October 2008
In this issue:
? Power of Presence
? Moving Your Office?
? Economic Rollercoaster
? Is Your Data Protected
? Microsoft Demo
? Just for Laughs
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Is Your Data Protected?
How long would your business survive if your data disappeared overnight? Not long.
Click here to learn more about how we can protect you!
Manage your Contacts, Join an IM Conversation
Are you new to Communicator 2007? In this demo, you will learn how to log on, add contacts and set their access level, start an instant messaging (IM) conversation, and escalate that IM session to a voice call.
How to do it (Text Version)
Watch this demo to learn more about Communicator 2007.
Just for Laughs
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Practical Productivity – The Power of “Presence”
 Where is he?
Is he at his desk?
Is he on the phone?
Is he even at the office today?
Can he answer one quick question?
Have you ever asked any of the above about a fellow employee? These kinds of questions can become real productivity blockers in today’s fast-paced work environment. I’ve stopped asking those questions since we installed Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and Microsoft Communicator clients at our office. Our company is now “presence-enabled” with OCS. When I open Communicator, I can see at a glance who is working at their desk by a green button next to their name. If they are away from their computer for 5 minutes, the button turns yellow. If they are offline, their name is grayed out. When a fellow worker is across the building or maybe even in another location this simple list becomes a big help. For example, I can hover over someone’s name during the middle of the day. If they show away for 45 minutes, I can make the assumption that I will see them back from lunch in the next 15 minutes. If their button is green, I can type in an instant message that pops up on their desktop.
Read more
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Moving your office? 5 tips for Staying Productive
by Christopher Elliott
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center
 Even if you are only moving to another floor in your building, the thought of relocating probably sounds about as appealing as going totally without carbs for a week.
After all, moving your business or home is widely considered one of the single-most stressful life events for an individual. Add to that the prospect of losing valuable work time, and you can understand why small-business owners like Michael Hirschfeld try to get out of town when the business remodels, relocates or redecorates.
"I have always been scheduled to be out of town for the day before, day of, and day after moving day," says Hirschfeld, the managing partner of a real-estate company in Westport, Conn. "Simply put, less is more."
Leaving the office entirely is, of course, the best way of handling any relocation. Step aside and let the movers do their thing. But how do you keep your business productive even when your office is in pieces?
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Riding the Economic Rollercoaster
reprinted with permission from HP
 Stephen Minton, vice president, Worldwide IT Markets and Strategies, IDC, offers insight on how outsourcing can help you ride out the economic downturn—and maybe even gain a leg up on the competition along the way.
Rising gasoline prices. Falling consumer confidence. Subprime mortgages. Inflation. Budget cuts. Currency fluctuations. Floods, droughts and crop shortages. Each day's news seems to add to the torrent of challenges heading our way. No business is immune—but outsourcing can offer a way to leverage technology to help stem the negative tide.
Here, IDC's Stephen Minton shares his expert views and experience on the subject—and puts some useful perspective around when it does and does not make sense to consider outsourcing in today's volatile economic climate.
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October.
This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks.
The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June,
December, August, and February.
--Mark Twain
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