Test Your Tech Term Knowledge: 8 Terms Emerge with the COVID-19 Outbreak

The World Economic Forum and others have examined the intersection of technology and the coronavirus. Here are a few technologies -- and terms -- that have emerged or become more popularized with the onset of COVID-19.

Test your knowledge on how well you know each of these:

5G

It's all about timing. 5G, the new superfast or "ultrawideband" wireless service, just happened to be released throughout the US by several major wireless carriers during the pandemic. But that has been a good thing, especially for parents working from home who have to share their home internet services with their kids who are learning from home. 5G offers blazing speeds that typically range from 100-400Mbits per second, with the potential, as our built-in smartphone modems improve, to deliver gigabyte speeds.

Contact tracing apps

COVID-19 tracing mobile apps have emerged such as SaferMe for businesses, which was made free for business use by the New Zealand government. In China, the download and use of its contact tracing app was required. The purpose of these apps are to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Contactless payment

Cash might contain the virus, as cash is notorious for being covered in germs. This makes a credit or debit card the preferred way to pay these days. Contactless payment includes everything from using cards with NFC chips to using your smartphones via Apple, Samsung or Google Pay. Drive-thru vendors offer a low-tech solution: a pole with a credit card magnetic reader on the end for you to swipe your plastic.

Digital readiness and remote work

Technology has saved jobs during the pandemic, allowing more people to work from home than ever before. Businesses have learned they need to have digital readiness – the ability to switch jobs and processes they did in an office or facility to the home by using technology. Digital readiness is what has allowed many businesses to survive by allowing remote work. The long-term impact is stunning, as many major companies have learned to completely revise their policies and approaches to working from home. Some firms have gone so far, such as Zillow, to offer employees the option of working from home permanently.

Distance learning

From kindergarten to grad school, students are house-bound and so they are learning remotely through video streaming and online platforms. Distance learning has driven home-based tech upgrades, driven by a need for faster internet speeds and new accessories, such as LED ring lights, microphones, headsets and video cameras.

Telehealth

Your next checkup with your doctor may be a video chat. Medical centers are not the best place to be during pandemic for routine health care issues, so more and more medical professionals are using secure apps for a video-based appointment. Today, there are even chatbots online that collect symptoms and can make initial diagnoses.

Zoom-bombing

This is one of those not-so-nice impacts to technology during the pandemic. If you don't take the right precautions, folks can crash your Zoom meeting. Zoom quickly responded by securing their software and making it easier to prevent others from "bombing" your Zoom meeting. This has lessened the chances of a classroom presentation or business meeting being hijacked for nefarious purposes.

Zoom parties

When you're housebound for a long time, it can become maddening, but Zoom has come to rescue extroverts with the creation of Zoom parties. Graduations, happy hours, reunions, weddings and more have all fostered a new way for groups of people to connect – remotely. The whole idea is to bring some fun to the virtual meeting experience.

Remember, for any of your technical needs – or questions – whether it is related to your home tech or work tech, reach out to Tech Helpline for support. And if you have a tech term you want us to share with fellow agents who have access to Tech Helpline, send it to us at [email protected].

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