Tag Archives: Dell Inc.

About 1904 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

Tech Designs that Aren’t Business Friendly

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Since the new iMacs rolled out a few months ago, one of its continued best sales hooks is its picture on the Apple website. It’s a very prominent picture shown in profile. With that picture came the latest hot trend in desktops; thin is in! In the months since, PC makers including Dell and Gateway, have been falling over themselves rushing out their own supermodel thin all-in-one desktops. Who could resist? They’re beautiful, sleek, light weight, and just plain cool. “They’re also really expensive. They’re so beautiful. But, I can’t see them spread across a business. They look too easy to topple over” says Michelle Warren, a senior research analyst from the Info-Tech Research Group. From desktops to handhelds, technology products are increasingly marketed more for their style than substance as users have changed their perceptions of devices from tools to vanity items. It’s an easy trap for even the most fiscally conscious executives to fall into these days. “For us, our technology choices are always about functionality and benefit. I say that and I’m talking on an iPhone, which I don’t see any justification for using,” says Reuben Swartz, president of Mimiran, an Austin, Texas-based pricing analytics software company. Given that Swartz’s business is based on promoting fiscal efficiency, he admits that he can’t afford technology choices that look too slick for fear it will contradict his company’s image. “We don’t want to look like we’re spending a lot of money on eye candy,” says Swartz. Warren, who watches trends in the cosmetic designs of technology, would be one of the first to encourage business owners to not bow to the bling and at the same time advises that some of the latest fashions in high tech are actually good for business. Here’s some advice products with sleek tech designs that could help – or ultimately hamper — your ability to do business. Bad for business Mobile Devices. “Qwerty keypads take too much time to press those buttons. Handhelds that come with a stylus and accessories like Bluetooth are easy to lose. Avoid things with too many moving parts, like the new Samsung phones that involve two flips, instead of one,” says Warren. Other features to avoid, unless it has an obvious benefit to the users work: cameras and music. It’s just one more thing that can break and be abused by the employee. Desktops and notebooks. “We’re seeing more notebooks coming in colors like red and pink. It helps express individuality. But in a corporate setting, stick with black. It’s more professional,” says Warren. As for those desktop towers, keep them under the desk and out of sight. Newer features coming to market include Blu-ray DVD drives. You can’t beat the razor crisp graphics, but they require a lot of extra computing power to run and can cut battery time down to as little as an hour. Conference room equipment. This is often customer-facing technology, and therefore, cosmetics count.  That being said, given a choice, choose functionality.  Clients will forgive an unsightly box shuttling back and forth across a long table, but don’t expect the same amount of patience with poor quality microphones, speakers or hard to manage connections. Wires.  If it’s customer-facing technology, go wireless if possible. “Wires are ugly, not cool and very last century,” says Warren. Good for business Mobile Devices. Warren points out that small to mid-sized businesses have the advantage of letting their employees pick their own devices and what works best depends on what the user wants. That being said, she puts in a word for BlackBerry. “There’s something about that keypad. It has a very low training rate. People pick it up very fast,” says Warren. Desktops and notebooks.  Trendy options like the new MacBook Air notebook or any of those all-in-one desktops make no sense out in the cubicles. However, spending the extra money for those customer-facing positions like the front desk or the consultant who needs a little extra style on sales calls may be worth it. Lighter weight technology, lighter weight accessories.  The good news about smaller mobile devices and thinner notebooks is that briefcases have significantly lightened up in recent years. Five years ago, it was not uncommon to see the average road warrior trudging through airports with a 20 pound bag draped over the shoulder and a cell phone stuffed in a side pocket. Bags are increasingly smaller and down to a few pounds allowing them to be made with lighter materials like canvas. The trend to travel light has also inspired executives to lug around less paper and store more of their files on the computer. Future trends Touch screens are getting a lot of attention these days, but Warren warns it’s not a mature technology yet. It will be some day, probably sooner than later. Also watch for bigger screens on mobile devices.

About 1933 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

Still Have a Cash Register? It’s Time to Upgrade

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It’s been a busy year for Earth Garden in Wilton, Conn.. The high-end floristry, gifts and home furnishing accessories store recently opened a new storefront in its hometown dramatically expanding its product mix and amount of inventory while growing out its customer base at the same time. One of the many new products flying off the shelves is a line of trendy reading glasses called eyebobs. “We know they’re hot. What we don’t know is which designs are our best sellers,” says Rachelle Bernabei, Earth Garden’s accountant. Bernabei says it’s just impossible to keep track of them without a point of sale (POS) system. “Yes, we’re still using a cash register,” admits Bernabei, who is quick to point out that eyebobs are just one of a thousand different product lines they carry that are impossible to monitor as closely as they’d like without some new technology. At the mention of upgrading to a point of sale (POS) system, Bernabei starts ticking off all the features she longs for not only to make her job easier, but further grow the business itself. “If we had a POS system we could store all of our customer data, keep better track of inventory, store financial data, and aggregate reporting that would help us track which products are moving faster than others and when and what to restock. We could get a better look at all our different segments of the business,” says Bernabei. The end of cash registers “When you think about it, the concept of a cash register is pretty archaic. It’s basically a cash box with a big calculator on top,” says Mark Tauschek, a senior research analyst from Info-Tech based in Ontario, Canada. Archaic wouldn’t be too strong of a word. The cash register was invented over a hundred years ago back in 1883. Perhaps it is time to retire it to the Smithsonian along side the typewriter while leaving room for the fax machine that is undoubtedly soon to follow. In today’s digitally connected world, data is only as valuable as it is accessible and exportable to other applications. Earth Garden’s cash register is a perfect illustration.” Well, it sort of does some things. It’s just that the information doesn’t go anywhere. It spits it out on a paper tape at the end of the day and all the sales data has to be manually inputted into our accounting system,” says Bernabei. Upgrading to a POS system So why not chuck those cash registers once and for all? The biggest reason is the cost, of course. Tauschek says the most basic system for a small, one-terminal shop could cost as little as a thousand dollars, likely it will be more like $2,000-$2,500 by the time an owner adds on things like bar code scanners and credit card capabilities. That may not sound like much until you consider stores like Staples and Office Depot still sell cash registers for as little as a couple of hundred dollars. The other reason, says Tauschek, is that “10 years from now, you won’t be able to find a cash register anymore. But right now, although we are really talking about the really small, one-store Mom and Pop shops, some businesses just don’t need a POS system yet. They’re doing fine without one.” Those businesses are increasingly a rarity; Tauschek offers the following advice to businesses who do find its time to integrate a POS system: Shop for simplicity. Make sure the system has an easy-to-use interface that requires minimal training. Most people that staff a terminal are typically the low-paid and, therefore, less educated employee. Check the vendor’s references. “Whether it’s the guy down the street, a vendor on eBay or a more established seller, talk to at least three or four customers,” says Tauschek. Consider the platform.  Tauschek says, by far, most systems are Windows-based. However, Linux is making huge inroads in the POS space and contends they’re more secure systems. “The vast majority of attacks are against Windows. So that alone means Linux inherently has fewer security risks,” says Tauschek. Check the service contract. If the system goes down, how long can the business get by without a service call? The answer depends on the nature of the organization. Some businesses demand no less than a half hour wait for service, others two to hour hours. Waiting 24 hours for service is likely a revenue killer for most companies. Read the fine print before making a commitment. Response time could be a deal breaker. Start small.  One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is buying more than they need. “All POS systems are scalable,” says Tauschek. Don’t add on things like bar code scanners, back end integration, gift card redemptions, and credit card and debit card signature pads until they are needed. Deciding factors Choosing a POS system is one of the biggest technology commitments a retail or service business can make. When it works well, the return on investment (ROI) can be dramatic. When it doesn’t work, it’s a nightmare that can bring the entire business to a crippling standstill. Other tips to consider before taking such a big step include the following: Be clear on why the POS system is needed for the business. What will it do that really helps the bottom line? How long will it take to pay for itself? Choose the software first. Make sure it is compatible with other hardware or applications the business is already using on the backend. For example, will it work with the accounting software already in use? Choose a vendor and software package designed for the type of business being outfitted. A book store shouldn’t buy POS software from a company that specializes in serving restaurants. Beware of the independent contractor with the homemade system. It would be great to have the right person just down the street, always available, reasonably- priced, and able to tailor the software specifically to the business. But what if that person botches the job or moves on without notice? Factor in the labor cost of implementation and training. For the business trying to find enough capitol to commit, this has to be considered. Paying someone to install the system, debug it, maintain it and train all the staff to use it can cost as much as the system itself in some cases. SIDEBAR: POS System Vendors The startup costs for a POS system can vary quite a bit, depending on the level of sophistication a business requires and the number of employee stations involved. For the small to mid-sized business just starting out, the best advice is to start small and build out the system as needed. There are literally thousands of POS system vendors. It’s not unusual for first time buyers to go through two or three providers before finding the right solution. Business owners would be wise to avoid such costly mistakes and do their homework first. Here are just a few POS vendors to start with that caters to smaller businesses: AccuPOS This well-established vendor has been around for twenty years and sells both the software and hardware to build highly scalable POS systems. Software packages start below $1,000, with at least another $2,000 for the hardware. AccuPOS fully integrates with all the major accounting programs, including Peachtree, QuickBooks and BusinessWorks. AccuPOS has systems customized for both retail and restaurants. Dell Point of Sale Solutions The familiar name may be reassuring for some businesses. There are three complete POS system packages offered for smaller shops, starting at $2,800. Dell bundles in QuickBooks POS software into its systems, another familiar name that would be attractive to many businesses that already use QuickBooks’ accounting software. Bernabei from Earth Garden, who’s been doing her research, offers one warning about QuickBooks POS software, however. “The largest font is 12 points. At our shop, we’re all over 40 and just can’t read it,” says Bernabei. CAM Commerce Solutions It’s one of the best known names in the business, founded in the 80’s and publicly traded on NASDAQ. All of its solutions are Windows-based. CAM Commerce Solutions offers a varied palette of scalable software packages and hardware catering to growing companies. Everest Software  The Dulles, Va.- based Everest not only sells POS software for the front end of the business, it sells everything a small to midsize business needs for the backend too. It sells the accounting software, CRM, dashboard analytics, inventory control, shipping and receiving, along with payroll and marketing/ROI analytics. Everest consistently gets high marks from reviewers, although it is known to overwhelm users with a complex interface and data overload.

About 1964 days ago Servers and Routers

Business Benefits of Virtualization

Nearly every critical operation these days is dependent on one or more computer applications that typically run on servers.  As businesses grow, many have to increase investments in new servers proportionally to host databases, electronic commerce applications, and financial reporting programs.  What is growing out of proportion, however, is the increased complexity associated with managing and maintaining these expanding technology infrastructures. This management challenge is pinching profits. Enter Virtualization. Virtualization allows multiple applications and operating systems to operate on a single server — or box.  This has been a major tool for managing IT complexity and cost in large enterprises, and it is catching on with small and medium-sized businesses.    Moreover, organizations are quickly realizing that virtualization can do more than simply consolidate server investments. This technology allows small and mid-sized businesses to save on power consumption and enables better disaster recovery. Help with backup and disaster recovery The number one pain point for growing businesses in their IT infrastructure is backup and disaster recovery, says Ben Matheson, director for small and mid-sized businesses at VMware. Virtualization helps in disaster recovery in a number of ways. In the physical world, disaster recovery is complicated and expensive. A good disaster recovery plan requires twice as much hardware resources to replicate their operating environment at a secondary site. Such is not the case in a virtual IT environment.  Backup sites can consolidate multiple applications on fewer pieces of hardware.  This value-proposition is finding a receptive audience among small and mid-sized businesses. According to a study conduced by AMI Partners, small and mid-sized business that are fully leveraging their networks by deploying solutions such as wide area networks, virtual private networks, and IP-based services, also report that technologies such as server virtualization and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) are top of mind as they seek ways to realize the most return out of their network investments. Cut costs by reducing servers VMware’s Matheson says the sweet spot for virtualization are companies that start at 10 servers or more. “Customers see an immediate ROI by investing in virtualization,” he says. As servers age and are replaced, virtualization enables companies to remove 10 old servers and simply buy one virtualized server. “Immediately they have a 90 percent reduction of capital costs that year,” he adds. Virtualization also lets end users scale more easily. As small and mid-sized businesses grow, they no longer need to add a new server each time they support a new application in the network.  It is an opportunity that vendors are flocking to pursue.  For example, Dell plans to introduce VESO, a virtualization optimized server that has been designed from the ground up with virtualization workloads in mind, says David Lord, a spokesperson for Dell. Virtualization is also creating demand for supporting applications.  For instance, Ennio Carboni, vice president for Lexington, Mass.-based network monitoring firm Ipswtich, says he expects monitoring and management tools for virtualized machines to grow rapidly. He also predicts that small and mid-sized businesses will be more likely to support virtualization technology on desktop applications as opposed to larger companies, which are primarily using virtualization in LAN environments and for storage consolidation.

About 1995 days ago Computer Security

The Offsite Office: Manage IT with a Remote Staff

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Alvin Toffler was right. The literati’s most famous futurist nailed it back in 1980 with the publication of The Third Wave, the best-selling book that at the time made the bold prediction that we’d all one day gravitate towards what he called “the electronic cottage”. Toffler’s vision of a home-centered workforce enabled by a word that would take 20 more years to work its way into our daily lexicon – telecommuting — read like science fiction at the time. Now, it is as ubiquitous as microwave ovens and minivans. What Toffler wasn’t able to explain at the time was how it would all work from a technological standpoint between boss and employee. Twenty-seven years later, with three quarters of small to midsize businesses managing at least one employee or more remotely according to the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), those details are still being worked out. For example, a recent CompTIA report found that 80 percent of organizations now allow data access to the company network by mobile workers. However, only 32 percent have some sort of security training for those employees. By far, security is one of the greatest concerns facing small to mid-sized businesses that on average have at least 10 percent of its staff working from somewhere else, the study found. But, that’s not the only challenge. There’s also IT support, issues of who supplies the equipment and connection, and which technologies are best-suited to accommodate both the employee and employer. Outsourcing IT support “If you’re going to formally allow it, you have to be able to support it,” says Mark Tauschek, a senior research analyst from Ontario, Canada-based InfoTech. Most small to midsize businesses tend to have a very small or even no full-time IT staff. At the same time, employees working remotely also tend to work at odd hours especially if they’re logging in from other time zones. This means it’s absolutely essential to provide 24/7 tech support even though its virtually impossible for most smaller companies to provide it. The solution: outsourcing tech support. Advantages: There are many tech support vendors available. Depending on the size of the company and the complexity of its needs, pricing is very competitive and is usually packaged offering different levels of support. It can be as simple as a 24-hour call center functioning as a round the clock help desk. It can scale up to a remote access support vendor that not only supports users, but that lone IT staffer in-house who needs help remotely changing access levels, settings, and configurations. Disadvantages: There are many tech support vendors out there. However, like anything else, you get what you pay for. So buyer beware: bad support is no support. Also with outsourcing, there is always a loss of control and less understanding of the employee’s needs and the priorities of the business. Bottom line: the IT staffer is going to do a better job, provided he or she exists in the first place and is on the clock when problems occur. Also in the case of a remote office, chances are any company big enough to have a remote office is also big enough to have a decent size IT staff. At that point, maybe the company can provide its own tech support. At the very least, send someone out to make a routine house call at least a couple of times a year. Let the employee supply the connection In most cases, work from home employees supply the gear and the connection and just log in. Chances are they have it all set up anyway for their own after hours personal use. ”It’s not like 10 years ago, when there wasn’t the kind of high bandwidth connection available at the consumer level. Back then, employers had to supply the T1 lines to ensure executives had the access speed to get their work down,” says Todd Carter, author of the Wireless-All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies. Those days are gone, so why reinvent the wheel? Advantages: Let the staffer’s Internet service provider of choice service the connection. Work it out in advance to either come up with a fair split of the bill deciding what’s appropriate to expense back to the company. Another option for a willing employee is to just take the write-off of an un-reimbursed business expense and call it a day. Disadvantages: The biggies are loss of control and security risks. If the employee is providing their own gear and connection to dial-in, the company has no say in what technologies are being used and may not be happy with how well they integrate with the company network. Even with a secure VPN, allowing someone to dial-in with their own connection and their own gear is a security risk opening the door to viruses, worms and other “weapons of mass disruption” that can wreck havoc. Business owners may save a few bucks from letting the employee pick up the tab, but pay more heavily in the end by not keeping it clean separating work gear from home gear. Best technology: SSL VPN It’s a given that the connection between a home office or remote office and the company network has to be secure. And there are many options to choose from these days. The simplest and increasingly popular choice is a Shared Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Network (VPN). Advantages: It’s relatively inexpensive, web-based (and therefore a user can login from anywhere with a login and password for security), and it’s encrypted to boot Disadvantages: An SSL VPN is only as good as the vendor selling the service. They also tend to be one size fits all. An SSL VPN may not be the best choice for a business with industry specific security needs and other kinds of specializations (like the financial industry or health care). For some organizations, other types of in-house VPNs maintained by the IT staff or a wide area network (WAN) may be the best way to go. Deciding factors and conclusion It really boils down to the size of the company and its capacity to handle IT support for remote staff. Cheap outsourcing solutions, employee-provided connections and gear, and a Web-based SSL VPN are likely the most sensible options for the at-home worker. In-house support, perhaps combined with a help desk vendor, along with a WAN connection from the main office may be the most responsible choice for a remote office with multiple employees. SIDEBAR: Remote Access Solutions There are a whole host of companies online offering remote access services. Most are modestly priced with some costing as little as $10 a month. Functionality is generally tiered with stripped down versions for the user who just wants to do simple things like shift around documents or use certain applications from a distance to more sophisticated features for IT professionals who need to take control remotely of a computer and troubleshoot problems or change configurations.  Here are a few companies to check out: GoToMyPC  is an increasingly popular online start-up company that offers remote access to any PC. Services are tiered for single users up to corporate accounts that can accommodate up to 50 users. This is a handy solution for road warriors who need to access their work computer remotely, as well as IT professionals who need to take remote control of an offsite employee’s computer for maintenance or to fix a problem. Dell Computers  If the business uses Dell computers or is contemplating making the investment, then look no further for a remote access vendor. It’s just one more service Dell now bundles into the sale (for a price, of course). Instead of frustrating calls with tech support describing the problem and then being walked through the solution by a faceless techie over the phone, Dell support can simply take control of the PC and fix the problem keystroke by keystroke on their own. LogMeIn Similar to GoToMyPC, LogMeIn not only offers remote access tech support, but remote automatic backups and instantly configured VPNs connecting multiple PCs.

About 1995 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

The Case for Tablet PCs

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Thanks to falling prices, increased selection, and many more applications targeted at small and mid-sized businesses, it might seem like the right time to consider picking up a tablet PC — or several for your staff. For the uninitiated, these small and lightweight handheld computers let you comfortably write on the screen using a stylus pen. Bundled optical character recognition (OCR) software can also transcribe your chicken scratch into text, making it easy to search or insert into documents, presentations, or e-mails. With built-in wireless functionality, such as 802.11 (Wi-Fi), tablet PCs are also online-ready. Microsoft has an entire operating system devoted to these computers — Windows XP Tablet PC. The software giant has also spent considerable marketing dollars to promote OneNote, a tablet PC-centric note-taking and information-management program for Microsoft Office. OneNote allows you to effortlessly record, organize, search, and share digital notes. Computer makers offering more tablet PCs Many laptops available today also offer tablet PC functionality. Aptly named “convertibles,” these computers feature LCD screens that can swivel around and lay flat — so the user can hold it like a clipboard and write instead of type. It’s no wonder many computer manufacturers have jumped onboard, including the likes of Acer, HP, Lenovo, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. It might seem as if the tablet computer was the latest rage. But, truth be told, the tablet PCs are hardly flying off the shelves. So, why aren’t they selling? According to a recent IDC report, the market is relatively tiny. Convertible tablet PC shipments, for example, will reach barely one million units this year and more than four million by 2010, IDC estimates. Compare this to approximately 72.6 million laptop PCs sold during the same period. “Tablets are still a pretty niche market and I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” says Gary Chen, senior analyst for Small and Medium Enterprise IT Infrastructure and Applications at the Yankee Group. “They’re good for certain vertical applications, but for the mainstream I don’t see it ever becoming the primary form factor.” Determine whether you need tablet functionality Other analysts are more optimistic about the tablet PC’s potential in the small and mid-sized business market. Michael Gartenberg, Jupiter Research’s vice president and research director, says that businesses need to assess whether they can utilize the additional mobility and functionality that the tablet PC has to offer. “The technology has matured — in both the hardware and software — but the big question is ‘do you need it?’” Gartenberg says. For many businesses, the answer may be, “Yes.” Gartenberg suggests that IT decision makers at small and mid-sized businesses consider whether staff members in their business have certain requirements that may be appropriate for tablet PC usage. Tablet computers can provide benefits when used in the following scenarios: When employees are in meetings and want to use their computer as a white board to best demonstrate a product or concept by using a diagram or pictorial representation. In mobile environments, such as health care, where workers need to record information while standing or in other situations where a keyboard isn’t appropriate. In businesses that can cut out a data entry step by enabling field workers to use a stylus to take notes or record observations, which can then be ported into a text file with a few clicks. Another selling point of the tablet PC is that there is no longer a considerable difference in quality between tablets and other laptops. “A few years ago, there was a clear sacrifice in quality of screen, battery life, and power,” Gartenberg says. “But now you’re not trading any functionality.” Chen concedes the price for tablet PCs isn’t much of a barrier of entry any longer for a small or mid-sized business. “Cost was initially a big factor,” he says, “and they’ve definitely come down in price.” That said, Chen maintains most users are “pretty happy with a standard laptop and don’t really see a need to be able to write on the screen.” “I just haven’t seen large demand from users for tablet PCs,” he adds. Time will tell whether the additional development of tablet PC technology by computer and software makers gives businesses a reason to switch to the tablet computer.

About 2025 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Dialing for Dollars: Open Source or Virtual PBX?

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When it comes to telecommunications in your office, do you do-it-yourself or farm it out? Make or buy? That’s basically the decision your small or mid-size business needs to make when it weighs the differences between new voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) private branch exchange (PBX) telecom services, experts say. As telecom costs have come down due to the availability of VoIP services, small and mid-size businesses are faced with new options for configuring a VoIP PBX that connects office telephones, fax machines, and other connections to the public switched telephone network. About 30 percent of all North American businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees were using IP PBX systems in 2007, according to Forrester Research. At present, there are basically two types of services available. Providers like Fonality and Talkswitch offer PBX products built on open-source software that requires firms to purchase on-site equipment. Others, such as Covad, Qwest, and Verizon, offer full-service hosted PBX services where they house the equipment and do the troubleshooting for you if things go wrong.  Fonality offers a “hybrid hosted” product as well that installs with an office’s existing switching. Pros and cons of open source products At first blush, PBX offerings that are based on Asterisk, the original open source PBX software, might seem inexpensive. They are, after all, based on something that’s free. Fonality and talkswitch charge between $2,000 and $3,000 for an 8-line and voice mail package. But prices continue to rise with the number of employees. Also, there is maintenance and staffing to consider. “You have to have staff people that understand voice, and that’s becoming rarer and rarer,” notes Lisa Pierce, vice president with Forrester. There is also the matter of line quality. Subject to echoes and garbling, a conversation over VOIP does not match the quality of a landline connection. “All [VoIP PBX-based] calls go over the Internet, even sales calls, and they suffer when it comes to quality,” admits Chris Lyman, chief executive officer of Fonality. One advantage open-source-based products have, however, is that they are more easily customized. “With our hosted product, we only have three flavors,” notes Steve Robinson, spokesperson for Qwest, referring to the number of hosted packages the firm offers. Pros and cons of hosted products But for many, three flavors might be enough choice. With a hosted product, “everything’s managed from the cloud,” says Qwest’s Robinson. “If the system goes down, we have a 24X7 help desk,” he notes, and a full range of features is available, including forwarding messages to e-mail. Moreover, service-level agreements on the lines can help speak to the issues of quality, maintenance, and security, notes Robinson. Qwest charges $35 per seat, including handset, as part of a three-year agreement. Fonality’s “hybrid hosted” offering, at $5-$10/month/employee, offers hosting, but takes calls through the existing office network. Instead of installing traditional hardware, Fonality’s trixbox product provides a souped-up Dell computer that has been fitted with the necessary technology, explains Lyman. “This is a much, much cheaper option,” he notes, referring to standard hosted products as well as most open-source-based plans. However, the service packages offered, equipment (if any) required, and service agreements can vary widely, making it difficult to compare these products by price. When looking at costs, “make sure you’re comparing apples to apples,” advises Qwest spokesman Jon Lentz. Here’s how to decide By answering these questions, your company will be well-equipped to make the best choice. Do you have the staff and know-how to install and maintain an open-source-based system? Does your company need the customization that an open-source-based system could provide? Would your company benefit more from having its system managed “from the cloud”? How important is the superior line quality guarantees that hosted services can provide? Conclusion The choice between types of VoIP PBX solutions for business may ultimately come down to what type of resources your business has available. Web-hosted services are most often billed as monthly fees, you don’t need to provide staff for maintenance, and your staff can concentrate on other aspects of business. If cost savings initially drove you to deploy VoIP, and you have the IT experts on staff, then an open source solution may make more sense for your business. Open source will allow more customization, but it will also require more tinkering on the part of your staff. SIDEBAR: Web-hosted and Open Source PBX Providers  Fonality: The company’s open source VoIP-capable PBXtra phone system serves 53,000 business users in 50 countries who have placed more than 130 million calls. Recognized as an Editors’ Choice by PC Magazine and product-of-the-year by Internet Telephony. Talkswitch: The company, which designs and manufactures innovative telephone systems for the small and mid-size business sector in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, recently unveiled six new IP PBX systems ranging in capacity from 2 incoming lines to 8 incoming lines. Qwest: Denver-based Qwest, a provider of telecommunications, video and Internet service, offers OneFlex hosted VOIP as a basic package, an enhanced package, and with optional features for small- and medium-sized businesses. Contracts run a minimum of two years. Verizon: The nation’s second-largest telecom company (behind AT&T), Verizon offers two hosted VOIP products for smaller businesses: Hosted IP Centrex, for up to 325 employees, and Private IP. Covad: The California-based telecom giant offers two VoIP products, ClearEdge Office and ClearEdge Pro, that service small- to mid-size businesses. Covad services, including VOIP, are available in 44 states, 235 major markets, and are used in 57 million U.S. homes and businesses.

About 2056 days ago Printers, Copiers, and Peripherals

Power Up: Laptop Battery Life Is Improving

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Call it the Achilles’ heel of laptop technology: battery life. While considerable improvements have been made in processor speed, screen quality, and wireless connectivity, batteries seem to be the one lagging area in mobile computing. That’s not to mention the largest component recall in the history of the PC last year, when thousands of laptop batteries were recalled by manufacturers because of the potential for spontaneous fires. There is some good news, however. While alternative sources of power –such as fuel cells — may be a few years off, there are some advancements in lithium-ion battery technology, not to mention CPU breakthroughs, such as dual-core processors, that can also help your laptop last an entire day. “Batteries are probably the slowest moving technology because it’s chemistry rather than silicon, the latter of which tends to see greater strides,” says Bob O’Donnell, vice president of clients and displays at IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based technology research firm. That said, 12-cell batteries are considered top-of-the-line today for laptop users, says O’Donnell. Available as an upgrade among many PC manufacturers such as HP and Dell, a 12-cell battery may extend the life up to 10 hours of use, depending on the applications running: typing in a word processor, for example, is a lot less taxing on the battery than, say, playing a DVD movie or surfing the Internet wirelessly in a hotspot. “The best way to think of 6-, 8-, 9- or 12-cell batteries is as units of power, like having a toy that takes 12 AA batteries instead of 6 batteries,” explains O’Donnell. “The higher the number, the longer the battery life.” But there’s a trade-off, as 12-cell batteries are generally larger than the regular 6- or 8-cell that ships with the unit, therefore users can expect a protrusion on the bottom or back of the laptop. While this might be the case today, O’Donnell says some PC manufacturers might figure out a way for multi-cell batteries to be less obtrusive. “As we need less space for circuitry because of advancements in components, theoretically, there can be more space available for a [bigger] battery.” Alternatives, CPU advancements Some manufacturers offer a different solution, such as a thin battery that lies along the entire bottom of the computer or the ability to insert two “bar” batteries instead of one. HP’s Compaq 2710p tablet notebook, for instance, offers roughly 5.5 hours with its standard battery, but more than 12 hours when coupled with HP’s thin extended run time battery. “Polymer lithium ion cells have now become viable for notebook PC applications,” explains Kevin Clancy, senior notebook PC commodity engineering manager at Hewlett-Packard. “They allow for much slimmer battery designs, such as the 2710p extended run time battery, and offer similar discharge capacity.” On conventional lithium ion, “we see also continuous improvements in design and chemistry to add incremental discharge capacity,” adds Clancy. Clancy says laptop owners will likely see a 10 percent improvement in battery life in 2008. Laptops with dual-core processors, such as those powered by Intel Core 2 Duo technology, may offer up to 40 percent more energy efficiency than past processors, which results in greater battery life. “CPUs are getting much smarter today, too, where they sip battery power instead of gulping it,” says O’Donnell.  

About 2086 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Dialing All Businesses: Time for a Call Center

Savvy shoppers have a lethal trick to get the best deal out of a company. It’s euphemistically called “dialing for dollars.” In short, it means calling repeatedly for the best deal knowing the price will vary depending on which operator places the order. A recent example of this that made headlines was a dustup between Dell Computer and a popular blog called “The Consumerist” that published inside tips from a former Dell employee of how to best manipulate Dell operators to get the best prices. Dell threatened legal action if the blog didn’t take it down and then backed down in the wake of all the bad public relations that ensued. So, how does this happen? It’s a failure to manage unified messages (like the prices) when dealing with customers. It’s also a good reason for a growing business to go ahead and invest in a centralized call center that can better control the customer-facing end of the enterprise. Call centers coordinate customer contacts “Call centers clearly still have holes when it comes to things like ‘dialing for dollars,’ but, it’s the best way to minimize those holes,” says Chip Gliedman, an analyst from Forrester Research. Perhaps better known as “call centers” Gliedman prefers the more all-encompassing term “contact center.” And with good reason. “There’s been an explosion in recent years of ways people interact with a company that goes far beyond phone calls,” he says. “Now, of course, it’s also through the website, e-mail and instant messaging just to name a few.” Keeping your communications with customers consistent is just one reason to invest in a contact center. Here are other benefits to taking the plunge: Aggregating market intelligence. Tracking feedback and purchasing patterns is a great way to better understand your customer base. Putting customer interaction management under one department. One of the greatest sources of confusion in customer interaction is the disconnect between phone operators (typically managed by sales) and the website (typically managed by marketing).  Sales and marketing have two distinct goals. Sales wants to close deals. Marketing wants to gather intelligence. A contact center should answer to one department, likely sales, for the sake of consistency. Greater flexibility and speed in dealing with customers. A contact center is one-stop shopping to get the word out on special promotions or ramping up for the busy seasons. Setting and implementing policy. What kind of commitment should a company make to its customers regarding the time it takes to respond to an e-mail, process an order, handle a return, or deliver a product? Whatever the policy is, all customer-facing representatives need to be on the same page. Centralization is the best way to achieve that. Setting up a contact center In recent years, launching a contact center has become much easier for the small to mid-size business. Software as a service (SaaS) is the biggest reason why. A company no longer has to make a big upfront investment in infrastructure. SaaS enables a business to just rent all the technology by the year or even by the month, as needed. Even the phone switch is now available as software on a subscription basis. Not only is there greater flexibility in committing to the technology, the software has become more innovative and easier to use, as well. “Traditionally operators have to go back and forth between at least two screens of information; one coming from the website and the other from the [customer relationship management] (CRM) system,” says Jason Bloomberg, a senior analyst from Zapthink, an IT advisory firm based in Baltimore, Md. Bloomberg says that some companies are starting to build mashups — hybrid software that combines two or more applications — of the website and CRM systems into one interface. “These mashups are very easy to build,” he says. The big question: In-house or out-of-house Although contact centers have become easier to implement and use in recent years, it’s still a big commitment. A business owner has to consider whether it makes better sense to keep it under the corporate roof or farm it out to the pros. Either way has its pros and cons. Keeping it in-house. Most growing businesses usually go this route, at least in the beginning. Pros: The business retains better control of the information. It’s run by company employees who are more invested in the values and mission of the business. Cons: It costs more. It’s less efficient to set up a contact center from scratch than to hand it off to a professional contact center that already has the infrastructure to hit the ground running. Outsourcing. “When a company grows to the point of 10, 15, 20 employees handling their contact center, that’s when it’s time to think of outsourcing the whole thing,” says Gliedman. Pros: It’s cheaper, especially when dealing with larger volumes of calls and requests. It’s turnkey with no staffing or equipment. It’s easier to scale up and down during promotions and seasonal variations. Cons: There’s more lag time implementing changes or responding to customer feedback and complaints. Because now, there’s a middle man. The outsourcing company is often motivated more by keeping costs down then keeping customers happy. For the business owner still manning the phones with a couple of employees and a part-time webmaster, a contact center may seem like a distant problem. But that’s not always the case. “When the number and types of contact are at the point that it’s more than one full-time employee can handle, then guess what? It’s time for a contact center. Otherwise, you’ll have customers falling through the cracks,” says Gliedman.

About 2086 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

Alternative Memory for Laptop Users

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Integrated flash memory has long been found in portable devices, be it cell phones, personal digital assistants, media players and USB thumb-drives. But you just might find flash storing all your programs and files in your next laptop. In fact, computer manufacturers including the likes of Dell, Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Samsung have already began shipping mobile PCs with up to 32-gigabytes of built-in NAND flash memory. NAND, one of two types of flash memory, refers to higher capacity storage and faster read/write speeds, over the other type of flash memory, the older NOR architecture. Unlike magnetic rotating hard-disk drives used in most laptops today, computers with “solid state drives” (SSDs) such as those with NAND flash memory, use less power and are faster, too. “Because of the lack of moving parts, ostensibly the benefits they offer are long battery life and they operate faster, too,” explains Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research, a New York City-based technology advisory firm. “Think of solid state drives as the memory in your iPod nano, but with larger capacity, which is required to run your computer,” adds Gartenberg. Solid state more durable, quicker James Slattery, product marketing manager for the Flash Products Group at Intel Corporation, says solid state drives are also more resistant to damage. “In the mobile-client market, SSDs offer high durability with increased performance,” Slattery says. “That coupled with lower energy consumption makes this a very interesting proposition.” Other benefits of computers with SSDs as opposed to more traditional memory, such as hard disk drives (HDDs) include the following: faster boot-up times, quieter performance, and more light-weight computers.  With all of these advantages over hard disk drives, why aren’t we all using laptops with SSDs? The answer boils down to two “C” words: cost and capacity. Ultra mobile machines still more expensive SSD-based laptops and smaller “ultra-mobile” PCs (UMPCs) are still considerably more expensive than computers with comparable HDDs. While prices are dropping, price for SSDs are roughly $6 to $7 per gigabyte, compared to about $0.20 for traditional HDDs. “Solid state laptops might not be ideal yet for the small-to-midsized space, where companies are sensitive to price,” explains Gartenberg. “There’s also a trade-off with capacity, so most small businesses looking for the most bang for their buck are better off with traditional [hard disk] drives.” After all, many entry-level laptops today include 120GB of hard disk space, while SSDs — commercially — are currently maxed out at 32GB. (Santa Ana, Calif.-based SimpleTech has announced a 64GB SSD and a 256GB enterprise-level drive.) For business users who store large collections of music, photos, and/or videos on their computers, a 30-odd gigabyte drive is simply not enough space, Gartenberg adds. While these SSD machines are a little bit faster than HDDs, the speed difference is not significantly greater. In addition, says Gartenberg, “While they may be more energy efficient, it comes at a steep price.” Intel’s Slattery highlights another potential problem. “A con of SSD in this market is based on the inherent wear-out of the flash in excessive write environments.” Slattery believes SSDs and HDDs will exist together for some time as computer manufacturers wait for prices of SSDs to drop, capacity to improve and kinks to be worked out of the technology.

About 2117 days ago Servers and Routers

Routers for Small Business: No More “Mickey Mouse” Gear

There was a time when small and mid-size businesses had to pay through the nose for high-end corporate networking gear made for large enterprises if they wanted to get any kind of decent performance out of their business systems. That, of course, assumed that you could schedule an appointment with a sales rep who was more interested in hunting big game clients. But times have changed. With the large enterprise market now saturated with technology, today many networking vendors are developing, packaging, and selling products specifically for small and mid-size businesses. The small business market is now seen as a hot, high-growth target of opportunity. While this is undoubtedly good news for small and mid-size businesses, buyers need to careful. Price and packaging is important in providing access to technologies once the exclusive domain of the Forbes Global 2000.  But it is also important to ensure that smaller businesses get access to the support and maintenance services that are critical to business continuity and ongoing operations.  Large vendors that have typically done business with big firms can easily fall short of making these key ancillary services available to their mid-market clients. This is because they primarily sell through channel partners who don’t have the resources and know-how to offer these support services. Price is no longer the only issue “Affordability is not the issue anymore,” says Amir Hartman, co-founder of consulting firm Mainstay Partners, based in San Mateo, Calif. “It’s the post sale service and support that small and mid-size businesses have to be aware of.” Large vendors see a huge untapped market in this space, Hartman says. Take Dell, which earlier this month announced its Vostro line of notebook PC computers designed for small businesses that have 1-25 employees. Dell has cut out unwanted applications that normally ship with new computers, and it has streamlined the process and time it takes for a customer with no IT experience to set up the machines down to 6 minutes. Dell says it’s dedicating 6,500 of its customer service workers to be available for 24-hour access. IBM, meanwhile, introduced a BladeCenter system for small businesses; blade servers were previously sold exclusively to mid-size and large businesses.   Cisco, earlier this year introduced the Smart Business Communications Center (SBCS), a product specifically built for companies with fewer than 250 users, which supports new hardware products, a unified communications applications and offers basic systems-management tools. The product provides routing, switching security and wireless support, which can be turned on and off independently, at a customer’s own pace, says Ed Kudey, senior manager of solutions development for the Global Small and Medium-Sized Business group at Cisco. More products let you pick and choose Hartman notes that small and mid size companies should expect to see more products that give users the flexibility to pick and chose the feature and functions they want to activate when necessary. Kudey says that Cisco has been supporting this market for eight years and is gratified to see that it continues to grow. Small (250 users or less) and medium (251-1,000 users) businesses now account for just over 25 percent of the company’s business. Like many vendors, Cisco supports this market through value-added resellers. “We spend a good amount of time educating our partners on our direction so they can help us establish a strong eco-system” for small and mid-size businesses, says Kudey. Just as Cisco will spend time consulting with the IT staffs of large enterprise customers, he says they do the same with smaller partners. While Hartman concedes that using established vendors like Cisco, Dell and IBM can offer small and mid-size companies some assurances in product stability and reliability, he argues that users should be clear with both vendors and resellers about support and service expectations. Although support is usually available, some vendors may charge extra to receive that support, he warns. As always, getting the facts before buying is critical.