Android tablets are quickly becoming the go-to tablet for companies and manufacturers. The openness of the OS and the ability to personalize it has major appeal. If you have an Android tablet, or have been reading about them you have probably come across the term “root”. If you’re not quite sure what this means for you and your tablet, we’re here to help.

Before you root your tablet it’s beneficial to know the pros and cons associated with it.

What is Rooting? When you buy an Android tablet, it will have limitations placed on the OS by the maker of the tablet to prevent inexperienced users from inadvertently ruining their device. What rooting does is give users access to the basic or “root” level of the tablet, in other words it removes all restrictions placed on the OS. If you’ve heard the term “jailbreaking” for Apple’s products, rooting is akin to that.

Benefits to Rooting There are a number of upsides to rooting your Android tablet. Some of the most positive features are:

• Access to More Applications. If you root your tablet, you’ll have access to a wide variety of apps not available to unrooted tablets. If you go to the Google Play store, and type in Root you’ll see a list of apps that are only available to rooted tablets. Some of the most useful include ones that allow you to do a full backup of your system or change your layout.
• Improved Performance. When you root your tablet, you’ll be able to control its performance. This includes being able to make it open and close apps faster or decrease processor speed which will increase battery life.
• Latest Version of OS. Companies that create tablets and devices that use the Android OS are notorious for taking a long time to update the OS. Case in point: Google released Android 4.0 in December 2011 and some devices still haven’t been upgraded. If you root your tablet, you’ll be able to update your device to the newest version of the Android OS by using a ROM - the most basic level of software that allows your Android device to operate. ROMs are akin to drivers used by computers.

Drawbacks to Rooting There are some drawbacks to rooting that you should be aware of. The first issue is that if you do root your tablet, the warranty will be voided. If the manufacturer finds that you’ve rooted your device, they could refuse to fix it, forcing you to go to less than reputable dealers.

The second problem is that if rooting is carried out incorrectly you run the risk of “bricking” or “bootlooping” your device. Bricking is when your tablet’s software glitches causing the tablet to stop working, making it about as useful as a brick. Bootlooping is similar to bricking, however your phone will boot up, turn off, boot up and turn off in an endless cycle.

The final downside to rooting is security. There has been an increasing number of malware apps designed specifically for Android devices. If you have a rooted tablet and download apps not from Google Play, there’s a higher chance that the app you download will be infected.

Should I Root? With both powerful benefits and potentially nasty problems, the question is, “Should you root your tablet?” The answer is a bit ambiguous in that it really depends on what type of user you are. Advanced users who want to micromanage their device will be able to do just that if they root, while users who are happy with their tablet will not see much of a difference.

If you do choose to root your tablet, search the Internet for guides on how to root your device and carefully follow the instructions. Should you like to learn more about rooting, or Android tablets please drop us a line, we’re more than happy to hear from you.

In order for your IT department to be successful, you need a strategic plan that will both optimize your workflow and help to define your practice’s needs. The well thought out and executed plan will exhibit a focus on the experiences of your staff and patients. Here are five considerations that can help you develop your strategic IT plan.

1. Improve the patient experience. Many healthcare practitioners consider the patient experience a major challenge, yet don’t give much thought to how IT can improve it. Consider what you can do electronically to support patients, whether they're in your facility or not. Electronic forms? Email and text message reminders and confirmations? Kiosks?
2. Consider best practices. Technology can help you get to know your patients better. The Web, for example, can be used as a first point of engagement. Ask a few questions of visitors, then tailor your responses to their needs. A patient interested in a first consultation would receive different information than one preparing for his or her first round of cancer treatment.
3. Don’t forget the staff! Your staff needs successful workflows to interact effectively with patients. Common errors are multiple devices and different logins. Keep in mind how clinicians work to develop efficiencies. Your staff needs to be able to provide clinical care without being tied to a PC.
4. Use social media. Social media often isn’t included in IT planning, as it’s usually more of a marketing consideration. Without thinking about how it will be used, it will become difficult for patients and staff to have a singular experience. Your IT department needs to work with other departments to develop a social media plan that will yield a consistent presentation to the end user.
5. Use integrative planning. Typically, IT does its strategic planning in isolation. Ideally though, IT would plan with other departments. This “integrative planning” allows for a consistent plan supported by all parts of the practice.

With the increasing severity of natural disasters in recent years, many larger companies have started to develop and implement a continuity plan to ensure that they can still conduct business, no matter what happens. Businesses in the process of developing a plan will eventually need to decide if they want to use software or templates?

The decision between templates and software can be a tough one to make, as whichever one you choose, you’ll be using and relying on for a long time. To help you we’ve covered some pros and cons on both choices:

Using Software If you choose to go with a software program, you will be walked through the whole process allowing you to develop a useable plan. Another benefit of using software is that you’ll be able to develop reports if needs be.

The drawbacks of using software include cost, inflexibility and learning time. For the most part, business continuity planning software is not cheap, and at times can be inflexible due to limits within the program. If you have a niche need, the software may not cover it. In addition, as with mastering any program, the learning curve can be quite steep.

In general, using software would be advantageous for companies that have a bigger budget for the development of a continuity plan. Software is also a good bet if you don’t have staff who are experts in continuity planning, or if you operate in an industry where a continuity plan is necessary, e.g., companies working with healthcare insurance, or manufacturing companies that have introduced ISO 9000.

Using Templates If you feel that your company is not ready for software you can use templates to help you develop your plan. These solutions are mostly written plans that you adapt to meet your business needs. They’re useful if you’re just starting to do continuity planning, as they provide a normally solid foundation, and are generally a lot cheaper than software.

A limitation to using templates is that they can be a little too basic at times, and may not meet your needs. Granted, most plans will follow a basic structure and your developer will need to adapt some steps for your relevant region and industry.

As each industry is different, it’s hard to make a recommendation on what type of planning style companies should take. We recommend you take your time, do your due diligence and weigh out what’s best for your business. No matter which method you choose to go ahead with, ensure that it’s easy to implement, and that you’ll be able to teach your staff how to run the plan.

If you feel really lost or are not sure what to do, talking to professional consultants could go a long way in helping you develop a plan. If you’d like to learn more about business continuity planning please contact us - we are happy to help.

Do you work in a multi-OS environment? Are you a diehard PC fan whose business has switched over to Mac? While Mac OS X may seem a bit strange to some, there’s no need for it to be so, there are many excellent features that make using the OS easy. One of the features Mac OS X relies on heavily is keyboard shortcuts. Do you know how to use them, or what they do?

When you first switch to OS X it can take a while to figure out the shortcuts, or to even find out if there is a shortcut for what you need, not to mention the confusing symbols used to indicate key strokes. Here’s a list of the most common shortcuts.

Symbols If you’ve looked online for shortcuts, you have undoubtedly seen a number of potentially confusing symbols before the letter or number - these are actually keys to press. The most commonly used symbols are:

• ⌘ Command. It’s found beside the spacebar on most Mac keyboards. If you’re using a keyboard that isn’t supplied by Apple, the Windows button should also work.
• ∧ Control.
• ⌥ Option. On Windows based keyboards, Alt will do the same thing.
• ⇧ Shift.
• FN Function. It’s found under F13 on most desktop keyboards, or in the bottom left of most laptop keyboards.

Finder Shortcuts The Finder is Mac OS X’s file system. It includes your desktop and all the folders on it. If you’re unsure whether you’re on the Finder or not, look at the top left of your screen beside the Apple icon. It will say Finder if you’re on it.

• ⌘+A Selects all files. To deselect simply left-click on empty space that’s not highlighted. To deselect one item simply hold ⌘ and click on the folder/file you don’t want to be selected.
• ⌘+I Retrieves information on a folder or file including name, size, creation date, etc.
• ⇧+⌘+N Creates a new folder in the window currently open. If you’re on the desktop, a new file will be created there.
• ⇧+⌘+Q Logs out. If you want to log out without waiting press ⌥+⇧+⌘+Q.
• ⌘+Delete If you press this after you’ve selected something, your selection will be moved to the trash. To empty the trash hit ⇧+⌘+Delete.
• ⇧+⌘+A Opens the Applications folder

Shortcuts for Applications and General These shortcuts will work in most applications, and will generally work on all other non-applications, including the Finder.

• ⌘+C Copies your selection.
• ⌘+Z Cuts your selection.
• ⌘+V Pastes what you’ve just copied or cut.
• ⌘+Z Undoes your last action.
• ⌘+H Hides the program you currently have open. The program won’t close, it’ll just be hidden, and can be opened again by clicking on its icon in the dock.
• ⌘+M Minimizes the window currently open.
• ⌘+TAB You will cycle to the other applications you have open. If you hold down ⌘, while pressing TAB, you’ll see the icons for open programs.
• ⇧+⌘+4 Selects a screenshot. When you press these keys, you’ll be able to drag and select a screenshot. You’ll hear a camera lens click when you let go indicating the picture has been taken, and the file will be on your desktop.
• ⇧+⌘+3 Takes a screenshot of the whole screen.
• ⌘+S Saves the document you have open.
• ⌘+F Searches within the window currently open.
• ⌥+⌘+ESCAPE Force quit. This is the same thing as Control + Alt + Delete on Windows.

These are the most useful keyboard shortcuts, but there are many more out there. If you would like to know more shortcuts, or more about the Mac OS X, please let us know - we’re happy to help.

Google, long known for constantly changing its apps, has done it again. The latest change has been to the Android Marketplace, and is one of the bigger changes Google has made to its apps in the past year. This turnaround follows the trend of solidifying and combining different apps and services into one bigger umbrella, so to speak.

Google have killed off the existing Android Marketplace and replaced it with Google Play. Android Marketplace was an Android only marketplace, and this did not mesh well with Google’s current goal of integration across platforms. What Google has done with Google Play is integrate movies, books, apps and music into one central hub. Any movies, music or books users have previously bought through their respective services have also been moved to Google Play.

The Marketplace, Music, Movies and Books apps have also been renamed: Google Play, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and Google Play Books. This has been done to promote integration across the Google platform. You can buy a book from your tablet, start reading, switch to your phone and pick up where you left off. When you get to work, you can continue reading on your browser.

What does this mean for my business? If your company uses Android devices it means that the Android apps and other related software can be purchased all from the same place. It will also make it easier to roll out and install apps from one browser. Other than that, there aren’t that many major changes aside from the name changes - Google Play looks and acts exactly the same as the Android Marketplace.

This change seems to be for the good, and will give Android users a centralized place for their entertainment and apps. For more information on Android, or Google, please give us an email. We’re here to help.

It’s hard to find someone who isn’t using social media in some way, or at the very least isn’t aware of its existence. Companies are becoming wise to this and are starting to utilize social media tools to build their brand, or bring in new customers. If your company does not use any form of social media, it may be time to look into getting your business out there.

Social media, once called a fad, has become the norm and is going to be with us for some time. A large number of companies already have an online presence, and are taking advantage of the benefits that social media can bring. Here are a number of things you can do to get your social media adventures underway.

Be Clear on Social Media It’s important that before you start looking into the different forms of social media that are out there, you are clear on what social media is, and what it isn’t. Social media is a way to meet people, and share content and ideas with them. For companies it’s a form of non-traditional marketing - think of it as soft marketing - it’s not meant to be the place where you flog your products, rather a place to develop interest in your company, so people will want to do business with you. By using social media you can show people who your company is, and connect with them on a more personal level. If you are clear on what social media is from the beginning, there’s a higher chance that you’ll be successful when you develop your online presence.

Before You Launch Into Social Media There are a number of things that your company needs to have either already done, or considered, before you jump in:

• Have a website: It’s a good idea to have a solid website with information about your company, contact information, products and services. Most potential customers will look at your website after looking searching for you online, and before they choose to do business with you, so your website needs to provide the relevant information they are looking for. If you don’t have a website, or feel yours is lacking, it’s easier than ever to get a professional looking site. With a quick search you will be able to find some competent designers.
• Get educated: It will be beneficial to educate yourself on current trends regarding social media. This can be done by simply going to social media websites, taking the free introduction tours and reading blogs related to the sites. Beyond that you should also research your competitors’ websites and Internet presence. Observe what content they have online, and more importantly: what they don’t have. It will also help to connect with and observe industry experts, see what they post online, and note the style and tone they use. This will help provide you with a sound knowledge base from which you can then create a more effective online presence.
• Set goals: As with any step in business, you should have a plan with realistic goals. Aim for results that are achievable for your company. If you’re a small, local IT company that focuses on providing support for banks, don’t expect to have the same massive hype that Microsoft and Apple do. Clearly set objectives and review periodically.
• Develop a focus: In real life, you can’t be all things to all people. The same goes for social media. You need to develop a focus on what type of online content you would like to share. You should aim to create content that your customers will want to share with people.
• Stake a claim: You should to go to the main social media websites - Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube - and reserve your personal and business usernames. This is important because it will make you look more professional by having the same username across all sites, and users will be able to find you easier.
• Ask for help if you need it: While some companies make social media sound easy, it can be deceptively hard to master. If you feel lost, or are having a tough time with it, there are knowledgeable consultants out there who are happy to help.

Time to Get Social When you feel you know what direction you will take, it’s time to start developing your online profiles. It can be tough to decide which social media tools to utilize. Unfortunately there is no right answer. Most small businesses follow the crowd, and this means having pages on Facebook and Linkedin. This does not mean that you should join these networks simply because they have the most users. It is recommended that you follow what similar businesses or direct competitors are doing. If they are on one service but not another, do the same to begin with, but be on the lookout for new social media sites, or features being added to existing sites.

One Thing to Not Forget There is one really important thing we can share with businesses thinking of pursuing social media: it isn’t a turnkey operation. You can’t just, “set it and forget it.” To be successful, you need to be active by posting updates, news, and above all interacting with the people who reach out to you. After all, they are your customers. If you do establish your social presence but forget to keep it up to date, you will be the company that’s forgotten.

If you would like help with your social media strategy, please get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you.

Twitter has become a massively popular social media tool - a way for businesses to get their name out there and provide instant updates on what they are doing. This can go two ways as customers can also interact with, and provide thoughts about your business. At times these reviews or tweets can be a little negative. The unfortunate thing about this is that all people subscribed to the feed will see the negative remarks. Do you know what to do when you get negative tweets?

Traditionally, the general rule regarding complaints was that a disgruntled customer or client will tell up to 20 people when they are unhappy, versus 5 when they are happy. When a complaint is made on Twitter, chances are very high it will be seen by more than 20 people. Complaints on Twitter should be taken seriously, even one complaint could damage your online reputation. Here are a few tips on dealing with this new breed of online customer service.

Ensure Team Alignment If you have more than one person looking over your social media accounts, or someone other than you looking over it, you need to be sure that they are experts on your products and services. This is important because it is them who will be responding to questions and complaints. If you don’t have an FAQ section set up, it is a good idea to establish answers to the most commonly asked questions, as well as answers or responses to any frequent complaints. This will provide you and your employees with a way to quickly handle displeased customers.

Prompt Response is Key Oftentimes, a quick response will go a long way in dampening the complaint. As people, we like to be acknowledged and when it is done promptly, we are more likely to be open. Many complaints are made when people are mad, and as such, the complaints tend not to show the whole picture. If you quickly respond, ask for more information or suggestions on what you can do to help, the complainer will often give you valuable feedback to use. If the complaint is serious, it is a good idea to acknowledge the complaint briefly, and then pursue a private dialogue. The average window to respond is 2-3 hours from the time of the complaint, so try to at least acknowledge the complaint within that time.

Personal Responses go a Long Way As with any response to complaints, it is a good idea to personally respond. If you use a company account, the response or apology will be read as insincere, and potentially make the problem worse. Many people feel valued when they are contacted from the owner’s or manager’s personal company account. In small businesses like yours, it is a good idea that someone at the very top replies. This will make it look like you care.

Word Limits, We Don’t Need No Word Limits The 140 character limit is usually not enough to explain yourself, or conduct damage control. So, don’t limit yourself to just the 140 characters. Use the space to acknowledge the complaint, and ask the person who lodged the complaint for their email so you can help them.

Pick Your Battles Remember one of the most important sayings in business: “You can’t please everyone, all the time.” There will always be people who complain simply because they can. In an ideal world, you would be able to personally address and solve each and every complaint, but chances are high you won’t be able to do that. Use your business sense about the complaints, or have a colleague look at the complaint and debate about what you should do.

With careful responses that are prompt and personal, there is a high chance you will turn the complaint into praise, and not only keep your client, but look good while doing it. If you have any questions about Twitter or any other social media tools, please give us a call.

The computer and all its related gadgets is probably the most important device in business. Many of us spend our whole work day on the computer, we then go home and spend more time on another computer. One of the consequences to this is that there has been an increase in the number of computer related injuries.

The majority of injuries sustained while working with computers are not instantaneous, they happen over time. The most common form of computer related injury is the Repetitive Strain Injury, also known as RSI. Soft tissue, muscles, tendons, nerves and ligaments are all susceptible to RSI. With proper maintenance and knowledge, almost all RSIs can be prevented. If left unchecked, an RSI could lead to lost time and possibly irreparable damage.

Eye Strain Eye strain happens when you have overexerted your eyes. The most common symptoms include:

• pain around the eyes,
• dry eyes,
• fatigue,
• photophobia (sensitivity to light) and
• blurred vision.

Often, severe eye strain will also cause pain or tension in the neck and shoulders. The most common causes of eye strain are poor workspace layout and sub-par lighting conditions.

The good news is that in most cases, eye strain won’t lead to permanent vision complaints, but if left unchecked it could cause productivity problems. The easiest way to prevent eye strain is to work in a space with lighting that is neither too strong or weak, and have a light source that does not create glare. It is equally important to take short breaks from the monitor. Follow the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something (not another monitor) 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Posture Related There are a number of related injuries to your posture, including: back pain, neck pain and headaches. These injuries typically come from bad posture, combined with sitting for an extended amount of time. It may not seem like you can injure yourself by sitting in a chair all day, but your muscles are not designed to stay in the same position for such a long period of time, and doing so can result in muscle pain. Poor posture at work can also lead to an increased chance of a herniated disc, commonly called a “slipped disc”.

There are a number of things you can do to minimize posture related injuries.

• Adopt a proper posture. Have a chair that pushes the small of your back (bottom) out, as this will promote a more natural spinal position. Try not to cross your feet, as comfortable as it is, as doing so puts pressure on your lower back.
• Get up and move around every 20 minutes to half hour.
• Stretch. Move your joints through their normal range of motion.
• If you have kinks or muscle pain, gently massage the area with a kneading motion.
• Get up. There is a rising trend of using a standing workstation - this could be another option.

Arm Related The most common type of injury to the arm is the well-known Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This mainly happens in two places: the wrist and the elbow. CTS occurs when the median nerve (one of the main nerves) is compressed. CTS in the wrist is the most common RSI, and can be a costly injury. The median nerve also passes through the elbow. If compression occurs there, it can result in an injury commonly called “tennis elbow”. Symptoms include: numbness of the hand and arm, pain and weakness in grasping.

There are a number of things you can do to prevent CTS:

• Keep your mouse and keyboard close together.
• Type and hold the mouse gently.
• Remove your hands from the mouse and keyboard when not using them.
• Take frequent breaks to move your wrists and elbows through their natural range of motion. Be careful to not over extend.

With a combination of breaks, ergonomic workplaces, and other preventative measures you and your staff will see fewer injuries and higher productivity. If you would like to learn more ways to prevent injuries, or increase productivity please contact us.

The majority of businesses, no matter the size, are networked these days—and are often also connected to the Internet and other networks. Many of these businesses have come to rely on internal/external networks for their day-to-day business. However, when one of the networks goes down this can be a problem since an outage could cause a loss of profits. 24/7 networking can help reduce these losses.

How can 24/7 network monitoring help your business, you ask? Through preventative operations. The main idea of network monitoring is to act as an “Early Warning System” to let managers and owners know of potential problems before they strike.

What Does Network Monitoring Monitor? There are a number of things you can monitor with Network Monitoring. The most popular areas include application and system performance, bandwidth usage, and server status. You can also set up monitoring of additional areas, for instance: server load, ink levels in printers, time left on software license agreements, which devices are connected to the network, their data usage, and more. This is all done 24/7.

The one thing Network Monitoring does not normally monitor is unauthorized access to networks. It can be set up to look for unauthorized access, but this is normally taken care of by another system.  

How Does Network Monitoring Help Me? Network Monitoring is a preventative system, intended to warn you about potential network problems so you can proactively seek solutions before a vital network goes down. This makes it, in a round-about way, a justifiable addition to business value since, when implemented right, there will be less network crashes—which means less or no profit loss.

What Should I Monitor? In an ideal world, you would monitor each and every network. Over time, you can get there, but if you’re like most Small Business owners or managers, you have neither the time nor the budget to implement a full system. As with most projects, it’s suggested that you implement a system like this in stages. The most common areas to start with are:

• Local Area Network (LAN) Data
• Internet data usage
• server status
• alerts to existing networks

If you’re unsure of where to start, try contacting a local Network Monitoring service, or hire a consultant to establish a system. If you would like to know more about 24/7 Network Monitoring, or other ways to improve business value, please contact us.

Many companies realize the benefits of virtualizing their systems, and some have even started the process. In the current economies around the world, businesses are looking at ways to save money and streamline processes. A recent report on virtualization found that some organizations achieved investment returns of up to 269%. Read on to learn more.

What is Virtualization? Virtualization is the creation of a virtual computing environment, where one hardware system can run multiple virtual environments. Common types of virtualization include servers, storage devices, or networks. The benefits of virtualization include lower costs, improved IT management, and reduced energy consumption.

The Survey A report published by CDW-G focuses on government organizations in the United Sates. Many SME owners and managers like yourselves are probably asking, “How do study results involving the government help my business?” Well, if you look closer you can see that what the government organizations did can easily be replicated by SMEs, just on a smaller scale.

Results In recent years, many companies have had to tighten their belts due to economic difficulties. Government agencies are no exception. The results of the survey found that agencies and organizations realized investment returns as high as 134 to 269%. The survey found that if IT managers invest in Server Virtualization, Document Management, Storage Virtualization, and Cloud Computing in that order, the returns on Server Virtualization alone can help pay for, if not totally cover the cost of, the other three processes. CDW-G found that on average, the total cost of implementing all four separately is over USD 1.1million, but when implemented in order, the average cost was around USD 400,000.

While it is unlikely that SMEs will see a return on investments of this magnitude, it is highly likely that they will see increased returns if they follow this method of re-investing returns from Server Virtualization into the other three steps. In times of economic stress, this could be a huge boost to your bottom line.

Helpful Recommendations From the results, CDW-G offered some useful recommendations that all businesses can use:

• When budget cuts are needed, first look for ways to increase efficiency without service cuts.
• Review technologies and processes to identify inefficiencies.
• Consider savings and efficiency opportunities in all new solutions.
• Leverage available savings into new projects.

As with any new process, it’s equally important to ensure that you educate the users of the processes and stay on your toes to keep updated.