Virtual Phone System

Gain an advantage over your competition — about 61% of businesses still don’t use SMS:

85% of customers prefer receiving text messages over a phone call or email.

68% of consumers would prefer to use text messaging to contact a company with questions.

53% of clients say they feel more positive toward a brand that responds to text messages.

Sign up for Talkroute & begin texting with your customers today.

Explore text messaging

Text with your customers

Source

Outlook free personal email and calendar from Microsoft


Outlook – free personal email and calendar from Microsoft Download Outlook for iOS Download Outlook for Android

Stay on top of your most important messages and events.

  • one-place-interface-icon-email Email
  • one-place-interface-icon-calendar Calendar
  • one-place-interface-icon-contacts People
  • one-place-interface-icon-tasks Tasks
  • one-place-interface-icon-search Search
  • Send, receive, and manage your email.

  • Schedule and manage appointments, meetings, or events.

  • See details about contacts when you hover over their name.

  • Prioritize your tasks with Microsoft To Do.

  • Locate messages, people, and documents.

Outlook works around the clock to help protect your privacy and keep your inbox free of clutter.

  • Protection delivered by the same tools Microsoft uses for business customers.
  • Data encryption in your mailbox and after email is sent.
  • Automatic deactivation of unsafe links that contain phishing scams, viruses, or malware. Premium
  • Ransomware detection and recovery for your important files in OneDrive. Premium

PowerPoint

Collaborating is easy with Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. You can chat in real time with Skype—right from your inbox.

Anne, a nonsighted person, uses an assistive device with her laptop

We’ve designed Outlook.com to be everyone’s most accessible inbox, with intuitive voice-controlled navigation, support for multiple assistive devices—and more.

You’ve found it! We’ve redesigned and relaunched Hotmail as Outlook. We’re still committed to building the best free email and calendar.

We’ve developed a suite of premium Outlook features for people with advanced email and calendar needs. A Microsoft 365 subscription offers an ad-free interface, custom domains, enhanced security options, the full desktop version of Office, and 1 TB of cloud storage. Learn about premium Outlook features that come with Microsoft 365

Source

How to Diagnose a Computer Problem

Question

What do I do if my computer will not connect to the Internet?

First check if the Internet connection is on in your house. Do other devices, like your phone, connect? If you’re using wired cable, check that it’s plugged in and swap cable to see if it’s working. If you’re using wireless, make sure it’s turned on. Also try other browsers to see if it’s just the problem with a specific one. Go into Device Manager and double click on Network Adapters. You’ll get the name of your network device. Right click on it and choose ‘disable’, then enable again. If that still doesn’t work, click ‘uninstall’ and restart the computer. Windows will reinstall the network card automatically. You can also visit the manufacturer’s website to install the latest drivers.

Thanks!

Yes No

Not Helpful 10 Helpful 15

Source

Understanding Managed Services

The buzzword relating to IT Support is “Managed Services”, and every day more and more businesses are jumping on the bandwagon. But what does managed services actually mean and how can you tell if an IT Support company is not just using the word as a marketing tool, but is in fact only offering “flat rate” services packaged as “managed services”?

As a definition, Managed Services allows a business to offload IT operations to a service provider, known as a Managed Services Provider. The managed service provider assumes an ongoing responsibility for 24-hour monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for the IT systems within a business.

A Brief History of Managed Services

The following is a summarized history of managed services to give you some background relating to how these services have developed. This history pertains specifically to companies who service small network systems.

It all started with break-fix services

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

The Break Fix Mentality

The companies who have helped service small networks in the past have been hamstrung by the lack of tools to help with the problem. The networks they service developed as simple systems, usually built by a self taught network amateur-turned-pro. Maintenance was break-fix only, meaning when something broke, the company called and they came running to fix it… hopefully.

As time went on, the best of the support people developed procedures and programs to periodically come on-site to do a system review of logs and user information looking for hints of issues before they became big problems. In some cases an elaborate checklist was used to record disk usage, processor usage, etc.

The problem of course, was that the support people could only see what was happening on that particular day. If something happened later, they would never know about it … unless the customer called.

Backup problems and other errors continued to occur

Additionally, the only professional test of the backup system was on the visit, which frequently resulted in days or more of missed backups. The system was prone to other human errors when the on-site technician, trying to be accommodating, would take care of the “end user” symptoms and would not have time to address the “real issues”. This created a constant battle for the tech as they tried to convince customers that they were only causing themselves more dangerous problems down the road by not being proactive.

Managed Services began with Fortune 500 companies and their huge networks

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

At the same time, the hardware and software vendors were adding new and better ways for the systems to signal problems as early as possible. Simple Network Management Protocol had been developing since the early 90’s and was being applied to PC’s. The first systems that could watch these tools and turn all the data into usable information were complex to manage, were geared only to large networks, and were prohibitively expensive for small business.

In 2005, systems started to mature that allowed smaller companies to take advantage of the same features and benefits as the large companies. This technology started the Managed Services movement.

Finally, Managed Services was available for small to medium sized businesses

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

The Managed Services software that is in place today allows providers to work towards two major goals:

  1. Everything on your network that will result in a user symptom or risk will send an alert before or when it happens, and the Managed Service Provider will know about it.
  2. Every alert they get is something important and needs to be addressed.

The more closely a Managed Service provider can get to these two goals, the more perfectly they can achieve a truly managed service and the more they can get away from “everything being an emergency” situation.

Why the hype with Managed Services?

Just like larger companies, small businesses need technology to operate efficiently and to compete effectively. But as reliance on IT grows, the resources needed to support this increasingly complex IT environment may not. In many small businesses, IT resources are limited and can be quickly overwhelmed.

If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. For instance, if your Email server, customer relationship management system, financial application or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.

Managed Services vs. The Break-Fix Mentality

Managed services are also a philosophical change in the way that a business deals with its technology. Instead of following the old-school tradition of break-fix (literally meaning wait until the server, desktops or other critical networking devices fail, then scramble to fix them), a business operating with a managed service focuses on the prevention of these issues before they disrupt employees, management and/or clients.

If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business. For instance, if your Email server, customer relationship management system, financial application or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.

Why Break-fix is no longer good enough for your business

A Break-fix maintenance service fixes problems as they crop up. This means that something needs to go wrong before you receive any service, resulting in an inevitable reduction in IT system performance while you wait for the problem to be fixed.

Today, no business can really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on a “Break-fix maintenance service” because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system. Furthermore, having separate suppliers responsible for different parts of the system puts you in the difficult position of trying to decide who should be delivering the service you require. You simply do not have time for this.

Do Managed Services Cost More Than Traditional Break-Fix Services?

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

Actually no! Surprisingly most managed services cost less than traditional break-fix services, especially when including the true cost of downtime. Remote monitoring, remote maintenance and the prevention of major issues allow a managed services provider to be more efficient than a similar break-fix company who is constantly rolling a truck to visit customer sites. Therefore the managed service company can offer a “better” service without charging more.

Why are so many IT Firms now promoting Managed Services?

Because it puts the IT Support Company on the same page as the business they are serving. With traditional break-fix services, the only way for an IT Support company to make money is if something goes wrong — which to us as always was a double-edged sword. If we do our job too well, we’re out of business, which happens to about 80% of all small IT Firms — they just don’t make it.

How are Managed Services priced?

Managed services provider
s usually price their services on a flat-rate monthly basis. Depending on the services included in the program offered, pricing is usually based on the number of devices, with different packages priced at different levels. Some providers offer on-site customer support as an extra fee.

Basic services often start with a monitoring service, which notifies the ”you” of problems, which you resolve on your own. At the upper end of the spectrum, service providers offer fully managed services that cover everything from alerts through problem resolution. (Learn more about Managed Services Costs)

The Real Benefits Of Managed Services

Put in simple terms – one of the biggest benefits of Managed Services is discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively affect your business.

A well maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative. With proactive network monitoring, patch management, and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations… and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them.

Reduced costs: Businesses are also able to control and reduce their overall operating costs with the flat-fee billing model. Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support is a reality

24-hour monitoring: Because the Managed Services provider also manages all of your vendor relationships, issues with internet slowness/outages, printers, phones, cell phones, websites are dealt with directly with the vendor by the Managed Service provider. As a result of this “always-eyes-on” network monitoring 24 hours per day, businesses experience an additional level of comfort and security.

6 Additional Benefits Of Managed Services:

  1. Increased operational efficiency
  2. Reduced operating costs
  3. Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support
  4. Minimized downtime
  5. Allows the focus to be on running the business, and not the technology
  6. Peace of mind from knowing that the network is monitored 24/7/365

Small IT companies come and go quickly – and so do the Techs

If you’ve been in business for longer then 5 years, you’ve probably hired more then one IT support company — you’ve maybe hired many. You know the frustrations of having a new technician working with your network. The question becomes “Is your technician a trusted advisor” or just a guy trying to fix your computer problems? (Find out more about finding and hiring a TRUSTED ADVISOR)

So adding another monthly fee wasn’t exactly what you were looking for …?

We can clearly understand and relate to that mode of thinking. In this day and age it feels like every company we deal with is trying to figure out a way to squeeze more money out of us — especially on a monthly basis. IT support services is not immune to this change in business climate.

But that being said, Managed Services is not just a short lived fad, or a way for IT companies to fatten their wallets. Managed Services is a way for businesses to eliminate problems before they ever occur, manage their IT budgets better, and create a solid long-term partnership with an IT firm that is protecting one of their most important assets… their data.

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

Monthly Bill or Managed Services (?)

The Real Benefits Of Managed Services

Put in simple terms – one of the biggest benefits of Managed Services is discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively affect your business.

A well maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative. With proactive network monitoring, patch management, and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations… and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them.

Beware of inferior imitations like “remote dial-in”

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

Managed Service Imitations

Providing true Managed Services requires a substantial investment in both technology as well as expert staff to operate the service. Some companies offering “Managed Services” are merely “dialing-in” to fix problems on your network and are not providing any “preventative maintenance” at all. This service is merely a soup-up version of the “break-fix” mentality, by utilizing an internet connection to access your network to fix issues.

This type of “remote dial-in” service and the company offering it, doesn’t actually monitor your system, is not able to tell you where the system is vulnerable and is not able to fix problems before they negatively impact you system’s performance. Remotely “dialing-in” to a network is nothing more than “Break-fix” without a site visit.

Which type of maintenance do you currently have?

If you answer “no” to any of the following questions, you are utilizing a break-fix methodology to maintain your network, and may benefit from a managed service methodology without costing you more.

  1. Do you find out immediately if your data back-up fails to run?
  2. Do you know which equipment on your network is aging and might need replacing in the next 6 months?
  3. Do you know if your server and all of your desktops have the latest anti-virus updates installed and are functioning correctly?
  4. Do you know if the latest security patches have been installed on your network?
  5. Do you know who the heaviest internet users are, and whether they are downloading large files which can slow down the network, or accessing innappropriate web sites?
  6. Do you know which PCs are running out of memory, affecting user performance?
  7. Do you have one number to call for all of your technology service requirements?
  8. Do you only hear from your computer guys “after” things break?

Does your network feel like it’s running slower than it should?

Understanding Managed Services - Minneapolis, St Paul, Edina

Slow network?

Would you like to know if you are ready for managed services, cloud computing, or virtualization? Imagine IT offers a FREE network evaluation!

Our expert technicians will review your network and determine whether your infrastructure will support these new technologies. They’ll also discover any bottlenecks preventing your network from running at peak performance. After the analysis, a written report will tell you what steps you can take to improve your network’s performance.

Source

Contact IT solutions


IT Experts

Office 1:  015 296 4666office1

Office 2:  015 298 8009

MD Cell:  082 576 8967

Support Numbers:

082 767 3350       082 520 6472      079 295 1747       079 738 0755

Email:  [email protected]

Fax: +27 86 654 0370MeetingRoom208x

 

 

Physical Address:

Hillary Drive

Ismini Office Estate

5 Adj Mauritz Dommisie St

Bendor

office2Polokwane

GPS   -23.887280, 29.473412

 

 

Postal Address:

P.O.Box 1006

Fauna Park

0787

Scroll to top Font Size:

Source

Digital Marketing Services Agency

We’ve been chosen by the best

DigitalMarketing.com advises many of the most successful and fastest growing companies in the world including Fortune 500 and Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 Fastest Growing Companies.

Certified and Accredited

DigitalMarketing is a Google AdWords Certified Partner,
Microsoft® Bing Partner, and a SEMPO® Circle Member.

Source

Microsoft Office


Enter to Search

CNET

News

Best Apps

Popular Apps

Close

Sort by

Filters

Price

Free Only

Platform

Platform

All Windows Mac iOS Android

Editor Rating

Editor Rating

& up

& up

& up

& up

User Rating

User Rating

& up

& up

& up

& up

Category

Category

Business SoftwareDeveloper ToolsUtilities & Operating SystemsGames

Communications Educational Software Drivers Security Software Productivity Software Desktop Enhancements Browsers Networking Software Entertainment Software Graphic Design Software Internet Software Video Software MP3 & Audio Software Digital Photo Software Home Software Travel Screensavers & Wallpaper

more +

Source

How to Improve Search Engine Optimization


Article SummaryX

Improving your website’s Search Engine Optimization can seem daunting at first, but there are a few main ways to get your website at the top of search results. Add relevant keywords to your site’s text so people can easily find your website. Use each keyword a few times on your page. Don’t forget to add descriptions and metatags, which help people find out about your website before they click on it. You should also use a piece of software called AMP to optimize your website for mobile use, since the majority of traffic now comes through mobile sites and Google prioritizes websites that are optimized for mobile use. Remember to update your website regularly, since Google rewards updated websites in the search results. For more tips, including how to create backlinks to your website, read on!

Did this summary help you?In other languagesThanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 428,625 times.

Source

IT Support Fundamentals

Skip About this course

In this course, you will be introduced to and better understand the role of an IT support agent, including core priorities and key responsibilities. You will learn how to improve your support skills by interacting with other roles and mastering specific performance skills.

The course then examines what influences customer behavior when dealing with IT Support, including global cultural differences and communication styles. The course concludes with an introduction to the basic stages of case management, from initial receipt of a support call through solution development and closure.

This is the first in a series of four courses that are targeted to individuals who are considering a move into IT Support.

Skip What you’ll learn

  • Introduce the support agent role 
  • Identify the core priorities and key responsibilities of a support agent
  • Improve your support skills by interacting with other roles
  • Identify the performance skills a support agent should master
  • Understand what drives customer behavior when interacting with support agents
  • Examine how cultural dimensions and communication styles affect customer behavior
  • Learn how different cultures view time
  • Examine the basic stages of IT Support case management

Tony Frink

Senior Content Development Manager

Microsoft

Mike Orlowicz

Business & Financial Consultant / IT Course Development & Delivery

Lawrence Associates LLC

View a PDF of a sample edX certificate

  • Official and Verified

    Receive an instructor-signed certificate with the institution’s logo to verify your achievement and increase your job prospects

  • Easily Shareable

    Add the certificate to your CV or resume, or post it directly on LinkedIn

  • Proven Motivator

    Give yourself an additional incentive to complete the course

  • Support our Mission

    EdX, a non-profit, relies on verified certificates to help fund free education for everyone globally

Source

Virtual Phone System for Small Business

Just me2 – 910 – 4950 – 249250 – 9991000+

AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAmerican SamoaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, the Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote d’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuracaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuamGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPalestine, State ofPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRwandaSaint BarthelemySaint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet NamVirgin Islands, BritishVirgin Islands, U.S.Wallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe

By clicking the button above, you consent to receiving calls and emails from RingCentral. Calls may be connected using automated technology.

Source

Skip to content