PlumChoice

Don’t Let This Be the Summer of Your Discontent

We all have tried this with varying degrees of success – finagling a few more precious days of vacation by attempting to replicate your work environment away from the office.  But the stress of not getting your technology to work the way it should while off-site, can lead to more stress than it’s worth.  But don’t despair. You can pull this off, you just need to give it a little forethought.  So here are a few basic pointers to help relieve the pressures of working remotely this summer - no matter where you are.

• High-Speed Connection…My Kingdom for a High-Speed Connection!  First and foremost, confirm that there is a working high speed Internet connection at the place you’ll be visiting.  If you find yourself having to struggle with dial-up, you’ll end up missing all of the fun you stayed the extra few days to have…and start paraphrasing Shakespeare like mad.  There is nothing worse than spending all of your beach time waiting on a dial-up connection!

To Thine Own Work Style Be True.  When you work, you probably use a lot more than just email so you have to resist the urge to tell yourself that as long as you’re on email, you can pretty much get things done.  You may need access to your files, past email, perhaps even the office network.  So the first step to avoiding frustration and stress is to make sure you have easy access to all of the things you need.  Talk to your systems manager (or call us!) and get yourself set up.

Get Thee to Your Office PC! If you don't have your own laptop to take with you with access to your files, consider using a desktop sharing application like GoToMyPC that will enable you to work on your work computer as if you were sitting in front of it.

Whether you’re traveling on business or pleasure this summer, it’s important to expect the unexpected.   USA Today did a nice job in an April article on the subject (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/services/2007-04-10-road-computer-fix_n.htm). 

And for those with a taste for disaster, here is a fun piece from Business 2.0 (http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/biz2/0706/gallery.travel_disasters.biz2/index.html)

Enjoy the rest of your summer and happy travels!

Ted

Your Right to Privacy

You may have seen some of the recent online reports and commentary about one well-known computer support company violating consumers’ privacy and trust by secretly downloading customer files. Whether these reports prove accurate or not, they raise the question of just how secure your personal data is when a technician comes to call.

Whenever turning your computer over to another party through traditional support means, whether it’s at a service desk in a store or having a technician on your computer in your home, you as the consumer have little control over what happens to your personal data. But this is where Remote Services offers a huge advantage over traditional service calls. Because our services are delivered via the Internet, we are able to monitor and record EVERY aspect of the support session, from both a visual (down to the technician’s keystrokes) and the audio perspective (from the first hello to the final goodbye). These recordings are centrally maintained, and if a customer ever has a question about what took place during the session, we can pull up the recordings and address their concerns immediately.

This approach protects both the customer and the technician from any misunderstandings or perceived improper actions.

In our view, this should become standard operating procedure for all technology help companies. You as the customer deserve to have your privacy protected at all cost and any organization that is unwilling to put your trust first, doesn’t deserve your business.

Picture Perfect Summer

The summer brings with it so many great outings, vacations, reunions, ballgames and BBQs.  It's a season made for capturing in pictures.

And it's the time when we all pull out the old, digital camera in hopes of snapping that perfect photo.  Before you do, keep in mind these simple tips to ensure yours make it thru to Fall. I've been known myself to have the perfect shot, only to run out of battery or space on my memory card.  So here are my recommendations:

- Purchase an additional memory card.  Most cameras come with a card that only holds a handful of photos.

- Set your camera so that it takes mid-sized photos.  If you don't adjust the photo size, you'll never be able to send photos of your trip to the Outer Banks to Grandma!

- Be sure to pack an extra battery.  It never fails that when you need it the most, the battery life is gone.

- And a theme for those who've been reading our blog the past few weeks, be sure to download and back up your photos.  I'd hate to see you lose them months later. 

If you have a recommendation on picture taking you'd like to share, post it in a comment here.  At least in my case, my picture taking skills can only improve.

Smooth Sailing This Summer

Are you ready for summer? I am.  I've got some plans to do a little traveling with my family, spend a little more time outdoors, and hopefully catch a Sox game or two.

Like me, you're probably going to be giving your laptop and Blackberry a hard workout this summer to keep you tied in while out of the office.  So it's a good idea to get it in shape now and treat it right to ensure an uninterrupted work/play/travel schedule.

Before traveling, here are a few things you can do to protect your mobile systems:

And while you're on the road, always be sure to:

1) Back up your data.  There are some really easy automated ways to do this and believe me, you'll thank me later if you do this now.   

2) Purchase a USB storage device and save the work you need.  You don't want to be away from the office with no access to your critical documents.

3) Be sure to secure your laptop and mobile device.  If you have sensitive information, use an encryption solution to protect yourself.

4) Carry the name and number of your tech support service (1800-PlumHelp works!) in your wallet.  Like Capital One, you don't want to be left without it.

Enjoy the summer and remember to protect yourself from the sun!