Major sporting events can be a cause for concern for business owners and managers as employees shift their attention from work to keeping themselves updated through video streaming or engaging in online gambling. It’s important that you have the right tools at your disposal to keep things in check.

One of the many challenges businesses face is managing bandwidth and keeping productivity at a maximum. These challenges are especially apparent during major sporting events when hundreds of hours of productivity are lost to non-work activities.

During these times, many sports fanatics do their best to stay updated with the latest news in sporting events. And while there is nothing wrong with being a fan, there is a problem when office hours – not to mention precious bandwidth – are wasted on these unproductive activities. Besides video streaming live telecasts or replays of matches and games, there are also those who engage in online betting and gambling, especially during the final legs of a tournament or competition. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for some employees to spend the majority of their time at the office on these pursuits, with little to zero accomplishments for the day.

The problem is truly a serious one, with studies showing millions of dollars in productivity lost during popular sporting events. That’s beside the bandwidth wasted on what is, from a professional standpoint, useless and irrelevant activities. Naturally, the value of losses in productivity and bandwidth vary from company to company, but any loss is a loss that affects your bottom line.

The good news is that these kinds of situations can be prevented. With the right software, you can be immediately alerted when a particular workstation is consuming an unusual amount of bandwidth. This will not only help you cut off the bandwidth usage, but also help you identify employees who are wasting company resources. You can even use this software to catch people who might be illegally downloading content from the web through torrent or peer-to-peer programs, which also pose security threats to your system.

If you’d like to learn more about solutions to better manage your bandwidth and productivity, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we’ll be more than happy to sit down with you to discuss a customized approach for your organization.

Would you like to customize the Windows 7 Logon Screen and use your own wallpaper image? There are actually several ways to do this.

The first method involves editing the registry and creating a folder containing your own custom images. However, if you are uncomfortable doing this, or if it seems like too much work, there is a free application that can do it for you called Windows 7 Logon Background Changer. The download is a zip file, and once you unzip it, just run the installer. After installation, the program will allow you to choose from images already on your drive and view a preview of how it will look. Find out more by downloading the program.

More and more people are demanding that business establishments they visit provide free Wi-Fi. Setting up the hotspot network yourself might seem to be a good idea, but you’re probably missing a lot of fundamental security protocols that leave your network open to abuse.

Many businesses have seen the demand for free Wi-Fi at their establishments jump drastically, as more and more people feel the need to be online as often as possible for personal and business purposes.

In response to this demand, one of the most common solutions is to allow clients and customers to use the business’s existing internal network. Some companies provide a password, while others simply leave the connection open to all. However, a better solution is to have an outsourced service or company provide the Wi-Fi hotspot you allow others to use for free.

Why? One of the most important benefits is security. Companies trying to handle their own Wi-Fi hotspots – especially small businesses without in-house IT resources – are likely to make fundamental mistakes that leave their networks vulnerable and exposed to abuse and infiltration. Outsourced Wi-Fi providers are experts in giving you a secure system that protects your own network and by extension, your business.

Another benefit of using an outsourced Wi-Fi hotspot provider is that you also have greater control over the network, allowing you to impose rules such as bandwidth and website limits. You can also determine whether you want to require the people who’ll be using the hotspot to log in with a password (which you provide), or simply enjoy an open connection. Another important point is the marketing that comes with the free Wi-Fi service – while you are providing your clients with a free internet connection, your primary goal is to promote your business.

If you want to know more about outsourced Wi-Fi, feel free to contact us so we can discuss a custom blueprint for a Wi-Fi hotspot for your business.

When you installed MS Office 2007 or 2010, you had the choice of installing the entire suite or picking and choosing which apps you wanted. If you now find you want to change those selections, we can help.
Read more.

Skype, together with its partners Panasonic and Samsung, has developed the first generation of Skype-enabled TVs that allow you to call and receive video calls from anyone who has Skype, and make video calls to users with Skype (v5.0+) for Windows or Mac on their computers or laptops.

Technology continues to evolve each day, and the internet especially has made life easier and more convenient. You can shop online, conduct research from any location, bank online, and even have meetings and conferences online. There’s no need to fly from one state or country to another for board meetings, and no need to pay for expensive telephone bills for conference calls. Downloadable internet programs allow you to meet as long as you want, and if both parties have downloaded the same program – it’s free. One such program is Skype.

Skype is a software application that enables registered users to make voice calls and group chats over the internet, as well as use offline messaging, instant messaging, and chat history storage. Calls between Skype users are free, and calls to landline and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system.

In January 2006, video conferencing between two users was introduced, and in 2010 Skype began offering free video conferencing with up to 5 people. Today, Skype has brought video conferencing a step further:  to your widescreen TV.

The Skype-enabled TV was developed by David Dinka and his team as a result of interviews conducted worldwide asking respondents about their communication needs. The interviews uncovered a common desire to be able to speak to their colleagues, family, and friends from a more comfortable place than their desks, and they prefer to make video calls on a big screen.

Together with its partners Panasonic and Samsung, Skype has developed the first generation of Skype-enabled TVs that allow you to call and receive video calls from anyone who has Skype. You can also video call users with Skype for Windows or Mac (version 5.0 and above) on their computers or laptops.

How does it work? You’ll need a Skype-enabled TV (Sony and VIZIO will also offer models later this year) and a webcam developed specifically to work with your TV and Skype. These special webcams have built-in microphones that allow you to make calls from a distance without having to shout or move closer to the TV. Some Panasonic TVs will even allow you to make HD video calls. To maximize your video calls, it’s recommended that you have a 1Mbs symmetric broadband connection.

For entrepreneurs with several offices around the country or even around the world, this will be especially useful, allowing them to link offices and have a full-time video connection for free.

And with Skype TV, you won’t have to stay glued to your desk staring into the small screen of your computer during conference calls. You can be seated comfortably on your sofa with a clear view of everyone involved. And because the service is free, you won’t have to worry about rushing through meetings to keep operation costs down. You get your work done at the pace that you set.

For more details about Skype TV, please visit the Skype website:  www.skype.com.

Have you ever clicked “Never Remember” for a password, only to decide later that you do want Firefox to remember it?  Here’s how you can get Firefox to re-prompt you.
Read more.

Softphones make communication much easier by using an internet connection to make a call. But for businesses, PABX softphones offer much more secure communication for your day-to-day operations.

Technology has always had a profound impact on the way we do business, especially these days with the constant need to stay in touch with bosses, clients, and co-workers. A breakdown in communication often means a dip in productivity – so you always need to have the best and most effective means of communication at your disposal.

One of these means is softphones, which are basically software programs that allow you to make calls in much the same way as you do using a telephone or mobile device, except it’s through your internet connection. The most popular softphones include Skype, MagicJack, or Yahoo Messenger’s call feature. However, there are also softphone technologies that can utilize your PABX (private automatic branch exchange) network, which – while more limited in a general sense – are much better for businesses because of the security they offer.

Softphones on PABX work better for business purposes because of the nature of the PABX networks themselves. The privacy and exclusivity for your business communications are maintained, and PABX softphones make communication convenient without compromising security.

If you want to know more about softphone technology for your PABX network, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss a detailed service blueprint that will work for you.

Windows 7 offers location-specific Aero themes based on the language and location you pick during installation. But did you know you can access other hidden themes from different countries?
Read more.

Why are companies rolling out their own private networks? Find out what private networks are and how you can benefit.

The world is flat. That is if you ask New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman, who wrote a book of the same name describing just how the world got flatter and flatter thanks to a whole host of factors, one of which is technology. Technology—most notably computers, telecommunication devices, and the Internet—has allowed individuals and organizations to create, communicate, and collaborate like never before.

One question that always pops up, however, is how to maintain privacy and security in this brave new world of greater transparency and connectedness. Until recently, the only way was through cumbersome and expensive means. Companies, especially large corporations, previously resorted to setting up their own infrastructure (think miles and miles of cable, satellite uplinks, or large line-of-sight communication links) or leasing infrastructure from telecommunication companies, just to be able to set up and maintain their own private and secure telecommunication networks that can span large distances.

With the advent of the Internet, however, setting up private networks has become much cheaper and easier. Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, allow companies to create their own secure, private networks within the public network using technologies such as encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and the data within. The Internet is used only as the transport layer, radically reducing cost and time to set up because of its ubiquity, simplicity, and scalability.

Examples of how a VPN can benefit your organization include the ability to:

• Allow your people to work anywhere at any time—as long as they have Internet access and VPN support.
• Link together your offices and employees anywhere in the world, securely and cost effectively.
• Extend your operations around the world—sell online, move goods across borders, recruit talent from anywhere!

Can you think of other ways a VPN can help you and your organization? Let us know. Thinking of setting one up right away? Call us and find out how we can help.

Mozilla Firefox too slow? Here’s a tip for speeding up Firefox by moving cache memory to RAM.
Read more.