Skype for Business

By Lindsay
We've all used Skype to make free voice and video calls to friends and family.  But is it ready for business use?

Well sort of.

It's not a product that screams out business.  Especially when your Skype username is, well, not exactly a reflection of your business.  However as an internal use tool Skype does have its merits.  For example, a distributed sales team can have a Skype conference call once a week.  At no charge, for as long as you like.  Presence information is also availabe (i.e. they log into Skype, and you know that they are connected and at their computer).

In Summary, Skype has a role in the small business, but not yet in a business to business environment.

Some technical notes:

   Skype is a large program that can affect the performance of hardware more than 3-4 years old.
   Microsoft have recently purchased Skype, so expect some integration into the Microsoft product line (I'm not sure how that will work, but Microsoft are moving ahead with their Lync product with which they intend to take over voice and video communications in the medium to large business area).
   Skype is available for all software platforms including iPhone/Android phones.

Upcoming Managed Services

By Lindsay

Just a quick note, more details next month. I am evaluating the following managed services tools:

1. A notebook and smartphone theft tracking tool (i.e. thief takes your notebook, the tool tracks location, sends web cam shots, and screenshots back to a control panel on a regular basis), and
2. A complete end point security solution (i.e. ability to lock down your computer so that nothing can be transfered to a USB or DVD drive, and web browsing policies are applied depending on whether the computer is in the office or off-site). As well as managed antivirus and firewall - a complete security solution.

What are the benefits of managed services?

By Lindsay
I sometimes get asked what are the benefits of managed services?  But first, what is a managed service?  In the IT field a managed service can be described as - You pay me a monthly fee, and I look after everything for you.  However the reality is that most small businesses can not afford this type of service (also called All You Can Eat AYCE).  So whilst I have this service available as the Gold Plan, it's not as common as my other Bronze and Silver plans.

Why bother with a managed services plan?  To keep your business going.

So what are the main features of these plans?  The most common thing is that you pay a base monthly fee.  Sometimes based on the number of devices that this covers, this is a ridiculously small amount.  This gives you the customer a number of privileges.  First, you have priority of effort.  Second I reduce my hourly rate.  Third I remove travel charges.  Fourth I provide free monitoring of your devices.  Fifth I give generous payment terms. And for the larger plans (Silver/Gold) I provide a free monthly visit where I can get those small 'while you were here' jobs done for free.

Give me a call to find out if a managed service plan can help your business.

To Serve or not to serve

By Lindsay

In amongst my comments on cloud based services, I unintentionaly overlooked the use of an on-premises server.  For any sized business a cloud based solution (or solutions) exist to provide the basic functionality of email, file storage, and accounting.  But sometimes an in-house server is a better choice.  For example:

•    A design company with large files that need to be manipulated - a local server with a high speed local area network is needed.
•    A company with areas that need to be secured from employees, a server enforcing log-ons and passwords is needed.

Apples' foray into the Cloud

By Marc

How will Apple Inc foray into the cloud work out?

This was an interesting question, especially with all the cover being given to the world of cloud computing. I started to look at what offerings Apple would try to offer and was incredibly surprised with what I discovered.

The surprise come mainly from the fact that Apple was in fact the first to offer cloud in a form slightly different to what we know today, as as of very recently has built the largest cloud storage facility in the world!, and has started on more.

You see it was like this; Apple Inc. Originally launched on January 5, 2000, iTools, a free collection of Internet-based services for users of Mac OS 9, Apple relaunched this service as .Mac on July 17, 2002, when it became a paid subscription service primarily designed for users of Mac OS X. Apple relaunched the service again as MobileMe at WWDC 2008 on July 9, 2008, now targeting Mac OS X, Windows, iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users.

All this becomes redundant with the Launch of iCloud. Apple's iCloud will combine their current MobileMe services and add some newer ones, one I particularly like is PhotoStream you take a photo on your iPhone, and automatically its uploaded to iCloud and then if set loaded to each and every device you own. Personally this means holiday snaps are now on my desktop before I get home. In business I could see this being very handy service that requires very little training. Say a sale rep finds a problem with a part, he snaps it with his iPhone, a moment later its on the work server, and the engineers could get hold of it with out any hassle, Insurance adjusters, Search and rescue staff could sign in and use this feature.

Along with storage and documents that work from cloud it offers what seems the norm is being offered. iPhone users will love find my iPhone and find my Mac feature that will also tie into the cloud. Apple has long had a backup archive component as well as contacts and calendars. iPhone iPad or iPod users will no longer need to connect their devices to their computers to access these or changes, as long as they have access to wireless they can now update or restore their devices.

With all this wireless usage Im very glad my telco recently shifted me to 3.5gb per month allowance, and even then I smile whenever I see a McDonalds as they all have free wireles.

So having a good amount of regularly accessed data this handy make way for the netbooks, and iPads to become serious business and personal tools, very serious! Most of the insurance adjusters in Christchurch at the moment are being equipped with iPads, as their ease of use and cameras make them effective tools, and once iCloud come online they will indeed become major tools for this recovery process.

So in short I think Apples foray into Cloud will be memorable and very well put together, again :)

Some comments on email

By Lindsay

Email History

Email has become 'almost' vital to a number of businesses today.  So I'll  make some comments about email.  First some history.  Email in its current form began in the early 1970's.  Today, 40 years on, we are still using the same protocols.  We've had to curtail some of the features designed into the email system, mainly due to spammers.  It was a system that would eventually get a message from A to B.  But if it didn't make it - who cared?  Because email was never a vital or important technology.  To be sure of getting a message through, you would use a telephone call or a fax.

Backup Email

Today it's become very important, but we are still saddled with a system 40 years old.  So we have to put in place some email redundancy to keep our businesses going.  My suggestion is that even though you have a business emaill address, you should at least sign up for a free web based email service such as Gmail and/or hotmail.

Some of the features of gmail include web access from anywhere in the world, and access on smartphones.  Some of the features of hotmail include access to Web based Office Applications, and document storage.  They are free to sign up and use.

Email Addresses

Now this is a topic that needs to be seriously looked at, especially if your business has high staff turn over.  Rather than have email addresses such as myname@ the best practice is to use email addresses that reflect the position.  For example:
manager@
sales@
admin@
salesrep1@
tech1@

The display name (what people see as who sent the email) can be changed as people move into these positions, but the email addresses don't change.  The advantage is that as people move, you no longer need to set up diverts, or monitor other mailboxes, or pay for extra mailboxes.

Redundancy

No not the personal type of redundancy, but equipment and system redundancy.

Computers - With computers redundancy is sometimes called the N+1 principle.  Have 10 people, then you have 11 computers.  Number 11 is the spare.  Anyone can use it.  Its already been pre-set to use email, the printers etc.
Access to Services - With cloud based services this is pretty easy.  Have another computer that has a web browser.  Or have email delivered to your Smartphone as well as your desktop.
Access to data - With online services you can access your data from multiple devices.  Take local copies of data on your notebook when travelling.  Have a plan with your off site data backups.
Access to the internet - Have normal ADSL broadband backed up with Mobile 3G.  Smartphones have personal hotspot functionality, which provides a small workgroup with internet access.
Access to alternative facilities - If you can't get into your office then where can you go?  Send everyone home?  To a warehouse, to another city?  Can your systems still function if you do this?

What you need to know about your computer (to help the technician)

By Lindsay
When trying to solve a problem remotely a technician will use semi technical words.  So here are the main things you need to know about your computer to help your technician help you:

• Cords - Know the different types of cords in the back of your computer.  These are usually the power cord, the network cable, the keyboard and mouse cords, the video/monitor cable, and speaker cable.  They are all different. (well except the keyboard and mouse cables which are USB).
•  Know how to press the power button in on a computer for 5 seconds to shut it down straight away.
• Know which part of the screen is called the system tray (right hand bottom of the screen with the small icons - usually showing the date/time).
• Know how to get to the control panel (this varies by Windows operating system).
• Know what web browser you are using, and how to enter an address in the address bar.