Your “Instant” Messages May Be Forever

Despite the name, instant messages can stick around for a long, long time. Your conversations may live on, long after you’ve shut down your IM client – depending on what service you’re using and what controls you or your employer may have in place.

For example, Google saves every chat session conducted in Gmail automatically and makes those chats fully searchable. Trillian, a standalone client that supports AIM, Yahoo, and Microsoft Live, also automatically logs all conversations. On the other hand, the basic messaging clients for AIM, Yahoo and Microsoft do not automatically store conversations but can be configured to do so.

More IM services are coming out with enhanced versions for corporate use. AIM Pro, a free version for individuals and businesses, offers better security, voice and video conferencing, and integration with Microsoft Outlook. And Microsoft’s Live Communications server allows corporate IT departments to log and search employee conversations, including those on IM services like Yahoo and AOL.

So what’s the take-home?

When you’re at work, be aware that your employer’s policy toward email may extend to instant messages and don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your boss to read. And look on the bright side: just as email provides you with a digital paper trail for work-based communications, saved instant messages can serve much the same function. As instant messenger enhancements continue to develop, this tool will only become more valuable.

Master Microsoft Keyboard Shortcuts

A lot of folks can go for years without ever using – or figuring out how to use – that funny-looking key in the lower left-hand corner of their Microsoft keyboard. But the Windows logo key can help you switch between applications, clear open windows off your desktop, and a whole lot more. The chart below shows you how.

Key Combination	Result
Windows logo key	Open or close the Start menu
Windows logo key +PAUSE	Display the System Properties dialog box
Windows logo key +D	Display the desktop
Windows logo key +M	Minimize all windows
Windows logo key +SHIFT+M	Restore minimized windows to the desktop
Windows logo key +E	Open Windows Explorer
Windows logo key +F	Search for a file or folder
CTRL+Windows logo key +F	Search for computers (if you are on a network)
Windows logo key +L	Lock your computer or switch users
Windows logo key +R	Open the Run dialog box
Windows logo key +T	Cycle through programs on the taskbar
Windows logo key +TAB	Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
CTRL+Windows logo key +TAB	Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Windows Flip 3-D
Windows logo key +SPACEBAR	Bring all gadgets to the front and select Windows Sidebar
Windows logo key +G	Cycle through Sidebar gadgets
Windows logo key +U	Open Ease of Access Center
Windows logo key +X	Open Windows Mobility Center
Windows logo key with any number key	Open the Quick Launch shortcut that is in the position that corresponds to the number. For example, Windows logo key +1 to launch the first shortcut in the Quick Launch menu.

When Your Office Goes Wireless

If you work in an office where employees travel often or where you host a lot of visitors, you’ll want to set up a wireless network so that itinerant workers can stay productive. Business travelers at this point are old pros at sniffing out and tapping into wireless hotspots – but that doesn’t mean you can’t make things a little easier and safer for them.

First, set up your hotspot in an accessible area. If you’ve got your router sitting in a concrete-walled storage closet at the end of the building (not likely, but as an example), it won’t be of much use to guests all the way on the other side of the building.

Make sure your router sits well within range of where mobile workers and guests tend to work – near your guest or floating cubicles, if you have them. Your wireless network should also be accessible from your conference room so that people giving presentations or participating in meetings can get on the Internet if they need to.

Everybody knows that wireless networks can be major security failure points, so take some measures to protect yourself. Encrypt your network, rename it, and give it a strong password. To this day it’s shocking how many office buildings you can go into and immediately sniff out a half-dozen unsecured networks named “LINKSYS.”

Make sure your network has WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption, give your network a name that’s unique but doesn’t clearly identify your company as the owner (lest this attract the attention of anyone looking to hack into your network specifically), and then give your network a long password with both letters and numbers.

If all of this sounds like a bit of a hassle, that’s because it can be! Many laypeople who are pretty technically savvy find wireless network setups just a bit beyond their comfort zone. That’s where CMIT comes in. We have skilled and seasoned technicians  ready to help set up a secure wireless network for your business – just give us a call!

Two Flavors of Network – How Do They Compare?

Different sizes and types of businesses need different types of networks. Do you know what kind is right for yours?

 

For small to mid-sized businesses, the big distinction is between peer-to-peer and client-server networks. In a peer-to-peer network, all machines are created equal; they each provide their own “resources” – meaning applications, computing power, and so on. If you take one machine out of the peer-to-peer network, the remaining machines can carry on as if nothing happened. A typical configuration might be two or three desktop computers, each connected to the Internet and to a common printer and fax machine. If two users need to share or exchange files, they’ll usually email them to each other or post them to a common Web portal.

 

In client-server network, the server acts as the primary provider of resources to the other machines. For example, a file server provides data files to the client machine whenever the client requests it. In order to access email, the client machine must “talk” to the email server, and so on. Client-server networks tend to offer a more secure environment than peer-to-peer networks because the server can better control access to resources. They also tend to be more conducive to collaboration, because clients can share resources from a single location rather than having to swap individual (and often duplicative) copies of data on a one-to-one basis. However, if a server fails, every client will lose access to the resources it provides; therefore, you’ll need a backup server or a failover strategy.

 

In short, a very small startup may need nothing more than a peer-to-peer network. But in order to scale well and make sure the company can grow in an orderly, organized fashion, you’re probably going to need a client-server network eventually.

Use Search Folders to Group Messages by Sender, Topic, Keyword, and More

The Search Folder is an easy way to organize your correspondence without actually shuffling copies of messages between folders in Outlook 2003 and 2007. For example, say you’ve been working with someone on several different projects.  You might keep a folder in Outlook under the name of each project.  But with a saved search folder, you can put together a virtual copy of all the messages you’ve sent to that person and received from them, regardless of which project it is related to.

Here’s how to do it:

1.       Go to the New button on your toolbar and click the arrow for the drop-down menu.

2.       Select Search Folder.

3.       You’ll see a number of Search Folder options. You can organize them according to whether they’re flagged or not, who sent the message, how large any attachments are, and a host of other options. You can also customize folders by more advanced criteria.

4.       Say you want to create a folder for all of your communication with a particular person. Select Mail from and sent to specific people under the Mail from People and Lists column. Then select Choose.

5.       Type in the person’s name in the From or Sent to field at the bottom. It doesn’t have to be their actual address. Click OK, and click OK again to close out of the Search Folder menu.

6.       You’ll see a new Search Folder listed in your mailbox that will contain all of your correspondence with that person.

The real value of the Saved Search folder is that it collects messages sent and received messages, so you don’t have to go trolling through your Sent Items to get a full picture of every conversation. And when a particular folder isn’t useful to you anymore, you can go ahead and delete it – the original messages remain intact regardless of what happens to the Search Folder.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the capabilities of recent releases of Office. If you haven’t upgraded, now might be the right time. Contact CMIT Solutions to find out more.

Stop Mousing and Use Your Keyboard to Quickly Navigate Windows Explorer

At this point, most users are pretty comfortable with the basic keyboard shortcuts used in popular Microsoft programs like Word and Excel; most know how to copy, paste, and undo without having to mouse over to the Edit menu. But when it comes to working with Windows Explorer windows or folders, “common knowledge” becomes a little less common. Here are some useful keyboard shortcuts for whenever you’re navigating through Windows Explorer windows and folders.

Key Combination = Result

CTRL+N =Open a new window

END = Display the bottom of the active window

HOME = Display the top of the active window

F11 = Maximize or minimize the active window

NUM LOCK+ASTERISK (*) on numeric keypad = Display all subfolders under the selected folder

NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN (+) on numeric keypad = Display the contents of the selected folder

NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN (-) on numeric keypad = Collapse the selected folder

LEFT ARROW = Collapse the current selection (if expanded), or select the parent folder

ALT+LEFT ARROW  = View the previous folder

RIGHT ARROW = Display the current selection (if collapsed), or select the first subfolder

ALT+RIGHT ARROW = View the next folder

CTRL+Mouse scroll wheel  = Change the size and appearance of file and folder icons

ALT+D  = Select the Address bar

Don’t Let Your Small Business Fall Prey to Phishers, Scammers, and Credit Card Fraudsters

If you hear about identity theft in the news, it’s often in the context of individuals impersonating other individuals. But while consumers are often protected by stringent identity theft protection laws, the situation can be a lot murkier when somebody tries to impersonate your business.

 

Because they need to make themselves visible to prospective customers, businesses are compelled to share with the public a lot of information that individuals tend to keep private, such as their phone number and address. All an identity thief has to do is open up a mailbox in your shared office building, fake up some letterhead, and obtain your business license number — something many businesses are required by law to display — and they’re well on their way to opening up credit card accounts in your name, filing purchase orders, and running up bills that will eventually come to you.

 

So what can you do to prevent small business identity theft? 

1. Review your business credit report regularly.
2. Go over employee charge card billing statements with a fine-toothed comb before they are paid, especially if you’ve issued multiple cards for a single account.
3. Educate employees to be on the lookout for phishers and phone and email scammers. People who would never think to open a suspicious-looking email in their personal inbox might not hesitate to turn over your Federal Tax Identification Number and names of key executives to someone posing as a vendor or a government representative. 
4. Once an employee leaves the company, make sure you immediately cut off access to all your IT resources. Unfortunately, a lot of identity theft is still an “inside job.”
5. Lock up your data! Install a business-class firewall, encrypt your network, assign access privileges sparingly, and perform regular updates to your security software.

According to security firm Panda Security, a shocking percentage of small businesses haven’t taken very basic steps to secure their data assets. A recent survey showed that “97 percent of U.S. SMBs have installed anti-virus and 95 percent claim their security systems are up to date. Yet 29 percent said they have no anti-spam in place, 22 percent are without anti-spyware technology and 16 percent do not have firewalls. 52 percent said they have no web filtering solution in place. 39 percent of respondents said that they have yet to be trained about IT threats.” (See this article on CIOZone for more details: http://www.ciozone.com/index.php/Security/SMBs-a-Gold-Mine-for-Identity-Thieves.html)

 

Like a lot of security trends, this one will probably get worse before it gets better. But until every state enacts small business-protection laws on par with the ones recently enacted by the state of California (http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jul2009/db2009079_858536.htm), vigilance and a good cybersecurity plan for your small business are absolutely key.

 

CMIT Solutions offers anti-spam, antivirus, and anti-spyware protection as part of CMIT Marathon — our suite of monitoring and maintenance services that keep your IT systems up, running, and protected, 24/7. (For more information go to www.cmitsolutions.com/marathon.php) We can also set up firewalls and perform other network security measures to make your network safer.

Vista’s Instant Search Uncovers Information Wherever It’s Stored

If you’re on a pre-Vista operating system, you know how restrictive and clunky the old Microsoft search tool can be. Accessed as “Find” under the Start menu, the tool can’t look at the content within files and does not extend to emails.

Microsoft has taken that search tool and vastly improved its capabilities in Vista. Now called Instant Search, it’s accessed right from the Start menu and looks across file types, formats, and content to give you rapid access to the information you need. Now instead of looking separately for all the emails and documents associated with a particular project, you can bring them up in a snap. You don’t have to choose between wading manually through endless file trees or waiting as the search bar churns, finally spitting out “No result” to a file you know is lurking somewhere. Instant Search starts looking as soon as you start typing.

Instant Search is contextual, which means it will look first in the applications and files you access most frequently. And it will group results by the type of asset it finds – whether it’s a program, web site, document, or email. Click here to learn more about Instant Search: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/instantsearch.mspx

It’s a great little feature so don’t forget about it if you have already upgraded to Vista. If you haven’t, contact us to help create the right strategy for your business. Windows 7 will be released this fall and upgrading will only be possible if you are already running Vista. Contact CMIT Solutions to get started!

SMB managed services account for highest level of spending at $3.5 billion

You don’t want to miss an article we just reviewed about worldwide SMB spend expected to reach 14.3B in 2009.

It is a short article but does link to further studies so don’t miss it.  http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/082409_SMBs_to_Spend_36B_on_Remote_Managed_Services

Managed services isn’t dead so all the hype about moving to the cloud hasn’t hit this particular survey.  Here is some key paragraphs:

“Worldwide SMB spending on remote managed services, in particular, will grow the fastest at 9.2 percent in 2009 to reach $3.6 billion. The trend will continue through 2012 to reach $5.3 billion at a compounded annual growth rate of over 10 percent from 2008.”

“SMB network and server managed services account for highest level of spending at $3.5 billion while PC managed services is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2009.”

Enjoy!

Flag Sensitive, Urgent, and Draft Documents with Watermarks

When you’re circulating a document for group review, you sometimes want to make it absolutely clear what the purpose or the status of the document is. Watermarks such as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “DRAFT’ help get the point across.

 

Watermarks are easy to insert in Word 2007. Just follow these steps:

 

1. Click Page Layout on the Office ribbon.
2. Go to the Page Background group and click Watermark.
3. Select the watermark you’d like to use.
4. To create a custom text watermark, first remove the existing one by going to the Page Background group, clicking Watermark, and clicking Remove Watermark. Click Custom Watermark, then Text Watermark, and type in your custom watermark. Click Apply.

The process is slightly different with Word 2000 and 2003:

 

1. Go to the Format menu, then select Background, and click Printed Watermark.
2. To insert a picture as a watermark, click Picture Watermark. Then click Select Picture. Select the picture you want, and then click Insert.
   To insert text as a watermark, click Text Watermark. Then select an existing watermark or enter your own custom text.
3. Use the Print Layout view to see how it will appear on the printed page.

If you’ve got a question about using Microsoft Word or other Office products, CMIT Solutions can help. Give us a call at (800) 399-CMIT.