The 7 do's and don'ts of Network Gatekeeping
reprinted with permission from the HP Small Business Center

	There's little doubt that the Internet has been a real benefit to organizations – providing instant communication capabilities and an almost bottomless source of valuable, up-to-date information on just about any topic.

However, many employees won't think twice about accessing the network for personal use, perhaps to download music or to shop online. Not only does this put a strain on the network by reducing the bandwidth available for legitimate use, but it also makes it easier for criminals to access sensitive company information and for viruses to enter the network.

From an IT standpoint, it's a hassle to deal with employees downloading unsafe material on the one hand, and complaints about how slow the network is on the other.

So what's the best way to effectively limit employees' network use and keep the network safe, without hampering productivity or creating distrust?

Here's a list of do's and don'ts to help you put together a network usage policy.

Unified communications: Right for your business?
by Heather Clancy
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

While most of us welcome the opportunity to stay in touch virtually anytime from anywhere, keeping up with phone calls, voicemail, e-mail and instant messaging can distract even the most disciplined person from more important concerns.

Enter the white knight of "unified communications," technology that integrates phone calls, voice mail and video conferencing - all your telephone communications - with your e-mail, documents and other applications on a personal computer. Unified communications becomes even more valuable when extended to fax and especially useful when linked with information in customer or sales-prospect databases, according to Dave Casey, president of Westron Communications, a network technology integration company in Carrolton, Texas.

Think about the customer service experience unified communications can offer: A customer calls;
whoever answers the phone addresses the customer by name and pulls up the customer's previous orders, delivery information and billing details. "This experience is really what a lot of small businesses want to provide their customers," says Sean Fullerton, president of IT consultant eMonarch in Tulsa, Okla. Fullerton was impressed when his local pizza franchise offered this kind of personal treatment.

To learn more about how this technology might work for you, check out the line of unified communications software launched by Microsoft in 2007.

Advantages of unified communications

Many folks have made at least a partial move to a paperless office. They're doing so this way: by using scanners instead of copying machines, sending electronic faxes instead of paper faxes, storing information electronically instead of in filing cabinets, giving friends, clients or vendors information on CDs or through Internet attachments instead of in bound folders. In short, they're getting greater return on their hardware, software and technology investments.

Want to join the anti-paper campaign? Save a few trees along the way?

Here are six things to keep in mind as you move toward a paperless home or business office.

February 2009

Businesses today wrestle and grapple with the thought of hiring their own technology support staff to support their daily need for IT support without fully understanding the risks and the costs associated with having their own team of technology professionals.

Business owners, C level execs and Managers are attracted to the idea of having a team or a consultant readily available within shouting distance down the hall, basically having an IT resource committed to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, many of today’s business owners across the country are not aware of the total risks their business is exposed to by electing to bring their technology support in-house.

More often than not it is purely a cost based decision, on the surface it may appear to be more cost effective to hire a consultant or employee who is committed as a full time employee. CFOs and Accounting Managers often look only at the cost of having their IT outsourced and or attracted to hiring someone for a few thousand dollars a month as part of their staff will save their company in the long run. This is not the case in reality and by having a full time employee will actually end up costing business today more in the long run.

So what are the advantages of having an IT Partner who focuses on delivering a complete managed technology solution? There are a number of immediate benefits over having a full time employee. These benefits include:

 

Quote of the Month

"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity." ~Henry Van Dyke

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