Copyrights & Wrongs
You’ve got a great phone system (hopefully you have moved up to a Voice over IP phone system by now!) and you want to use all the great features of it.
One feature that is common to (most) all VoIP systems is that you can use Music On Hold (MOH) which gives the poor caller who gets placed on hold something to listen to other than dead air, or beep, or, God forbid, constant ringing like I got the other day for 2 minutes solid when calling a very large vendor for support. RING RING RING AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
The trend for the last few years has been to get voice talent to record promotional messages, combined with music that makes the time spent on hold for the client productive. A large number of sales have been made due to a promotional message telling a holding client about services or sales specials offered. I guess the impulse buyers hear, “Did you know we offer Microsoft Licensing?” and immediately place an order for 1000 seats of Microsoft Office 2010 or something. Hmmm, maybe we should do that here at Homeland?
The costs of having these messages produced vary from 5 dollars (if you want an Indian accent) to thousands of dollars, with the average falling at about 500 dollars for high quality, professional voice talent and music to be provided.
Some businesses have gone the extreme budget route and recorded their own messages, complete with lots of “uhhhs” and the like and plenty of background noise.
A smaller organization may just want to plug in a radio to the MOH port on the phone system and let that play, or maybe use their iPod or other MP3 player to put on their favorite tunes. I mean, let’s get real here, if you like Adele and Rhianna, your clients should love it to!
There’s a slight problem with that. Okay, not so slight; You are using unlicensed music which could result in law suits and fines…
The music that you own already, which you purchased off of iTunes or Amazon, or even own the vinyl record that you converted over to an MP3, is not your’s for public performance. Confused? Me too! Basically, there is a difference between owning the right to play that music for yourself, and the right to play it for others to hear.
So what’s a soul to do in order to provide entertainment on hold in the form of music?
- You could find “royalty free” music, but be warned, it won’t keep a licensing organization from coming after you. You could STILL get a letter to cease the use of that music with the threat of lawsuit or fines if they believe it is owned by them. Make sure you can backup the fact that the music is in the public domain, the person/group performing it do not have a copyright on it and that it is not just released for listening or performance, that it has no “mechanical copyright” on it which would prohibit you from using it in the manner you wish to use it.
- There are licensing entities such as ASCAP and BMI which you can pay in order to use the music which you want to play. You can license a single song in some cases, or get a blanket license to use anything from their repertoire.
- There are “music on hold” providers, which take care of all the licensing for you (be careful here, there are some shady ones). These are the ones who will give you professional voice talent if you want that, along with a genre of music that is appealing to your callers, hopefully.
- You could find a local musician who writes and produces their own original content and tell them you would like to showcase their talent on your on-hold system. Get it in writing that they are giving you permission to use their original music for a set time, and what the cost is. It may be free!
I am sure I have overlooked something as I am no expert in this field. But, this may be give you an idea of what you are up against regarding Music On Hold.
Myself, I am sad I can’t use a loop of Sugarloaf’s “Don’t Call us, We’ll Call you” to play to telemarketers….
If you do decide to hire a professional voice artist in the Greenville / Upstate area, please email me and I may be able to point you in the right direction.
This may come as no surprise to those who have been around computer security for a while, but the BIOS viruses are making a comeback!
One of the first made its debut back in 1999 and was known as “CIH”. But Symantec is reporting a new killer on the block called “Trojan.Mebromi” that affects the Award BIOS and seizes control of a system even before you get to the MBR (Master Boot Record).
Expect this trend to continue….
Read more about it here:
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/bios-threat-showing-again
As always, please insure your systems are using the latest anti-virus (We suggest and sell Trend Micro products such as the amazing Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security), that all updates are applied to your Microsoft Windows operating systems, all applications and support programs from Microsoft Office, to Adobe Reader, Flash and JAVA are at the latest patch levels. Obtain a quality firewall, and use common sense! And don’t forget to BACKUP!
If you suspect your system may be infected, or want to know how to better protect your computer or an entire business full of computers and servers, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com. We offer virus removal and cleanup in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area.
We provide sales, licensing, installation and support for Trend Micro and Symantec products. We can sell you one seat, or protect your business with 1000 users!
Microsoft Office 2010
Don’t forget about the Microsoft “Up-to-Date” promotion if you are considering upgrading your business to Microsoft Office 2010!
SMB (Small / Medium Business Organizations can receive a savings of 50 percent on the first annual payment on Office Professional Plus 2010 licenses!
To be eligible for this promotion, you must sign a new commercial Open Value Subscription agreement or Open Value Subscription for Government agreement and acquire Office Professional Plus 1010 licenses.
Please insure your Microsoft reseller uses the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 up-to-date (UTD) license SKU when they place your order so you can receive the savings. The reseller must also submit a signed Open Value Subscription Up-to-Date Discount form.
Act now to get your savings!
Compare Microsoft Office Standard and Microsoft Professional Plus 1010 – both available through Volume Licensing
Homeland Secure IT offers Microsoft sales and licensing to Greenville and Upstate SC businesses, organizations and individuals. Call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.
Windows 8
Don’t get all excited, yet, but a couple days ago, bloggers found a post on a Dutch Microsoft blog which discussed the upcoming release of Windows 8.
While the post was quickly removed, it has created a lot of stir in the IT community. Some of it good, and a LOT of it bad. Some believe after the “failed” unleashing of Microsoft Windows Vista on the unsuspecting public, that the update to Windows 7 should have been free for anyone with Vista! Of course, these same people think that EVERY update from MS should be free.
One blog post I read had the poster claiming that the (possible) 2012 release of Windows 8 would coincide with the end of the world as predicted by the Mayan calendar.
Most seem to feel that another update to Windows is just another way to get money. Now this I agree with. Microsoft is not a charity, they have to bring in money, and they do so with new innovations that they can sell and hopefully profit on. Do we really want a software company that doesn’t create new and exciting things, as well as just fixing the bugs?
Regardless of what people post on these random blogs, the general sentiment is that Microsoft Windows 7 is likely the best product that MS has ever offered, and is certainly the best Operating System. So, if Windows 8 follows that trend and brings us another stable platform with decent security, then 2012 is not soon enough. Though I just love living on the edge.
If you would like to purchase the CURRENT Windows 7 Operating System, either a single copy, or hundreds of licenses for your business or non-profit organization, Homeland Secure IT would like to assist you. Please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com.
Microsoft’s Home Use Program, or “HUP” is a benefit offered to those with Microsoft’s Software Assurance, which allows you to offer your employees the latest version of the Microsoft Office suite to use at home.
Let’s say you purchase 25 seats of Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus with Software Assurance from Homeland Secure IT, you can then turn around and offer your staff the ability to download the Office Suite and use it on their home computers for only $9.95! (They can also purchase the physical media for an additional $12.00 or purchase Office 2008 for Mac for $8.00)
Allowing your employees to have access to the latest version of Microsoft Office at home helps them to become accustomed to the software you are using, or planning to deploy, which in turn helps boost their productivity!
For more information about Microsoft Software Assurance, or to purchase Microsoft products such as Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Office 2010 Professional, Microsoft Server 2008, Exchange Server 2010 or any other Microsoft product, please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990.4748.
We are a Microsoft Small Business Specialist providing sales, service and support to Greenville and Upstate SC…
If you own or maintain your own business phone or computer network, you are probably renewing your licensing yearly for everything from your Cisco VoIP phone system & ASA 5500 network security appliances to Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security, Trend Office Scan, to Microsoft Software Assurance or purchases of new seats.
Chances are also good you are buying your licensing from a vendor who may have originally installed the equipment and they could be charging you for the licensing plus a fee to administer those licenses for you. The licensing is generally sold at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
If you would like another quote on your license renewals and sales, please contact us at 864.990.4748 x 201, or email info@homelandsecureit.com
We offer sales of products and licensing, as well as licensing renewals for Trend Micro, Cisco, Symantec, Microsoft and more! We never charge an administration fee.
One word of warning regarding “deep discount” licensing providers – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. The markup on licensing is not very much, so if you find Microsoft Office Professional for 20% less than the retail, odds are, it is counterfeit product and will allow you no ability to upgrade or receive support.
“What is the difference between Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Business & Office 2010 Professional?” and “What does Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus have that Office 2010 Professional does not?” are common questions that we are asked by potential buyers and those who wish to upgrade. Once we explain the differences, the obvious next question is going to be, “How much does each one cost?”.
In an attempt to make it easier to visualize the differences between versions, I located a chart from a Wiki article and modified it to include the current suggested retail pricing of the various versions.
Microsoft Office 2010 Features and MSRP Matrix
As you can see from the chart, Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus offers every feature available in the Office Suite of programs if you purchase the Volume license. And the Home and Student version provides the basic suite of software, excluding the Outlook mail client. The number one seller is Microsoft Home & Business because it does offer Outlook and it is affordable as well.
Notice the “Product Key Code Price” is much lower than the full retail version. The Product Key Code, or PKC version is the same as the Retail offering for each suite with a lower price due to the lack of media. PKC sales are designed for new PC purchases, which come with the evaluation of Microsoft Office 2010 pre-installed. Instead of buying a full retail version and installing that, you purchase the PKC from your vendor, which is just a package that contains a Product Key. The Product Key is then entered into the demo version to register it as the full product you purchased.
Not only does this save on packaging costs, but less packaging means less junk ends up in the landfill (while not a totally green solution, every little bit helps).
Volume licensing is the king of the green solutions as you do not actually receive any paper or packaging, or even media. You purchase a minimum of five licenses, which are delivered electronically, and you download the media and burn it to your own disk. Volume licensing is ideal for a small office of 5 or more, on up to offices and organizations with 1000s of employees.
Homeland Secure IT offers nationwide sales of Microsoft products as full retail, product key code or volume licensing, 1 user or 1 million users. We also offer complete installation, upgrades and computer / network support / service in the Greenville and Upstate South Carolina area. Please call 864-990-4748 ext 201 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.
The next time your business needs to purchase new or renewal Cisco SMARTnet services, Trend Micro Anti-Virus, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Microsoft Office, Microsoft User / Server CALs, or Microsoft Software Assurance, please remember Homeland Secure IT…
We offer sales of licensing and renewals for these and many other great companies… Just call 864-990-4748 ext 201 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We serve Greenville and the Upstate of SC, as well as nationwide licensing sales
