LANcom Technology Blog

Here is a list of short cut keystrokes that might just save you time when using Internet Explorer 7.

Some of these keystrokes will also work in previous versions of Internet Explorer.

I recently wrote a blog about RSS feeds and the new RSS reader included in Internet Explorer 7, but there are also other reasons to update to Internet Explorer 7, heres a quick summery.

Tabs – For anyone that has ever used Mozilla Firefox will know this feature makes browsing the internet much easier and now Internet Explorer has it too. This feature allows you to have multiply websites open in the one browser window so you can switch between websites without having to open and close separate windows.

You can also use the Quick Tabs button to show you a visual of up to 20 tabs you have open. This makes finding the site you want much easier.

Search toolbar – Internet Explorer 7 includes a search tool bar in the top right hand corner, which you can set to your favourite search engine so that you don’t need to keep going back to the site. If you look in the above picture you can see this one is set to Google.

Printing – The new shrink to fit printing feature makes it much easier to print webpages. To see this feature simply click on the arrow next to the printer icon the click print preview and it willl automatically shrink the width of the webpage you are printing to fit on to one page.

Response Point is a new phone system software which has been designed with small businesses in mind. As such ease of use and manageability play a big part in what makes Response point so special.

Here are Response Point key features

• User friendly management console. Guarantees to make it easy to set up new phones, change preferences for voicemail or call handling, and create call distribution lists. So as your business grows your phone system easily can too.
• Voice commands. All you have to do is press the Response Point button and tell the phone what to do. Call anyone in the company directory or in your Microsoft Outlook just by saying their name. You can also transfer, put on hold, and retrieve calls this way to.
• Voicemail features. You can retrieve, forward and archive voicemail through your Outlook.

Other features include:

• Automated Receptionist
• PC notification you when you have an incoming call and who that call is from.
• Back up and restore with only two-clicks.

   

Response Point is due for release later this year. If you would like more information it is available here from the Microsoft Website.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it allows you to subscribe to your favourite blogs and other regularly updated digital content. When using RSS all the new posts from all the places you subscribe to will be added to your RSS feed list so you know when all your favourite blogs have been updated without having to visit them all. Then you can pick which you would like to read more about and click through to these.

There are many RSS readers which will allow you to do this, but perhaps the easier option it to use Internet Explorer. Only the latest version, Internet Explorer 7, has this feature but if you have not yet updated you can do so for free from here on the Microsoft website.

Then when you visit a site that you are able to subscribe to the RSS button at the top right of your Internet Explorer browser will light up orange like the one we show here. All you need to do now is click on it and a page will open with a button saying ’subscribe to this feed’. Once you have clicked on this, the blog will be added to your feeds list under the favourites centre, which can be found on the left of your Internet Explorer browser under this symbol.

If you would like to always know when there is new useful IT information that interests you here why not subscribe to the LANcom blog today.

Want protection from viruses, trojans, spyware and other malware?. Here is a quick summery of why we use, recommend, and install NOD32 anti-threat software.

• It has the best detection record of any anti-threat product, meaning it identifies more threats than the rest.
• It has the fastest scan speed of any anti threat product, meaning it finds those threats faster and saves you time.
• It has the smallest update files of any anti threat product, meaning it saves you even more time.
• Its easy to set up and use
• Anyone can use in from single users to large companies.

If you would like more information on NOD32 it is available here.

Here at LANcom we have just put together a report detailing all the steps we take, within the first 10 working days of someone becoming a LANcom 770 customer, to ensure they receive the best possible service. The purpose of this report is to put your mind at ease that from the very beginning we will take care of everything.

 If you would like a copy of this report to see what we could be doing for you please contact Owen Redmond at info@lancom.co.nz. Or alternatively you can download the PDF file here on our website by registering your details.  

Interested in finding out who on the web is sending people your way? Disreputable links to your website can sometimes decrease your position in search engine results.

To find out who is linking to you just type Link: yoursiteaddress into Google and it will provide you with a list of sites that link to yours.

Here at LANcom we have recently started using Google AdWords and thought we would share with you what we have found out about it.

Google AdWords are the ‘Sponsored Links’ that appear on the right hand side on the screen when you place a search on Google. They work based on keywords, which you choose for yourself. So for example a flower shop may chose to use the keywords ‘red roses’ and ‘Wedding flowers’. Google also provides a keyword tool, which estimates the average cost and position you will receive for your chosen word.

Cost

Google AdWords are based on pay per-click pricing, which means that you only pay if a person actually sees your ad and is interested enough to click on it. There is no minimum spending requirement. The amount your campaign will cost depends on your daily or monthly budget and the max cost per click you set. In general the higher you set your max cost per click, the higher you will appear on the list when someone searches one of your key words, and the higher your daily or monthly budget the more often your ad will appear when someone searches one of your key words. In addition to these prices there is also a ten dollar start up fee.

Editions
There are two different editions of Google AdWords the Starter and Standard edition. While it costs no extra to use the Standard edition it may not always be the better option. The Starter edition is much simpler and therefore easier to use but is limited in what it can do. The Standard edition offers the ability to run more than one campaign (different ads) at once and offers much richer information on the click throughs you achieve such as conversion rates. In any case you can change from the Starter edition to the Standard edition at anytime but not the other way around so it may be best to use the Starter edition when you first open an account.Along with this service Google offers lots of information on how to get the most out of you Google AdWords account. They have an entire section on improving you ads performance. For more information on Google AdWords click here.

For sometime now on this blog we have been linking terms that may cause confusion to pages on Wikipedia. So for anyone that doesn’t know, here is a brief description of what Wikipedia is all about.

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. It is multilingual and covers topics available in traditional encyclopedias, as well as many cultural and technical topics. Wikipedia is written collaboratively. Anyone can create a user account and then create new articles and edit existing ones. Content can also be edited anonymously, which means Wikipedia can sometimes have a problem with vandalism. Decisions with regard to content are for the most part made by consensus although the Wikipedia Foundation has the power to make the final decision.

Despite Wikipedia’s occasional problems with vandalism and inaccuracies we find it very useful for providing explanations of terms. Other online resources in the Wikipedia family include Wiktionary an online dictionary and Wikiquote an online collection of quotations.

More information on Wikipedia is available here.

Ever want to call a conference involving people in different parts of the country? Or in different countries for that matter?

Microsoft has recently developed a product that could make ‘face to face’ conferencing less time consuming and less expensive. It also has the added benefit of being able to arrange such a meeting in a hurry.

RoundTable is a device, not much bigger than a speaker phone, which can be connected to a standard PC to offer synchronized voice and video conferencing. The device creates a 360-degree, panoramic video of side-by-side images of everyone who is taking part in the conference. It tracks the flow of the conversation, so the image and voice of the person who is speaking are spotlighted. People across many locations can attend meetings together virtually.

What makes RoundTable different from your average conference call is that you can easily identify who is talking as well as being able to read body language, which can be particularly important when communicating with different cultures. It also shows an improvement on current video conferencing options, which are generally much more expensive, as well as being more difficult to install.

Other features include: Recording of the meeting so anyone who can not attend can view it later, PowerPoint’s can be shown and appear along side the picture of the person presenting them (see picture on right), and RoundTable ‘eyes’ use sound isolating technology to screen out background noise.

It is expected that Microsoft Office RoundTable will cost a little under $3000 US and is scheduled for release by mid 2007

More information on Microsoft Office RoundTable is available here.