Apps for Staying Connected

More and more travelers – whether for business or pleasure – are using tablets and cell phones to stay connected instead of dragging around their laptops. Here’s a quick look at some apps that can keep you as connected as you want.

Evernote is our particular favorite among all the mobile connectivity and synchronization apps. In addition to having two-factor authorization for accessing files, it has just about every capability you need for working with documents of all kinds while away from home and the office. You can use either free or paid “premium” service across all mobile platforms.

It allows you to add notes by keyboard, voice or even camera to files or notebooks. You can make it your travel diary, and you can use it to add notes to business files, such as sales call reports. Whatever you upload to the cloud, you can access from any type of device.

Documents To Go has been a long-time program for viewing and editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files online. It can work with Apple, Android and Blackberry devices, and it allows you to synchronize with your desktop or laptop computer through cloud-based storage services, such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud. You can get more information through the app store for your device. There is a charge for it, but you can get a free app for synching with your computer.

Microsoft has renamed SkyDrive as OneDrive. It’s built into the latest versions of Windows, Windows Phone and Office, and you can make it your default storage option. It also works with an iPhone or Android phone or an iPad, Android tablet, Windows device or Mac. You and collaborators can work on Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents simultaneously. It’s available in home and business versions, with the latter giving you enterprise-grade content management, compliance, and administrative controls.

Android users can get note-taking capabilities from Google Keep. It’s an emerging program, and with Google’s backing, you can look for progress at a fairly rapid pace.

Whichever app you choose, set-up is really important – especially if you will be using your app over public Wi-Fi networks in other countries. Each app has numerous variables, including security settings. Contact us – phone: 973-433-6676  email: [email protected] – with questions about mobile apps and for set-up help. You don’t want an “uh-oh” moment while you’re halfway around the world.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

Pros and Cons of Subscriptions as You Update Software

There’s something nice about getting a subscription for application software, such as Microsoft Office for business or home use. You get automatic updates, for one thing. On the other hand, relying more on the cloud requires attention to different details. The end of support for XP and Office 2003 is calling the question: Should you choose subscriptions and the cloud or multiple licenses?

Here are some factors to help you decide the best answer for you.

Just about all office and home computer systems that still use Windows XP and Office 2003 are likely to have individual licenses for the operating systems on each computer. Some users may have been able to get a license for multiple computers for Office. None is likely to use the cloud because that software was written well before server-based systems came into vogue.

With Microsoft ending its support for XP and Office 2003 in just two months, users need to switch both systems. Our recommendations continue to be moving to Windows 7 for your operating system, especially if you are a business user, and Office 365, the cloud-based version of Office.

For home users, Office 365 can be a good deal. For about $100 per year, you can install a full copy of Office 2013 on up to five computers – supposedly in one household.  With all files accessible from any computer via an Internet connection or Wi-Fi network (if it’s set up for sharing), it’s ideal for a family, especially for doing homework.

In an office, the business version is great for collaboration and for mobile and remote users. In fact, a business can offer it as a benefit, allowing an employee to have Office 365 on a home computer. If the employee and company part ways, all the employer has to do is deactivate that specific computer and activate another.

But sometimes, cloud-based is not the best way to go. Every computer under your license will have access to everyone’s email account. In my own family, I’m OK with that. If I had a business with a number of employees, I wouldn’t be crazy about it. If you want to give a friend one of your licenses, they also could have access to your email, and if you are the friend who gets to use a license, you could be shut off without warning and lose access to email and files.

If any of these drawbacks is a concern, you can buy licenses to install Office on each computer. That keeps everything separate, and when you replace computers, all need is the product key to reinstall the software and keep on running. If your business expands, you can simply add licenses to cover additional computers.

The key to succeeding with licenses, of course, is to make sure you retain all the paperwork.

We can guide you through the selection process to make sure you have the right product and the right options for your situation. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us with your questions or to set up an appointment to talk.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

 

Having a Tech Relationship

Tech support is just about always available 24/7/365 from all reputable hardware and software vendors. But a relationship with a tech provider can help you find solutions to problems that involve more than one app or one device.

Help desk personnel are trained only to work on the systems of the company that hired or contracted for them. A tech provider who knows your system can “connect the dots” to solve your problem.

That point was hammered home recently. One of our clients’ IP phone line was down all day. It was a provider issue, something over which we had no control. But it didn’t stop the client from sending us a message at 10 p.m. one night to complain about a totally wasted day.

The service provider, he told us, had sent out a technician, who reset the router. When it didn’t work, the technician suggested there might be a short in the router. The technician agreed to be at our client’s office at 7 a.m. the next morning to look at the router.

I responded to the client, asking him if he was still at the office. He responded that he was, so I told him to call me. I walked him through some testing procedures, and we determined there was no short. What happened was that when the technician restarted the router, it went back to the factory default setting instead of the IP address that had been assigned to our client.

We established a three-way phone call with the provider’s help desk, and in a matter of minutes, we were able to put the right IP address into the router and get the phone system operational.  Our client went home and got a good night’s sleep, knowing the problem would not be waiting for him the next morning.

The solution didn’t happen by accident. We do all of our networks the same way, whether it’s in one office or networks covering multiple offices. We know how everything is supposed to be set up, and we know the right questions to ask a help desk.

Software problems can be more vexing for the average computer user. Everyone has the ability to call Microsoft, for example, if there’s a problem with email. Usually, the help desk can give you a quick, effective solution. But sometimes, they may not be able to give you all the advice you need, and you may not be able to do everything exactly as you’re instructed.

One issue that immediately comes to mind is Power Shell. Without going into detail, making a mistake when working with a Power Shell issue can wipe out your email if you don’t know what you’re doing. For us, it’s a piece of cake because we know computers and software and are trained to know why something is not working correctly.

We also have a personal connection to our clients and a desire and incentive to provide great service. If the help desk agent can’t help you solve a problem that goes beyond the scope of his company, he still has a job. If we, as a tech service and support company, can’t connect your set of dots, no matter who made the hardware or wrote the software, we lose a client.

We’re always available and always happy to speak with our clients when tech issues arise. So, when a problem strikes your IT system, give us a call – 973-433-6676 – or drop us an email with a few words about your problem in the subject line. We’ll get back to as soon as we possibly can because your call is important to us.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

Cool Remote Control Capabilities

Did you know you can answer your doorbell from anywhere in the world? It’s one of the many cool things you can do by remote control over the Internet. Once you look past the “coolness factor,” you’ll find that some of the latest remote control capabilities have a lot of practicality.

Many homes now have universal remotes that you can control wirelessly over Wi-Fi networks. While universal remotes are not new, you can easily program today’s units through pre-packaged settings for many of the most popular home electronics. They can cost anywhere from $200 to $1,500, and the more sophisticated ones have some comprehensive control systems for just about any entertainment system in your house. If using your mobile devices is more to your liking, you can find a variety of apps for any operating system.

In addition to entertainment systems, you can install interfaces to turn lights on and off, regulate thermostats, lock and unlock doors and do a lot of other things. Security companies and telephone/cable providers offer a number of systems, which you can combine with video systems. You’ve likely seen them advertised on TV. It’s all pretty “gee whiz” when you stop to think about it, but in today’s world, systems like these enable you to better control access to your home and your utility bills.

They can help in other ways, too.

We recently installed a new doorbell in our home that allows us to answer a ring through our cell phones – from anywhere in the world, of course. It recently came in handy, when FedEx showed up with something we had ordered to install at one of our clients the next day.

With nobody home, I was able to talk to the delivery man through the speaker in the doorbell system and arrange for him to leave the package at our home. Had we not been able to do that, we would not have been able to complete the scheduled service for our client. That incident alone made the doorbell a good investment for us.

Other applications are being tested for use with automotive vehicles. They’ll allow you to use your phone to lock and unlock doors and check the mileage on your odometer, the amount of gasoline in your tank and the date of your last oil change. You can also set off the alarm – from anywhere in the world.

All of this good stuff, however, requires two things.

First, you need to have a stable Wi-Fi network in your home. Whatever you choose to use, you’ll be adding another device to your network. If you’re adding something for your home entertainment, you want to make sure you’ll enjoy whatever you’re watching or listening to. If it has something to do with your home operations and/or security, you can’t afford a network glitch.

Second, make sure your network and your devices are secure. If you don’t have strong access security for your network or lose your device, someone could unlock your door and get into your home. That point needs no elaboration.

We’re more than happy to answer questions or help you set up remote devices and universal remote control systems. Just give us a call – 973-433-6676 – or shoot us an email.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

 

Security Tips for What You Use or Recycle

Whether you’re activating new equipment or continuing to use equipment and websites, and whether you’re recycling old computers, peripherals and devices, there are a number of security steps you can take to avoid a variety of problems. Here’s how to cover your tracks.

Let’s start with passwords. Don’t raise your hands all at once. How many of you tape passwords to your monitor – at the office or at home? How many of you keep them in a file on your computer? How many write them on slips of paper? How many are frustrated by all the rules and by having to keep track of so many passwords?

Did anybody besides me not raise your hand?

Most security experts will tell you should have a separate, strong password for every place that requires one. In the real world, it’s a real pain and highly impractical.

Here’s what I recommend. Create one very secure password you really like and use it for everything. The same security experts will also tell that a very strong password will have three of the following characteristics:

  • Upper case letters
  • Lower case letters
  • Numbers
  • Symbols or special characters

My password has all four – and it’s long. According to the website How Secure Is My Password?, it will take 58 years for someone to crack my code. For perspective, if I would use just my name, it could be cracked immediately. If I add an exclamation point (!), it jumps to 48 seconds. If I add an initial capital letter to the exclamation point, it jumps to 25 minutes. Adding a number increases the time to an hour. Adding another symbol or number gets you up to 58 years.

To give you a better idea of passwords to avoid, SplashData, provider of the SplashID Safe line of password management applications, just released its annual list of the past year’s worst passwords. If you see something familiar in the list, you might want to make a change or two.

So, give your password some thought and some length, and you should be in good shape.  Just be aware that some sites may have some special rules about password creation, but you get the idea. Some sites also have two-factor identification requirements, so make sure you follow the rules. If you use Dropbox to store or share files, we can help you set up a two-factor identification for your protection.

Another area of concern, which is largely out of our individual control, is the theft of information from major retailers’ systems. Target and Nordstrom are the ones that come to mind. I believe the biggest threat to systems such as those is somebody inside stealing information – just like somebody in a company embezzling money.

However, it does raise a question that we, as consumers, need to answer. How much convenience do we want? We’ve all returned products without a receipt, and it’s possible when the retailer retains the transaction and your credit card information. We are trading privacy for convenience.

The newer credit card technology, which is widely used in Europe, uses a chip that the retailer scans. On the backend, no information is stored once the transaction is completed.

Finally, let’s talk about protecting your data – or more accurately erasing and eradicating your data – when you recycle a computer, smartphone, tablet, fax machine, copier or printer. All of them can hold data.

When you go to a reputable recycler, you can be confident they will erase all hard drives and chips. It’s always a good idea to verify that. You can also remove a hard drive from a desktop or laptop computer, and with a laptop, it’s pretty effective to wreck the hard drive by hitting it with a hammer. Desktop hard drives have a steel undercarriage, which makes destruction more difficult.

There are ways to erase or eradicate the data, but we recommend you let us take care of it for you. We can make sure all the data and files you want to keep are backed up so you can restore them for use on other computers and devices. We also can use tools that wipe everything clean and can test to make sure we took off everything.

We are also happy to take any electronics you want to get rid of to GreenVision. State and local laws that affect most of our customers require recycling for all electronics to protect the environment. We take your old stuff there when we install new equipment. Please feel free to call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to answer your questions, wipe out your data and/or help with your recycling. You can also call us or email us about your password and data security questions.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

The Downgrade Upgrade

We can’t verify that Microsoft will make a last-minute decision to support the XP operating system. But we can tell you that nothing has shaken our belief that you should replace XP with Windows 7 because Windows 8 and 8.1 are a disaster for business. If you have Windows 8 or 8.1 Professional, you can upgrade your capabilities by “downgrading” to Windows 7 Professional. There is no charge for the software.

Downgrade rights are an end-user right that Microsoft offers for certain OEM products that meet specific technical requirements.  In practical terms, just about any computer or server from a manufacturer with a Microsoft Windows license can be eligible. You can tell from the codes on the stickers placed on your computer in the factory.

For Windows-based computers, you can take advantage of your “downgrade” right if you have Professional or Premium versions of your operating system. For example, if you have a computer with Windows 8 or 8.1 Professional, you can replace it with Windows 7 Professional.

If you are so moved, you can even go down the chain from Windows 7 Professional to Vista Business and then to XP Professional. Needless to say, we don’t recommend it.

Nor do we recommend that you install the “downgrade” from Windows 8 or 8.1 to 7 by yourself. The first reason is that you must have the actual disk for the new OS. While you can create a recovery disk when you set up a new computer (how many of you did that?), most users don’t have a readily available disk.

Second, you will need to migrate all your data and programs to the new OS. That requires having the proper systems for backing up and restoring everything. You can lose any advantage of an OS switch if you lose your data.

In addition to covering computers, the right to upgrade by downgrading applies to certain Windows servers.

Understanding all of your available options can be daunting and confusing. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to set up an appointment to discuss your options to upgrade your computing capabilities by downgrading your Windows OS version.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

Freebies for Non-Profits; Savings for Others

Non-profits can keep their shoestrings from fraying by taking advantage of free software offerings from a number of publishers. Even for-profit businesses can realize savings. That can be especially helpful for small and home-based businesses that operate on shoestring budgets or have little margin for extra expenses.

For legitimate, duly registered non-profits, numerous software publishers and web-based services providers offer free programs. They can cover email, application software and web-based (cloud-based) file storage and collaboration tools.

We’ve worked with two non-profit clients to help them save $2,600 and $500 per year, respectively, in software and service costs. We helped them achieve their savings by looking at the availability of free software and services from current providers or finding alternatives they could use free of charge. While the savings may not seem like a lot of money, they do free up dollars to spend on fulfilling their missions.

For one of our non-profits, GreenVision Inc., which provides jobs and learning experiences for students and adults with developmental disabilities, we could have saved them an immediate $150 per year had they been a for-profit business. That’s because one of their providers was charging them for features they didn’t use.

Paying for products or services that are neither used nor needed is one of the biggest cost drains for many small and home-based businesses. The problem can initiate when buying and setting up software or services. If you’re not sure whether you need a feature or capability, you may take it as part of the purchase price or ongoing subscription charges.

In some cases, you may be able reduce the number of licenses you need because not everyone in your company needs access to a specific web-based service. In other cases, you may be able to save money by using a subscription service that provides discounts for multiple users within the same company.

Whether you are a non-profit organization or for-profit business, we can help you sort through all of your options to find the software and services that meet your needs – and can be provided to you free or for a reduced cost. Call us – 973-433-6676 – or email us to learn how you can eliminate or reduce your software and web-based service costs.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

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Tech Help for the Holidays

We’re available to help make sure all of your technology gifts are fully up and running. Nothing is more frustrating than technology presents that don’t work as they should, and sometimes only an IT specialist can orchestrate the solution.

That was the situation last year, when one of clients bought some new cell phones and wanted to pass down the older phones to children. We went there on Christmas Eve day to do what the carriers’ retail stores can’t or won’t do: Complete all the data transfers and phone number activations necessary to make Christmas Day merry.

We looked at all the contacts, apps and other data that needed to be transferred to the new phones. In some cases, data can hide in places where most retail techs don’t know to look. In other cases, for example, contacts can be in different places on different phones or not match exactly. The danger in not knowing where to look is that a technician can erase data from the old phone. Once that happens, it’s gone.

We also took the time to understand how each family member planned to use his or her device so that we could set up each one properly. We also made sure they all knew how to access all the features.

We had to program five phones, and that took the better part of a half-day. But the next day, when the stores were closed, everyone enjoyed their new phones.

Whether you are buying new technology for your home or business, you can maximize performance and by making sure your infrastructure has the capability to handle increased traffic.

For homes, this means having the pipeline to handle streaming to new, large flat-screen TVs and/or multiple devices that play streaming content. For businesses, this means being able to handle the newer, faster systems that help you process more business faster – along with a twist.

Some of those Christmas gifts, namely phones and tablets, will likely wind up coming into your office. Whether they’re for business or personal use, they will tap into your office’s network.

So, tap into our service. We can make everyone’s holiday gifts are running properly. Drop us an email to schedule an appointment, but make sure you call us if you need us (973-433-6676) – especially on Christmas Day.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.

1040 Over and Out

We brought this up before, and we believe it’s worth talking about again. Tax deductions for business expenses are always available, but there is at least one special deduction you may be able to use if you act before the end of the year. It’s Section 179 of the Tax Code.

Section 179 lets you claim a full deduction of the price you pay for new and used computer hardware and off-the-shelf software purchased or leased and put in service between Jan. 1, and Dec. 31, 2013. That gives you two weeks to place your orders.

Off-the-shelf software is software available for purchase by the general public – not custom-written. Most commonly used software for small and mid-size businesses is off-the-shelf, so this provision of the Tax Code should cover just about any programs and applications you use.

As we pointed out earlier, the value of all qualified purchases and leases is limited to $500,000, but a good shopper or a good shopping helper can help you maximize the value of your qualified purchases. Just remember that you must use those purchases for business at least 50% of the time.

If you will not make a profit in 2013 and will not pay taxes (this is separate from not filing a tax return), you can carry forward a 50% deduction to a year when you will have a profit and pay taxes.

You should check with your tax advisor to make sure you apply the provisions of Section 179 correctly. In fact, your tax advisor could find more benefits for you depending on how your business is structured, the type of business equipment you use and your tax filing status.

Once you understand your financial situation and have your shopping list, we can help you find the best values and schedule your installations. Time is ticking away, so please don’t hesitate to call us (973-433-6676) or email us to beat the clock and get your tax breaks.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.