The Duluthian Magazine posed this question to three tech-support businesses in the Twin Ports: What are some simple tech upgrades that can help improve local businesses?
The most obvious answer revolved around AI, which was expected given the increasing ubiquity artificial intelligence technology has brought into everyday life in recent years.
The biggest overarching category mentioned by the experts was security — either safely protecting intellectual property while using AI services, in access granted via cloud-based computing or protecting an organization’s physical property with a network of cameras.
We talked to four sources for this piece, including Tylor Elm of DiscoverPC, Shawn Savela of Claymore Computer Consulting Inc., and Ryan Anderson and Scott Visger of DSC Communications.
AI
Claymore Computer Consulting is approaching its 30th anniversary in Duluth in 2028, and the introduction of AI emerging as a new frontier. It was the first thing Savela, Claymore’s CEO, mentioned on the topic of potential tech upgrades, singling out the Zoom meeting software’s AI companion.
Used in conjunction with a digital meeting, the feature auto-generates key points of the discussion and provides action items going award.
Savela said people in the meeting should still take copious notes, but “it does a really good job of taking that and summarizing for you. There’s been stuff that’s missed, so use your notes and use the AI companion. It just comes up with a very fast, effective notetaking.”
The key, Savela said, is to use AI as a supplement to your work and not let it take the lead.
“You got to be careful with (AI), but different industries use it in different ways, (such as) for a law firm, you can use it to do research, but you should not be writing briefs with it. In a finance institution, you can look at trends, but you have to do your own research. In health care, even doctors can use AI to help diagnose or come up with a treatment, but it doesn’t substitute a person doing that kind of brain work. If you use it as a tool as opposed to a substitute, it does a really good job.”
Tylor Elm, a support specialist with Superior-based DiscoverPC, encourages folks to fundamentally rethink how to use AI.
“It’s not just helping write letters. It’s about how can you automate processes? If you have a complicated task,” Elm said. “It can calculate those results for you rather than doing it manually. How can you improve the work flows with AI to improve your quality of service, too?”
Elm said AI is generally designed to cater to the client, which might not be the most helpful. “Sometimes it’s almost too nice,” he said. “I encourage people to use it and be harder (on it for) more realistic answers, so you can get a better product.”
What AI is now won’t compare to what it becomes in a few years, Elm predicted. “It’s transformative already, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything quite yet,” he said. “I think in five years it’s going to be (much more). I encourage people to use it and think differently about how you use it.”
Storage and security
When it comes to the idea of tech upgrades, some readers might think of cutting-edge gadgets or apps to make workflow a little easier or life a bit more fun. Our panel leaned into more practical solutions, with commentary on cyber security, cloud storage and having proper data backups.
“A lot of technology is headed to the cloud, but a lot of companies are still cautious about it because, as you know, once it goes to the cloud, you don’t have control over it anymore,” Savela said. “A lot of places will use it for AI learning. You have to be careful with that, especially if you are a law firm (or a health clinic) and you have confidentiality (standards).”
Savela suggested local businesses using local backups to make sure they never lose control of their important data. “If someone gets access to your accounts, they could go in and delete that and you lose access,” he said. “By having a backup that is separated from the original source is still very vital.”
Elm said companies should give employees cybersecurity training to guard against phishing scams, where crooks try to trick employees into giving them access to files.
“Having proper multi-factor authentication set up across the board and having policies and training to do that is incredibly important,” Elm said. “I still see that as an upgrade, it’s not really shiny or attractive necessarily, but being proactive on the cybersecurity front and having proper backups and having proper authentication can save a lot of time and heartache.”
Another suggestion is having a password manager, instead of writing them down on a notepad sitting next to the computer.
A password manager “encrypts them and then uses them to copy and paste them onto your forms, so you never have to see your password once you type it in,” Savela said. “A lot of places are going away from passwords now, but until that happens, this is something you want to have.”
One overlooked tip, the experts say, is to become aware of your hardware, operating systems and WiFi networks to make sure they are up to date and are not past end-of-life cycles, where upgrades are no longer issued and security risks creep up.
Video cameras
DSC Communications, which is headquartered in Superior, specializes in radio systems and video surveillance and access control to physical buildings.
“We really thrive on our security cameras,” said Ryan Anderson, the director of sales strategy. “We use a couple of different platforms.”
Anderson and Scott Visger, DSC’s client strategy specialist, shared two recent success stories for their products and services. They did a small security camera system for a carwash in the Twin Ports and a giant project throughout the Superior school district last year.
“During an active shooter incident (at a school), it was our camera system that helped identify where that person of interest was within the building,” Anderson said.
For the car wash, a customer reported damage to their vehicle, and video footage could identify if it occurred in one of the bays or if they had the damage before using the facility. “It was a breath of fresh air for them to have the access they did have, when they had this event that happened two months ago,” Visger said.
