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Zero2Sixty™ - A Work in Motion – The Right Mobility Solutions to Move your Small Business
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Volume XXV September/October 2008
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Welcome to our current issue of Zero2Sixty, The Launch Pad’s monthly technology newsletter for small business. If you’ve missed recent issues or you’re a new subscriber, our newsletter has undergone a redesign and sports a new name, Zero2Sixty™, which reflects our core customer's organization size. Each month's issue includes a wealth of IT and web information, expert advice, tips on how to save money, maximize your business processes and generate revenue. Our selection of timely and informative articles is designed for busy executives, IT specialists and staffers assigned the task of "keeping the computers and website up and running".
Mobility solutions are the focus of our current issue. Get the scoop on current mobility tools and strategies and learn how you can put them to use for your organization.
In This Issue
Taking it to The Streets - Smart Mobility Technologies for Small Business 
Enhance productivity by implementing mobile solutions in your organization so you can work anywhere, any time
Mobility Primer At-A-Glance
Don’t know a Blackberry from a Blueberry? Here’s a Quick Reference for hardware, software and online collaboration tools
VOIP (Voice over IP)
Integrated voice solutions put mobility at your fingertips
TecRec SPOTLIGHT on Telovations
Simplifying VoIP - A Tampa-Florida based phone vendor that offers a single-source voice/data/IP phone solution for small businesses
More Great Resources in the Small Business Resource Center
Visit this section of our SBRC for more resources on solutions to help you get mobile
News & Announcements
Welcome our newest Launch Pad team member, Randy Todd
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Free Newsletter Signup
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Zero2Sixty
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 Receive expert IT advice, money-saving tips and informative articles on computer, web and IT solutions simplified for non- technical, small business owners and managers.
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feature
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Taking it to The Streets - Smart Mobility Technologies for Small Business
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Did you know that on the average, the small business workforce spends almost 25% of its time on the road? Not only that but a recent survey by CompTIA (Computer Technology Industry Association) indicates that about 10% of the SMB workforce is now mobile with at least one employee telecommuting or consistently on the road. The survey also noted that currently many SMBs don’t have the infrastructure or business processes to support mobility for its workers. With the right mobility solution in place, your organization can increase productivity, reduce operating costs, and extend the technology infrastructure without breaking the bank. Think about the implications for productivity and for your bottom line. Additionally, a wealth of specially designed mobility tools which integrate with CRM (customer relationship management) solutions and business management software have emerged for specific industries and professions such as real estate professionals and field service technicians where being on the road is the rule. With more affordable options and simplified technology, small organizations worldwide are now using mobility solutions. Tools such as remote access, online collaboration and broadband wireless offer access to critical information and data anywhere, anytime, and on any device and empower customers and employees to stay connected.
Mobility or the use of mobile technology in business is growing fast, accessible to small businesses and encompasses every aspect of your technology environment. Examples o f mobility solutions include:
- Wireless any-time access to your office network via laptops, PDAs, Smartphones, Blackberry
- Email or data access from anywhere (home, hotel, Internet hot spot; wired, wireless)
- Secure connection to your inventory system via PDAs with barcode readers
- Field service solutions such as PDAs and mobile printers (think UPS) with real-time access to trouble tickets and order processing
Enable your team to be mobile and add big dollars to your bottom line.
Mobile technology acts as an extension of your hard-wired infrastructure to allow your employees, customers or suppliers real time access to applications, data and devices from outside of your physical local area network (LAN). Mobile solutions take that technology and put it to use for specific purposes and to solve particular problems. For example, real estate professionals can benefit from a notebook and wireless broadband connection (Aircard) so that constantly changing MLS listings can be accessed from the road (see HP’s solutions for real estate). Add to this, software that integrates with the MLS to produce flyers and presentations instantly. Not only is downtime reduced, but the chances of closing transactions more quickly are increased. Field service technicians equipped with PDAs can process tickets, update inventory and respond to service requests in real-time, meaning more service calls, less office time and happier customers. Organizations with extended support hours can allow home-based workers full access to the network and even a take-home VOIP phone for use with their own broadband connection.
Today, work is no longer limited to a specific place. Your employees are out in the field, telecommuting, in meetings, away from their desk or just constantly on the move. But without access to your company network, customers and team members, time away from work is unproductive or even wasted. By connecting mobile workers to your network and to other online tools, you can enable them to sustain a seamless work-flow on the road or from home, making their jobs easier and more effective. That means a better bottom line for the business.
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Small Business Mobility Solutions from The Launch Pad
It can be daunting to navigate the overwhelming variety of mobility hardware, software and processes. Hardware and software choices should be made with specific goals and objectives for improving business productivity and communications. The elements of the solution need to be designed to work well together. The goal should be to solve identified problems or challenges for the business with a clear return on investment. We can work with your organization to design a mobile technology solution within your budget that expands your existing network and business outside the four walls. Implementing the right solution means increased employee productivity away from the office, improved customer satisfaction and ultimately more revenue for your business.. Call us today 888-448-1700 x202 or e-mail sales@launchpadonline.com to request a no-cost site audit and proposal for your managed backup solution.
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small business IT solutions & advice
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Mobility Primer At-a-Glance
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Don’t know a Blackberry from a Blueberry? Here’s your Quick Reference Guide for hardware, software and online collaboration tools.
Mobile Email Access
Easy e-mail access outside the office tops the list of small business mobility requests. Traditional POP e-mail (domain e-mail without Exchange Server) does not allow employees to easily manage their e-mail outside the office because mail retrieved from the server to the office PC is not easily accessible remotely. E-mail that is centrally accessible simplifies management, enhances security and makes remote productivity much easier. Solutions for centralized mobile e-mail management range from basic to advanced and include web-based email access, Microsoft Exchange server, and wireless email access via a PDA, SmartPhone or Blackberry. These solutions range from basic to advanced. Basic solutions may only allow read capabilities, while advanced solutions can synchronize data and allow access to calendars, contacts and email folders.
- Enable clear communication with always up-to-date e-mail, contact, and scheduling information.
- Reduce the time and expenses incurred when managing employee time and communication.
- Reduce hardware and support costs when compared to a solution using laptop computers.
- Provide a platform that is supported by common line-of-business (LOB) applications used by small businesses.
- Provide a platform for custom applications used for managing customer information and relationships.
Exchange Server - This is an add-on component to Microsoft Windows Server (included with Small Business Server 2003) which allows shared calendaring, remote e-mail access, calendar and e-mail syncing with PDAs and Smartphones, and other collaboration tools. The current version, Microsoft Exchange is 2007, and can be used with either Outlook 2003 or 2007. To communicate with mobile devices, your server must have Exchange Server and ActiveSync installed and configured. While it does require a dedicated server and IP address as well as some technical setup and administration, it’s a terrific tool for small businesses to stay organized and connected. Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 includes Exchange 2003 and can save considerably on software licensing costs. The advantage of a product such as Exchange is compatibility. Exchange and Outlook have become the standard in the business world and that means you can schedule meetings, organize events and take advantage of other collaboration tools with those outside of your organization as well.
*Note: If you don’t want to incur the time and expense for configuring and managing Exchange in-house, hosted solutions are readily available including a solution from The Launch Pad starting at about $30.00 per month.
Smartphones and PDAs
Smartphones: Offer you the advantages of a phone and PDA in one device. Typically attached to a particular cell phone carrier , Smartphones come preinstalled with an operating system like Windows Mobile which allows you to take your Microsoft Office Outlook e-mail, contacts and calendar with you. The BlackBerry is a popular type of Smartphone with a proprietary operating system. Smartphones can browse the web, sync wirelessly with your desktop Outlook or Exchange server using ActiveSync, allow you to view files like Word documents using the mobile version of Office, play your music and access the Web. Smartphones are great if you want it all in one place and like the smaller form factor.
PDAs (personal data assistant): Need everything except the phone? PDAs provide all the advantages of smartphones without the phone and more horsepower. PDAs come in many flavors from manufacturers like HP and Palm and many have touchscreens. Windows Mobile 6 (standard, professional and classic) is the current version of the Windows mobile OS while Palm devices come with their own OS. If you do a lot of e-mail response, need more applications like Office mobile or GPS and mapping, and want a bigger screen and more full-function keyboard, a PDA is probably the way to go. PDA’s can hold more applications and are not tied to a particular cell phone carrier.
Wireless LAN and Broadband
The difference between these two is sometimes a point of confusion. Wireless LANs, now commonplace, allow devices to communicate wirelessly or access the internet with a wireless router and using a local area network. For example, your home or office may have a wireless LAN and you can find public “hotspots” like those found in Starbucks or at many airports. Wireless Broadband uses a cell phone carrier such as Cingular or Verizon, a wireless broadband card provided by the carrier (usually a USB or PC Card device for a notebook or built in to a PDA) and a monthly service contract (typically between $40 and $60 per month). This gives you broadband internet access basically anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. If you have mobile workers who need access from anywhere without having to locate a “hotspot”, wireless broadband is the way to go.
Remote Access Solutions
Data and applications for mobile and remote users
VPN and Terminal Services
Another common mobility category is remote data, database or application acc ess. This is commonly achieved through thin client solutions such as Microsoft Terminal Server or Citrix or a routed configuration with a VPN hardware device. Each solution requires purchasing licenses, skilled configuration and offers its own advantages and disadvantages. Determining factors for the best solution include the desired user experience, type of data being accessed or transmitted, internet connection speed and device with which the user is accessing the data (laptop, hand-held device).
Remote Desktop
Solutions such as GoToMyPC or PCAnywhere or Windows Remote Desktop (built in to Windows) offer individual users remote control access to their own workstation from a remote location or even from within their own office. These solutions work well for small networks with a few stations but do require configuration through on each individual workstation and your firewall. A monthly fee is required for services such as GoToMyPC.
Windows Remote Web Workplace & Outlook Web Access
Now integrated into Windows Small Business Server 2003, Windows Remote Web Workplace is a terrific tool for small business users to securely access the office network, e-mail and all of their applications and files from anywhere using only a web browser and internet connection. Mobile and remote users can log in to view shared calendars and e-mail using the Outlook Web Access feature or get right to their desktop and have full access to all their programs and files. Although it does take some initial configuration, the capability is built into Microsoft’s Small Business Server and does not require any additional licensing like that required by Terminal Server or Citrix. It is much easier and less costly to configure then VPN and does not require port forwarding. Plus, no additional hardware or software is necessary. Users on the road or at home can access their network and their own PCs as if they were in the office sitting in front of their own computer.
While each of these solutions may require specific hardware or software and some expertise to configure, deployed correctly, the end result is a secure, cost-effective remote solution for small business allowing users to access data from remote locations such as home, road or branch offices.
Online Conferencing & Collaboration Tools (Web conferencing, Teleconferencing and Video Conferencing)
For small business users, new and affordable conferencing and web-based collaboration tools have hit the mainstream and can add real value to the way you do business. Relatively inexpensive online conferencing and collaboration services can save not only time but thousands of dollars in travel costs. Online collaboration allows users to securely view and share information and track changes without paper or physical presence. Your sales team can use online webinar tools to make sales presentations. They can also be used for support and training. VOIP solutions offer inexpensive conferencing through your phone system and video conferencing as also become much more cost effective for small business. A very appealing array of pay-as-you-go offerings can allow your small business to communicate at the same level as the big boys.
Here is a quick survey of some of the popular services and how they stack up. Most have online demos which we highly recommend to get a feel for and better understanding of the service.
WebEx (www.webex.com/smb starting at .33 per minute or pay by month) – Webex offers an interactive a fairly easy to use web office environment with audio, video, notes and whiteboards designed for small business. You can even record your sessions. Save big dollars in traveling, conduct sales webinars to multiple audience members. Tools include WebEx WebOffice, WebEx Meeting Center and Event Center for conducting webinars.
Citrix GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com starts at $39.00 per month) – a terrific tool geared toward users who need to make remote online presentations with fully integrated voice-conferencing capabilities. Participants can view any application running on your PC in real time.
Vonage (www.vonnage.com) starts at $24.99 per month) – a good tool for 3-way calling plus many other voice and mobility features. 3-way calls can actually be tied to other three way calls.
Skype for Business (www.skype.com/business starts at $29.95 per month) – Conference up to 10 people, chat with up to 100 and make video calls anywhere in the world. Skype is also available for Smartphone running Windows Mobile and many cell phones.
SharePoint Server: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a new server program that is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Your organization can use Office SharePoint Server 2007 to facilitate collaboration, provide content management features, implement business processes and supply access to information that is essential to organizational goals and processes.
Online Chat and Instant Messaging: Good tools for immediate feedback and easily available on the road through almost every cell phone and all PDAs. Besides being the purview of teenagers, used wisely, online messaging such as that provided by AOL or MSM can be a handy tool for exchanging small amounts of information quickly.
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Voip (Voice over IP)
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 Mobility Features at a Small Business Prices
So what exactly is VoIP, how can it help mobile and remote users and how can it improve your business. Instead of traditional phone lines, VoIP uses the Internet to make and receive phone calls. VoIP has come a long way from the days when questionable voice quality and carrier confusion made it difficult to deploy and manage without research and expertise. Today, for small business, VOIP offers many benefits over conventional PBX phone systems (typically starting at 8K to10K with voice mail and auto attendant) including lower cost, less complexity, PC/Office integration and more advanced communication features. Beyond saving you money, VoIP also has the potential to increase productivity by giving traditional phone communications a mobility it's never had before. Take a VoIP phone on the road, and you can place or receive calls as if you were sitting at your desk from almost anywhere.
VOIP Mobility Features
- Make and receive calls and check voicemail through software standard phone functionality such as caller ID, transfer and speed dial
- Convert voicemail to e-mail & check voicemail through a Web browser providing a web portal to manage e-mail
- Web conferencing
- FollowMe features which allow calls placed from anywhere (or phones to be taken offsite) to appear to be from your office phone (great for home workers)
- Software based call management and toolbar integration with Outlook to unify communications
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launch pad tecrecs
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Spotlight: Telovations brings voice and data together for one low-cost small business solution
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 In each monthly newsletter we highlight software, hardware or services that we find to be particularly outstanding for small business. This month, our spotlight is on Tampa-based Telovations, a telecommunications organization specializing in VOIP for small business. We’ve had an opportunity to work with many phone vendors through the years, but when we saw this company and its one-stop VOIP voice/data solution in action at several local businesses, we were impressed. What makes Telovations so appealing is that they provide an all-in-one, managed voice and data solution for small business that includes a full T1 line, VoIP voice and data service, long distance minutes and Cisco or Polycom phones for a single monthly price. The basic packages is $495 a month and includes a full T1 line for Internet and voice, long distance minutes, 5 lines (fax or phone or both), voicemail and 5 high-end Cisco phones. What is especially appealing for small businesses is that you now have a single service provider to deal with instead of three or four. While we have worked with many phone vendors through the years at customer sites, this is the first provider that we felt compelled enough to sign up with. Telovations is now our complete telecommunications provider for our new Odessa offices.
Since this newsletter focuses on mobility solutions, we thought we would highlight some of the Telovations mobility features that make it easy for you to stay connected, no matter where you are.
- With Find me/Follow me your cell phone or home office phone rings at the same time as your office phone. When you are away from the office you won’t miss any calls and when you are in the office you won’t be sitting at your desk talking on your cell phone. This also lets you keep your cell phone number private, since your office phone can now reach you on your cell.
- Remote Office takes Find me/Follow me to the next level. You simply enter the number of the phone you would like to use as your office phone in the TeloPortal or toolbar. The phone you have chosen then acts as your office phone. Whether you are at home or in a hotel, calls placed or received will appear to be on your office phone.
- Voice mail to e-mail sends a copy of your voice mail to your e-mail as a .wav file. You can listen to the messages on your computer or PDA and even save it to a file for future reference.
- Fax to e-mail is another great mobility feature. When you receive a fax it is sent to your e-mail in-box as a PDF file. No more waiting by the fax machine for those important documents. Now you can receive your faxes no matter where you are and easily forward them to anyone who needs them. Since the files are sent directly to your e-mail there is no wasted paper and toner.
If you would like more information on Telovations services, please contact us or contact Telovations Katie Butcher at kbutcher@telovations.com or by phone at 813-579-1645. Since Katie has access to all of Telovations great mobility tools, she’s very easy to reach.
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launch pad news
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Welcome our Newest Team Member, Randy Todd
The Launch Pad is pleased to welcome Randy Todd, Client Solutions Manager, as the newest member of The Launch Pad team. Randy comes to us from one of our local distributors and he has provides support and product expertise to The Launch Pad over the last seven years. He is a hardware expert and part-time field services engineer (being a Launch Pad team member often means multiple hats), so he may have already visited your site. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to meet or speak with him, you’re likely be hearing from the “boy wonder” (as one of our clients aptly nicknamed him) very soon.
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Find Great Technology Resources for Small Business in our Resource Center
Go Wireless/Get Mobile
Learn more about mobility solutions for your small business by visiting “Go Wireless/Get Mobile” in our SMB Resource Center more info >>
Additional Resources:
How to Manage Employees in Remote Locations
Windows Mobility Resources
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Check our our Latest Press Releases
Keep up with the latest company buzz more info >>
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About The Launch Pad
Established in 1992, The Launch Pad is a Florida-based business solutions provider and online computer retailer. The compan y’s goal is to offer a single source of web and technology guidance and tools to help small businesses and organizations save on IT downtime and costs, increase business productivity, enhance their brand – and turn their goals into reality. The Launch Pad’s information technology solutions are based on products from industry leading vendors, including HP, IBM, Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, Symantec and many others. For more information, please visit www.launchpadonline.com or contact us toll-free at 888-920-3450.
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