The Ekaru Technology Advisor Vol 8-1 march 2008
Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor provides technology advice, strategy, tips and trends to help you manage your business!
Reminder - Daylight Savings starts on March 9!
Last year, the start and end dates for Daylight Saving Time (DST) were changed, which caused a lot of headaches for computers. Daylight savings time now starts several weeks earlier than it did in years prior to 2007. If you are up to date with all your Microsoft patches, you should be all set, but just in case, here is a link to the Microsoft web site for more information: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst
On Monday, pay special attention to any applications that involve calculations based on time, and double check all calendar entries. Also, it's a good idea to print out your calendar on Friday, just in case. Please also be sure that any handheld devices you use are also up to date.
Keeping your email healthy:
eMail has become such an important part of business communications in the past few years. When there's a problem with email, it's painful.
Here are some tips to help keep your email healthy:
- Keep your domain registration up to date. We advise all clients to keep their domain registration in their own control and protect it. If your domain registration expires, even if your email hosting is up to date, people sending you email will get the dreaded "host not known" error message. Typically, there is a 30 day grace period to restore your registration, but don't take a chance. Your domain name is an important company asset. Check your expiration date, make sure you know how to log into your registrar to update information, and keep your contact information current. If you get a renewal notification to the wrong email address (one you haven't used in years), it won't do any good.
- Archive your old email messages. If your Outlook file gets too big, your system will slow down, and eventually, Outlook will fail. Remember to archive old messages. The easiest way to remember to do this is to Auto-Archive. You'll still be able to get to your emails, but they won't be tying up your main file.
- Empty your Deleted Items folder. When you delete an email, to protect you from your own mistakes, Outlook keeps the message in your Deleted Items folder. This folder needs to be emptied on a regular basis or it just keeps filling.
- Compact your Outlook file. Even if you archive your Outlook file, and empty your Deleted Items folder, your Outlook file size will remain large unless you compact it. This conserves space on your hard drive and improves system performance. To access the settings (in Outlook 2003 as an example) to to File / Data File Management / Settings.
- Get control over Spam. Spam accounts for well more than half of all emails. We used to advise clients to use a desktop filtering program, but with the widespread use of handheld devices to get email (BlackBerry, Treo, etc), its just better to filter your mail before it gets to your mail server. Then it doesn't matter if you access your email from your office system, laptop, handheld or webmail - it will be filtered no matter what. There are several good solutions available, and we prefer Postini.
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Sincerely, Introductory Technology Assessment Over 250 local
small businesses have chosen Ekaru to manage their computers and
networks. We offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation to get
started. We'll visit your office, review your network, and make
recommendations. Call us at 978-692-4200 or email us to schedule a
no-obligation assessment. If you know someone who could benefit from this offer,
simply forward this email to them. Thank You!
Clocks change March 9!
Team Ekaru
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