Second Chances: Vista

Anyone who read my previous entry regarding Windows Vista will already know my opinions of Vista in the work place but that isn’t to say that I am a hater of the OS. Quite the contrary in fact; it might surprise people to learn that on my person home computer I do in fact have Windows Vista Home Premium installed. So now you may be thinking the writer of this blog is a hypocrite but that couldn’t be further from the truth. A home computer that is used for work has the potential to be far different from a pure office based computer.  

For starters as anyone who knows me will attest my computer is the one nice thing I own, everything else is just filler. With this in mind my computer clocks in with 2 gigs of ram; an over clocked quad core processor, and a 768 MB graphics card. MY computer runs Vista flawlessly; in fact if you have the hardware Vista can be really nice sleek operating system.  But there’s the problem considering the work place.  

Anyone who has worked in an office setting will attest that most of the computers are between 2-5 years old and will almost always have 2nd rate components. If you happen to work in a higher end office setting you might fare slightly better but it’s unlikely that there will be more hardware available then you currently need to run programs like Word and Excel. At bare minimum computers running Vista should have 512MB of ram (Memory), but I wouldn’t want to run it on less than a gig (1024MB). As the price of computer technology continues to drop this is becoming more and more possible to accommodate but in an office place with multitudes of computers to consider the price of upgrades can still break the bank.  

In related news Microsoft has backed down from its previous position of killing support of XP at the end of June 2008. Now Microsoft has unceremoniously extended support of XP until April 2014. This should give all concerned parties considerable opportunity to plan and upgrade by the new deadline.

If you are considering a possible Vista upgrade and would like assistance with crossover contact It Computer Support of New York and learn what we can do for you.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

The Economics of Computer Tech Support

With the economic downturn of the American economy many businesses are faced with the problem of cutting cost but keeping quality high. Until recently the tech support branches of American businesses had been largely impervious to the problems faced by the economy. Recent studies, however, have shown that that this might have led many to a false sense of security. With no guaranty that the economy will be picking up in the near future many IT branches have had their income compensations stagnated without an increase in sight.  

With the economic problems many companies have been forced to cut expenses’ or cut funding entirely. The result of the cuts is that more and more of the jobs once performed by in-house staff are being moved out of the country by outsourcing. The problem with this is it creates a vicious cycle for the economy. By outsourcing businesses save money and that savings can be passed onto the client but ultimate by removing a worker from the equation the economy is further damaged. If the cycle continues long enough you end up with an even smaller distribution of wealth; after which is becomes difficult to recover.  

Perhaps the most troubling repercussion of this trend is the fact that people who would once be happy to take the IT positions in a company are now reluctant to take a chance. Worried that with the possibility of cuts there is little job security to look forward to. With the future uncertain it is hard to say just how the economic situation will play out. It’s possible that the current stagnation is unjustified but until the situation untangles itself it is very likely that many more companies will follow suit.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

SEO: Optimizing for Success

In this day and age a high percentage of the words business is carried out over the web. With the rising cost of fuel and the growing ease of digital distribution this doesn’t look to be going in any direction except for up. With this in mind Search Engine Optimization is going to grow even further in importance and as a business owner, or even a web hobbyist its crucial to understand just how important SEO really is.

In the traditional world of business your appearance and your handshake were two of the most important first steps to gaining a foot in the door. In the digital world appearance still amounts for a lot but having the best looking website in the world isn’t going to matter if no one can find you. Many web design firms offer attractive looking design packages that sparkle and look pretty but most are put together in what I like to call “conveyor belt production”. Instead of taking the time to make sure everything works at an optimum level they take all the parts off the shelf, shove them together, put a new coat of paint on top to hide the seams and shove them out the door with a pretty bow; Enjoy!  

The truth is search engine optimization requires as much research and planning as it does application. What works in one industry is not guaranteed to work in another and although there are common trends to follow you need to consider your target market before you head down that path.  

You will also see many website promising fast results and 100% web traffic growth. These Black Hat Optimizers do offer a service that works…for a time. The problem is they utilize search engine exploits that gather results usually for about a month. The hitch is that search engine companies know of the exploits and keep a watchful eye out for them. If they catch your website using these techniques you will be blacklisted and after your first month of glory you will be lucky to break the top 40. Not a good place to be.  

But if you do your research you can find people that will help your website gain real results. IT Computer Support of New York has time tested experience bringing websites with no search engine listings into the top five. If you feel like your company is losing money because you are not gaining all the online traffic you should be give us a call at 212-242-2949 and we will talk you through ways we believe your website could be improved.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Viral (Marketing) Futures

Viral marketing in business has gone from a curiously to the norm in the matter of just a few short years. Currently bachelorette students in college majoring in everything from pure Business to Graphic Design and multimedia studies are required to take entire courses dedicated to viral marketing. What is viral marketing you might ask? Well that gets a little hazy because viral marketing can be as diverse as the industries pursuing it. In short the concept behind the practice is that “agents” working for a company spread awareness of a product or service without directly revealing that they are selling something. Once the seed of service or product is planted the unwitting consumer spreads the information of the product around to their friends and so on; thus spreading the ideas like a virus.

Why is this important? Well that has more to do with the modern times that we live in. Today money on marketing and advertising is spent at an alarming rate. But because it’s everywhere the primary demographic spending age, namely people between 15-35, have been trained to ignore it. Because of this more advertising is needed to penetrate the already saturated market which only results in consumers becoming even more immune. With the use of Viral marketing people are forced to take notice of a product or service because the ideas are presented by a friendly face that doesn’t appear to be trying to sell anything at all.

This tactic of advertising has spread most hastily over the medium of the internet. Some six months ago a video circulated and became an overnight sensation among the young and old alike. "Here Comes Another Bubble", a humorous look at the modern face of technology based business, has circulated at a rate of over 15,000 views a day for 6 months straight. The popularity of the video has since netted the company a Webby Award of Internet Excellence. All of this was generated by a relatively short three minute video that’s only expense was the initial production cost. All additional distribution cost has been generated by word of mouth and free services like Youtube. 

Of course all this becomes meaningless if the backend service or product is not sound. Regardless Viral Marketing is changing the face business and not to embrace it is to be left behind. If you would like learn more measures that can be taken to successfully generate a Viral Marketing campaign, or about setting up your system to accommodate the amount of traffic that a successful viral marketing campaign will generate contact ITC Computer Support of New York. We can set up your servers to handle increased stress from high consumer traffic as well as show you how to optimize your website to receive the best results.

- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

Vista of the Future of Business

With the launch of Microsoft Vista on January 2007 the world looked on with equal parts intrigue and annoyance. For all the promises of security and luxury most people could not be bothered to get beyond the question of “why?” Windows XP had long been established as technology industry norm and with very little in the way practical improvements much of the IT world wanted to know the age old question, “Why fix what isn’t broken?”. Microsoft tried to hide the question behind an attractive new interface and the promise of stronger security but the fact remains that there really was little incentive for the upgrade.  

Now more then a year after its release Vista is still trying to find it's place in the world. With the wide spread knowledge that Vista is a greater resource hog than XP ever was, and the fact that many brands and types of hardware are still not driver supported people have looked on to recent announcements’ with dread.  

“as of June 30, you're no longer able to buy the operating system(Windows XP) or obtain support for it.” (PC World)

For private consumers this news reverberates as a minor annoyance. As for business owners, however, this creates a huge hurdle. When most businesses buy and operate numerous computer systems on a regular basis and with the need to keep those systems operational and up to date, being forced to upgrade is a considerable blow. Even worse than this is the fact that in many cases the computer system that ran Windows XP perfectly well will be unable to operate under full capacity when running Vista. Worse still is the fact that many business owners are still unaware of the problems that they will be facing in as little as 12 days.  

To help alleviate some of the stress associated with the upcoming transfer ITCSNY has stepped up to the figurative plate to help sort through some of the troubles that are surely soon to follow. IT Computer Support of New York offers services to all surrounding regions that will help ensure that your business runs smoothly as normal. If you would like to learn more about the services we offer in regards to Windows Vista or any other tech support you might need visit us on the web at www.itcomputersupportnewyork.com, or call the support line at 212-242-2949.

-Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department

How Much Are You Spending on an Internal IT Computer Support Staff?

Are you a CEO, CIO or CFO utilizing the same computer support model you did in 1989? 1979?The Internal IT department ‘model’ has become an expensive and ineffective dinosaur. Outsourcing IT functions to managed services specialists cut IT costs by 30%-60% while providing superior service and support. Outsourcing IT support provides you with technological advantages without the usual costs associated with retaining in-house IT staff. Think of the costs and expenses of an in-house IT department:On-going technical training on hardware, software, PC’s, Mac’s, new technology, data centers, switches, PDA’s, Laptops, desktops, firewalls, back-ups, smart-ups, email, spam filters, security…Cost for taxes and benefitsCost for a place to sitCost to provide the new employee with equipmentCost to hire (search firms, evaluate resumes, interviews)How can an executive know how to formulate questions to interview, hire and evaluate a competent IT employee. Then you have to live with your choice. A choice that cannot give you 5x10 support all year? One person, no matter how expensive, good or even-tempered, cannot give you the broadbased quality experience of a managed, competent and knowledgeable team.Outsourcing IT Support gets you a professional team specialized in IT service and support. Companies have cut their IT costs, improved their IT performance and gained competitive advantage through wise selection and use of technology by outsourcing IT support to specialists.IT Computer Support of New York has helped companies save money and make wise technology choices for over 24 years. When you “hire” IT Computer Support of New York, you get the advantage of an entire staff with comprehensive knowledge and training. All work is guaranteed. When you dial their number a real person answers the phone, not a recording. You get the support you need quickly and effectively, they respect your time.Use either On-Demand Support which put you in control of your IT operations or Managed Services where you pay one fixed price and get unlimited support and budgetable, professionally managed IT operations.To learn more go to http:/www.itcomputersupportnewyork.com/managedservices.htm or call IT Computer Support of New York the IT outsourcing authorities at 1-877-4-ITCSNY (1-877-448-2769). ITCSNY specializes in small and medium sized businesses. IT Computer Support of New York serves New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Chicago Vancouver Canada, Michigan, Illinois and San Francisco and is PC and Apple certified.

“Press 1 if you’re annoyed, Press 2 if you give up.”

This morning, I opened my web browser and one of the articles posted was about Customer Service. Here is the list of the worst according to MSN Money's second annual Customer Service Hall of Shame.

AOL
Comcast
Sprint
Abercrombie & Fitch
Qwest
Capitol One
Bank of America
Time Warner
HSBC Finance
Cox Communication.

This is a subject I know a bit about since my personal career has involved various forms of customer service whether on the phone or face to face. I unfortunately had the “pleasure” of working at Kinko’s in probably one of the most obnoxious places in the world, Miami Beach.
So I looked at the list and, I must say, I’ve experienced some of these companies customer service practices first hand. AOL? Certainly. But I found them to be reasonably helpful in a short period of time. Capitol One? When you get someone on the phone, you know their outsourced to India. I had to give up. They didn’t understand me, I didn’t understand them. I ended up getting mail telling me what I already told them. Time Warner Cable? By the time I got someone on the phone, I didn’t like the answer they gave me. Do you know if you’re a business with cable service, only, it cost’s more than residential. Not only did our company receive a higher bill, we also had the music channels disconnected. They decided that they would charge more, on top of the increase, for that service.

I did find it interesting that among mostly financial and communication companies, Abercrombie and Fitch were listed. I didn’t really see a reason pertaining to their actual customer service practices. There was discussion about discriminatory hiring practices, child exploitation in ads and over sexualizing preteens. I personally never went into an Abercrombie & Fitch store. I take a size 36. I don’t think they carry that.

Being on both sides of the fence, I’ve realized something about dealing with customer service. First, you have to be calm. Second, you have to be smart. No one likes phone trees but most companies use them in order to discourage customer complaints. If you feel you need to get a human on the phone, hit that “0” or “#”. But that doesn’t always work. Neither does screaming “REPRESENTATIVE” into the mouthpiece. I then suggest searching online for a better customer service line. Type in the company and “customer service direct line”. I’m not saying this will be the answer to you’re prayers, but it’s what I mean when I say you have to be smart about it.
When you get someone on the phone, you may as well be as polite as you can. Realize that if you’re that upset, that person answering is probably not going to be able to help you.

Wow, I guess I painted a pretty bleak picture. If it gets that bad, stop dealing with that company. Transfer your balance, use a different communication service or buy your cargo pants somewhere else.

IT Computer Support of New York knows this all to well. That’s why we have made it one of our strongest points to HAVE AN INTELLIGENT HUMAN BEING ANSWER THE PHONE. The only time you’d get a recording would be during off hours. It really makes a difference. We constantly get complimented on how polite our phone personnel are and how quickly we get the right person solve our clients concerns.

I know. You feel like all these companies want is your money, no questions asked. You’re right. But at least you know there is at least one company out there where exemplary customer service is in the forefront of their mission.
IT Computer Support of New York.
- Lenny Trinceri
IT Computer Support of New York
General Manager
212-242-2949