Nimble and Quick

Being nimble and quick is more a matter of knowledge than pure speed. By assessing a new client’s comfort level with technology and knowing what computer to buy and where to get it, we worked together on a holiday miracle. It took a lot of cooperation among parties who’ve worked together to make it happen.

Naturally, as you might imagine, the story begins a few days before Christmas – Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. to be exact – and it involved a new client who had been referred by an existing client. The client’s laptop computer had died, and they needed a new one. But the timing complicated matters. In addition to the holidays, we had a vacation planned during the week between Christmas and New Years Day.

From talking to the client, we learned their comfort level with technology, and we knew what type of laptop they needed, including all the performance specs. We basically had two days to get the computer to the client and have it up and running.

We have a trusted distributor who can get us the equipment we need fast, and they had what our client needed. They said they couldn’t have it ready – configured to the client’s specs – until the next day.

I didn’t have time for me to drive to their warehouse, pick up the computer and a printer, too, but the client was willing to get it late Thursday. They brought the computer to our office first thing Friday morning, and by noon, everything was set up, including the printer, and they were on their way. They still can’t believe they had new equipment purchased, configured, and ready for use in less than 48 hours.

A month later, we got an email from a client at 8:15 a.m., and we saw it 15 minutes later. The client had spilled tea on their laptop’s keyboard, and it didn’t work. We figured the tea probably shorted the electronics in the keyboard. Regardless, the client was leaving town later that day and needed something that worked.

We knew that the damaged computer was put in service in 2018 and determined that we could get a new one for the same price. But by that time, the client was in the air. We sent an email asking them to call us when they landed so we could explain the available options.

We recommended that we have the computer shipped directly to them. They called us when it was delivered the next day, and we walked them through the set-up process. By 5 p.m., it was completely set up, and the client was ready to do business.

The secret to pulling off both successes was knowing what resources were available, knowing the clients’ technical capabilities and being able to make decisions right away. Had they been working with a larger IT service company, their requests would have had to go through a chain of command to authorize the arrangements and go through a purchasing process. With our personal service, we dealt directly with the clients and the equipment suppliers.

If you or someone you know needs equipment immediately, if not sooner, call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us, and we’ll mobilize our resources.

A Tip to Speedup OneDrive

For the most part, the cloud is a safe place to store your files, but we have clients who prefer to have the files they’re working on stored on their hard drives. OneDrive is good for up to 150,000 files, but it can take longer than we like to retrieve files after you blast through that storage level. Here’s a tip to speedup retrieval: Use the Add Shortcut to OneDrive.

The Add Shortcut to OneDrive option does not sync anything to your computer; it just creates a link or bookmark to the document library or folder in your OneDrive for Business. This way, you can access the content from any device using the OneDrive app or website. You can also share the content with others more easily using OneDrive. However, you need to have an internet connection to access the content, and you cannot work offline.

The Sync option syncs the entire document library or folder to your computer using the OneDrive sync app. This way, you can access the content from your File Explorer or Finder, and you can work offline. Any changes you make will be synced automatically when you go online.

Just be aware that synching large libraries or folders can take up a lot of storage space on your computer and affect performance.

Microsoft recommends using the “Add Shortcut to OneDrive” option over the “Sync” option in certain scenarios. They include:

  • The document library contains a large number of files that would take up too much space on your computer’s hard drive.
  • You need to access the files from a device with limited storage space.
  • You need to access the files from a device that is not owned by you.

Just to recap, the “Sync” option downloads the entire document library to your local machine, while the “Add Shortcut to OneDrive” option adds a shortcut to the library to your OneDrive folder on your local machine. The option you choose depends on your specific needs and circumstances.

If you’re synching all your data now and want to set up the OneDrive shortcut, talk to us. If you don’t set up the shortcut properly, it could be the technology equivalent of following GPS directions off the road and into a swamp. You risk losing all your data, and that can be more expensive than just trying to fix a computer.

Call us – 973-433-6675 – or email us to set up an appointment to set up your OneDrive shortcut.