Tune in to the Afternoon Shmooze talk show on the Rusty Mike Internet Radio station this Thursday, December 24, 2:30 pm, where I will give host Nettie Feldman the lowdown on Israeli Internet Service Providers.

To listen, go to www.rustymikeradio.com and click on the “Listen Live” button.

You can download the show later. Podcasts available after the show: http://bit.ly/13R2Lx

Windows Operating Systems - How to Decide

Ever since the release of the Vista operating system, Efrat Networks has received ongoing inquiries as to the benefits of Vista over Windows XP. While there actually may be some benefits, we continue to recommend to our clients to stay with XP Home or Pro. Vista is heavy with unnecessary bells and whistles that will severly slow down your computer speed.

Windows 7 is supposed to be released this Fall, and Vista will be ‘trashed’. Apparently, we’re not the only one’s who have avoided use of Vista…

Some general rules of thumb:
1) Don’t be the first on your block to have a new Microsoft Product.  Microsoft relies on millions of end users to de-bug their products in the field.  It pays to wait and see.  Let someone else, the “first adopters”, pull out their hair on Microsoft’s new and green products.
2) If you live in Israel, rule #1 applies even more, because there are always language issues in whatever version is released. Hebrew language issues will be fixed in subsequent service packs and updates.
3) If you are forced to purchase Vista along with a new laptop, ask for Vista Pro. This version can be downgraded to XP Pro without requiring the purchase of an XP license. If you get the laptop with Vista Home and you have a spare XP license on hand, call Efrat Networks and we’ll help you to switch over to XP.  However, this means that the old computer has to have its XP operating system removed before the transfer to the new computer.
4) If you are ’stuck’ with Vista Home, you should also take advantage of Efrat Networks’ expertise to help you slim it down faster than Jenny Craig can say “frozen dinner”, and we’ll help you eliminate those Vista functions that are totally useless for your day-to-day operation of your computer (close to 50% of the functions that run in your computer memory), thereby streamlining your processing speed significantly and giving you a much more pleasant overall computing experience.

To get the ball rolling with Windows 7, DELL has announced that anyone who buys a DELL computer with a Vista license from now through the end of 2009, they will be able to upgrade to Windows 7 for a discounted price of $45 + VAT. So, if you are considering buying a DELL computer, now would be a good time to speak to Efrat Networks about the purchase.

What about Windows 7?

The prize for confusing the the most sane of people goes, as expected, to Microsoft. There are six versions (!!!) of Windows 7: Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. The hype coming from Microsoft is abound, and the reviews are many. In the next few issues (we have time until the Fall), we’ll try to create some guidelines to help you decide what version to choose (if any, at all).

Home Computer
If you plan to buy a PC for use at home, Windows 7 Home Premium is the preferred version. It will do everything you expect Windows to do: run Windows Media Center, network your home computers and devices, support multi-touch technologies and dual-monitor setups, and more. It’s the main version for most people, for home PCs and laptops.

Home & Office Computer
If you also take your laptop to the office, you should examine the computing environment both at home and the office. For example, do you need to run legacy applications (i.e., old programs)? Do you want automatic file backups built into Windows, as opposed to using Syncplicity?

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” you should buy Windows 7 Professional. It contains all the features of Home Premium, but adds support for Domain Joining, which you may need to log on to your office’s corporate network; Windows XP Mode, which makes old software that’s incompatible with Windows 7 run as if it was running on XP; and Microsoft’s Backup and Restore Center, which is an integrated file and folder backup utility for automated backup of important files. Essentially, it’s for any computer that will spend half its life at your home, and the other half at the office.

If you’re just the average consumer with a new PC, these are the two editions to decide between. But there are four others out there.

In the next edition of Get Connected, we’ll try to clear up what they’re all about.

Beat the Economic Crisis

Even with a growing number of Swine Flu instances in Israel, the pandemic pandemonium seems to have abated, at least from the headlines. However, it appears that the Swine Flu and the economic crisis have left an indelible mark on the business world.

As enterprises seek to bring down costs and minimize potential exposure to the Swine Flu (airplanes are “ideal” for picking up other people’s viruses through the air ventilation system), video conferencing has gained popularity as a way to reduce travel expenses while maintaining mission critical communications.

Recent studies are showing a dramatic increase in use of video conferencing systems both on the corporate and even private levels. This shift is attributed to the requirement of minimizing travel budgets.

Here’s the good news. With a now larger base of video conferencing systems installed around the world, there are potentially more business and people with whom you can work via your own video conference system.

“Short” Flights
The Wall Street Journal published an article (June 4, ‘09) on the latest attempt by airlines to squeeze more profit out of their passengers. American, Delta, and Continental, to name a few, have added some 10-16 seats in the Economy section (”Sardine Class”) of their new 737-800’s.

Where did they find all the space from?

Well, 2 inches have been shaved off of the legroom and seat pitch between the seats, and the seat cushions are thinner. That means you’ll have about 31 very tight and uncomfortable inches for your legs. (If you are taller than 5′ 10″, ask for a window seat so you can hang your legs out the window.) The big service galley at the back of the plane was also cut down, since food and beverages are no longer being served on flights.

The real “consolation” here is that with more people on the flight, you’ll still have the same number of bathrooms and the same amount of overhead storage space. With no real seat space to maneuver, it’s probably best if you don’t bring your laptop to work on the plane.

If you must fly, we recommend seats in the exit rows. The legroom there is still 39-40 inches.

The alternative? Buy a video conferencing system from Efrat Networks and sit in the comforts of your office to conduct business with anyone, anywhere in the world!  We, at Efrat Networks, use video conferencing ourselves to avoid trips into town to meet with clients and vendors.  We save on the commute, parking fees, and the lost time back and forth.

Efrat Networks sells and installs refurbished video conferencing equipment in Israel and around the world at a fraction of the cost of new equipment, with all the ease of operation and functionality of the new systems.  In fact, our refurbished Polycom video conferencing systems have more features than new Polycom systems.

Call Efrat Networks today to shorten your commute with a Polycom video conferencing system.

Hosted Exchange Improves Your Business’s Productivity, Efficiency, and Security

Hosted Exchange is a platform for e-mail, calendaring, and unified messaging. ‘Hosted’ means that instead of owning a Microsoft Exchange Server, the application is hosted on the server(s) of a third party. It has nothing to do with Hostess Twinkies…Exchange server hosting means that a specialist IT company, like Efrat Networks, runs the technology and charges businesses a small monthly fee to use it. This allows them to enjoy the same enterprise-strength IT that Fortune 500 companies have, but at a price they can afford.

What are the primary benefits to using hosted exchange, particularly if you are using a mobile device for sending and receiving email?

Productivity - Exchange allows your team to collaborate more efficiently on projects through the ability to share calendars, tasks, and important contacts. Sharing notes and files on the included shared folders can act like a virtual message board, promoting more efficient teamwork.

Anytime, Anywhere Access to mission critical data - The office isn’t the only place where you and your team can be connected to your business. Exchange allows everyone on your team to access their important data and communications from any Internet connection or on their mobile device (i.e. - Smartphone, BlackBerry, iPhone, web book).

Archiving - Outlook stores your inbox, sent items, and contacts in a single current .pst file. Unattended, this file can get monstrously huge, leaving your Outlook crippled. Most people do not do the archiving that is required with Outlook  to keep the .pst file down to a manageable size. Using Exchange, you no longer need to archive your Outlook folders. Exchange does it for you.

Security - Using mobile devices increases the possibility of theft or loss. Exchange hosting ensures your information’s security on your desktop, and if your mobile device is lost or stolen that unit’s settings can be quickly removed from the Exchange service. Also, with all emails and information to our Exchange being encrypted, you can be sure your company’s communications are kept from prying eyes.  If your laptop is lost or stolen on a business trip, you can buy a new laptop, configure your exchange account, plug it into your hotel’s Internet service, and have all of your Outlook email, contact, calendar, and tasks back exactly as they were before the theft, over night.

Make the most of your IT (or lack thereof) - you don’t need a dedicated IT department just to get your company on the fast track to enterprise-level communicating. Efrat Networks’ team of IT professionals can set you up with an Exchange service that will truly make your work more productive and efficient.

Quick and Easy Implementation - Getting your email up and running on hosted Exchange is easy. Our technical support team can have your email up and running within minutes of signing up.

Call Efrat Networks today to set up your hosted Exchange accounts.

Unfortunately, for most small and mid-size businesses (SMBs), the cost of running an MS Exchange server ‘in-house’ is simply too much money. Up-front costs can exceed $10,000-plus staff time to maintain the server. This is why hosted Exchange makes sense for smaller businesses.

Save Lots of Time Scheduling Meetings

Since we already spoke about using hosted Exchange within a business to share your schedules, how about sharing your available time to colleagues outside of your Exchange group?

Jiffle is a scheduling tool which seeks to put an end to the back and forth deliberations that precede a properly scheduled meeting. Plug in your availability and let people request a slot.

Jiffle is web based but there is integration available for both Outlook and Google Calendar. The premise is simple enough. You tell Jiffle when you’re available and then share your availability. You can share it either publicly or with a set of contacts. When someone needs to schedule a meeting with you they can see instantly when you’re available. They don’t need a Jiffle account, just the URL you share with them. From there they can pick a time, enter in their contact info and notes, and the request appears in your email inbox.

When you accept a potential meeting time your calendar is populated with the information from the other party and your own additional notes if you’ve added any. Other users only see when you are available, no other information about your calendar is shared.

Jiffle is free for individual use.

Technological Solutions to the Pandemic Panic

It is no secret: the Swine Flu [Influenza A(H1N1)] is now at the top global alert level (Phase 5) of the World Health Organization (WHO). While journalists are doing their best to create global panic, and some Mexican government officials are suffering from denial, the facts are as follows (according to WHO) as of May 1 2009:

• 17 countries have officially reported 787 cases of infection.
  
• The United States Government has reported 160 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
  
• Mexico has reported 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths.

All of Mexico City’s citizens are sitting at home, waiting for this pandemic to pass. Mexican businesses and businesses dealing with Mexico are being crippled from this forced ‘curfew’.

We don’t need this or any other pandemic to know that air travel is one of the great ways to transmit contagious illnesses. The air conditioning systems of airplanes are notorious for harboring germs and bacteria, which are easily passed around to passengers on the same flight and on later flights. Moreover, we never know the true health status of other people who board the flight with us.

OK, enough of the scare tactics. Now what?…

How do we avoid these issues and still function?

As we’ve said many times before, video conferencing systems offer a cost effective, efficient, immediate, and very practical solution to business travel and even ’shmoosing’ with the family. In the pandemic, from the safety and comforts of your office or home, you can virtually be on the other side of the globe with your clients in real time, any time.

The compelling arguments just get better when pandemic panic reaches new heights.

• You’ll save days/weeks in travel time.
  
• You’ll save money from less travel.
• You’ll improve your existing business relationships by having regular (anytime you want) face-to-faces with the critical decision-makers.
• You’ll have more time to spend with your family at home, and…
• You’ll avoid contagious carriers of H1N1.
  

The list goes on, but the point is clear. Call Efrat Networks today to discuss how we can help minimize your travel while boosting your business relations abroad.

Pandemic Tips from an Expert
Here are several tips from a pandemic expert for all of us when pandemonium hits:

1. Wash your hands thoroughly, for a period of 20 seconds, with warm soapy water.
2. Wash your hands frequently.
3. When coughing and sneezing, (regardless of whether you think you’re sick) cover your nose and mouth in the inside of your elbow or on your upper sleeve.(The people standing nearby will thank you for not ’showering’ them with your germs).
4. Don’t travel to Mexico.
5. Don’t go to work when you are sick.
6. Don’t send relatives to work or school when they are sick.
7. Take care of yourself while caring for others who are sick. (They need you well.)
8. Be very aware of how you and your loved ones feel. This flu comes on fast, and if it doesn’t stay mild for you, it will hit like a ton of bricks in a matter of a couple of hours to half a day. Don’t wait to see if it passes.
9. Understand that you are contagious during the 24-48 hours prior to showing symptoms yourself, and you remain contagious until as many as 7 days after your symptoms began, maybe longer.
10. Call Efrat Networks to install a refurbished video conferencing system…save time and money while traveling less.

P.S. We’ve seen several reports that the medical masks really don’t work when worn over an extended period of time.

Automatic Shutdowns Don’t Have to be Automatic

Ever update your system through Windows Update or install a new piece of software, and when the process completes, your system automatically shuts down or reboots? Of course you have. It’s annoying, right?

Free application ShutdownGuard addresses this problem by preventing Windows from automatically shutting down, rebooting, or logging off without confirmation. Each time it prevents a shutdown action, you’ll see an alert in your system tray asking if you really want to shutdown. If you do, click the alert. If not, just keep on keeping on. The lightweight ShutdownGuard is a free download, Windows only.