| December 2007
In this issue: ■ Take Back Your
Bandwidth
■ Outlook Anywhere
■ The Email You Save
■ Seeing Eye to Eye
■ Technology Wish List
■ Budgeting for 2008
■ Where in the World
■ Finding Information on
The Internet
■ Opportunities
| Practical Productivity – Seeing Eye to Eye
By Jane Cage, HTS COO
I will admit – when I talk with you by phone, you might not have my undivided attention. And I bet I don’t have your complete attention either. At the office, we have all become notorious multi-taskers. When I receive a call from a fellow employee, I may be answering an email or sorting out my post office mail. Sometimes, I’m even checking out something on the internet. And do you know what? I’ve discovered that when I try to do too many tasks at once, I’m not as effective as I should be. Continue
Technology Solution Wish List Suggestions 2008
By Blake Britton, Vice President, Axxys TechnologiesThis time of the year many businesses are working hard to develop their budget or technology “wish list” for the coming year. I have spoken with many businesses over the last couple of months and have compiled a common list of technologies solutions that are being budgeted for 2008. Take a look at the listand consider whether you may have overlooked any of these items.
Budgeting
for 2008
by Heather Scheibelhut, Next Step Networking“IT budgeting can’t be that difficult, right? You just add up the cost of your computers. Simple! Oh wait, we have to factor in the cost of software. So it’s still a piece of cake. Oh yea, what about staff training? And repairs? And tech support? And consulting fees? What happens if my server crashes?? AAAHHHHH!!!!! Will this nightmare ever end?” To tell you the truth, when I personally think of creating a budget, a trail of cold fear trickles down my spine. However the reality is simple- Budgeting is a part of your business that is vital for its survival and growth. The whole truth is this – If you have a good budget built on sound thoughts and principals then your next year of business will run much more smoothly than if you just throw some numbers on a piece of paper and call it a budget. Continue
| | Take Back Your BandwidthFor businesses today the Internet has evolved from a being a convenience to have to a business necessity. The Internet delivers business critical applications, e-mail, and telephone conversations, while providing your company’s image to the general public. The Internet is also often accused of being the biggest productivity killer for a lot of businesses. The question: Is content filtering a necessity? Here are my three reasons why my answer is Yes!Maximize bandwidth: For most businesses the big bandwidth hogs are the downloading of large files and the streaming of music. When either of these activities are occurring the Internet slows down for everyone. At eMazzanti Technologies we are constantly downloading files that are pertinent to troubleshooting issues or patching client hardware and/or software. If there were end users streaming video or music (usually Blake), then this would make our engineers battle for bandwidth. By limiting the content users can download or be streamed on the Internet bandwidth is then maximized for the entire business. The Internet is a productivity killer to the undisciplined: It happens every late summer and fall, fantasy football, one of the biggest productivity killers for businesses kicks into full swing. The Internet is a double edged sword, a great source for business critical information along with and great information for personal use. There are a lot of businesses that do not constrain the Internet and trust the judgment of their employees. While this may be a great idea and a real morale boost for some employees; however, if productivity falls as a result of those fantasy leagues, a good content filtering will give you the ability to tighten parameters for a period of time or at least meter the amount of time spent on non- business related sites. Protect your business: Not to beat a dead horse, but while the Internet has a lot of good content there are some pretty objectionable sites and material out there. Those of you not on the eMazzanti Technologies Spam Defense solution or some other form of spam filtering software have probably seen some very objectionable site ads. In short, your business is responsible for protecting your users, employees and guests , from being exposed to material that other end users are viewing on the Internet. Imagine the horror of an employee walking into the office of another employee when they “accidentally” land on a objectionable site. Do you really want to deal with this issue? Content filtering can prevent the “accidental” browser from landing on such sites. Continue |
| The E-Mail You Save
Can Be Held Against You
By Kim Komando
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center | | When it comes to e-mail, I’m a packrat. No, it is not true that I still have the first e-mail I ever received. But I probably have my first e-mail from the year 2000. In fact, I probably have all my e-mails from the year 2000. So of course, I have everything since then, too. | Why do I have all this stuff? I’m not sure, frankly. Maybe I was concerned that I would be sued over some imaginary transgression and would need an e-trail to prove my innocence. Or maybe I was vaguely concerned about some legal requirement to save this stuff. I’m not the only one doing this. Some of you have thousands of e-mails, too. And you probably don’t know why you’re saving them, either. Maybe you’re worried about going to jail over some stupid e-mail you can’t find. I’m hardly an expert in what e-mail documents and records to save. So I talked to Donald Skupsky, the president of Information Requirements Clearinghouse. He modestly describes himself as the world’s leading expert in this area. I also talked with Charles Fine, a Phoenix attorney. Here are some things to consider when you wonder whether or not to save e-mail, particularly in light of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which imposes more requirements on mostly public companies to preserve records. Obviously, if you still have questions, talk to a lawyer. |
| Good, Bad, or Indifferent:
Microsoft Outlook Anywhere
By Blake Britton, Vice President, Axxys Technologies
| While most of us can receive and send email from any computer that has an Internet connection via Outlook Web Access (OWA) or through a mobile device (Windows Mobile, Palm, or Blackberry), what I miss is the full functionality and speed of Outlook. With Exchange 2007 and Outlook, you can now have that functionality wherever you have an Internet connection. Outlook Anywhere and Exchange 2007 provide your network administrator easier configuration of the ability to use Outlook anywhere. |
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Yes, if your system has Outlook, and it is configured to run RPC over http (use of your local Outlook to securely connect to MS Exchange), then you are connected to you email system and have full Outlook functionality whenever you have an Internet connection. | I leave Outlook running on my notebook and when I leave the office, the notebook goes into “sleep” mode. When I “wake” it up when I am on my home wireless network or at any remote site via my cellular card, it connects to the Internet and the Outlook installed on my notebook is automatically and securely connected to our Exchange server just as if I were sitting at my desk in the office. I have access to my group calendars, group contacts and address books, and all other functionality of Outlook. In using Outlook Anywhere the technology is delivered to you as if you were in the office. Since this mailbox is sending/receiving with the Exchange server it will also ensure that any changes made in Outlook also happen in your Exchange server. eMazzanti is very excited about the functionality that Exchange 2007 and Outlook 2007 have delivered in keeping us connected to our clients and the eMazzanti Team. With the advancements in mobile technology, the Internet being available almost anywhere, and backoffice software, the ability to be productive from outside of the office has never been easier. |
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| | 10 Tips for Finding Information on the InternetSometimes looking for quick information on the Web can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. With so many billions of Web pages in cyberspace, finding specific information can be a daunting task. “Often when I use search engines I get so many irrelevant results that I just give up,” admits a frustrated Lorraine Adams, mother of two and a disability consultant.Perhaps Adams isn’t aware that there are ways to get more out of your favorite search engine, whether that’s Live Search</span rel=”nofollow”>, Google</span rel=”nofollow”>, or Yahoo!</span rel=”nofollow”>. A few searching tips, tricks, tweaks, and techniques can help you find what you are looking for in cyberspace quickly and easily . Follow these 10 suggestions with your favorite search engine. Continue | | | Opportunities at
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