Can you work from anywhere?

Never before has the ability for small businesses to work remotely been more important. Between flu epidemics, the qwest to cut costs in a difficult economic situation and even natural disasters have made it more important than ever to be able to work remotely.

Many businesses are developing contingency plans and continuity of operations plans to keep their businesses and operations going if and when critical employees are out. It's always a struggle to enable continued productivity without a full workforce or if a key employee is unable to be physically at the office.

Is your business prepared? If you aren't familiar with or utilitizing technologies such as remote access or smart phones to stay connected whether you are sick, travelling or prevented from reaching the office due to other issues then let us help you get prepared.

Small Business Server is a platform which offers Remote Web Workplace, Exchange Server and Sharepoint. We are small business experts and we know how to get you connected remotely. Through Remote Web Workplace you can connect to any workstation on your network. With Exchange Server you have Outlook Web Access from a remote computer or your smart phone. Sharepoint allows you to share documents via the web. If you aren't using Small Business Server then there are other ways we can connect you. Don't wait until you have to be remotely connected, it may be sooner than you think!

Are you prepared?

Smart Phones

I thought I'd throw in a few of my thoughts regarding smartphones. Currently there are basically four different types out there: iPhone, Blackberry, Palm and Windows Mobile phones. For the longest time I was a die hard Palm believer. In fact, I still use my Palm Treo 750p. I still like my phone but it lacks and the Palm platform is fading in to the sunset. I guess until I change my Palm-based time and billing application that has been rock solid, I'll stick with my Palm Treo 755p.

I have set up a lot of different phones for clients. The majority of my clients use Windows Small Business Server and need their phones to work with exchange. The easiest to set up and most reliable so far have been the iPhone. Next to that are the Windows Mobile Phones. It didn't used to be that way but I get few if any complaints about the Windows phones when it comes to email. The Palm-based phones are extremely easy to set up but you don't get Tasks to synchronize wirelessly and the Treo is notorious for pausing. I've lived with mine long enough to know it helps to clear my texting log out and a few other things so it doesn't really bug me. At the bottom of my list fore ease of configuration, use and reliability (yes all 3 categories) is the Blackberry. I truly believe the phone providers make more money off of Blackberry because they always recommend them but they are they worst to deal with. When it comes to synchronizing with Exchange (email, contacts, calendar, tasks), you cannot do it wirelessly with Blackberry unless you set up additional software which has to be managed. You can use the desktop software but that takes away the benefit of being wireless. And what about those goofy keyboards???? I had a chance to look at the new Blackberry Storm. It got my hopes up but after just a few minutes. Two words. Not impressed. At CES 2009 in January, Palm who had not come out with anything significantly new in years was awarded the best of show with their new phone the Palm Pre. That got me excited. It, like the iPhone is it's own thing. Multitasking and many other cool features. Then I found out, it will only be available through Sprint. Come on folks, has anyone checked the coverage in AZ with Sprint lately? My recommendation.... Go Windows Mobile (or iPhone) and choose a model that has a full qwerty keyboard AND a touchscreen.