PC peripherals such as mice and keyboards are vital for any office, but firms rarely spend much on them. Spending a little more can increase productivity.
If you take a look in the gaming section of any PC store you’re likely to find two things:
- Teenagers
- An array of futuristic looking keyboards and mice covered in much more than just a click wheel and two buttons.
You see, the use of gaming peripherals isn’t just limited to commanding digital armies and flying spaceships. In fact, they could be just the thing you need to maximize productivity levels in your business.
The Problems with Standard Peripherals
If you’re lucky your keyboard may have a button which launches Internet Explorer and saves you a few clicks on your mouse. However, this is about the extent of most standard keyboard options for shortcuts.
Your firm may even have invested in some hotkey software to launch macros (automatic commands) such as holding down ‘ctrl + N + F3’ to open an email template no matter what program you’re in. It definitely saves a bit of time, but it comes with a couple of problems:
- Remembering the correct combination of keystrokes is tricky
- You’re limited by the number of shortcuts due to the difficulty in holding down keys at opposite ends of the keyboard
- Getting to grips with new software always involves training which eats into productivity
- Setting up the software on each individual computer in the office
So, how do you overcome these obstacles and get more productive?
High End Peripherals to the Rescue
Let’s take a look at how you can utilize gaming peripherals to take control of your workload like never before!
Mice
Mice are generally known as having two buttons – a left and a right, but doesn’t this seem a little limited when we’ve got five fingers on each hand?! Pay a few more dollars and you could end up with around 20 buttons on your mouse!
It may feel a little strange at first, but by being able to execute so many macros without taking your hand off the mouse will save your staff hours in fiddling about with the keyboard and then having to get back to grips with the mouse.
Slightly higher end mice are also designed with better tracking in mind. This level of design ensures that you’re more in control of the cursor on your screen. We’ve all had that frustrating moment where the cursor has flown off screen and then takes a minute or two to find again.
Keyboards
Keyboards at the higher end of the market can have up to 20 programmable one touch buttons which means you’ve always got plenty of options for generating new macros.
And, don’t forget, all the ‘easy to reach’ hotkey shortcuts are already taken e.g. ‘CTRL + C’ for copy, so you’re left having to stretch your fingers all over the keyboard. One touch buttons, though, are much more intuitive to use and easier to execute.
Standard peripherals may well save you money in the short term, but in the long term they’re going to cost you in wasted man hours as your staff struggle to work with them. Invest a little extra cash in your peripherals, though, and you’ll find productivity improves.
For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.
