It’s a good idea, from time to time, to double check what services and mobile or desktop apps are out there. All you need to boost your productivity, save time, eliminate hassles, or save money, is to know what’s out there. This week, we bring you Crown Computers CEO Sean Goss’ current top seven apps and services.
1. Microsoft Lens
Microsoft Lens is a powerful scanner utility for your mobile device—you can find it in the Android and iOS app stores. It helps you take pictures of documents, whiteboards, or even handwritten notes and then digitize the content. You can take a picture of a document and then choose which format you’d like it in (PDF, images, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) and where you’d like to save it (OneNote, OneDrive, or locally). This powerful tool can even make scanned documents into searchable PDFs or Excel files, making it a must-have for document organization.
2. Microsoft Teams Phone
We’ve written about using Microsoft Teams as your company’s phone in the past. Depending on which tier of Microsoft 365 you subscribe to, you could have 3000 minutes per user to make outbound calls with Teams. The most compelling thing about Teams Phone might be that it is a unified experience on every device: it works on desktop, mobile, web, and any desk phones you have set up to use with it.
3. Fuzzy
Fuzzy is a subscription service that offers telemedicine for your pets. For less than a hundred dollars per year, you can have access to veterinarians who can answer questions about your pet’s health whenever you need. It’s definitely a convenient way to refill your pets’ prescriptions, and they have a store full of vet-approved products to help you keep your pets healthy and happy.
4. Chewy
If you have pets, then you know that some supplies can be expensive. Chewy offers the best prices on pet related products, delivered straight to you. They can also ship medications once they have approval from your veterinarian. A helpful feature here is Autoship, for products that you need on a regular basis.
5. Turo
Turo is a car rental marketplace—similar to Uber or Lyft, but for renting a vehicle. With Turo, you can choose what kind of car you need, find a great deal, and likely get the car delivered to you. The hosts (who supply the cars) can have different discounts or delivery policies to match your needs. If renting a personally owned car sounds complicated, Turo has simplified the more convoluted aspects (like insurance) to make sure that it’s an easy experience to get the car you need and get moving.
6. Venmo
If you haven’t used Venmo to send money quickly and easily, it’s a good time to give it a shot. It seems like everyone uses the app to quickly pay each other somewhat small amounts. Venmo is a digital wallet, meaning that it can move money from one user to another. Typical use cases are small payments like splitting a dinner tab or sending a gift. Some businesses can accept Venmo for payment too (mostly other apps, like Uber), although that’s not super common yet. But if your local coffee shop does, for instance, your social spending can turn into a way to grab a latte in the morning.
7. Zelle
Similarly, Zelle is an app that is used to make bank transfers and payments. Zelle is different from Venmo because it is tied to your checking or savings account. This means that you can use it for payments and transfers, both sending and receiving, directly to and from bank accounts. A good way to think of Zelle is like a digital checkbook. It is usually free to send or receive a transfer, and it doesn’t matter which bank the sending or receiving party uses.
-Written by Derek Jeppsen on Behalf of Sean Goss and Crown Computers Team