Those who grew up watching “Star Trek,” the classic Gene Roddenberry science fiction TV show from the 1970s, probably remember being glued to the TV screen. We watched the crew of the Enterprise travel through outer space and communicate with one another by means of “communicators.” It always sounded as though Captain James T. Kirk was in a big hurry when he ordered his chief engineer to transport him back to the ship.

After each episode we would talk about how cool it would be if we could beam ourselves from place to place or call our friends using one of those communicators. Our appetite for technology is increasing every day. We demand better graphics, faster downloads and more information accessibility. As technology continues to develop, it pushes us to embrace multitasking. Some of us are co-dependent on our cell phones and cannot control texting behavior. Could you live without your cell phone for a day, or an entire week? How stressed out do you feel just thinking about it? We have become one with technology and we simply cannot live without it. While this is normal, it’s easy to leverage technology to our advantage.

We’re busy and so are our customers who seem as though they are running in five directions at one time. It is increasingly difficult to book an appointment or a design meeting with clients. Trying to set up a face-to-face meeting these days takes an act of Congress. In business, having face-to-face meetings is still important, but not necessary all the time.

My businesses have been using a popular online meeting tool for a few years until we were introduced to a different online collaboration tool called Log Me In. This company has created a tool that simplifies how users connect and share information.

For example, my wife works as a bookkeeper for a local CPA firm and a few days ago I told her about Log Me In’s web application. To my surprise she told me she had been using it at work for months! I asked how it was being used and she explained how she logs into customers’ computers and updates their daily entries to their QuickBooks accounting software. Wow! It is better than beaming yourself to your client’s office. We now have the ability to remotely access (with permission) a restricted area on our customer’s computer while sitting in our office drinking a cup of coffee. She then told me that you can transfer files between computers, print remote files to your local printer, share a large file without using e-mail attachments, FTP, or a third-party site or share your desktop with another person. This simplifies her job because she has access to the information she needs to perform her job. Brilliant!