Hospitals

My son was admitted to hospital with severe breathing difficulties just before Christmas and had to stay in over the festive season. He has now been discharged and is on the road to recovery, however I met a very interesting chap in the cubicle opposite.

He describes himself as possibly the tallest ukelele player in the world!

Have a look at his site and wish his daughter well (she was still in hospital when my son and I were discharged).

Whilst I am on this topic, I would like to offer my vote of thanks to the excellent staff in Kipling Ward at the Conquest Hospital, Hastings. In spite of their unit and jobs being at risk due to NHS cuts, they provided both me and my son with faultless care and attention and ensured that in spite of my sons illness he had a good christmas (even down to a sack full of toys being at his bed on Christmas day!)

Well done to all of the staff and wishing you a Happy New Year!

Seasons Greetings - Roy

Web sites

Why is it some companies charge the earth for providing basic services?

I recently was approached by one of my private clients (an elderly gentleman) who wished to produce an on-line gallery for his paintings. Other designers had named fees well in excess of £1000.00 to produce a 7 page site which merely had scans of his paintings.

Completing the work took me no more than 2 hours and I agreed on a profit share arrangement for payment. Is it just me, or are techies getting a bit like plumbers and car mechanics?

A spot of web design

One of my long-standing clients, a retired gentleman in his 70s who could perhaps be described as eccentric approached me over the Christmas period to design a website for his new-found hobby - nude oil paintings.

He has already written a book about impotence and made a breakthrough with discovering an alternative cure for erection difficulties by means of a commonly available root vegetable. In researching his book, he hitched up with a 30 year old woman and the story takes off from there....

Trying the obvious

Most of my support calls seem to be a case of users not engaging their brain before pressing the panic button.

In my experience 90% of faults are due to something trivial, such as loose leads and the such like. Please check before calling. It is one of the first checks I will carry out when arriving to fix your problem.

What to check:

All the leads at the back of the PC are plugged in correctly (Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse/Power/Printer/USB etc)

That there is actually power going through to the socket where the PC is plugged in (if it appears completely dead).

Making websites accesible

The Disability Rights Commission in the UK have produced a report into web accessability for the visually impaired. Whilst this initiative is to be applauded, surely, if the DRC really wish to improve web access for those of less than 20-20 vision, why are they charging £30.00 for access to the report?

Spam

After my last post was spammed, comments are now restricted to members of Blogger.com.

Mind, you it is interesting that the post was actually about spam....

What is SPAM??

What is Spam?

Over the years, people have often asked me to explain the various concepts of Marketing Communications. The following analogies might help clarify the "tools of the trade."

You see a handsome guy/girl at a party. You go up to him/her and say, "I'm fantastic in bed." -- That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy/girl. One of your friends goes up to him/her and pointing at you says, "She's/He's fantastic in bed." -- That's Advertising.

You see a handsome guy/girl at a party. You go up to him/girl and get his/her telephone number. The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed." -- That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy/girl. You get up and straighten your clothes. You walk up to him/her and pour him/her a drink. You say, "May I," and reach up to straighten their clothes brushing lightly against their arm, and then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed." -- That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy/girl. He/she walks up to you and says, "I hear you're fantastic in bed." -- That's Brand Recognition.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy/girl. You talk him/her into going home with your friend. -- That's a Sales Rep.

Your friend can't satisfy him/her so he/she calls you. -- That's Tech Support.

You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome men/women in all these houses you're passing. So you climb onto the roof of one situated toward the center and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!" -- That's Spam.

Another host to avoid

Just received an email as follows;

Envelope-to: xxx@xxx.co.uk
Delivery-date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:54:54 +0000
Received: by ptb-mxcore01.plus.net with spam-scanned (PlusNet MXCore v2.00) id 1F80pZ-0007Mn-8J
for zzz@zzz.co.uk; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:54:54 +0000
Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1])
by ptb-mxcore01.plus.net with esmtp (PlusNet MXCore v2.00) id 1F80pZ-0007Mc-4F
for zzz@zzz.co.uk; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:54:53 +0000
Received: from smtp.mailix.net ([216.148.213.132])by ptb-mxcore01.plus.net with esmtp (PlusNet MXCore v2.00) id 1F80pY-0007M4-33 for zzz@zzz.co.uk; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:54:52 +0000
Received: from [192.168.8.8] (helo=localhost)by smtp.mailix.net with asmtp (Exim 4.24-MG)id 1F7zan-0004Di-Iv; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:35:33 -0800
Received: from 81.199.189.96.rmts.satcom-systems.net (81.199.189.96.rmts.satcom-systems.net [81.199.189.96]) by webmail.namezero.com (IMP) with HTTP for ; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:35:24 -0800
Message-ID: <1139682924.43ee2e6ca3974@webmail.namezero.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 10:35:24 -0800
From: soo cho
Reply-to: soocho01@hellokitty.com
User-Agent: Internet Messaging Program (IMP) 3.2.3
X-Originating-IP: 81.199.189.96
Bcc:
X-SA-Exim-Mail-From: soocho012@walla.com
Subject: [-SPAM-] Letter of intent
X-SA-Exim-Version: 3.1 (built Thu Oct 23 13:26:47 PDT 2003)
X-SA-Exim-Scanned: No; Unknown failure
X-uvscan-result: clean (1F7zan-0004Di-Iv)
X-PN-VirusFiltered: by PlusNet MXCore (v2.00)
X-PN-SpamFiltered: by PlusNet MXCore (v2.00)
X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 7.1.375 [267.15.6/257]
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1



Mr.Soo Cho
CHO HUNG BANK.
14 1-ka Namdaemun-ro Chung-ku
Seoul, Seoul 100-757
South Korea.
www.chohungbank.co.kr


I am Mr.Soo Cho, credit officer of CHO HUNG BANK. I have an urgent and very
confidential business proposition for you.
On July 8, 2000, a British Oil consultant/contractor with the South Korea Solid
Minerals Corporation, Mr. Phillip Morris made a numbered time (Fixed) Deposit
for twelve calendar months, valued at (Twenty-eight Million American Dollars
only) in my branch.
Upon maturity,I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got
no reply. After a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his
contract employers, that Mr. Phillip Morris died from an auto-mobile accident.
On further investigation, I found out that he died without making a WILL,and
all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr.Phillip Morris did
not declare any kin or relations in all his official documents,including his
Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank.This sum of US$28,000,000.00 is still sitting
in my Bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the
end of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it.
According to Laws of South Korea, at the expiration of (five) years,the money
will revert to the ownership of the South Korea Government if nobody applies to
claim the fund. Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as aforeigner
to stand in as the next of kin to Mr.Phillip Morris so that the fruits of this
old man's labor will not get into the hands of some corrupt government
officials.
This is simple, I will like you to provide immediately your full names and
address so that the attorney will prepare the necessary documents and
affidavits that will put you in place as the next of kin. We shall employ the
services of an attorney for drafting and notarization of the WILL and to obtain
the necessary documents and letter of probate/administration in your favor for
the transfer.
A bank account in any part of the world that you will provide the will, then
facilitate the transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of kin.
The money will be paid into your account for us to share in the ratio of 70%for
me and 25% for you and 5% for Expenses
Incurred in the course of the transaction.There is no risk at all as all the
paperwork for this transaction will be done by the attorney and with my
position as the credit officer guarantees the successful execution of this
transaction. If you are interested, please
reply immediately to my email box.
Upon your response, I shall then provide you with more details that will help
you understand the transaction.
Please send me your confidential telephone and fax numbers for easy
communication. You should observe utmost confidentiality, and rest assured that
this transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall
require your assistance to invest my
share in your country.


Regards,
Soo Cho,



This looks like another hosting company to avoid - unless you want your emails blacklisted!!!.

Any spam-baiters fancy a go - you're more than welcome!!!!

I'm unable to print.

One of the most common calls I receive relates to printing. The following tips could well save you an expensive (if not embarrassing support call).

If nothing has changed on your printer or in your printer settings on your computer then chances are that the problem is quite straightforward.

First check to see of the printer is on, especially if the trouble occurs first thing in the morning. Perhaps you or someone else turn the printer off when you finished your work the last time you sat down at you desk.

Check the printer status lights or status LCD screen. If there's a flashing light or if the status screen shows an error, then it's your first clue to a problem. Most printer manuals have a diagnosis process for alerts.
Check to see if the paper tray is empty. If so refill it. Make sure to feather the pages to eliminate static. Hold the pages in one had and flip through the pages at a fast rate with your thumb.

If the paper tray is not empty check for a misfeed. A sheet may have been caught in the mechanism. There may be a variety of printer access doors to check. Pull out any remnants. Even the smallest piece of paper could be causing the problem so check carefully. Tweezers are handy for this procedure.

If the problem is toner-related, check to see if the toner cartridge is empty or low. The printer warning should indicate this. Swap it for a new one and the unit should work.

Some laser toner cartridges have an ejected toner reservoir. There is usually a trap that can be emptied.

The toner drum on laser printers also needs to be replaced usually once a year depending on the volume of printing the device handles. The printer's error lights should indicate this if it is a problem. Print-outs will become fuzzy or faded when this starts to go.

If all the physical hardware on the printer seems to be fine check to see that it is connected to your computer. Personal printers connect via either a parallel or USB (universal serial bus) connector to the back of the printer. Follow the cable from the back of the printer to the back of the computer to make sure the connection is good.

If the printer is connect by what looks like an oversized telephone cable or coaxial cable (like the cable for cable television) then your printer is connected through a network. If this is the case the problem gets suddenly complicated. If your network based printer is acting up for everyone in the office then you'll need to call in your resident network expert. You probably have a print server, hub or cable problem. If it's just you that's having a problem with your network printer, make sure that your computer is connected to the network.

If the printer works but spews strange characters or it appears as if the PC and printer creates error, it likely that you have a printer driver problem. When a printer acts up and there is no hardware problem, the solution is often driver-related. A driver is a piece of software that allows a computer to "talk" to a printer. It's a kind of translator.

Occasionally if a printer has worked previously, but won't work with a newly installed program, there could be driver problems.

To remedy this, download a driver from the printer maker's Web site, remove the old driver and install the new driver. Drivers are normally available under the "support" area of a Web site.

If you have an inkjet printer and you get smudged or blurry images, you might want to look up the utility on the printer that cleans and or aligns the printer heads. Most inkjet printers either have software that can start this process or have a setting on the printer itself that can kick start it.

If all of these solutions fail, you might want to search the manufacturer's support area for printer issues. Often there will be bulletins issued on how to fix newly discovered bugs.

If you have a scanner and printer and experience printing problems take heart, this is easily solvable. Detach both devices and remove the software and drivers for both devices. Then reinstall the printer first and then add the scanner second.

Help - The printer's not working

One of the most common calls I receive relates to printing. The following tips could well save you an expensive (if not embarrassing support call).

If nothing has changed on your printer or in your printer settings on your computer then chances are that the problem is quite straightforward.

First check to see of the printer is on, especially if the trouble occurs first thing in the morning. Perhaps you or someone else turn the printer off when you finished your work the last time you sat down at you desk.

Check the printer status lights or status LCD screen. If there's a flashing light or if the status screen shows an error, then it's your first clue to a problem. Most printer manuals have a diagnosis process for alerts.
Check to see if the paper tray is empty. If so refill it. Make sure to feather the pages to eliminate static. Hold the pages in one had and flip through the pages at a fast rate with your thumb.

If the paper tray is not empty check for a misfeed. A sheet may have been caught in the mechanism. There may be a variety of printer access doors to check. Pull out any remnants. Even the smallest piece of paper could be causing the problem so check carefully. Tweezers are handy for this procedure.

If the problem is toner-related, check to see if the toner cartridge is empty or low. The printer warning should indicate this. Swap it for a new one and the unit should work.

Some laser toner cartridges have an ejected toner reservoir. There is usually a trap that can be emptied.

The toner drum on laser printers also needs to be replaced usually once a year depending on the volume of printing the device handles. The printer's error lights should indicate this if it is a problem. Print-outs will become fuzzy or faded when this starts to go.

If all the physical hardware on the printer seems to be fine check to see that it is connected to your computer. Personal printers connect via either a parallel or USB (universal serial bus) connector to the back of the printer. Follow the cable from the back of the printer to the back of the computer to make sure the connection is good.

If the printer is connect by what looks like an oversized telephone cable or coaxial cable (like the cable for cable television) then your printer is connected through a network. If this is the case the problem gets suddenly complicated. If your network based printer is acting up for everyone in the office then you'll need to call in your resident network expert. You probably have a print server, hub or cable problem. If it's just you that's having a problem with your network printer, make sure that your computer is connected to the network.

If the printer works but spews strange characters or it appears as if the PC and printer creates error, it likely that you have a printer driver problem. When a printer acts up and there is no hardware problem, the solution is often driver-related. A driver is a piece of software that allows a computer to "talk" to a printer. It's a kind of translator.

Occasionally if a printer has worked previously, but won't work with a newly installed program, there could be driver problems.

To remedy this, download a driver from the printer maker's Web site, remove the old driver and install the new driver. Drivers are normally available under the "support" area of a Web site.

If you have an inkjet printer and you get smudged or blurry images, you might want to look up the utility on the printer that cleans and or aligns the printer heads. Most inkjet printers either have software that can start this process or have a setting on the printer itself that can kick start it.

If all of these solutions fail, you might want to search the manufacturer's support area for printer issues. Often there will be bulletins issued on how to fix newly discovered bugs.

If you have a scanner and printer and experience printing problems take heart, this is easily solvable. Detach both devices and remove the software and drivers for both devices. Then reinstall the printer first and then add the scanner second.

Computer Support

I was scanning my local free advertising supplement (Friday Ad) checking out the competition, when I noticed something disturbing.

Out of seven advertisers providing computer support, only one provided his name within the advert. Upon telephoning the other six, none of them answered with their name and had to be prompted to get this fairly important detail (I don't know about you, but I like to know who I'm dealing with).

This begs the question, do the six who withheld their name from the advert have something to hide, or are they too cheap to pay for another two words????

I personally have learnt from experience that in marketing, the brand precedes the service and most of my clients come from recommendations due to being open and not afraid to admit 'I dont know'.

Five Tips for getting the best value out of your IT guy

Don't go to your IT guy with solutions, give him problems. A lot of clients might propose throwing extra storage into their computer system, when perhaps a better document storage format may suit the business better for example. A good IT guy will carefully fit the solution to your business model.

Give your IT guy the big picture. Computers and Information Technology are but a small part of business operations. You need a solution that integrates with your business seamlessly.

Manage the task. Do not rely on your IT guy. Ask for written progress reports and proposals/specifications. You don't want to waste the money you have spent on this task without retaining some knowledge after the IT guy leaves.

Understand the big picture yourself and how the details fit into this jigsaw. The key to most successful IT projects is to implement the key, essential parts first then work on an iterative process of optimisation and enhancement.

Get a proposal for the project in writing. Ask that a timeline or other indication of how the project should proceed is included. This can help identify any scheduling conflicts early on in the project so they can be resolved easily and with minimal expense.

Surviving a computer crash

It's the day of the week when you run your invoices...You load up the paper in the printer, press print and....An error message pops up 'Unable to read drive'.

Sound like the stuff of nightmares? It could well signal the end of your business unless you plan for this eventuality. All computers are like cars – highly complex machines with many parts to go wrong at the worst possible moment.

How can you protect yourself against this nightmare?

In one word – Backup. Ensure all critical data is stored in at least one other location than on your server or main computer. This could be in the form of tapes, recordable CDs, floppy disks, external hard drives, online storage or many other options. Ensure that the backup is carried out at least daily and periodically check the backup by attempting to restore data (like computers all back-up media can fail).

Ensure you have a UPS (Un-interruptable Power Supply) running your main computer. This could buy the critical minutes you need to save open documents and shut down cleanly in the eventuality of a power outage.

Set your office applications to 'auto-save' every 5-10 minutes. This could also save hours re-creating documents, not to mention prevent the frustration should the computer lock up for no apparent reason.

New attempt to halt spyware

Five computer security firms (ICSA Labs, McAfee, Symantec, Thompson Cyber Security Labs and Trend Micro) are joining forces to tackle spyware.

Spyware has become a huge problem as many hi-tech criminals, advertisers and vandals use various techniques to sneak their software onto users' PCs without the users being aware.

Some spyware gets in via email, although the bulk is by means of visiting booby-trapped websites or by downloading programs from the internet.

Some spyware is simply a nuisance as it bombards users with pop-up adverts they did not ask for or services they would never use.

However, other spyware programs are explicitly criminal and aim to hijack computers or steal confidential information.

The work of the group will be collected on the spywaretesting.org website and the prime aim is to remove confusion about "the origins of spyware and effectiveness of tools used to remove it" according to Larry Bridwell from ICSA Labs.

Full story on BBC News

Spam Email bounced replies

Please people, turn off bounce replies for Spam email and whilst we're at it rejection messages for unknown recipients (who are often random strings of characters generated by spammers/viruses).

Over a twelve hour period last night, the generic in-box for my domain was bombarded by over 18,000 spurious emails that had to be filtered. This equates to one message being delivered every 2.5 seconds.

Whilst I have a fairly sophisticated automatic system for binning them, it still ate up considerable bandwidth downloading them. The total file size was approximately 15 Megabytes.

DIY Computer Maintenance to keep things running smoothly

What can I do to prevent Computer problems?

This is a question that people have asked on numerous occasions. The entire process of reducing Computer problems can be bundled under the banner of Computer Preventive Maintenance.

It is not rocket science and you don’t have to be an IT professional to keep your PC in a good shape. Any computer user can follow the guidelines mentioned below and can reduce their PC problems dramatically.

Use this article as a computer maintenance checklist.

So what you should do as part of preventive maintenance?

1. Use a good anti virus program. This is possibly the most important piece of work in preventive maintenance. Installing the anti virus program however is not enough. You should do the following as well.

* Set-up the program to download and install updates automatically.

* Schedule periodic full system scans.

* Check the virus definitions date regularly and see whether it is up to date.

2. Set-up your PC to Download and install “Windows Updates” automatically.

Windows updates include Operating System patches for bugs and PC security related issues. These patches can reduce many unknown computer problems.

3. Install anti Spyware program to detect Spyware tools.

4. Install a Personal Firewall. Most of the anti virus programs are bundled with a Personal Firewalls these days. Personal firewall is a barrier between your PC and the outside world. This can prevent your PC from hackers and Spyware tools.

5. Do not download and install unknown software from Internet. This is the biggest mistake that most PC users make. Some of this software can damage the Windows registry, which cause lot of errors.

6. Uninstall unnecessary programs installed in your PC.

7. Be very careful when opening emails with attachments (particularly if you are not expecting them).

8. Perform Scandisk periodically to check the Hard Drive.

9. Defragment your hard drive regularly.

10. Ensure that you have a backup system in place to copy important documents and make sure it works.

How to speed up backups with zero cost

A recent study showed that more and more companies are not backing up data on a daily basis because the backup was taking too long to execute.

If you are running a Microsoft Windows Server, you could in fact speed up your backups by simply defragmenting the server hard drives. Tests have shown a reduction in backup time of as much as 60%

Scary Stuff

A story on the BBC news site makes for scary reading....

"A newly declassified document gives a fascinating glimpse into the US military's plans for "information operations" - from psychological operations, to attacks on hostile computer networks.


The document says information is "critical to military success"

Bloggers beware.

As the world turns networked, the Pentagon is calculating the military opportunities that computer networks, wireless technologies and the modern media offer.

From influencing public opinion through new media to designing "computer network attack" weapons, the US military is learning to fight an electronic war."

Forget about locking up your daughters - lock up your networks!!!

How much information are you giving away when you sell that computer?

 

Companies and individuals frequently sell on old pieces of kit, or consign them to the dump. One thing that is often forgotten is cleaning the hard drives of data. Whilst the most secure method (and possibly most satisfying) is a few well placed clouts from a club hammer, this does little for the re-sale value of the machine.

How can you ensure your data is wiped?

At the very least do a low level format of the disk (fdisk), then re-format and install the operating system. This will remove the data from your drive, although a determined forensic study can still retrieve the data from residual magnetism within the drive.

A better solution is to use a package that over-writes the disk several times with random data (such as http://dban.sourceforge.net/), follow this up with an fdisk and re-install and you should be OK.

Blocking Search Engines from indexing pages

It may sound bizarre, but occasionally when promoting your site to search engines, you do not want certain files/directories to be scanned and indexed by the search engine spiders such as configuration files and any personal files/directories you are using your webspace to store.

The most common approach is to use a 'robots.txt' file in the home directory of your site.

This file is normally created using a simple text editor that does not insert any formatting such as Microsoft's Notepad and follows the following format, with two lines making up a record;

[field]:[value]

There are two field types, the first 'User-agent' which specifies the type of spider you wish to apply the following rule(s) to and 'Disallow' which specifies prohibited content. The * symbol can be used as a wildcard in either of the fields.

The following allows all robots to visit all files because the wildcard "*" specifies all robots.

User-agent: *
Disallow:

This one keeps all robots out.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

The next one bars all robots from the cgi-bin and images directories:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /images/

This one bans Roverdog from all files on the server:

User-agent: Roverdog
Disallow: /

This one bans keeps googlebot from getting at the cheese.htm file:

User-agent: googlebot
Disallow: cheese.htm

Why not visit my main site for more tips and hints

More security information and mis-information about the WMF bug

Steve Gibson (http://www.grc.com) has managed to put his foot in it again by claiming the WMF bug is a Microsoft conspiracy according to a post on his site and at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/21/wmf_fud_from_grc/

 

Whilst his security scanner is a useful tool, I feel that he just likes to keep his name in the press by hyping and distorting any potential weaknesses in operating systems.

Computer Security - Keeping it Safe

If the phrase 'computer security' was mentioned to you, what would come to mind?

• Viruses?

• Hackers?

• Physical Security?

• Users?

• Backup?

It may be surprising, but most (if not all) breaches in security arise as a result of user actions.

In my role as an independent computer consultant, I frequently require user names and passwords to access systems. I have lost count of the number of times, I have telephoned a client and asked whichever user for a user name/password combination and been given just that without even basic security (such as a telephone call-back to my published number).

In addition, many passwords are referred to as 'weak', consisting of the name of significant others/children or even as basic as 'password'. For password security, users should be forced to change their passwords at least once per month and each password should be unique. In addition, it is recommended that passwords are at least 5 characters long and contain numbers as well as alphabetic characters. An easy way to prevent 'dictionary' attacks (one of the most common password cracking schemes) is to substitute numbers for letters e.g. 1 for i, 3 for e, 5 for s, 7 for l and 0 for o and adding 3-4 numbers at the end.

Viruses are fairly easy to deal with, assuming fairly simple common-sense rules are applied;

• Ensure you have anti-virus software installed, both on servers and workstations (AVG make an excellent package that is free for single machine use).

• Do not open unsolicited emails, or emails that contain attachments that are unexpected.

• If an email requires you to run a program – ensure you scan this for viruses before executing it.

• Educate users to the steps above.

Hackers pose a constant threat to security, but realistically, a small business is unlikely to be targeted for commercial gain. Install a firewall (such as ZoneAlarm), switch off internet routers when not in use, however, again user education is the best step – most hacker attacks succeed due to 'social engineering', where a hacker pretends to be from a support company and elicits passwords from users. Having said this, most hacking attempts arise from within organisations, so ensure that you have robust policies in place with regards to computer usage.

Physical security is another consideration. If your server is located in your main office, what is to stop the cleaner from un-plugging it to plug in the vacuum cleaner? In addition, if you have technically aware users, or visitors ensure that there is no monitor/keyboard attached. I have seen numerous clients where the server is in the main office and administrator password is on a 'post it' note attached to the monitor. At the very least, your server should be in a locked cupboard/closet that provides sufficient ventilation for cooling.

Users have already been partially covered above, but to re-iterate;

• Ensure you have a password policy.

• Ensure you have an acceptable use policy.

• Keep your users happy (most successful attacks on computers originate within the organisation).

Backup is another issue altogether which I will cover later, but you should aim to ensure that you can recover from complete failure/loss of your server/computer system with minimal downtime. There are various options available from on-line storage, through to re-writable DVDs/Tape.

Roy Penfold Computer Services

 

Do you really need CRM Software

Knowing your customers, their needs, likes/dislikes etcetera is essential to many businesses today, particularly those that provide a service as opposed to tangible products. CRM, or Customer Relationship Software is often touted as the prime tool for increasing customer spend.
CRM software is generally highly configurable and can capture almost endless information about clients including sales data, meetings, telephone calls and much more.
So how can you tell whether you need to purchase a CRM system?
There are several pointers that may help steer your decision;
How different are your customers? Are they spread over a large geographic area, do they fall into vastly different backgrounds, are their age ranges similar and many other factors? If your customers are similar to each other, you may not need CRM software because there is not a large range of demographic information that requires organisation. If, however, they differ then CRM may help you organise them and target promotions according to demographic parameters.How often do your customers make a purchase, and what do they purchase? If your business only sells a small range of items, then tracking purchases may not present too much of a problem. But if customers buy on a frequent basis or buy a vast range of products, then CRM may help you spot buying patterns and trends.Do customers complain about duplication of sales calls/follow up calls? If you have a number of staff working for you with a shared pool of customers, then this can and will happen. CRM software will permit staff to track activity with specific customers to avoid this duplication. If your sales team are each responsible for a sub-set of your customers, then this is less likely to happen.Is your customer base manageable? For some organisations, keeping track of 10,000 customers is easy without the need for specialist CRM software, others as few as 20 can cause problems, for example missed follow-up calls.
If you have decided to embark on the CRM route, bear in mind that getting the system to work with you and your business is a complex task. Whilst there are numerous CRM systems available at a wide range of prices, you may find that only one really meets your needs. Purchasing the other systems could prove a costly mistake.
Some of the factors to be considered when choosing a CRM system are as follows;
Sales management. All CRM systems should have a strong customer component; that is, they should be able to match the information you have on your customers to their transactions, providing a meaningful analysis for your sales force to use in retaining those customers in the future. With a simple click, you should be able to see the entire history of your transactions with a given customer. Fulfillment. Good CRM software systems should also quickly update your inventory or project databases so that each customer's latest orders can be fulfilled and shipped (if applicable) quickly and easily. After making a sale, your sales professional should be able, through CRM software, to place an order and have those products in the works within seconds. Customer service. Good CRM systems will be able to record service calls, customer comments and other service notes. That way you can quickly respond to a customer who calls with a problem. Miscellaneous add-ons. How flexible is the system? Will it integrate with your accounting system and many other possibilities.

One thing to consider with off-the-shelf CRM software products like GoldMine and ACT! is that the support offered is dependant on where these products are purchased. The integration of customer data between various devices such as a PDA and a cell phone can be more complicated than your technical support contact might want to get into.
If you are going to invest in CRM software, you want everything to work, so make sure good technical support and training is available if needed. You also want to make sure you know what you want. Although these products are off-the-shelf, they are by no means limited, and some offer really sophisticated features for future growth. For example, FrontRange's GoldMine has many features available that instruct and support you in expanding your customer service energy and possibly any sales efforts.
A few final things to consider: CRM software is a very personal tool just as a to-do list can be. It manages data that is close to the heart and sometimes very private. It tracks how you interact with your customers and associates. Anyone considering CRM software must weigh how changing this tool will impact productivity.
Source: http://www.roypenfold.co.uk/