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Posts from the ‘Education’ Category

Feb 12

Microsoft Lync 2013
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For Users of Lync and Microsoft Dynamics Online, a Click to Dial Feature

Lync has a new feature when used with Office 365 Plan E4 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Jahjah Voice plan for Lync which could prove extremely useful to businesses. The fact is, it takes time to go look up a CRM record, pick up a phone, and then type in the numbers to dial. If you think that this takes you a long time, imagine how long it takes bored employees. Employees like things to be simple and direct. Simple and direct processes also speed up pace of work getting done. Speeding up the completion of work means more profits, less staffing costs, and greater efficiency.

With the advent of Skype joining Office 365 as well, this will work with Skype too. Please note that Lync will have to be configured to make and receive calls for your company. We have professionals who can help you do this.

The important part of preparing your telephone numbers for click to dial is that they are in the right format. If they are not in the right format and you do not wish to manually update all of them, there are tools available from Broadlook that we sell at the Web and I which help clean and  normalize your data, and these tools can automatically format your telephone numbers correctly.

The proper format is + then country code (1 for United States) then the rest of the telephone number. For instance, the formatting of the number to reach us at the Web and I is +16468530573 .

When you then save the contact form and click on it, the following message opens up the first time:

Do you want to open this link with Lync?

Do you want to open this link with Lync?

Once this dialog box opens up, un-check the check box next to the message “Always ask before opening this type of address”.

The great thing about this is that for call centers, law offices, medical offices, and financial services, wasted time spent dialing as well as miss-dials will become a thing of the past. If you are a company dealing with sensitive information and do not want your staff to actually see the numbers that they are calling this is a great solution as well, because we at the Web and I have a way to make the telephone numbers appear as all stars to users of a clerical security level.

These are powerful but complex solutions, useful for the company that does not want to pay a lot for staffing, but wants to keep their telephone operators in the United States. In order to get these features, contact a competent certified Microsoft Partner like the Web and I to help you. Please call us for a casual discussion of your needs or any technology problem at 646-853-0573. You’ll be glad you did!

 

Feb 12

Binary Matrix Security
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Avoiding Identity Theft Online

Everyone these days is buying something online. Sometimes it is for personal use, but sometimes that can also be for business. Identity theft does not just happen to the ignorant, it can also happen to intelligent people who happen to leave the wrong information available for predators to find.

The first step to securing your identity online is to use a strong password. Wherever possible, letters, numbers, and a special character can be used. Avoid names, birthdays, places you know, or your childrens’ or spouse’s names or birthdays as well. This is important for  every E-Mail address and online banking login you have. Never stick your passwords to your laptop with stickers. People make the excuse that they forget, but this is a case where forgetting is as inexcusable as forgetting to hold the steering wheel while you drive.

Frequently check your credit report for lines of credit or debts that you do not recognize. If you see them, a lawyer or good credit counselor can help.

Do not share your social security number with anyone other than your spouse. That number is critical. there are  a number of services that provide protection for your social security number, but personal vigilance is all you really need.

It is vital to watch out for your mail. People could be ordering credit cards in your name and sent to your address and then they can pick the envelope right out of the mail. The same axiom is equally valid for checks that you are sent. All a criminal needs to do is head to the ghetto to the nearest “no ID” check cashing place and bingo, what was supposed to be your payday is now a payday for them. These types of scammers particularly look for tax refund checks and also the Social Security checks of the elderly of disabled.

Are you getting notices in the mail from credit card companies that say, “You’re pre-approved for a new ____Card”? If so you are on a list that is sharing your identity. Call 888-567-8688 to be removed from this list permanently. You will have to provide your social security number for this action.

People need to use a secure PIN number for their bank and credit cards. Please remember our advice about birthdays. This  pin number should be completely arbitrary. Make the extra effort and memorize it. If you write your bank PIN number on a piece of paper and put it in your wallet with your bank card, your life savings could be wiped out in days.

Be very careful when you shop online. Make sure the top of the browser bar has https:// instead of http://. The S is for security, and it indicates that the information is being sent in an encrypted manner. Do not use your bank  card with your life savings in your account to buy things online. There is very limited protection for using a bank card, and you are liable for fraudulent purchases. Instead, get a great credit card with consumer protection in case of theft. Most cards limit your liability to $50 in case your card number is stolen, provided you report the theft quickly. If you do not want to pay interest, pay back your card immediately. Using a credit card responsibly helps improve your credit as well.

For businesses, be careful about trusting employees with access to the online banking for the business. There are ways to reconcile the books through software automation between your online bank accounts and your accounting software. These methods are known to the Web and I, and we are prepared to help you. To discuss your privacy concerns informally, call us at any time at 646-853-0573.

Feb 9

New Office 365
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New Office 365 2013 Preview: New Features

New features in Office 2013 are mostly tablet oriented as well as arranged around the new simplified ribbon menu style. One of the key features is the simpler look allows the user to flip through pages of a Microsoft Office Document on a touch-screen in a realistic manner, much as one would flip through the pages of a book.

Other features related to this Office 2013 Metro interface are a recurring theme on the Metro Windows 8 Phone and Windows 8 user interface, which are also metro.

While it seems exciting to technical types, I have experienced lack of enthusiasm and resistance to change in offices when dealing with the Metro theme, Windows 8, and Office 2013. Much of this resistance can and will be worn down over time, and new consensus will be hard-fought and won in the world of interfaces.

Some of the advantages to Metro style  features include the new start screen. Rather than loath it, consider that you have a whole screen and even more to pin all your favorite applications and documents. You can alter tile size and information content. For the developer, the tile is a valuable tool, able to convey information in the form of instant updates to applications, increasing their notoriety.

Closing Windows 8 style full-screen apps. There is no manual that comes with Windows 8 to tell you how to do this, so an old tech geek trick of closing the application by clicking <alt><f4>. You can switch between apps very quickly without closing them using <alt> <tab>. This option is very useful because it opens up a window showing all foreground applications so that you can select the one you want immediately.

On the right, the mouse will open the Windows 8 Charm Bar. This bar has a search feature at the top which is very powerful. Not only can you search your own local machine but any shared network resources as well.

Rebuilding Windows is much easier, faster, and cheaper than it was with Windows 7 or previous versions of Windows.  With Windows 8 you can re-install Windows with Windows running and without losing any documents, apps, or settings. This results in much less time spent re-building PC’s and much less user resistance because documents, settings, and apps remain the same after repair.

The Windows Mail and Social features built-in to Windows 8 are great for home users, but applications such as Mail should be turned off for business users, as business users are generally using Microsoft Outlook.

With so many decisions to make about training people for Windows 8, leaving them with Windows 7, it is good to have a company who knows the details that can help you make tough decisions. Our engineers at the Web and I are ready to speak to you today at  646-853-0573.

 

Feb 5

New Office 365
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New Office 365 2013 Preview: Account Administration

Account Administration is the area that the Global Administrator or Global Administrators will use in order to add and remove users, reset passwords, and fill in the basic parts of user profiles. Further filling in of user profiles should be encouraged with training material.

From the administration screen, click the link under users & groups entitled Add users, reset passwords, and more.

Click Here to Administer Users

Click Here to Administer Users

The first task that the global administrator(s) need to accomplish is adding users.

For an example we will add our test subject. Click the plus sign under users to add users or groups:

Click Here to add users or groups

Click Here to add users or groups

What you will see is an add user screen as illustrated below:

The Add User Screen

The Add User Screen

Here is a sample test user for which the basic fields have been filled out.

Click on Additional Details for More Information

Click on Additional Details for More Information

Here are the additional details fields:

The User Additional Details Fields

The User Additional Details Fields

Here are the field values as we set them up for our test user. The test user will be important in future articles as we illustrate security role testing in Office 365.

Sample Additional Information

Sample Additional Information

Once all of the information has been added, click the blue Next  button at the bottom of the screen:

Click Next to continue

Click Next to continue

The screen that appears after that is the Assign Permissions Screen as illustrated below:

Assign Permissions Screen

Assign Permissions Screen

With the Assigned Permissions screen, there are two decisions. The first is if you are assigning the user administrator privileges, and in this case we are not. The second decision is the country of service. This is important because there are service restrictions of the offerings of Microsoft Cloud Services based on where the product is licensed. Once you have it licensed somewhere like the United States and most countries that are not subject to United Nations sanctions, the actual location where you may have to use the service will not matter.

Once these choices have been made, click next to continue:

Click next to add user

Click next to add user

Then the third screen will appear, the Assign Licenses screen:

Assign Licenses

Assign Licenses

On the next screen you will have the opportunity to add an E-Mail address where a notification of adding the user will be sent to. Then click create:

Option to Send Results by Email

Option to Send Results by Email

The next screen is the results screen. Use another computer or browser to sign in with this user and create a permanent password. Then click the option to create more users or click finish:

Add User Results Screen

Add User Results Screen

When you click finish, you get back to the users and groups screen, which now has two users:

Users and Groups with New User Added

Users and Groups with New User Added

For any additional advice, the best place  to start is by calling the professionals at the Web and I, Inc. Reach out to us at any time at 646-853-0573.

Jan 22

Cost Savings
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Cloud Computing Considerations for a New Economy

It may be interesting to consider cloud computing as a great economic factor affecting the success of small, medium, and large businesses alike. There is money to be saved no matter what size business one has, but there are as many pitfalls as with any other major business change. Change in business has to be managed well, and taking some potential pitfalls into account in advance can help ensure success and avoid disaster.

The first issue is understanding your organization, taking into account both business processes and employees. When is the last time the business processes of your organization were mapped out in a formalized manner to make sure that they do not resemble a plate of half-eaten spaghetti? If your answer is never, then it is time for business process analysis and re-engineering. Everything that happens in the supply chain, the reporting process, manufacturing, service, and finance will be put into diagrams, including all transactions between employees and departments. Once this is properly documented in a visual manner, it is remarkably easy to untangle the spaghetti. Redundancy will become glaringly obvious, as well as convoluted and unnecessary approval chains. It is important to understand that most of this is not willful poor performance on behalf of your employees, but rather fear of job loss, attempts at quality control, and procedures that were created spontaneously rather than the result of careful planning. During this process one can expect employees to become defensive. It is extremely important to reassure them that this process is not about downsizing or recrimination, but it is a process of efficiency and empowerment. This empowerment can be stressed. Tell these employees that your team is there to help them get more visibility and control of their processes: people want to be empowered. This is the consensus-building part of organizational change in a technology improvement project.

Another point is to look at cloud computing from an objective standpoint when making a decision. Middle managers and lower executives will often do anything to save a dollar on the front end, as they may be worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Sometimes this can result by improper analysis of the total cost of ownership (TCO) and return on investment (ROI). There are cheaper cloud services than Office 365 and related such as the suite offered by Google. However if you try to send someone a Google doc the default way from the Google Cloud Suite to another business or individual, they will be prompted with requirements for their own Google accounts, and they will have trouble with visual compatibility with everyone else who is using Microsoft Office. As far as that is concerned, please believe us when we say anyone who does matter in the business world is using Microsoft Office, and when you stray from that business standard you are alienating other businesses, customers, and your own employees (who will need re-training because they already arrive in the workforce pre-trained in Microsoft Office). Because of this, it is important to go with the business standard, and that is Microsoft. While there are uses for other cloud services, they are limited to specialty server uses on products like Amazon and IBM for middleware and back-office use.

Reliance on the Service Level Agreement or SLA for your business continuity needs including disaster management and recovery plans are a mistake. The answer to permanent uptime is and always has been redundancy from an organizational standpoint. Make sure you have your IT provider or internal staff backing up data and documents, and make sure that there are proper continuity and recovery plans in place in the event of an emergency.

Business processes and office procedures will certainly change with your technology project. It is vital that roles and responsibilities in a project and afterwards are clearly defined. This helps empower people and also create an atmosphere where employees know there will be accountability: they will not be allowed to let the ball drop. Sometimes assigning the ultimate root access for a system to an outside vendor such as the Web and I helps avoid slip-ups and even assist in compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act for smaller businesses. A technology project implemented correctly is always a great way to reduce your liability footprint, possibly even resulting in reduced business liability insurance rates.

Risk is always a prime consideration. Look at the risks, security and otherwise that your provider offers. Our company, the Web and I, has not experienced a single outage lasting more than a few hours for any client since we were founded a half-dozen years ago. We are especially proud that none of our clients has ever experienced a security breach.

Making a decision is best started after speaking to someone with experience. Call on us at the Web and I and speak to one of our seasoned senior engineers. Find out what has worked and not worked for us and our clients. If there is interest, you will be put in touch with some of our clients to discuss their experiences over the years. We find they are our best sales people! Call us now at 646-853-0573 and learn more now!

Jan 21

New Office 365
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New Office 365 2013 Preview: Installation and Implementation

GLEN COVE, NEW YORK

Introduction

Office 365 2013 is the most exciting development in the world of IT business today, eclipsing Windows 8 and all other cloud and on-site server products combined for a reason. It’s unique combination of capability, reliability, low-cost, and return on investment (ROI) set it apart from the crowd. Its’ dominance is assured because Microsoft Office has been the business standard productivity software worldwide for over 20 years now. There is so much to explore, and you can preview these features today to see if they are applicable for your company. This process starts with an assessment of your hardware, to make sure you have a PC compatible for the process. This installation will cover PC installation, but the same account can then be used for a Mac. A Mac-only process will be documented in future after all aspects of Office 365 2013 have been covered on this site.

Hardware Assessment

Standard system requirements for Office 2013

                Component                                   Office 2013 Requirements
Computer and processor 1 gigahertz (Ghz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set
Memory (RAM) 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32 bit); 2 gigabytes (GB) RAM (64 bit)
Hard Disk 3.0 gigabytes (GB) available
Display Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX10 graphics card and 1024 x 576 resolution
Operating System Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, MAC OS X
Browser Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10; Mozilla Firefox 10.x or a later version; Apple Safari 5; or Google Chrome 17.x.
.NET version 3.5, 4.0, or 4.5
Multi-touch A touch-enabled device is required to use any multi-touch functionality. However, all features and functionality are always available by using a keyboard, mouse, or other standard or accessible input device. Note that new touch features are optimized for use with Windows 8.
Additional requirements and considerations Some functionality may vary, based on the system configuration. Some features may require additional or advanced hardware or server connectivity.

Sign Up: Business Edition

For Business Use, the Office 365 2013 trial offers a total of 10 user licenses which can each be installed on up to five devices including PC’s, MACs, tablets and notebooks using those operating systems as well. Please note that if you have any kind of business, you need the added capability and security of Office 365 Business Edition. Government Edition and Education Edition are beyond the scope of this article series.

The first place to go to sign up for office 365 is the Sign-Up page. You should visit this page in Internet Explorer preferably on the PC, and with Safari on the Mac.

https://portal.microsoftonline.com/Signup/MainSignup15.aspx?OfferId=7E5CC333-4683-4035-923F-349032114AF3&dl=LITEPACK_P2_B_PILOT&pc=O365-Preview-2012&ali=1&Country=US

Make sure that you go to your Internet options are set to trust https://portal.microsoftonline.com

Trust portal.onmicrosoft.com

Trust portal.onmicrosoft.com

Then the page will operate correctly.

Enter in all of the information to sign up:

Sign Up for Office 365 2013 Business

Sign Up for Office 365 2013 Business

After filling in the information, you will have to get a verification code through your mobile device via text message. Make sure you take note of your new user name and password.

On the following screen, you will be asked again for your mobile information, this time for account recovery purposes.

Add Your Mobile Number For Account Recovery

Add Your Mobile Number For Account Recovery

Then you will be directed to the Office 365 Sign-In Screen to log in for the first time.

Office 365 Sign in Screen

Office 365 Sign in Screen

After this you will transition to the Administration page and you can start to explore the new Office 365.

Office 365 Admin Screen on First Log In

Office 365 Admin Screen on First Log In

 

Sign Up: Home Edition

For home use, the Home Edition will provide a device-independent set of cloud services and storage that you can install on up to five devices including PC’s, MACs, as well as notebooks and tablets that use Windows or Mac OS.

The first place to go online to sign up for and begin the process of the Consumer Preview of Office 365 2013 is to go to Microsoft’s Consumer Preview Site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en

Office 365 Sign-Up Page

Office 365 Sign-Up Page

On the page that follows, you will have to fill out some information to sign up including creating a Microsoft ID, the user E-Mail  and Password formerly known as Windows Live ID is now your Microsoft ID. As this is test software, you will want to select the option to Sign Up Now, to create a new Microsoft ID. You will wish to save any important business Microsoft ID you have strictly for business use and not to be linked to accounts of a trial nature except through careful planning in consultation with your Microsoft Partner who can issue you trials that come with offers leading to permanent accounts with no disruption of service or data loss.

Click Sign Up Now

Click Sign Up Now

After that, follow the instructions to create an account. Setting up administrative functions and testing the abilities of the Home Edition are beyond the scope of this series, which is intended primarily for business users.

For help with Office 365 and other Microsoft productivity software, give the licensed Microsoft Partners at the Web and I a call at 646-853-0573.

Jan 19

New Office 365
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Office 365′s New Edition with Microsoft Office 2013 Available January 29, 2013

REDMOND, WA

According to news sources including Neowin.net, Microsoft Office 365′s new edition will be released on January 29.

In previous articles, we have covered what new features are going to be available in the new edition in-depth from a technical standpoint, including the ability to program custom SharePoint applications using a number of common languages very familiar to developers. However these technical aspects are beyond the scope of this article, because the interests of our readers are the actual business uses for the new technologies including new functionality and its business impact.

Rumors have abounded for weeks, including speculation by highly respected Microsoft Reporter Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet and bloggers from Brazil. Originally, speculation was that the planned Microsoft launch on January 29 would be about the release of Windows 8 Phone operating system and equipment in countries like Brazil where they were not yet available. However, when speaking to our contacts in Brazil we were told that Microsoft was not in the habit of launching their new phone technologies directly in Brazil and other countries directly, but rather left these launches to their individual distributors in these countries. There was also the possibility of a launch of Surface Pro, so that was another reason to wait with the announcement of what the launch was about. We saw no benefit to announcing a launch without being certain of the content and impact for the end users. This author has been eagerly awaiting announcing this because of the new capabilities of Microsoft Office 2013 as well as new functionality in Microsoft Lync and SharePoint. However we have waited until we had more confirmation, and this came some ten hours ago.

We at the Web and I have been assured by Microsoft that all of the technologies and techniques available in the previous version of Office 365 would remain intact. Existing business processes will not be interrupted or affected. As a further safeguard for the proper and effective management of change in client organizations, the upgrade will not become mandatory until November. After the upgrade, new technologies and techniques will be available, but the Web and I can help with any re-training for changes and ensuring the continuity of existing business processes and workflows.

New technologies in SharePoint include the ability to create programs within SharePoint include both features for internal SharePoint intranet and extranet sites as well as the ability to create much more sophisticated public facing sites. That is just the tip of the iceberg, however, with Java and CSS becoming available, both branding and functional capabilities will increase. The Web and I will be helping many of our clients transition to sites that can help them create effective client portals, easing the workflow and communications between businesses and their clients. Minimal development costs will deliver tremendous ROI on this front. New business connectivity service capabilities in SharePoint will allow interfaces both inbound and outbound with SharePoint, making SharePoint the glue that binds newer and more streamlined business processes, saving a great deal of time and money on the way. Search improvements, improved Identity Management functionality, and granular security for content management will round out the most exciting new aspects of SharePoint 2013. Social computing for the workplace has also improved, but the utilization in the workplace is more applicable to larger enterprise users than to small and medium businesses. Our larger government clients such as Hunter College may be good candidates for increased use of social computing through SharePoint, but discussions on this matter have not yet commenced.

Lync has some exciting new developments which will greatly increase the functionality both for secure enterprise IM and for meetings with multiple users. A “Brady Bunch” style meeting will be possible, where all members of a meeting will be able to see all other members of a meeting tiled on their screens much as they did on the television show from the 1970′s. Unlike the show, however, they will be able to simultaneously edit the same document using Office Web Apps. Sporting a cleaner and more efficient interface with less “Chrome”, Lync will become easier to see and control as well as gaining these new functionalities. Persistent chat rooms and topics can be created, which can help smaller teams collaborate more effectively, even in disparate locations with disparate working hours. Asynchronous communication has become increasingly important in the global workforce, and Microsoft has given businesses greater potential for effective global expansion with these tools. Tabbed conversations will enable users to communicate more effectively with multiple users by allowing them to do so in one window with tabs instead of the usual many windows of the current edition of Lync. New video features including one-click start will be available, which is an excellent tool for managers to maintain a presence with their direct reports in disparate locations. Lync layouts will have many more options than they do now, and we will report on these once we get to test them. Lync mobile users will have added functionality including the possibility of video chat. No longer will employees be inaccessible anywhere, as long as they are provided with a Windows phone.

Exchange Server 2013 also holds great new possibilities for making the use of E-Mail more efficient. New built-in social features will allow users to have better control over conversations and related E-Mails, which will save users a great deal of time by not forcing them to continually search E-Mail for related items and persons. Users will be able to merge contacts from different E-Mail addresses so that they can be consolidated into a single contact, saving a great deal of time and confusion in the process. The great new streamlined look of Outlook will also save users time, so employers will benefit from less time being wasted on employee navigation of E-Mail, which is currently a serious cause of wasted time and money. Seamless integration with Lync will bring E-Mail, meetings, and Enterprise IM together in one place, saving even more employee time and effort. In addition to these time savings, we anticipate there will be a great savings in worker frustration. Often worker frustration with technology both new and existing leads to poor performance, and having a more seamless and well-designed interface and functional approach will lead to happier and more productive workers.

We at the Web and I are ready to help make this change happen for you starting in as little as ten days. Being the first Microsoft Partner in the United States to announce this detailed news helps set us ahead of the crowd. We want to help all of our clients make the best decisions, and we will discover with you on your own time what works and does not work for you. To find out more just call us today at 646-853-0573.

Dec 15

Business Contact Manager or Solutions
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Microsoft Outlook Business Contact Manager CRM

A little-known built-in feature of Microsoft Office as it is installed from a disk rather than with Office 365 is that there is a free included light CRM (Customer Relationship Management) feature known as Microsoft Outlook Business Contact Manager CRM. Although we push people to the cloud and recommend Office 365 with Dynamics CRM to our clients, some already have Microsoft Office 2010 installed from a disk. They wish to benefit from CRM and some of the collaborative features to increase productivity. Here is some information about  that little-known product.

Business Contact Manager Training

Starting to use Business Contact Manager 2010 for Outlook / Exchange is not merely installing a new piece of familiar software for users: it is an enterprise product that has the potential to transform business by enriching the data collected on contacts, refining your marketing efforts, and allowing your sales and marketing team members to collaborate as a team on the same shared set of data. Business Contact Manager 2010 is a form of Customer Relationship Management software, or CRM. CRM Software is enterprise grade collaborative software, and proper use requires a brief re-training of staff as well as a re-engineered business process.

Since the early 1990’s, information workers in sales and marketing have become used to working alone, each with their own set of leads. Sometimes the leads even overlapped between salespeople, because of inclusion in multiple lists as duplicates. Sales leaders contact many people, and they collected a great deal of information about the businesses in question. Once the campaign is closed, this business information is lost. Other employees who receive a call from well-documented prospects would not have any information collected nor would they know which persons’ lead they had received a call from. Sales staff would not get proper credit, and information collected was not in place across the organization to impress the client. Clients do not wish to provide their information more than once. If they have to, it tends to make them less confident about your business. Customer Relationship Management software like Business Contact Manager keeps this information shared, allowing you to respond quickly to clients needs and to use your sales efforts to enrich your contact database with the best available information. Some information may be collected by cold calling. Other information may come into inside sales about the same contact through a different employee. Both sets of information get recorded about the same company and person, and everyone in the organization can see the complete results of all information collected as well as their communication record and all sales and marketing activities involved.

Training is the most effective way to get started. Your employees will not just learn the basics of learning a new type of software, rather the business process will be adapted to a new way of thinking and doing business: a collaborative and more efficient way.

Here are some of the important topics I can cover in two days of training for your staff. Much of the content and guidance below has been provided by Microsoft.

Find Business Contact Manager in Outlook

This is how you can get started by opening the program in Outlook:

  • In the Navigation Pane, under Business Contact Manager. (Click the Business Contact Manager folder to display the Business Contact Manager Dashboard.)

Find Business Contact Manager in Outlook

-or-

  • In the Navigation Pane, click the Business Contact Manager or Solutions button.

Business Contact Manager or Solutions

Here, Business Records is visible beneath the Business Contact Manager folder, as well as the Welcome Center, Contact Management, Sales, Marketing, Project Management, and Deleted Items folders.

Additional features and options are found in the Backstage view, on the Business Contact Manager tab.

Business Contact Manager folders

The folders beneath Business Contact Manager provide alternative representations of your data.

If you haven’t already added your own business data, try using the sample business database. Click the File tab.

Click the Business Contact Manager tab. Click Manage Databases, and then click Switch to Sample Business.

Click See
1 Business Contact Manager The Business Contact Manager Dashboard. View up-to-the-minute information about your business in the gadgets. Gadgets graphically display information from the various records of Business Contact Manager for your analysis. For information about the Dashboard, see Track important business details on the Dashboard later in this article.
Welcome Center Welcome Center An overview of Business Contact Manager for Outlook features and introductory videos. For more information about the Welcome Center, see Learn about Business Contact Manager in the Welcome Center later in this article.
Contact Management Contact Management The Contact Management workspace to give you quick access to Account, Business Contact, and Lead records, and gadgets that display the information you want to see.
Sales Sales The Sales workspace which gives you quick access to your Opportunity and Lead records. Use the records to review your potential sales and customers. The gadgets display up-to-the-minute sales information.
Marketing Marketing The Marketing workspace to plan and view the marketing activities that promote your business. The gadgets display information about your marketing activities.
Project Management Project Management The Project Management workspace. Keep up with your Business Projects and their related tasks.
Deleted Items Deleted Items The Deleted Items folder holds records deleted from Business Contact Manager for Outlook, and can only be emptied by the owner of the Business Contact Manager database.
Search Folders Search Folders Folders, such as Business Leads, that list the records that match the criteria that you specify. Search Folders are automatically updated.

The Business Records folder

  • To open the Business Records folder, in the Navigation Pane, click the Business Contact Manager or Solutions button, and then click Business Records.

The Business Records folder contains folders that display a list of each type of record: Accounts; Business Contacts; Opportunities; Marketing Activities; Business Projects and Project Tasks; and Communication History items.

 Note   Leads are included in the Business Contacts folder because they are a type of Business Contact.

Click See
Business Records Business Records The Accounts, Business Contacts, Opportunities, Marketing Activities, Business Projects, and Projects Tasks, and Communication History folders that display lists of the records of the selected type. Note   Lead records are included in the Business Contacts folder because they are a type of Business Contact.
Accounts Accounts A list of all Accounts, and any records that are based on the Account record type.View, edit, or add new Accounts and Account record types to this list.
Business Contacts Business Contacts A list of all Business Contacts, Leads, and any records that are based on the Business Contact record type.View, edit, or add new Business Contacts, and Business Contact record types to this list.
Opportunities Opportunities A list of all Opportunities.View, edit, or add new Opportunities to this complete list.
Marketing Activities Marketing Activities A list of all marketing activities such as call lists and mass e-mail campaigns.Create, view, or edit any marketing activity.
Business Projects Business Projects Create, view, or edit a Business Project.Click the Project Tasks folder to view the related tasks.
Project Tasks Project Tasks Create and link Project Tasks to Business Projects, and view or edit Project Tasks.
Communication History Communication History A list of all communication history items, such as Opportunities, Business Projects, e-mail messages, appointments, and meetings.
Deleted Items Deleted Items The Deleted Items folder holds records deleted from Business Contact Manager for Outlook, and can only be emptied by the owner of the Business Contact Manager database.

The Welcome Center

Once you complete the Startup Wizard, the Welcome Center opens. Use it to find a wealth of introductory information about Business Contact Manager for Outlook. Click a category on the wheel to see a brief description about that area. Watch a short video for an overview of how you can use Business Contact Manager for Outlook to help you keep track of your business information.

Or, click one of the Getting Started cards in the lower half of the Welcome Center for more details, videos, and links to articles about the features that interest you. Use the arrows to scroll through the cards.

You can return to the Welcome Center any time you like. Just click the Welcome Center folder in the Navigation Pane under Business Contact Manager.

Track important business details on the Dashboard

With just a glance at the gadgets on the Dashboard in Business Contact Manager for Outlook, you can see your business’s earnings potential, the current and future workload on staff, and which marketing activities are producing results for your business. The Dashboard can display up to 20 gadgets charting the sales, marketing activities, projects, and tasks of your business.

Use the Ribbon to add the gadgets that you want to see on the Dashboard. Drag the gadgets to rearrange them, or click the View tab on the Ribbon to add or remove columns from the Dashboard. It’s your view to customize.

Use the Business Contact Manager workspaces

Each Business Contact Manager for Outlook workspace includes a gadgets area and section for tabs. The commands are slightly different for each of the workspaces. Generally, they each include commands that enable you to create new records, edit them, and set up some kind of communication, such as send an e-mail message.

Display a workspace

In the Navigation Pane, under Business Contact Manager, click one of the following folders to display the workspace:

  • Contact Management.
  • Sales.
  • Marketing.
  • Project Management.

Display Workspace

  1. In the gadgets area, display key business metrics in charts and graphs to get a quick view of the state of your business. You can show or hide the gadgets area as well as add or remove gadgets.
  2. In the tabs area, you can manage, review, and analyze your business data. Each tab is comprised of a list of records, and a Reading or Preview Pane. The Reading Pane displays information from sections in a selected record.
  3. The tabs list the records that you want to see, such as the Opportunities or Leads records shown. You can add a tab for any record type to any workspace by clicking the Create New Tab button.
  4. In the Reading or Preview Pane, you can view selected sections from an individual record. To change the sections that are included, click Select Sections.

Change Business Contact Manager settings and options or get help

To change settings for some features, or perform tasks such as sharing or backing up your database, importing or exporting data, or get Help from newsgroups or other users, go to the Backstage view.

  1. Click the File tab.
  1. Click the Business Contact Manager tab.
  2. Do the following:
    • To perform a task. such as sharing the database, that affects all of Business Contact Manager, click one of the buttons.
    • To get help from Microsoft or from the Business Contact Manager community, under Getting Help, click one of the options.

For more information about the options in the Backstage view, see Set options and use features in the Backstage view.

More features

We’ve come a long way from the Rolodex®. Today, your business records contain a rich set of searchable data that can be of immense help in running your business. Plus, the tools in Business Contact Manager for Outlook go even farther because you can use them to visualize your data in gadgets, reports, and charts, and take the data with you to help you be more productive when you’re out of the office.

Search your business records

Searching your business records is a quick way to find a single record or group of records. Your 10 most recent search strings are automatically saved for easy re-use.

Filter your records

Applying a filter to a set of data or records allows you to display only information that meets a specified criteria. Filters make it easy to retrieve a single record or a set of records that have common characteristics. Filtering a list or report is a great way to produce a lists for a marketing activity, sales calls, or other business activity.

Use gadgets

In Business Contact Manager for Outlook, gadgets display key business metrics and information on your Dashboard or the Contact Management, Sales, Marketing, and Project Management workspaces.

Create reports and charts

A report is an excellent tool for gaining insight into your Accounts, Business Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Business Projects, and marketing activities. You can open more than 60 standard reports in Business Contact Manager for Outlook, and can also modify, save, update, and reuse an almost unlimited number of additional reports.

Export your business records

You can export your business records and use them in other programs, such as Microsoft Excel. For example, you may want to export a copy of the data in a single report to Excel for deeper analysis.

Go mobile

You can take your business data with you when you leave the office: on your laptop, or on your phone. You can also access Business Contacts by signing in to Outlook Web Access if you have turned on the Business Contact Synchronization feature. For information about taking your business data with on your laptop, see Work offline using Business Contact Manager.

Dec 15

Microsoft Office 365 from the Web and I
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University of California, Merced Selects Office 365

Merced, California

The University of California, Merced selected Microsoft Office 365 for their business productivity and E-Mail needs. The full complement of 8500 faculty, students and staff will be migrated in 2013.  According to implementor CloudBearing, “After evaluating Office 365 for education versus Google Apps, the UC Merced team indicated in a report that it preferred Office 365 for email, calendaring and collaboration. The campus will be rolling out 25 GB mailboxes for everyone; a modern calendaring system that directly integrates with mobiles devices, Outlook and the Web; SharePoint for document management and file sharing; and Lync which provide enterprise-grade instant messaging, audio/video conferencing and whiteboard capabilities.”

The fact is that businesses and educational institutions are familiar with and trained in Outlook and the Microsoft Office suite, and any perceived gains from embracing alternative platforms is lost when you have no user acceptance of the new platform you have worked so hard for and paid so much to implement. People like the familiar, and managing change is already going to have to involve both technical guidance of how to work collaboratively as well as business process analysis and re-engineering.

Many companies, educational institutions, NGO’s, foundations, businesses and government agencies are worried about compliance.The fact is that legal compliance for businesses including SEC regulations, Sarbanes Oxley are covered. Government agencies in the United States will be pleased to know that the GSA has specified that Office 365 and related Microsoft Cloud products are legally compliant for government agencies. Healthcare organizations and medical research foundations enjoy the benefits of built-in HIPAA compliance. ISO 9000 compliance for up-time rounds off the list with 99.97% up-time guaranteed by a financially backed Service Level Agreement (SLA) which refunds customers in the event of an outage. Microsoft Office 365 is continually backed-up, but the Web and I can assist you with additional backup methods on-site including hybrid on-site off-site co-existence.

When you tell your Information Technology people that you are ready to go to the Cloud, their reaction is one of terror. They are interested in working by waiting around for malfunctions, not providing new usability and change management. The fact is that the maintenance of servers, the licensing of the software, and the technical assistance provided by Microsoft to solve any and all problems can make most of an organization’s IT staffing costs disappear. The cloud solutions typically cost less than the ancillary services. Any IT staff that is needed are functional problem solvers, teachers, advocates, and business engineers. The Functional Engineers must have large project completed with a management-level role before taking on your project. Your project is not the place for your engineer to learn, you need seasoned veterans.

Today, responsible implementation involves Total Quality Management (TQM) practices, which specify the best proven ways to make your implementation work as it should. Accepted project management techniques, metrics, software testing, usability testing, and employee training all serve to make sure the best use is made of your new system. We at the Web and I take care of keeping up with the latest not only in technology but also in the best practices for our industry. We know how to make Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics CRM and related technologies work for your institution. Call us at (646) 853-0573 for a complementary consultation with a knowledgeable professional.

Nov 15

Windows 8 Logo

Windows 8 Implementation for Businesses

For all of the testing and development we have done in-house, none of that is as valuable as the experience we are getting on the field. This experience has helped us to answer important questions asked by our clients both existing and potential. Application and hardware compatibility, privacy, implementation strategies, and upgrade paths, as well as where to get it are all important, and now with field experience in a networked environment in the financial sector, we have been able to explore various capabilities and needs not discussed in popular articles of today concerning Windows 8.

Where to Get It

For a limited time, Windows 8 is available as an upgrade to Windows 7 for as little as $39.99 at:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/buy

After the special discount, which ends January 31, 2013, the full price will apply, and we will sell Windows 8 Professional for $200 at that point.

Application Compatibility

Either freshly installed applications compatible with Windows 7 64 bit edition compatibility or from the Windows 8 store will work fine on Windows 8.

Hardware Compatibility

The Windows 8 environment is best left alone to an upgrade with Windows Upgrade from Windows 7 if you cannot find a reliable Windows 7 64 bit driver for your hardware. If you want to get the best experience, you have to export files, setting, to a disk or flash drive for manual configuration with a fresh installation of Windows 8. Drivers will have to be re-installed in some cases but will be automatically detected in others. In a business environment you will want to use a windows technician with experience installing Windows 8 in a business environment to execute the installation

Privacy

Windows 8 for most business users are best off installing using the Cloud to save settings and documents, enabling employees to move with a true roaming login from computer to computer, all through the use of a Windows Live ID. The Windows Live ID can also be passed to other services, some of which exist and others of which are still to come. From a compliance standpoint, some firms will not allow data to be stored in the public cloud. If this is the case, a local account must be used for each user. The ability to log in and see the same settings and files on multiple computers will be lost with a local account. Companies may wish to consider upgrading their privacy policies in this particular case because Microsoft has high standards, and both internal and independent studies have found the Microsoft Cloud to be ISO 9000 Compliant, HIPAA Compliant, and  Sarbanes Oxley Compliant. However some companies have special compliance needs when it comes to the secure storage and ability for the secure destruction of files so that they are not even shared with Microsoft, including sensitive legal and health information. The Web and I has their own custom solutions including such new products as Windows 2012 Server and SharePoint. We have access to special military grade hard drives that can self-destruct data and even the drives themselves upon command. A 1TB redundant SharePoint Server is available for $10,000. This SharePoint installation is internal and can be shared only internally if you so desire. Destruction can be executed with a manual pushing of the buttons or through a remote cellular device that operates a series of solenoids are available at an additional cost. A UPS and external firewall is highly recommended as well as a secure wireless network with 256 bit encryption. The most secure organizations will wish to stay away from wireless altogether as well as the Windows Live ID accounts. HIPAA and Sarbanes Oxley compliance require both technical and functional contacts and a secured area for your server where it is not physically accessible to others and the use of encrypted only USB keys. Very secure organizations including the CIA are using technology to monitor the use of USB Keys / Flash Drives to alert security staff to their use. We can also produce machines with no exposed USB for the most secure installations.

Upgrade Paths

The easiest way is to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 using the Windows Upgrade feature, maintaining your files and settings. The other options include just maintaining your files, or saving nothing. Saving nothing is the best path for installation, as it installs the most natural features for Windows 8 with the best features, and then carefully re-applying files and settings after the fact will produce the best results. It is important to make sure that all options are applied and that hardware and software are working. After this, apply all other employee or special use logins as needed.

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