The Ekaru Technology Advisor  Vol 5-6  September 2005

Welcome to this month's issue! The Technology Advisor's mission is to provide quick technology tips and trends to help you manage and grow your business!

Is a BlackBerry in your Future?:
One of the biggest small biz trends we saw over the summer was the rapid increase in interest in "smart" phones such as the Treo, and BlackBerry devices. These devices connect wirelessly to retrieve email and surf the web. The BlackBerry PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) is now the most popular PDA, and earlier this year, Research in Motion reported that there were over 3 million subscribers world-wide. Market research firm Gartner released a study in August that showed sales of PDAs increased 32 percent in the second quarter of 2005 compared to the same quarter a year ago. If you're thinking about entering the "always on" e-mail crowd, here are some questions you may want to think about:

• Do you want a PDA or a Smart Phone? The distinction is getting blurry, but basically a BlackBerry is considered a PDA because even though you can get voice on a BlackBerry, they are considered a data device first and foremost.
• If you're thinking about a PDA, do you want a Windows operating system?
• Do you want a full "Qwerty" keyboard? The slimmer BlackBerries have a condensed keyboard with smart spell-checking, but it may be tough to get used to.
• Are you running Exchange Mail or "Pop" mail? We have seen problems with some hosted Exchange services.
• What will you do about SPAM? If you're filtering SPAM on your main desktop (which is usually what we advise, since all your email is in one place and you won't forget to look for "false positives"), you may want to re-think this and filter at your ISP so your Blackberry doesn't get flooded with SPAM. There are filters to run on your Blackberry too.
• Check the contract requirements carefully! Many carriers will let you return a device within a specific amount of time - usually 30 days.

Spending some time up front thinking about what you really want, and understanding what the tradeoffs are, will make your experience a lot better.

Rising Gas Prices Getting You Down? Think Remote Access!
With gas prices rising, many people are thinking about how they can save money. One thing you may want to think about is connecting to your office via secure remote-access so you can eliminate some commuting during the week. There are many different ways to connect remotely - using VPN technology (Virtual Private Network) or solutions such as "GotomyPC".

Did you know that if you're using the latest Windows operating system - XP Professional - then you have Remote Desktop built right in? With Remote Desktop you can have access to a Windows session running on your computer while you are on another computer - from another computer in your office, another office, home, or while traveling. You will have access to your files and applications, just like you were sitting in front of your office computer. Now may be the time to work some telecommuting into your schedule! Call an Ekaru technology advisor for a quick free consultation on what's right for you.

A Note on Helping Katrina Victims:
The FBI and experts at Sophos have issued reports of several on-line scams attempting to steal money intended to go towards the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief fund. In addition to bogus web sites, "phishing" scams are being circulated through spammed e-mail that contain official looking Red Cross logos and images, when then direct users to fraudulent donation sites. Hackers can use sophisticated methods to trick people into thinking they are at a legitimate site. Never click on a donation link within an email. Go directly to site of your trusted charity of choice if you want to make an on-line donation.

Constant Contact Workshop
We will be conducting a training workshop for Constant Contact in September (Date/Time TBD). Constant Contact is our vendor of choice for sending out emails to our e-newsletter subscribers. Using this tool, you can send many emails at the same time, on a scheduled basis, without the hassles of segmenting your list into small lists to get through your ISP. If you need to reach out to your customer base with e-mail, this might be a tool you should know about for your business. Send us an e-mail if you're interested in the workshop and we'll put you on the invitation list.

Over-Stock: Dell X1 Laptop:
We have a surplus Dell X1 Laptop in stock. It's brand new - used only briefly for evaluation purposes. This is the "latest and greatest" from Dell. Ideal for the "Road Warrior" - weighs only 2.5 pounds. It's a very small format laptop. Check out the Dell web site for details. If you're interested, call our office at 978-692-4200 or send an email for more information. We'll take the best reasonable offer - we hope to find a good home for it!

Ekaru in the News!
PRACTICAL TRAVELER: LAPTOPS; Keeping Your Computer and Its Contents Safe
The New York Times - August 21, 2005

On Cloud Nine With Five Nines
Having Five Nines Of Availability Is Ideal, But Is It Worth The Cost?
Processor - September 2, 2005

Technology Tip: Save Time with Memorized Reports in QuickBooks!
Most businesses manage their financial performance by regularly reporting on a fixed set of financial parameters. There's a great feature in QuickBooks that can save you a lot of time when you prepare your monthly financial reports (or weekly, quarterly, yearly). Use the "Memorized" reports feature in QuickBooks: To "Memorize" a report, create the report you want, then press the "Memorize" button to save it so you can quickly access it in the future. You can memorize as many reports as you want. When its time for financial analysis, you can process and print all of these reports in bulk, to save a lot of time. Select "Reports"/"Memorized Reports" from the navigation menu. Simply select the reports you want to process from your "Memorized" list, and then press wither "Display" or "Print". No need to re-invent the wheel each month!

Was this newsletter helpful to you? If so, forward it to a friend or colleague! Do you have suggestions for future newsletter topics? Send us an email!. We want to write about what's important to you! Click here to read past issues.

   Back-to-School, Back-to-Business!

Sincerely,
Team Ekaru

Introductory Technology Assessment Over 170 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 toll-free at 866-463-5278 x1 or email us to schedule a no-obligation assessment.

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