It is quite known that a major chunk of large enterprises, small businesses and government entities in countries like the USA, Canada, and Europe, rely heavily on computer and hardware leasing, in addition to outsourcing for all their technical needs and headcounts. This model of business provides the client with continuous updates, 99% of run time, very few legal commitments and of course less processes and procurement-related headaches.

Leasing of computer hardware comes with zero cost of ownership, 0% depreciation cost and an average equipment upgrade each 3 years. Moreover, leasing option comes with SLA that covers everything from the technical side including the help desk support, data management, maintenance, security compliance.

In Lebanon, we do not see such business models in large scale enterprises and government entities yet. Nevertheless, small businesses recently became lenient towards computers and hardware rental instead of purchasing them. The direct cause for this mindset shift is the major currency fluctuation in the last 6 months in the country. However, those customers discovered that such practice should have been considered a long time back. Again, it is worth mentioning that with computer rental and lease, there is zero cost of ownership, less hardware headache and maintenance since most of the rental companies offer quick replacement of the equipment on the client's premises.

Another benefit of leasing contracts is their positive environmental impact. Renting or leasing equipment is considered an action that can be adopted as part of the sustainable circular economy ideology. This economic system is aimed at eliminating waste with the continual use of resources without the need to take, make and dispose. By opting for rental, small businesses, large enterprises and governments can save cost and reduce the environmental impact that the purchasing activity causes to societies. Let us take a very basic example, a unit example, a business laptop that can usually last for up to 7-8 years in service can be upgraded with an SSD. By replacing its slow and old fashioned HD, we can give the unit an extra life span of 3-4 years with the speed and reliability that is expected by any business user. Such a minor upgrade that would cost not more than 150$ saves the company 2,000$ for purchasing a new laptop!

As a long time advocate of online and virtual events in Lebanon and the MENA region, and with more than 650 webinars managed by our EYEC360 team, we were able to compile for you some of the hacks that may help you in planning your next webinar:

1. Opt for leaders in video conferencing platforms because they offer you the latest features, the highest security, and a wide range of customization and integration.

2. Make sure that you excel in the platform you are using! Get acquainted with all its features, tips and tricks, customization, and support channels; eventually you want to let your customers benefit the most from your service and make their events unique!

3. Last minute webinars maybe tricky to fulfill, unless you have a hardcore team and a very knowledgeable project manager.

4. Always have some backup hardware in case any of the audio-visual equipment or accessories breaks down during the event; your laptop, microphone, camera, internet connection may fail you at any time!

5. Your webinar-ready room should take into consideration lighting, noise cancellation, suitable backdrops, backup power supply, proper wiring, and enough space for your technical team to move around without photobombing your speakers background.

6. Utilize the silent whispers - collaboration tools such as Google Chat, WhatsApp, or Slack - to communicate silently with your technical team without disturbing the speaker(s). Chat groups are very handy!

7. Have your checklist always ready! Revise every single detail.

8. Plan ahead using a cloud based project management or task management tool. Be sure that task owners you assign are able to fulfill their duties responsibly!

9. Keep the client, the speakers, and the organizers in the loop in all the stages; work as a team.

10. Every detail counts! Remember that.

The job market has greatly evolved in the past few years, and completely new specialties within organizations have been created, such as Digitization, Artificial Intelligence, marketing automation, robotics, cyber security, site reliability, and more. This rapid pace of change has lead to tougher competitiveness among job seekers and some sense of subsequent frustration in secure a good opportunity.

Telnet has researched the Lebanese market situation in terms of readiness of its workforce to meet the future demand of the job scene, and found that a gap in 5 majors areas exist. Telnet has tasked itself to offer help and empower the Lebanese workforce with its training series “UPSKILLING”.

“UPSKILLING” is a new form of training series dedicated to any Lebanese job seeker, regardless of age, education, or career-level, who wants to polish his/her skills to meet the new market demands. The program focuses on the following:

1. Tech savviness: majority of organizations still lack the knowledge of cloud computing, document sharing, online conferencing tools, IP-telephony, virtualization, robotics, automation and more. Migrating from confined physical tools to the virtual word is still being resisted, yet it is much easier now!

2. Adaptability: the recent changes in managing corporations and in the political, legal, social, and economical environments are rapidly affecting how we do business. We used to conduct physical meetings or hop on a plane to catch a decision maker; yet, at the present time, we connect to decision makers over video conferences, VoIP apps, webinars, e-conferences, and web chats; needless to mention that social media platforms became the new norm to reach to our potential clients and consumers.

3. Emotional intelligence: being considerate to others well-being and behaving in a manner that reflects trust and genuine feelings towards colleagues and potential clients has come a long way! Intellectual IQ is no longer important when you lack emotional intelligence. Any individual who do not incorporate Emotional Intelligence as part of his/her work ethics will not stand a chance landing a job.

4. Customer-centric: with almost all types of businesses shifting online for cost related advantages as well as reach ability to potential clients, the need for seamless experiences and instant support has increased. Businesses who do not provide quick sales and after-sales support, smooth return policies, and good CRM to capture customers preferences are at risk of being left out.

5. Tools: Yes tools! Going back to tech-savviness, many junior and mid-level career seekers and employees lack the knowledge of modern cloud-based business solutions that can truly bring value to their work environments. Solutions such as G Suite from Google Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Salesforce offer incredible value in managing and running a entire business. Quick decision making, real-time collaboration, automation, and seamless operations are few of the advantages that such cloud solutions can offer. Although possessing the right skills and good character is required to land a proper job, having the knowledge and understanding of these tools is a major plus.

With the surge of video conferencing tools in the last couple of years, we no longer worry about the high number of available platforms to broadcast a presentation, conduct a webinar, or simply schedule an online meeting. Many of these, mostly cloud-based platforms such as Zoom, ON24, and GoToMeeting, offer amazing features and compete on marginal differences.

After conducting more than 650 webinars in the region so far, we at Telnet, realized that almost 95% of our customers are not fully equipped to deliver a seamless experience, especially in the case of professional webinars, conferences, and symposiums. Having a high-speed low latency internet connection in addition to quality hardware is essential to support a smooth broadcasting; but what if the conference is critical, attended by healthcare professionals, doctors, and professors; well the key element relies in the entire technical know-how of preparing, setting up, and managing the video conference, rather than just relying on the used platform and expensive hardware.

In order to support our valued customers and reduce the burdens on conference organizers as well as presenters especially in the local market, Telnet opted to provide a dedicated webinar room to support any type of webinar, multi-party video conference, and symposium.

We call it the “Matrix”; this room keeps on changing and “improving”, sometimes every few days. We ensure that it is continuously upgraded with the newest Audio-Video equipment, hi-tech computing devices, sound isolation, and network infrastructure to properly host a single or multiple speakers. All what is required from the speakers is to bring their presentations along with them and to leave it for us to deliver an A+ Class studio quality seamless webinar experience!

So here are what you can expect to find in that room:

• One or Two Senior technicians available to manage everything!

• Dedicated symmetrical high speed internet connection reaching 40Mbps with extreme low latency. Another two internet connections for fail-over.

• Power backup provided by twin Double-Conversion Pure Sine Wave UPSes, powering all equipment and lighting.

• FHD, 2K and 4K Video Cameras; some with PTZ and many other functionalities.

• Extremely fast Core i7 laptops customized for studio quality video capture and video recording with a state-of-the-art Virtual Mixer

• Two Audio and Video Mixers with ability to broadcast on multiple media simultaneously: Facebook, YouTube, and even TV channels.

• Studio Quality Noise Cancelling Microphones

• Large LCD Screen and Monitors to assist the Speaker

• 65” Touch Screen for an exceptional "news-like” presentation

• Magic Pens

• High Definition corner cameras to capture the image from multiple corners

• VPN availability on demand

• Lighting setup to match all weather and day conditions

• Coffee machine, water, and snacks

• Comfortable chairs and tables obviously!

• And of course, the essential personal hygiene supply such as face masks, gloves, tissues & sanitizers!

If numbers speak by themselves, the 650 successful online events is a pretty high number, and counting...