Welcome to the January Edition of That's Correct!
It is a new year, a brand new decade and already a month has flown by, can you believe it? Most of our clients are a-buzz with the excitement of fresh beginnings and remain positive about the economic climate, as do we!
So what is in store for 2010? Have you had a chance to reflect on last year, a moment to consider this year? Don’t forget, if you would like to take some time out to review your IT infrastructure goals and objectives we can assist in planning your next 12 months so that you get where you want to go without any untimely surprises. Call us today to arrange a Strategic Business Review and get your IT budget in line with your aims and expectations.
- We take a close look at a growing trend in business communication - Email to SMS
- Correct Solutions gets set to celebrate a very special occasion!
- Are you a mobile warrior who would be grounded without your laptop? We explore a simple disaster recovery scenario for the travelling Exec…
- Cutting costs to the bone on networking…does it really represent good value?
Nowadays, more and more companies are looking for ways to streamline their business procedures. When you look at the technology at your fingertips, do you wonder if there aren't ways you could get more out of the systems you already have in place?
It would be hard to dispute the instantaneous business advantages that mobile phones have brought to business. Nor can you doubt the impact that email has had - it continues to be an incredibly powerful - if not somewhat underutilised resource!
Increasingly businesses are mobilising their workforce; field technicians, sales representatives, contractors have more freedom to work remotely than ever before.
Add to this that companies are always looking for ways to quickly and cost effectively stay in touch with customers, just how do you get the best out of your communication tools?
Email to SMS is a facility that allows you to send text messages via email. It is rapidly growing in popularity and when you look at some of the reasons companies adopt the system, it is not difficult to think of a way you could utilise it in your own business!
Email to SMS allows you to do things like:
- Communicate with field staff and receive responses quickly
- Coordinate a team by sending out roster reminders, dates and times of activities etc
- Send clients or patients reminders about pending appointments
- Send customers broadcasts regarding specials or promotions
- Remind students about overdue library books, or notify them regarding the availability of reservations
Correct Solutions has partnered with MessageNet to bring you Email to SMS services. You can send a single message, broadcast messages to a distribution group in Outlook, or even send a mail merge to add a personal touch!
For more details on the MessageNet Email to SMS solution you can check out some of their case studies, or call us on 02 8831 8200 for further information.
Sign up to MessageNet via our registration page this month and tell us in 25 words or less how you intend to make use of the system! The most creative use of MessageNet Email to SMS will win the value of a Prepaid P120 MessageNet Service (includes 500 messages valid for 12 months or $120 reimbursement off your first month's MessageNet bill). Email your entries to info@correct.com.au before February 26, 2010 to enter!
The 14th of February 2010 is a very special day for us...not only is it Valentine's Day for everyone else, it is Correct Solutions' Birthday and will mark the 13th year since Correct's inception.
From humble beginnings as a start-up company running from Wayne's living room; today under the guidance of Ryan, Correct Solutions has two offices - one in Castle Hill and another in the Macarthur district - servicing a much larger customer base both in numbers and terrain.
Each birthday that passes is an important milestone that we acknowledge, and a great time to revisit our vision; to maintain steady growth by continuing to be integral to our clients, by giving our clients enterprise level support and to retain valued staff by providing a challenging and rewarding work environment. By employing proven systems and practices, and leveraging new technologies, we can continue to pursue our goals and maintain this vision.
We'd like to thank all our clients, suppliers and staff for all the hard work, support and effort that has gone into the last 13 years to make Correct Solutions the company it is as we celebrate our birthday this month.
I travel a lot as many of you will know, both locally and internationally. When I travel my laptop is my right arm in terms of connectivity to the office, and to the world. If my laptop has problems then my ability to work while away is severely restricted. I have in the past had temporary issues with my laptop that have taken a day or two to resolve and during those times, I’ve not been able to function properly... this leads to lack of sleep and increased stress levels – all things that are really not needed particularly when you are travelling!
For the last 12 months however I’ve been a little smarter. I carry with me now a HP MiniNote Netbook which I keep as a “spare” in case of emergency. When I was travelling with my family in Europe at Christmas 2008, I was lucky I had it with me. While in Paris for 4 days, the laptop I was using totally failed. We had 2 weeks left of the holiday, but I was able to continue pretty much unaffected as I could switch over to the MiniNote.
More recently though in December 2009, I was in the US on a business trip. The US flights are always very packed and my backpack and laptop was placed a few rows back in the overhead compartment. When we landed in Seattle, another gentleman got my bag out only to fumble it and it dropped onto the arm of the seat. Later when I got to my room I found it was very broken... in fact it was bent! Not good.
Ok, no need to panic! I grabbed my HP MiniNote out of my OTHER bag and powered it on and was in business in a matter of minutes. I had not done any work since last syncing my laptop so I lost no data at all as a copy of it was at our office. I was able to continue my business trip without having to worry about trying to get my laptop repaired in a foreign country or the potential data loss associated with it. The fact that I had a cheap Netbook with me made my trip so much more positive than it would have been.
So... think about it for a moment... a Netbook costs less than $1000... they are light and compact; while it might not be as full featured as a real laptop or notebook, it is certainly VERY cheap insurance for an exec who is always on the move.
Interested in a MiniNote? Call our office to discuss your requirements further!
Smart business decisions often call for finding ways to cut costs. For the majority of companies looking at upgrading their network equipment, the most important thing about the design is that it delivers maximum benefit for minimum budget.
One area that is often looked at with regards to cost cutting is network hardware, such as routers and switches. There is seemingly a VERY wide price variation from one vendor to another and often we are faced with questions about why the most inexpensive products may not be a good fit for our clients’ networks. Is there any valid reason behind the pricing disparity between vendors, or is it simply a matter of manufacturers trying to make more money?
As with most things you really do tend to get what you pay for. Yes the cheapest network switch or ADSL router may do the job - but does it do the job well and how long will it work for? Performance, data throughput and reliability are the most important aspects of network hardware.
Often it makes more sense to spend a few extra dollars and invest in equipment that will handle the throughput of a growing network, vastly improving performance and future proofing the overall design. Just because a switch can connect at gigabit speeds does not mean that it can keep up with constant gigabit traffic, especially on multiple ports at the same time. This is where the so called “backplane capacity” comes in to play and this is where the brand name, more expensive devices really shine.
The same goes for ADSL routers. Your company probably relies on its Internet connection more than you think. Could you afford for it to be unreliable? As with network switches, spending a few extra dollars on a higher quality, commercial grade router will often provide you with a far more reliable connection and a lot more features that you can use for setting up inter-site VPNs, 3G wireless backup connections etc; features that just aren’t present on the standard modem routers that your Telco may provide you.
Correct Solutions believes in sourcing the best networking products available for your business whilst still maintaining good value for money. If you have concerns about your current network hardware or would like to discuss increasing the speed of your network traffic, call us for a chat!
That's all for this month! If you would like more information on any of these articles, please give us a call on 02 8831 8200.
