December News:

• On The Calendar
• 2016 Holiday Tech (And Other Fun Stuff) Wishlist
• How To Select A New Internet/Voice Provider
• SPOTlight On: David Shinkle
• More Than Tech Tips: About The Data Amazon Echo & Google Home Collects From Your Environment
• Did You Know…? Fulcrum Group Is Internet/Voice Provider

In a record year for number of award nominations (147) and written applicants (39), The Fulcrum Group was selected as one of three finalists, competing in the 11-50 Employees category for 2017 Fort Worth Small Business of the Year!  January will be exciting around here, as winners are announced!

URGENT NEWS TO USE BEFORE 2017
IRS Section 179 allows equipment purchasers to write off the entire amount of equipment the same year they purchased it (up to $500,000.00). Reduce your total income tax before end of year. Remember, most tax brackets for small to mid-size business is 35%. Keep those funds working for you and inquire with any of our Fulcrum Group Account Managers to find out how you can reduce your tax burden and build up your business at the same time!  Use some of the Section 179 resources on our website and as always, you can reach out to us anytime via email or at 817-337-0300.

Quick links to our social media pages are accessible right from our website and in every monthly newsletter email you receive from us. If you’re new to our newsletter and you’d like to subscribe, let us know.

2016 Holiday Tech (And Other Fun Stuff) Wishlist

Its always fun rounding up the coolest holiday gadgets, technology, and other fun stuff, so without further delay, here are some of our favs:

Best Gifts For People Who Are Always Cold

Lifehacker’s Great Gadgets, Gear & Other Stuff

CNN Tech’s Cool Tech Toys for Kids

Wired’s Cool Gifts Under $25

Business Insider’s Best Car Gadgets

20 Great Gifts for Women Who Love Fitness

Best FREE Tech Gifts Tech Savvy Folks Can Give

Having a large enough Internet pipe is more and more important as small businesses move more data and apps to the Cloud.  With the ubiquity of Hosted VOIP and SIP trunking, it’s not enough to simply pick an Internet provider, you also have to consider phone service.  And other options for organizations with multiple locations, as well.

Step 1 – Location & Contact Discovery
Your first step is to make a list of all of your locations, along with the voice and Internet provider for each location.  Don’t forget to include backup Internet connections, fax lines, and any other analog lines (like alarm lines) and E-Fax services.

Step 2 – Determine Your Specific Internet Needs
Once you understand your all of your contracts, your next step is to determine your needs.  Do you need an Internet upgrade only?  Do you need Hosted VOIP or SIP trunks for your phone system?  Do you need private WAN services for your remote locations?

Switching Providers/VOIP Needs?
If you’re considering switching Internet providers, it’s probably a good time to consider switching phone providers.  Hosted VOIP is a no-brainer for businesses under 30 employees who haven’t already switched to VOIP, or for multi-location businesses (or those with a lot of remote users). And if you don’t already have VOIP, what are you waiting for?!

Private WAN needs are a little more complex, so contact your Fulcrum Group Account Manager or Virtual CIO at 817.337.0300 for a completely free assessment of your Internet/Voice/Private Data needs.

The Fulcrum Group represents more than 100 carriers for our clients here in DFW.  One call to us can get you multiple carrier quotes with a  full comparison and recommendation!  Reach out to us via email if you have any questions.

For more details on the topic of selecting a new Internet/Voice provider, stay tuned for our upcoming White Paper, where we’ll share more related tips, geared specifically to business owners and IT managers. If you’d like to browse our current White Paper library, that’s right here.

We’d like to officially welcome David Shinkle to our engineering team as a Level One Engineer, who comes to us with an interesting “past life”…

With an interest in cooking, David graduated from
Le Cordon Blue about 7 years ago, while serving in the military in Washington state.  LCB is the world-renowned cooking school dedicated to cooking or baking.  David says that he likes making a variety of food, and/or desserts, to keep things from getting boring.

This is the recipe that won The Fulcrum Group luau-themed Potluck Competition this fall –

David’s Coconut Macarons

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 1/2 cups flaked coconut
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract