March 2008
In this issue...

 ►Making the Most of Voice
 ►Virtualization Overview
 ►Rules for Managing a Mobile
     Workforce
 ►Tips for a Paperless Office

 
 

6 Tips for a 'Paperless' Office
by Joseph Anthony
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Many people who use computers — whether it's for their home or business — are moving toward a "paperless" office. Simply, they are tired and overwhelmed by scraps of paper, clunky old file folders, envelopes — and they want to reduce the clutter.

Don't believe me? Take a look at how many messages are stored in your e-mail's in-basket. Now imagine how much paper would have been generated if they hadn't come to you from cyberspace.

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.
 

 

Making the Most of Voice
The business benefits of hosted VoIP
   
State of the market of voice

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for the transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks. VoIP is often used abstractly to refer to the actual transmission of voice (rather than the protocol implementing it).

The first IP software, released in 1995, remained with Fortune 500s and large corporations that could afford the benefits the innovative technology provided.  VoIP is now a mature, well developed offering which has hit the mass market and become popular with small/medium businesses worldwide.

Benefits of VoIP

Companies are moving to VoIP is because of the benefits. Companies are simplifying their business, leveraging low cost data lines instead of higher priced phone lines and supporting one data transport instead of two. Voice is simply another type of data. This can save businesses the phone guy service call for any changes to the system (new users, office moves, etc). Adopters also gain the enterprise features like 4 digit dialing between their offices, no long distance charges between offices, & remote dial tone to help lower costs and increase efficiency. You now have one point of contact allowing you to stay in touch as if you never left the office.  This will help save valuable time, money, increase customer satisfaction and enhance employee productivity.
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Virtualization Overview 
 by Jane Cage, COO, HTS


We live in a world that constantly forces us to “do more with less”. Employees are expected to be more efficient. Multi-function devices are becoming the standard on many desktops. We multi-task by answering email, talking on the phone and reviewing a spreadsheet – all at the same time.

We shouldn’t be surprised then that IT departments are asking the same of their fileservers. When server utilization gets measured, we find that many servers have much more capacity than they actually use for the majority of the time. With so much excess capacity – why not run more than one server on a single machine? That’s what virtualization is all about -- one physical machine running more than one server operating system.

Virtualization is a “hot” technology right now and here are some of the reasons why:
7 Rules for Managing a Mobile Workforce
by Joanna L. Krotz
reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center
   
It's 10 a.m. Do you know where your employees are?

The ranks of mobile workers are swelling, fueled by the wireless Internet, powerful handheld devices, VPNs (virtual private networks), and WLANs (wireless local area networks).

As many as nine out of every 10 employees now work from locations other than company headquarters, according to Nemertes Research, a New York market researcher that specializes in emerging technologies. In addition, some 40% to 70% of employees work in locations remote from their supervisors.

No wonder. Hiring remote workers can provide big benefits for small business. "Employers can cut the costs of office space as well as recruit from a much larger talent pool," says Manny Avramidis, senior vice president of global human resources at the American Management Association (AMA).

But managing untethered workers also creates thorny challenges. How do you oversee performance? How do you keep communications moving at the speed business now demands? What about training and camaraderie? With so much information flying around, how can you secure intellectual property? For the answers read on.