaging directly from Google Sheets with our Send WhatsApp from Google Spreadsheet add-on. Effortlessly send notifications, engage clients, and customize messages with your wabaapi.com subscription. Installation and training included.

[golden42]

Lazy Loading Page Speed Optimization: Efficient Practices & Tips

Key Takeaways

Lazy loading can significantly improve page speed by loading only necessary content initially, reducing initial load times.

Implementing lazy loading can save bandwidth, which is crucial for users on limited data plans.

This technique enhances user experience by ensuring faster interactions and smoother scrolling.

SEO can benefit from lazy loading as search engines prefer faster websites, potentially improving rankings.

To effectively implement lazy loading, use browser-native features and ensure compatibility across different devices.

Enhancing Web Performance with Lazy Loading

In today's fast-paced digital world, web performance is more critical than ever. Slow websites can drive users away, impacting engagement and conversions. One powerful technique to boost performance is lazy loading. By understanding and implementing lazy loading, you can optimize your website's speed and efficiency, keeping your visitors engaged and satisfied.

Understanding the Need for Speed

Users expect websites to load quickly and efficiently.

Slow loading times can lead to higher bounce rates.

Improved speed enhances user satisfaction and retention.

Most importantly, speed is not just a luxury; it's a necessity. Users are increasingly impatient, and a delay of even a few seconds can cause them to abandon your site. Therefore, ensuring that your site loads swiftly is crucial for maintaining user interest and engagement.

Lazy loading offers a solution by optimizing the loading process. Instead of loading every element of a page at once, lazy loading prioritizes essential content and defers non-essential elements. This approach can make a dramatic difference in how quickly your site feels to users.

Lazy Loading: A Game Changer for Web Efficiency

Lazy loading is more than just a buzzword; it's a transformative technique for web optimization. By deferring the loading of non-essential elements, such as images and videos, until they are needed, lazy loading reduces the initial load time of a webpage.

Images and videos load only when they enter the viewport.

Reduces server requests, enhancing page speed.

Particularly beneficial for mobile users with limited bandwidth.

Besides that, lazy loading helps in conserving resources, which is particularly beneficial for mobile users who might be on limited data plans. By only loading what's necessary, users experience faster interactions and smoother scrolling, which can significantly improve their overall experience.

Eager Loading: When Immediate Isn't Ideal

Eager loading, the opposite of lazy loading, involves loading all page elements at once. While this approach might seem straightforward, it can lead to longer initial load times, especially on content-heavy pages. Therefore, eager loading is not always the best choice, particularly when dealing with large images or videos.

Lazy loading, on the other hand, ensures that your website delivers essential content swiftly, making it an ideal choice for optimizing page speed and improving user experience.

Benefits of Lazy Loading

Lazy loading isn't just about speed; it's about creating a seamless and efficient user experience. Let's delve into the various benefits it offers.

Faster Initial Load Times

By loading only the necessary elements initially, lazy loading significantly reduces the time it takes for a page to become interactive. Users can start engaging with the content almost immediately, without waiting for all elements to load.

This immediate engagement is crucial in retaining user interest. For instance, if your homepage loads quickly, users are more likely to explore further, increasing the chances of conversion.

Additionally, faster load times can have a positive impact on your website's bounce rate. Users are less likely to leave if they don't have to wait for content to load, which can improve your site's overall performance metrics.

Loading Images Efficiently

Images often account for the majority of a webpage's load time. By implementing lazy loading for images, you can significantly improve your page speed. This involves loading images only when they are about to enter the viewport. As a result, users won't have to wait for all images to load before they can interact with your content.

To do this effectively, you can use the loading="lazy" attribute in your image tags. This attribute tells the browser to defer loading the image until it is close to being visible. Additionally, consider using responsive image techniques to serve different image sizes based on the user's device, further optimizing load times.

Handling Videos and Media Content

Videos and other media content can be resource-intensive, causing significant delays in load times if not managed properly. Lazy loading can also be applied to these elements. By embedding videos with lazy loading techniques, you ensure they only load when a user scrolls to them.

For example, instead of directly embedding a video, use a thumbnail image with a play button overlay. When the user clicks the play button, the video loads and plays. This not only saves bandwidth but also improves the initial loading speed of the page.

JavaScript and CSS Deferred Loading

JavaScript and CSS files are essential for modern web applications, but they can also be a bottleneck if not handled correctly. Lazy loading these resources involves deferring their loading until they are needed. This can be achieved using the defer and async attributes for JavaScript files.

The defer attribute ensures that the script is executed after the HTML document has been parsed, while the async attribute allows the script to be executed as soon as it's available. For CSS, consider using media queries to load stylesheets conditionally based on the user's device or viewport size.

Tips for Optimizing Lazy Loading

Implementing lazy loading is just the beginning. To truly optimize your website's performance, follow these additional tips and best practices.

Use Browser Native Features

Modern browsers offer native support for lazy loading, making it easier than ever to implement this technique. By using native features, you can ensure compatibility and reduce the need for third-party libraries, which can add unnecessary overhead.

To take advantage of these features, simply add the loading="lazy" attribute to your image and iframe tags. This simple addition can have a significant impact on your page speed, especially for image-heavy sites.

Besides, using native features ensures that your site remains future-proof, as browsers continue to enhance their support for lazy loading and other performance optimizations.

Minimize Default Image Size

Before applying lazy loading, it's crucial to optimize your images for size. Large images can still slow down load times, even with lazy loading. Use image compression tools to reduce file sizes without sacrificing quality.

Optimize Animations

Animations can enhance user experience, but they can also impact performance if not optimized. Use CSS animations instead of JavaScript whenever possible, as they are more efficient and can be hardware-accelerated by the browser.

Ensure that animations are smooth and don't cause layout shifts, which can negatively affect user experience. Test your animations on different devices to ensure they perform well across the board.

Remember, the goal is to create a seamless experience for your users. By optimizing animations, you can enhance the visual appeal of your site without compromising performance.

Test Across Multiple Devices

It's essential to test your website on a variety of devices and screen sizes. What works well on a desktop might not perform the same on a mobile device. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze your site's performance and identify areas for improvement.

Regular testing ensures that your lazy loading implementation works as intended across different platforms, providing a consistent experience for all users.

Overcoming Common Lazy Loading Challenges

While lazy loading offers numerous benefits, it's not without its challenges. Addressing these issues ensures that your implementation is successful and doesn't negatively impact your site.

Dealing with SEO Concerns

Lazy loading can sometimes interfere with search engine indexing if not implemented correctly. To ensure your content is indexed, use server-side rendering or provide fallbacks for search engines that may not execute JavaScript. For more insights, check out how lazy loading decreases load time and increases engagement.

Ensure all critical content is available without JavaScript.

Use structured data to help search engines understand your content.

Regularly monitor your site's indexing status in Google Search Console.

These strategies help maintain your site's visibility in search engine results, ensuring that lazy loading doesn't negatively impact your SEO efforts.

Addressing Browser Compatibility Issues

While most modern browsers support lazy loading, some older versions may not. To ensure compatibility, consider using a polyfill or fallback solutions for browsers that don't support lazy loading natively.

By addressing these compatibility issues, you can provide a consistent experience for all users, regardless of their browser choice. Regularly updating your site and testing on different browsers can help you identify and resolve any issues that arise.

Troubleshooting Loading Delays

Even with lazy loading implemented, you might encounter loading delays. This often happens when elements are not optimized or when there are too many third-party scripts running on your site. To troubleshoot these issues, start by identifying the elements that are causing delays. Use tools like Google Chrome's Developer Tools to pinpoint these elements and analyze their loading times.

Once you've identified the culprits, consider compressing images, deferring non-essential scripts, and minimizing the use of third-party plugins. By doing so, you can significantly reduce loading times and improve the overall performance of your website.

The Future of Lazy Loading in Web Development

Lazy loading is set to become an integral part of web development as websites continue to grow in complexity and size. With the increasing demand for faster and more efficient websites, lazy loading offers a practical solution to enhance user experience without compromising on content richness.

"Lazy loading is not just a trend; it's a necessity for modern web development. As websites evolve, so do the techniques we use to optimize them."

As more developers recognize the benefits of lazy loading, we can expect to see advancements in browser support and new tools that make implementation even easier. This evolution will ensure that lazy loading remains a vital component of web optimization strategies.

Emerging Technologies that Support Lazy Loading

Several emerging technologies are poised to enhance lazy loading capabilities. For instance, progressive web apps (PWAs) and server-side rendering (SSR) can work alongside lazy loading to deliver content more efficiently. PWAs offer offline capabilities and faster load times, while SSR ensures that content is rendered on the server, reducing the load on the client's device.

Additionally, advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning could further optimize lazy loading by predicting user behavior and preloading content accordingly. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize how we approach web performance optimization.

The Growing Importance of Mobile Optimization

As mobile usage continues to rise, optimizing websites for mobile devices has become more critical than ever. Lazy loading plays a crucial role in this optimization by reducing data usage and improving load times on mobile networks.

By implementing lazy loading, you can ensure that your mobile users have a seamless experience, regardless of their network conditions. This is particularly important for users in regions with slower internet speeds, where every byte counts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Lazy loading is a powerful tool, but it can also raise questions for those unfamiliar with its implementation. Here are some common questions and answers to help you better understand lazy loading and its impact on your website.

These insights will help you make informed decisions about implementing lazy loading on your site and address any concerns you may have.

"Lazy loading can seem daunting at first, but with the right guidance, it becomes an invaluable asset for web optimization."

What is lazy loading and how does it work?

Lazy loading is a technique that defers the loading of non-essential elements, such as images and videos, until they are needed. This reduces the initial load time of a webpage, allowing users to interact with the content more quickly. By only loading elements when they enter the viewport, lazy loading conserves resources and improves performance.

How does lazy loading affect page speed and SEO?

Lazy loading can significantly enhance page speed by reducing the number of elements that need to be loaded initially. This not only improves user experience but also positively impacts SEO. Search engines favor faster websites, which can lead to improved rankings.

However, it's essential to ensure that lazy loading is implemented correctly to avoid any negative impact on SEO. This includes providing fallbacks for search engines that may not execute JavaScript and ensuring that all critical content is accessible without JavaScript. For more insights, check out this beginner's guide to lazy loading.

By addressing these considerations, you can harness the benefits of lazy loading without compromising your site's visibility in search engine results.

"Faster websites are favored by both users and search engines, making lazy loading a win-win for performance and SEO."

Therefore, lazy loading is an effective strategy for enhancing both user experience and search engine rankings.

What types of content should be lazy loaded?

Lazy loading is particularly beneficial for large images, videos, and other media content that can slow down a webpage. By deferring these elements, you can ensure that users only load what they need, when they need it.

Additionally, lazy loading can be applied to JavaScript and CSS files, further optimizing load times. By prioritizing essential content and deferring non-essential elements, you can create a more efficient and user-friendly website.

Are there any drawbacks to implementing lazy loading?

While lazy loading offers numerous benefits, it does have some potential drawbacks. If not implemented correctly, it can interfere with search engine indexing and result in missing or delayed content. To mitigate these risks, ensure that your lazy loading implementation is compatible with search engines and provides fallbacks for non-JavaScript environments. For more insights, check out Boost Your Website Speed With Lazy Loading.

How do I verify if lazy loading is working on my site?

To verify that lazy loading is working, use browser developer tools to inspect the network activity. Check if images and other media elements are loading only when they enter the viewport. Additionally, tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help you analyze your site's performance and confirm that lazy loading is functioning as intended.

By regularly monitoring your site's performance and addressing any issues that arise, you can ensure that lazy loading continues to enhance your website's speed and user experience.

[jcmarchi]

Tony Hogben, Immersive Studio Lead at Pfizer Digital Omnichannel Services & Solutions (OSS) – Interview Series

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/tony-hogben-immersive-studio-lead-at-pfizer-digital-omnichannel-services-solutions-oss-interview-series/

Tony Hogben, Immersive Studio Lead at Pfizer Digital Omnichannel Services & Solutions (OSS) – Interview Series

Tony Hogben is the Immersive Studio Lead at Pfizer Digital Omnichannel Services & Solutions (OSS). Pfizer Digital Omnichannel Services & Solutions (OSS) is at the forefront of transforming how Pfizer connects with patients, healthcare providers and professionals worldwide. Through innovative digital strategies, cutting-edge technology, and data-driven insights, OSS powers seamless, personalised, and impactful experiences. By integrating advanced analytics, automation, and AI-driven solutions, the team enhances engagement, optimises communication, and drives meaningful connections across all digital touchpoints.

You’ve had an extensive career in digital innovation and immersive technologies. What first sparked your interest in this field, and how did your journey lead you to your current role?

My path has been somewhat unconventional. After completing a degree in ‘New Media’ at the turn of the century—when digital was still finding its footing—I established and ran my own digital agency. Working during the emergence of Web 2.0 was truly exhilarating. We were pioneering SAAS solutions and early mobile applications in an environment where innovation wasn’t just a buzzword—it was our daily reality. Every project broke new ground, and the entrepreneurial energy was infectious.

After successfully selling my business just before the pandemic, I initially enjoyed the downtime, but quickly realised I needed a new challenge that would leverage my expertise. Joining Pfizer Digital has allowed me to combine both my creative vision and technical capabilities, drawing on nearly two decades of experience helping organisations of all sizes transform digitally.

Building the Immersive Studio from the ground up has been particularly rewarding— creating an internal innovation hub that enables teams across the company to harness immersive and interactive technologies. Currently, I’m part of a team spearheading our initiatives to integrate AI solutions across multiple departments and use cases, helping teams reimagine their workflows and capabilities.

What’s been most fulfilling about transitioning to healthcare is applying my passion for the intersection of technology and human experience in an environment where our work has tangible impact. Here, the precision, realism, and engagement we create through immersive technologies directly influences healthcare professional education and, ultimately, patient outcomes. This connection between technological innovation and human wellbeing drives me every day.

Medical training is undergoing a shift with AI-driven simulations. How do these AI- powered immersive experiences compare to traditional training methods in terms of effectiveness and accessibility?

I should start by addressing immersive experiences before exploring how AI is transforming the landscape.

Immersive training experiences fundamentally transform medical education by offering flexibility traditional methods can’t match. Learners can revisit complex scenarios from virtually anywhere, at their own pace, and as many times as needed. The evidence is compelling, knowledge retention rates for immersive learning are significant—up to 76% better than traditional training methods*

AI is now revolutionising these immersive experiences in four crucial ways:

In content creation, AI is democratising the development of high-fidelity simulations. What once required teams of specialised developers and months of work can now be completed faster and by far fewer people – this will unlock development potential and allow content to be created at scale.

For learner experience, AI enables dynamic adaptation—adjusting scenarios in real- time based on decisions and skill level, creating authentic challenges that better mirror clinical unpredictability.

On the feedback front, AI provides nuanced assessment beyond simple pass/fail metrics. It can analyse the learners’ movements, decision sequences, and compare performance against thousands of previous sessions to offer personalised coaching.

Finally, AI enables collaborative learning through natural language processing and intelligent avatars that simulate realistic patient and team interactions.

The accessibility impact is profound—AI-driven immersive experiences can be deployed widely and cost-effectively, helping address training gaps globally. This powerful combination of immersive technology and AI has the potential to democratise access to high-quality medical training, particularly in underserved regions.

*Bonde, Mads & Makransky, Guido & Wandall, Jakob & Larsen, Mette & Morsing Bagger, Mikkel & Jarmer, Hanne & Sommer, Morten. (2014). Improving biotech education through gamified laboratory simulations

Can you share insights into how AI-driven medical simulations are being developed at your company? What are some of the biggest challenges in building these high- fidelity simulations?

We’re in the early stages of integrating AI into our approaches. We have a clear vision of where we’re heading, but the heavily regulated healthcare space we work in necessitates methodical implementation and rigorous validation. This creates a tension between our desire to innovate quickly and our obligation to proceed carefully—we’d love to keep pace with the frantic innovation happening with AI.

Currently, we’re focusing our AI efforts in three key areas:

Content Creation Acceleration: We’re using AI to enhance our content development pipeline, helping our medical and instructional design teams scale production of evidence-based scenarios, clinical variations, and patient models. This allows us to maintain quality while significantly expanding our library of simulations.

Technical Development Acceleration: We’re leveraging AI to streamline our technical development processes, enabling faster prototyping, testing, and deployment of new simulation features and capabilities. This is helping us overcome resource constraints and accelerate our innovation cycle.

Learner-Adaptive Experiences: In parallel, we’re developing ways to incorporate AI directly into our simulations to create more dynamic, responsive learning environments. This includes personalised feedback systems and adaptive difficulty based on learner performance patterns.

While progress requires patience in this domain, we’re excited about how these AI innovations will ultimately transform medical training and patient outcomes.

Your 360 degree experience, virtual laboratory, is an innovative approach to training healthcare professionals. How does it work, and what kind of feedback have you received from users so far?

The 360-degree virtual laboratory gives healthcare professionals the experience of walking through a real lab environment, interacting with medical equipment, practicing procedures, and solving real-world challenges in a fully immersive digital space.

The virtual lab was designed to complement in-person tours of working laboratories that demonstrate best practices. We recognised that physical lab visits involve complicated logistics and scheduling limitations, so we created a digital alternative accessible 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

Healthcare professionals navigate through detailed, interactive simulations that test their knowledge and enhance their understanding of laboratory procedures. The platform is designed for multiple devices, ensuring flexibility in how and where learning takes place. We’ve expanded our offering to include virtual labs for numerous medical conditions and have translated these experiences into many languages to support global education needs.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Users consistently praise three aspects:

Realism: The high-fidelity environment creates an authentic sense of presence in a working laboratory

Engagement: Interactive elements maintain interest and focus throughout the learning experience

Flexibility: The ability to access training at their convenience and pace

Most importantly, healthcare professionals report feeling more confident in their skills and retaining information better than with traditional training methods. This improved knowledge retention translates directly to better patient care in real-world settings.

AI and immersive tech can make training more accessible, but do you see any barriers—such as regulatory concerns, adoption hesitancy, or technical limitations—that need to be overcome?

When it comes to implementing new technologies in healthcare training, the barriers differ significantly between immersive experiences and AI applications.

The primary challenges with immersive technology include:

Development Costs: Traditionally, creating high-quality immersive experiences has been expensive. However, AI is actually helping us address this by accelerating content creation and reducing production time.

Accessibility: We ensure our immersive training remains accessible by developing for multiple platforms, as demonstrated with our Virtual Lab which works across various devices. This approach allows learners to engage regardless of their technical setup.

Adoption Hesitancy: This is perhaps our most persistent challenge, particularly among experienced healthcare professionals. Our strategy is incremental exposure—starting with familiar formats like our Virtual Lab that introduce spatial learning concepts without requiring a steep learning curve. This builds comfort with immersive concepts before advancing to more complex technologies.

For AI integration, we face different obstacles:

Technical Limitations: We’re actively working through these by building robust platforms and approaches that will serve as foundations for future developments.

Regulatory Concerns: This represents our most significant challenge. Regulatory bodies have valid questions about the accuracy and validity of AI- generated content in healthcare education. Our approach is to develop internal use cases first, creating concrete examples we can use to engage regulatory teams constructively. We recognise we need to support their understanding while collaboratively developing appropriate guardrails.

By addressing these barriers systematically and recognising their distinct characteristics, we’re creating pathways for responsible innovation that maintains the high standards required in healthcare education.

With AI accelerating at an unprecedented pace, do you foresee a point where AI could take on a more active role in real-time patient care, rather than just being a support tool?

This steps slightly outside my area of expertise, but I think we can see that AI is already moving beyond support roles in healthcare, with examples like AI-assisted diagnostics and real-time surgery guidance. In the next five years, I expect AI to take on a much more active role in patient care, but it won’t fully replace humans. Instead, AI will work alongside healthcare professionals in a “human-in-the-loop” framework, offering assistance without taking complete control. This shift raises ethical concerns around trust and accountability—while AI might suggest diagnoses or treatment plans, the final decision will still be made by humans to ensure patient safety. AI will enhance decision- making, but human judgment will remain essential.

In a world where AI-generated medical insights could one day outperform human professionals in certain tasks, how should the healthcare industry prepare for this shift?

With every technological transformation, we see task displacement rather than people replacement. The healthcare industry needs to reframe AI not as a replacement for professionals but as a collaborator. It’s a simple equation, Human + AI is greater than Human or AI alone.

This shift will be gradual and task-specific—likely beginning in areas like image-based diagnostics, pathology screening, and predictive analytics for patient deterioration. These are areas where pattern recognition at scale gives AI a natural advantage, while more complex clinical reasoning will remain human-led for the foreseeable future.

We need to start with small, targeted tasks that deliver immediate value rather than the usual all-or-nothing approach of monolithic solutions. This iterative approach allows clinicians and patients to build trust in AI capabilities over time.

Rather than resisting change, the healthcare industry should proactively shape how AI is embedded into the healthcare ecosystem, ensuring it enhances rather than diminishes the human elements that remain central to healing.

Ultimately, the first step any organisation should take is democratising AI exposure. Give your staff personal challenges to open their eyes to the possibilities—have them create an image, write an email, or build a presentation using AI tools. Once they experience the power firsthand, they’ll bring that excitement back to identify meaningful applications in their daily work. Bottom-up innovation often produces the most practical and impactful solutions.

Many companies struggle with scaling AI solutions beyond pilot projects. What strategies have you used to successfully implement AI at scale?

For me, successfully AI scaling any technology project involves addressing two critical challenges: technology infrastructure, and user adoption.

In healthcare’s heavily regulated environment, establishing robust technical foundations is essential before scaling any AI initiative. We need secure, compliant infrastructure that balances innovation with patient safety requirements.

With new technology, adoption often becomes the greatest barrier to scale. We’ve found that making AI as invisible as possible is crucial to widespread adoption. For example, being faced with a blank screen and needing to write an effective prompt creates significant friction for most users. Instead, we’re designing solutions where users can simply click pre-configured buttons or use familiar workflows that leverage AI behind the scenes.

Our approach prioritises starting small but building with scale in mind from day one. Rather than creating one-off solutions, we design modular components that can be extended and repurposed across multiple use cases. This allows successful pilots to become templates for broader implementation.

You believe AI is set to transform healthcare in ways that were once considered science fiction. What specific advancements do you think will have the most profound impact over the next five years?

As a child of the 80s, I remember the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman TV shows from the 1970s. Those shows featured characters physically augmented by technology, the real revolution with AI, however, will be cognitive augmentation. This excites me the most.

Over the next five years, I believe several other specific advancements will fundamentally transform healthcare:

Administrative Automation: The bureaucratic burden that currently consumes so much of our healthcare professional’s time will be dramatically reduced. This isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about putting the care back into healthcare by redirecting human attention to patient interactions.

Drug Discovery Acceleration: The timeline from identifying therapeutic targets to developing effective treatments will compress from decades to years or even months. AlphaFold, created and open sourced by Google’s DeepMind, has already revolutionised our understanding of protein structures—solving in days what previously took years of laboratory work.

Precision Diagnostics at Scale: AI systems will dramatically improve early detection of conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders through pattern recognition across vast datasets.

Personalised Treatment: Treatment plans will be continuously refined based on individual patient data, adjusting in real-time to maximise effectiveness and patients’ engagement in their own care.

The pace of these changes will be startling. AI development is like dog years—but with exponential acceleration. We’re going to see what might have taken 50 years of conventional research and implementation.

These aren’t distant science fiction scenarios—they’re already emerging in early forms, it’s not the future, it’s now.

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WhatsApp Business API: A Comprehensive Guide for Businesses | Maverick Info Solutions

WhatsApp Business API: A Comprehensive Guide for Businesses

Today's society is constantly looking for novel methods to interact with their consumers due to the rapid advancement of technology. WhatsApp has over 2 billion active users which makes it immensely popular in business communication across the world. Companies looking to enhance customer engagement through automated responses and personalized experiences can benefit from the WhatsApp Business API. If you’re a business owner or a digital marketing agency in Kanpur, integrating the WhatsApp Business API can significantly enhance your customer communication strategy.

In this article, I will discuss everything there is to know about the WhatsApp Business API including pricing, features, benefits, and its initial uses. Knowing this will allow marketing and customer service on WhatsApp, irrespective of the scale of business.

What is WhatsApp Business API?

The WhatsApp Business API is a robust tool designed for medium and large businesses to communicate with their customers at scale. The API permits companies to integrate WhatsApp into their existing system which allows for automated messaging, customer support, and bulk notifications while the standard app does not.

The API enables the use of chatbots, WhatsApp messaging, and business analytics. This is crucial for sectors that have to handle multi-transactional activities in real time like e-commerce, healthcare, banking, and travel.

Key Features of WhatsApp Business API

Automated Messaging: Automate responses to frequently asked questions, order updates, and appointment reminders.

Bulk Notifications: Send personalized messages to thousands of customers simultaneously.

Rich Media Support: Share images, videos, documents, and location pins to enhance engagement.

Chatbots Integration: Integrate AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 customer support.

End-to-End Encryption: Ensure secure and private communication with customers.

Analytics Dashboard: Track message delivery, open rates, and customer engagement metrics.

Benefits of WhatsApp Business API for Businesses

Enhanced Customer Engagement: With WhatsApp Marketing, businesses can send personalized messages, offers, and updates directly to customers’ phones, leading to higher engagement rates.

Improved Customer Support: The API enables businesses to resolve customer queries faster through automated responses and chatbots.

Cost-Effective Communication: Compared to traditional SMS, WhatsApp messages are more affordable and offer richer media options.

Global Reach: Reach customers across the globe with WhatsApp’s extensive user base.

Seamless Integration: The API can be integrated with CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and other business tools for a unified communication experience.

WhatsApp Business API Pricing

One of the most common questions businesses have is about WhatsApp Business API pricing. The cost of using the API depends on the type of messages you send:

Session Messages: These are initiated by customers and are free for the first 24 hours. After that, businesses are charged based on the conversation.

Template Messages: These are pre-approved messages used for notifications, alerts, and marketing campaigns. Pricing varies by country and message volume.

For businesses looking for a WhatsApp Business API free trial, many providers offer limited free usage to help you get started. However, for full-scale operations, it’s advisable to choose a reliable provider like Maverick Info Solutions, a leading digital marketing agency in Kanpur, to ensure seamless integration and support.

How to Get WhatsApp Business API

Getting started with the WhatsApp Business API involves a few simple steps:

Create a Meta Business Account: Sign up for a Meta Business account to access the API.

Choose a WhatsApp API Provider: Partner with an official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP) like Maverick Info Solutions.

Verify Your Business: Submit your business details for verification by Meta.

Integrate the API: Work with your provider to integrate the API into your existing systems.

Start Sending Messages: Once approved, you can start sending WhatsApp messages to your customers.

WhatsApp Business API Integration

Integrating the WhatsApp Business API into your business operations can seem daunting, but with the right partner, it’s a smooth process. As one of the best digital marketing companies in Kanpur, Maverick Info Solutions specializes in WhatsApp Business API integration, ensuring that your business can leverage the full potential of this powerful tool.

Their experts are on standby to assist you with setup, chatbot development, and even campaign management. You can count on them to guide you through the process with absolute professionalism. 

WhatsApp Marketing: A Game-Changer for Businesses

Businesses can now reach their target audience more effectively and personally ever since the implementation of WhatsApp Marketing Campaigns. Businesses can use WhatsApp to send promotional offers and transactional alerts which allow them to communicate with their customers in a timely and relevant manner.

For businesses in Kanpur looking to boost their digital presence, partnering with the best digital marketing agency in Kanpur can make all the difference. With expertise in WhatsApp Marketing software and strategies, these agencies can help you create campaigns that drive engagement and conversions.

Why Choose Maverick Info Solutions?

As a trusted digital marketing agency in Kanpur, Maverick Info Solutions offers end-to-end services for WhatsApp Business API integration. This includes actively participating in setup, configuring your WhatsApp account, and even managing your campaigns and analytics. Everything is done to ensure that your business fully utilizes the power of WhatsApp.

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, their customized solutions are designed to meet your unique needs. With a focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, they are the best digital marketing company in Kanpur for all your digital marketing needs.

Conclusion

Companies looking to enhance customer interactions as well as increase customer engagement can leverage the WhatsApp Business API with ease. It offers automated messaging, chatbots, and rich media support which enables businesses of all sizes to operate without boundaries.

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, consider integrating the WhatsApp Business API with the help of a trusted partner like Maverick Info Solutions. As one of the leading digital marketing companies in Kanpur, they can help you unlock the full potential of WhatsApp for your business.

Explore more about how WhatsApp Business API can elevate your Business communication strategy at Maverick Info Solutions.

By following this guide, you’ll be well-equipped to leverage the WhatsApp Business API for your business. Whether you’re a digital marketing agency in Kanpur or a business owner, this tool can help you stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape.

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ChatWork for Windows

ChatWork is a dynamic business communication and collaboration platform designed to help teams work more efficiently and effectively. Featuring a user-friendly interface and a robust set of tools, ChatWork serves as an ideal solution for businesses aiming to streamline communication and task management. At its core, ChatWork provides real-time messaging, enabling team members to participate in…

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whatsapp api role in e-commerce

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Seamless Intranet Applications for Singapore’s Shipping, Oil, and Gas Industries

In the dynamic landscape of Singapore’s shipping, oil, and gas sectors, seamless communication and efficient operations are paramount. As industries that thrive on precision, speed, and collaboration, leveraging cutting-edge intranet applications can redefine how organisations in these sectors operate, boosting productivity and resilience.

The Modern Challenges in Shipping, Oil, and Gas

Industries like shipping and oil and gas face a myriad of challenges:

Complex Operations: Managing global fleets, multi-national crews, and intricate logistics demands streamlined coordination.

Regulatory Compliance: Navigating stringent international and local regulations requires reliable and up-to-date data management.

Data Silos: Disconnected systems lead to inefficiencies, delayed decision-making, and resource wastage.

Cybersecurity Threats: The rise of digital operations brings increased vulnerability to cyberattacks.

Seamless intranet solutions tackle these challenges head-on by providing a unified digital framework that connects people, processes, and systems.

Key Features of Seamless Intranet Applications

Centralised Information Hub Modern intranet platforms act as a one-stop solution for all organisational data. Whether it’s vessel maintenance logs, crew schedules, or safety protocols, employees can access critical information in real-time, reducing delays and errors.

Enhanced Collaboration With features like instant messaging, video conferencing, and project management tools, teams across geographies can collaborate effectively. This is particularly crucial in industries where onshore and offshore teams need to synchronise operations seamlessly.

Advanced Security Protocols Industry-grade intranet applications come equipped with robust encryption, two-factor authentication, and intrusion detection systems to safeguard sensitive data from cyber threats.

Integration with Industry-Specific Tools Intranet systems can integrate with tools like enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, compliance management platforms, and IoT-enabled devices, offering a cohesive operational experience tailored to sector-specific needs.

Scalability and Customisation Scalable solutions ensure that the intranet grows with your business, adapting to new technologies and expanding requirements. Custom dashboards allow businesses to prioritise what matters most, from supply chain visibility to environmental performance metrics.

Benefits for Singapore’s Shipping, Oil, and Gas Industries

Improved Operational Efficiency: Minimise downtime with faster communication and streamlined workflows.

Regulatory Compliance: Stay ahead of compliance requirements with automated updates and centralised documentation.

Cost Reduction: Eliminate redundancies and optimise resource allocation through data-driven insights.

Enhanced Employee Engagement: Empower teams with user-friendly tools and access to training modules, improving morale and performance.

Sustainability Goals: Intranets that integrate with green logistics tools help businesses track and achieve environmental objectives.

Real-World Applications

Singapore’s position as a global maritime and energy hub makes it an ideal testing ground for innovative intranet solutions. For example:

Shipping: Streamlined fleet management with real-time data access ensures on-schedule deliveries and reduced operational costs.

Oil and Gas: Enhanced safety protocols through connected systems help reduce risks in high-stakes environments like offshore drilling platforms.

Why Invest in Seamless Intranet Applications?

In a world where digital transformation is no longer optional, adopting seamless intranet applications is a strategic necessity. These tools not only future-proof your business but also provide a competitive edge by fostering agility, collaboration, and innovation.

Conclusion

For Singapore’s shipping, oil, and gas industries, seamless intranet applications are more than just a technological upgrade—they’re a business imperative. By addressing core challenges, driving efficiency, and enhancing security, these solutions pave the way for sustained growth in an increasingly digital world.

Unlock the potential of your organisation with tailored intranet solutions designed to meet the unique demands of your industry. Embrace the change today, and lead your business into a connected, collaborative future.