Word travels fast on Twitter! And word was that there were outages affecting some Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite customers over the past few weeks… In light of that, Microsoft has stepped up to the plate with their Online Services Health Dashboard and made it available to all customers and partners in all regions.
This is direct from their newsletter:
Introducing the Microsoft Online Services Health Dashboard
Microsoft Online Services is pleased to make the new Microsoft Online Services Health Dashboard available to all customers and partners in all regions.
The Health Dashboard is a step forward in our efforts to continuously improve our ability to provide customers and partners with up-to-date, accurate, and complete information about our dynamic services. It provides a greater level of transparency into the status of all Microsoft Online services and tools with detailed current and historical information for our three regions: Americas, serving customers in North America and Latin America (NOAM); Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific (APAC).
For more information on the Health Dashboard, please refer to the Public Announcement on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog.
If you would like to see what all the hubbub is about regarding Software As A Service (SaaS), In-The-Cloud, or Cloud Computing, you can try Microsoft BPOS for free with a no obligation trial.
You get a virtual Microsoft Exchange server which you can use with Outlook Web Access, or your own Outlook, shared calendars, Microsoft SharePoint, and more!
Homeland Secure IT offers both Google Apps and Microsoft BPOS and can help you decide which is best for your application. Please email info@homelandsecureit.com, call 864.990.4748 or visit HERE for more information….
Tip Of The Day – Gatekeeper Email Setup:
Here’s the scenario… Assume you are an executive and you are lucky enough to have a personal assistant. Now, let’s also assume you are sick of getting email from just any Tom, Dick or Harry. What do you do? You make your PA your “Gatekeeper”.
There are lots of ways to handle this, but let’s throw some other items into the mix just to make the possible solution below the best one… You want to get your “filtered” mail on your desktop, your iPad, Outlook Web Access, your Android phone, and still have your contacts and calendars shared where your PA can drop those items right into your box.
My suggestion would be to create three accounts:
Mary Jane (maryj@yourcompany.com) for your PA
Joe Blow (joeb@yourcompany.com) for your external email, that the world mails to.
Joe Blow Personal (joeblowpersonal@yourcompany.com)
Associate your Outlook account, iPhone, iPad, Android and other devices with Joe Blow Personal. If you use Outlook Web Access, you will login to OWA using Joe Blow Personal’s credentials.
Share the Joe Blow Personal account’s Calendar and Contacts (If you want the PA to make direct entries to those folders).
Set Mary Jane as a full owner of the Joe Blow account.
Now, on Mary Jane’s computer, set her Outlook to open the Mary Jane email account and an additional email account of Joe Blow (joeb@yourcompany.com). Also, go to File/Open and open Joe Blow Personal’s Calendar and Contacts.
Mary Jane now can open the inbox of Joe Blow, where all the junk comes from, and sort it as they see fit, then forward the mail to you for reading (Or if you allow her to open your inbox, she could drag and drop the good stuff to your mailbox). Mary Jane can also directly enter calendar entries and contacts for your account.
You can set your reply-to address to be joeb@yourcompany.com if you do not want people replying directly to you, so any emails you send out will be replied to and go direct to your gatekeeper.
Outlook and Exchange allow many wonderful configuration options… If you desire more information about this or anything related to Microsoft Exchange / Outlook, please call us at 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – we offer free consultations in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area!
Microsoft Office 2011
Microsoft’s latest version of Office 2011 is due out in October of 2011. It features many improvements over previous versions and comes in the following flavors:
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $119 for a single install and $149 for the “Family Pack” giving you up to 3 installs. The Home and Student edition includes the core productivity applications that Mac users want and need.
Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $199 for a single install and $249 for the “Multi-Pack” which allows two installs. This version sports all features of the Home and Student version with the addition of Microsoft Outlook for Mac.
Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2010 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac. It will retail for $99 and be available direct from Microsoft and authorized academic stores.
Buy Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac today and upgrade to Office 2011 at no additional cost!
If you require additional information about Microsoft Office for Mac or Windows, please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864.990-4748. Homeland Secure IT offers computer and network support in the Greenville / Upstate area, as well as national sales of Microsoft products!
Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 With BPOS Goodness
So you are setup with a FREE trial of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite and are enjoying all the online apps but something is missing, you don’t want to use web apps, you want to use all the features of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or 2010 that you have already paid for and know your way around.
Well it is possible to have your cake and eat it too! *IF* you signed up for the BPOS Standard trial instead of the “Deskless Worker” trial, then you can configure your Outlook to view the same Exchange data you see with Outlook Web Access. You will see the same emails, the same contacts, the same tasks, folders, public folders, calendars etc!
Wait, you didn’t get the Standard version of the BPOS demo? That’s okay, you can log back into the portal and activate the Standard version, then deactivate the Deskless Worker product and not even lose your configuration. YOU MAY lose your emails though and have to start over, but hey, it’s just a demo, you didn’t have that much anyway!
Okay, so back to task at hand, getting Outlook configured. It’s EASY, relatively speaking to accomplish this. First you log into your online mail app (OWA) at http://mail.microsoft.com and once in there, click on OPTIONS at the upper right hand corner, then, select ABOUT from the left hand menu. You will see something that looks like this:
Data to gather from OWA to setup Outlook
The important information for you to gather will be the “Outlook Web Access host name”, and the “Mailbox server name”.
Now, close out Outlook on your desktop and go to START/Control Panel and select Mail (If using Win 7 64 bit, once you open Control Panel, type “mail” in the Search Control Panel input at the top right hand side and select “Mail (32-Bit)”).
Select “Show Profiles” and add a new one… Let’s call it “BPOS”. Next, select the checkbox for “Manually configure server settings or additional server types” then hit “Next >”. Select “Microsoft Exchange or compatible service” and hit “Next >”.
In the “Server:” field, put the information you gathered from Outlook Web Access for the Mailbox Server Name… (Ex: A3DIAXVS251.RED001.local). For “User Name:” enter your email address, then select “More Settings”. Don’t bother hitting “Check Name” as it will not function (yet)…
Select the “Connection” tab, at the bottom, select “Connect to Microsoft Exchange using HTTP” and then hit the button “Exchange Proxy Settings…”, for “Use this URL to connect to my proxy server for Exchange:”, you need to enter the Outlook Web Access hostname from OWA (Ex: red001.mail.microsoftonline.com) and do not include the “https://” or the “/owa” here, just the hostname.
You can select to “Only connect to proxy servers that have this principal name in their certificate” if you wish, but not necessary.
DO select both of the checkboxes at the bottom for “On xxxx networks, connect using HTTP first, then connect using TCP/IP”, and set the proxy authentication settings to “NTLM Authentication”.
Click OKAY and apply those settings and now try to open Outlook… You should be prompted with a login.
Sounds complicated? Kinda-sorta, but it works well, and you only have to do it once. You can also use the Microsoft single signon client if you wish, which will remember your login and password and allow you to open Outlook without any issue, but some company policies may not allow you to install additional software, or automatic login applications so the above should work for you.
If you get stuck, please reply here or shoot me an email at info@homelandsecureit.com and I will try to give you a hand.
Microsoft BPOS
Are you tired of dealing with POP3 or IMAP mail from your ISP? Tired of SLOW email? Do you want to share calendars between coworkers? Do you want to see the same contacts, calendar entries and emails on your phone as you do in your Outlook on your desktop and also via a web interface? Do you want your mobile workforce to have access to the same resources you do, including public / shared calendars & contacts? Want support for your Mac, Apple iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry?
Then Microsoft Exchange is the way to go, however, there are costs associated with hosting your own Exchange server that are unattractive to many smaller businesses.
Fortunately there are Hosted / In-The-Cloud alternatives, such as Microsoft’s Own BPOS, the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite which features a Hosted Exchange server, SharePoint, Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Online. Using BPOS can eliminate the need to purchase, deploy, maintain, backup and eventually upgrade a Microsoft Windows Server with Microsoft Exchange Server. The services are hosted “in the cloud”, in a data center, where all maintenance and upgrades are maintained FOR you. No need to worry with backups either.
This solution isn’t right for everybody, but it could be the answer to your problems if you have a smaller office, a large mobile workforce, a small budget or possibly no central location to place a server at. Would you like more information? Please call us at 864-990-4748 ext 201 or email info@homelandsecureit.com to arrange for a free, no obligation consultation.
Free 30 Day BPOS Trial
Optionally, you can sign up for a FREE 30 day trial of BPOS - Business Productivity Online Standard Suite - This trial includes 20 user licenses for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online.
Homeland Secure IT offers Hosted Microsoft Online Services including the full BPOS / Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting & Office Communications Online) as well as the Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite (Exchange Online & SharePoint Online), and each service individually.
If you are in the Upstate / Greenville SC area, we can assist you with configuring your Outlook to work with the Hosted Exchange Online service at your location or ours.
We also offer full remote support and phone support to clients anywhere in the United States.
Many people from investment bankers to video and photo editors have been using multiple monitors on their desktops for years, but the majority of individuals have not realized the value in adding video “real estate” to their desktops.
A typical computer worker will have a 19″ monitor on their desk, and spend a good part of their day flipping between applications. They will open Microsoft Outlook, and read emails, flip back to Excel and work on a spreadsheet, copy some data from that and paste it into an email or start up Microsoft Word and continue this routine of flipping between applications to view the most important one at that moment.
Windows 7 allows you to quickly move two programs to opposite sides of a display to view them simultaneously
Some workstations are lucky enough to be equipped with a larger, say 20 or 22 inch widescreen monitor, and Microsoft Windows 7 which allows you to easily snap one program to one half of the screen and another to the other half, sharing that one monitor to view Word and Excel simultaneously.
While this solution is much better than the constant flipping, it does have a few drawbacks, such as limited display area due to screen size, unless you are one of the very few who are fortunate enough to have a 30″ display, and if you are one of those, you can just close out this site now, because we all hate you. (Of course I am only kidding, really).
A much more elegant solution is to use two monitors, hopefully of the same model and place them side-by-side or use a specialized mount to hold the monitors in the perfect position for you to see them. These mounts have come down in price considerably and are worth looking into, especially if you have MORE than 2 monitors.
Dual monitors can increase your productivity
For those who have not experienced multiple monitors, having two monitors allows you to keep your Outlook open on one, while working in Word or another application on another. You move seamlessly between them, when your mouse gets to the right edge of the left monitor, it moves to the left edge of the right monitor. You can move open windows and applications between these monitors as if they are one large display.
I currently have two 24″ monitors on my desk, and could not work with less than that after maximizing the use of these monsters. If I had a larger desk, I would add another monitor!
Going multi-monitor is a snap. You first need a computer that supports this, or to purchase a dual output video card. Then you need a 2nd monitor and cable. It’s really that easy. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 supports multiple displays, but Windows 7 does the best job of it. Apple Mac OS X Machines also support multiple monitors.
The Nexlink Business computers we offer come dual monitor ready, so if you have one of these systems, you only need the additional monitor.
If you would like more information on dual or multiple monitors (no need to stop at 2, why not add 6!?), monitor stands, multiple output video cards, or our Nexlink Business computers, please call 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com – We offer sales of monitors, computers, video cards and installation in the Greenville / Upstate, SC area.
Mailing List Mayhem
Let’s assume you are managing a mail distribution list with more than 50 people on it for a church or business and currently you are handling it in Outlook. Why not assume it is for a newsletter or bulletin…
Some of the problems you face are as follows: ( AKA the Top 10 Reasons to Switch to Email Marketing)
10. This is just too confusing and time consuming (see reasons 9 through 1 below)
9. Sending large emails with pictures or PDF attachments to dozens of people can slow your mail server to a crawl and take all day to send.
8. You have to manually add and remove each recipient, which is time consuming and is prone to human error (typos, accidental deletion of the wrong people).
7. You have no way for people to add themselves via a link on your website.
6. Subscribers are not verified, they have not opted-in. (Read more about the CAN-SPAM Act).
5. You have no way to see if your email was actually OPENED, or see which links were clicked on in your email.
4. Your mail distribution list likely has only the email address of each person and no idea of who happygirl1977@gmail.com really is.
3. You do not have a list of which addresses are bouncing, unless you compile it yourself from the actual bounced messages.
2. If you are sending newsletters, you may be just constructing your email inside Outlook and it may be text based, with no real consistency in appearance.
And the number one issue faced by those using Outlook to manage a mailing list/newsletter: You are sending a large number of emails from your account, which may appear to recipients and mail servers to be junk mail, which could ultimately result in your mail ending up in the spam folder, or worse, certain mail servers could see traffic from you as unsolicited email and flag your IP address as suspicious, resulting in the inability to send to that domain again until it is cleared up. In some cases, you could be blacklisted and placed on a real-time block list (RBL) and that would affect all mail sent from everyone at your business or organization to many mail servers around the world. (Those types of problems can take a while to get cleared up, and some RBLs hold you hostage and make you pay a fee before removing you).
The solution to these nightmares is to make a small monthly investment and use one of the many mailing list managers that are designed for email marketing and newsletters. They address all of the issues above, and give you an easy template based interface which allows you to create well structured newsletters, and send them to your subscribers without fear of blacklisting, and without the hassles of manually editing distribution lists. You can place a signup button and form on your website, and anyone who is interested can subscribe themselves to your list!
As an added bonus, you can see how many of the emails went out, how many were opened, which links were clicked on and other analytic information that will assist you in determining what content is “interesting” to your subscriber base. You also see how many bounced, without having a dozen bounce messages in your inbox!
You are probably thinking that this must be expensive and there is no way you can afford it. Quite the contrary, you can get started for FREE by signing up for an evaluation. After the trial period, you can then subscribe for a few dollars per month. I personally opted for MadMimi (see link below) because it is the most affordable, however, any of the three are awesome!
If you would like to subscribe to our mailing lists, or see what the subscription form looks like, click here:
Subscribe to our mailing lists
Try these out for free:
One last thing – Using these solutions you do not have to have a Publisher, or even Office loaded. It does not matter if you are on a Microsoft Windows machine, Apple Mac, a netbook or even a tablet or pad computer, you can create your newsletter with just about any computer with a web browser!
If you have questions or need some assistance, just let me know, I will do what I can to help!
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
Do you have a blog and tire of entering your entries through the WordPress web interface? Sure, some people post using Outlook and email their blog entries, but using Word to publish is another great weapon in your arsenal.
Using Microsoft Office 2010, you can simplify your life a little by composing the posting in the familiar Word editor and then publish to your WordPress blog!
How do you do this? Easy as pie…
Step 1: Get a blog! Oh wait, you already have one or you wouldn’t be reading this.
Step 2: Get Microsoft Office 2010 (or 2007).
Step 3: Write your blog entry in Word and when ready to publish, select “File” from the pull down, then “Save & Send” and finally “Publish as Blog Post”
Step 4: The first time you do this, you will be prompted to “Register a Blog Account”… Select “Register Now”
Step 5: Select the type of blog you have, such as WordPress, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blog, etc… I’ll go with WP from here on….
Step 6: You need to enter the path to your xmlrpc.php, such as: http://www.yourblog.com/wordpress/xmlrpc.php
Step 7: Enter the user name and password you use to log into your blog and select “OK” (Select “Remember Password” if you trust nobody is going to use your computer and enter silly blog posts for you)
Step 8: Profit… Uhmm okay, maybe not… Let’s try that again… Step 8: Post something interesting to the blogospher for the rest of us to read!
If you have not tried out Microsoft Office 2010 yet, you can download a free trial, or you can purchase from your favorite Microsoft Partner, like US! Call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for additional information.
