Jun
24
2009

How Email Synchronization Can Save Time and Money

There are few things as aggravating as having to do the same job twice, and yet when it comes to managing our business lives, many people have to do this constantly. Here’s a common example- a salesperson books an appointment with a client. She adds the appointment to her desktop calendar. Then she also adds the appointment to her cell phone or PDA. Then she adds the appointment to the team calendar, which is printed and posted in the office so co-workers can keep track of each other. Finally, she adds it to the lead tracking sheet, call log, and activity log, and is looking forward to actually selling something instead of documenting it before the fact.

Then the client has to move the appointment out by an hour.

Our poor overworked salesperson has to re-do all those listings, and hopefully doesn’t forget one in the process. Many meetings have been missed because the rescheduling notification flow broke down before reaching all the participants. How much better would it be to make a single calendar entry and have everything else update automatically? Fortunately those capabilities exist today, through hosted Microsoft Exchange.

Using ActiveSync and Direct Push technology, your hosted Exchange Server can synchronize calendar information across a variety of devices- smart phones, handhelds and palmtops, as well as laptop and desktop PCs. Updates are relayed to everyone, whether they are at their desks or out in the field, and the days of missing the meeting because of crossed signals are over.
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Jun
16
2009

E-mail Retention and Archival- Why It’s Critical For Your Business

If your business is like most, e-mail has become the heart of your company communications. Sales teams depend on it to communicate with clients, management depends on it to communicate with employees, it’s vital for a successful modern business. What many people fail to consider is that e-mail is also a dangerous chink in your corporate armor, and in a decidedly unglamorous way. It’s a simple but critical question- where does your company e-mail go when your employees are done processing it?

It’s important to understand that company e-mail is the property of your company. There have been many good arguments made about privacy in the workplace and the rights of individuals but make no mistake- when it comes to the law your business is responsible and accountable for that information.

E-mail retention is difficult for a number of reasons, not the least of which is most e-mail is the equivalent of a gum wrapper once it’s been read, nothing but an afterthought. The sheer volume of e-mail presents another challenge, as is the fact that by and large e-mail defies easy categorization. Above all else is a truism that most of us have experienced- the e-mail you can’t find is the one you need.
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May
27
2009

Protecting your data with Managed Services

It’s not just a little ironic that the often quoted Murphy’s Law was coined long before data storage changed from boxes in a warehouse to zeroes and ones on a magnetic disc. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong is a truism in the IT arena. As anyone who has experienced the loss of critical files on a hard drive, memory stick, or even a phone number scrawled on a napkin can tell you- there’s nothing like that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know the information is well and truly gone.

As maddening as it can be to lose personal data, when it comes to your business it’s a mistake that could be catastrophic. As a result, data backup solutions are a multi-million dollar industry, and to be sure, there are many options to consider. From automated robotic tape rotation machines to software driven RAID disc arrays, there are solutions to fit any scenario. Unfortunately they also share a common weakness: unless your core business actually is data backup, managing your backup solution in house assumes responsibility for a complex process without the human resources it takes to do it correctly. That’s a complicated way of saying if you handle your own backups, chances are you’re going to run into Murphy’s Law, and it won’t be pretty.
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Apr
24
2009

Exchange 2010 Reveals Great Future for Business Class Email

At NaviSite, we find the college basketball tournament kind of exciting, and yeah, we’ll probably tune in for the finale of Dancing With The Stars. But here at NaviSite HQ, when it comes to real excitement it’s hard to beat the recent announcement of Microsoft Exchange 2010.

The thing is, when it comes to NaviSite and Exchange, we go way back. We’ve been a leading provider of Exchange hosting for a decade, going back to 1999 with our offering of managed hosted Exchange 2k. We’ve spent the last ten years helping businesses of all sizes take advantage of the power and convenience of a Hosted Exchange mail solution, and with the advent of Exchange 2010, that high level of service and support will transform the way businesses communicate.
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Apr
22
2009

Making Small Business Anytime, Anywhere Communications a Reality

After years of devices that didn’t quite live up to expectations, the smartphone revolution is upon us. With the mass consumer penetration of BlackBerries, iPhones, and other next-gen handhelds, smartphones are changing the way we interact with information, and businesses who don’t adapt to this new environment will find themselves falling quickly behind their competition.

Over the last 15 years e-mail and cell phones went from novelties to critical business tools. Those of us who are a little longer in the tooth remember struggling with brick sized cell phones and command line Pine based e-mail accounts provided by the local library, and that so much has changed so quickly belies the relatively short time frame.
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