Text Your Tech; Exchange Defender Lunch & Learn Date and Time

First, let me apologize for leaving off the date and time for the Exchange Defender Lunch & Learn in the previous post. I guess I got so wrapped up writing up what we're going to cover that I forgot to say when we're going to do it! It's going to be Wednesday at Noon.

Here's link to the corrected blog post with the Live Meeting link, date, time and conference call information.

http://smalltechnotes.blogspot.com/

Text Your Tech

Yesterday we added text capability to our cell phones. Now all of our technicians have the ability to send and receive text messages. Just send your message to their cell phone number and you'll get a response.

Although text is tracked and recorded it is not a good replacement for email and especially not for our support portal. These are the only ways to make sure your request is received and acted upon. Text is more of an ad-hoc medium. Good for a quick note but not much else. But if you need to send that quick note and it's not critical that it gets there (text has a very high non-delivery rate) the capability is there. 

With all of this new technology, we also had a discussion about etiquette. When we're on-site, we're not to respond to text messages from another client; not to respond to email from another client; not to take phone calls from another client. When we're on-site you have our undivided attention. 

Lunch & Learn: Exchange Defender (updated)

Spend 30 minutes learning how to use Exchange Defender. No need to leave your computer. Unpack a sandwich and join us! Q&A will be held at the conclusion and we will stay online until all are answered.

• What does Exchange Defender do?
• Using the Daily E-Mail
• Trusting vs Releasing
• NEW: Outlook Add-In
• Reporting Spam
• Customizing
• E-Mail Continuity and Archiving

Wednesday September 24th. Noon.

For end users, using Exchange Defender now. For administrators and business owners thinking about subscribing.

Address for the Meeting:

https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/mvp/join?id=KB7HDH&role=attend&pw=J%22%40DN9%22%24w

Meeting ID: KB7HDH

Attendee Entry Code: J"@DN9"$w

If you haven't attended a Live Meeting before please arrive 15 minutes early to download the software.

Conference Dial-in Number: (616) 347-8100 Access Code: 465751#

Yesterday We Got A Call

Yesterday we got a call from our partner rep at Microsoft. She was calling to assess the impact of the rain, wind and flooding we enjoyed from Hurricane Ike. She was calling to check on our clients. Make sure everything was OK. Make sure that there wasn't some help we could use.

This isn't the first time that Microsoft has called to check on us and you.

I have never gotten a call from any other company that we are partnered with. No call from Comcast, cBeyond, Trend Micro, Intuit, Dell...no call from anyone but Microsoft.

Honestly this is why we stick with Microsoft. They have people that really care. They let us into their corporate structure, open up, connect with us and invite us to participate in their decision making. We get to see the good, bad, ugly, stupid, rude, ignorant and brilliant.

So Microsoft called to make sure that your business was OK. Just wanted to let you know.

Quickbooks Referral Program

We've finished the transition to Quickbooks as our merchant account processor. This means that our credit card processing is finally integrated with the accounting program and man is it a lot easier. I'm also hoping that they will be better about putting through the detail for what the charge is. I have been frustrated that I enter "off-site backup - July" in the description and comments section and it doesn't show up on your bill that way.

Now that we've completed this transition Quickbooks sent us a referral offer for all of you. The offer they have for you is No Set-Up Fee, No Application Fee and No Service Fee for 2 months. It works out to a $95 savings.

If you want to take advantage of this offer, call them at 800-601-3751, tell them Harbor Computer Services sent you and our phone number is 248-850-8616. It will save you $95 right off the bat and probably a little money every month from the lower fees. If you find that you are paying lower or matching fees than what they offer you, drag your feet a little and they'll lower their fee. (It worked for me)

 

Finally an FYI, to let you know that Missy is back on the trail as the office build-out is nearly complete. It's looking great. She's the master of plaster but we desperately need her back in the office. So what ever went wrong with the books, it was my fault and she's the unlucky cleanup crew. :)

Virus Alert

The latest in virus email is to claim that your credit card has been charged and the attached file contains your receipt. They use big name companies with online shopping like Northwest Airlines (all of the airlines have been hit with this scam). They play on the fear we all have of our credit card being stolen and they use your email address in combination with big name online retailers or even the IRS to try to snag you into opening the attachment and infecting yourself.

This is known as a phishing (pronounced fishing) scam. They want you to call the phone number, click the link, open the attachment...to enter your credit card number and billing information to cancel the supposed charge. It will also install software on your computer that searches for strings of numbers representing social security numbers and credit cards. It's easy enough to do. What else but a social security number has the pattern xxx-xx-xxxx? When they find that pattern they grab the document and off it goes to Russia, or China or Korea, then for sale on the Internet.

The solution here is the same as always. Never open an attachment that you were not expecting. If someone sends you an attachment, even someone you know, verify with them what it is before you open it.

Here's an example of the virus email:

Dear Gentlemen,

Thank you for using our new service "Buy flight ticket Online" on our website.

Your account has been created:

Your login: (your email address here)

Your password: passPJM6

Your credit card has been charged for $658.04.

We would like to remind you that whenever you order tickets on our website you get a discount of 10%!

Attached to this message is the purchase Invoice and the airplane ticket.

To use your ticket, simply print it on a color printed, and you are set to take off for the journey!

Kind regards,

Northwest Airlines