Online meetings and calls are a good way to have meetings, conference calls, or any form of communication without the need for all participants to be in the same office or location. The only drawback to these programs is that if a meeting needs to be recorded it could be tough, or even impossible, to achieve.

Microsoft Lync Online, a service of Microsoft Office 365, has recently introduced a solution to this problem. Users can now record meetings including all related audio, visual, presentations, and more related to the meeting and or call.

Recording can be started during any meeting by clicking the more options (>>) button and selecting the red Start Recording button. Recording controls will be at the bottom of the window. Once the recording has finished, it will be saved, unless changed, to C:/Users/YOUR USER NAME/Lync Recordings.

With two clicks of a mouse, users can record valuable meetings and easily access them for later reference or revision. For more information on Microsoft Lync Online and Office 365, please contact us.

In late February 2012, Twitter hit 500 million users. This milestone has cemented Twitter as a major Social Media player. With this large user base, companies should be seriously considering integrating twitter with their marketing strategies. Benefits of integration include increased followers, brand awareness, and potentially a better bottom line. Here are some tips for increasing your followers.

Search for companies and people you know While it’s easy to use the search function in Twitter, it can be time consuming to search for people one by one. Instead:

1. Log into your Twitter account
2. Press the # Discover button at the top of the page
3. Press Find Friends
4. Log into the various accounts available
5. Add people as followers

This is a great way to rapidly increase your followers, and reconnect with customers and contacts you may have lost contact with.

Combine your Twitter and Facebook feeds You can combine your Twitter and Facebook feeds easily:

1. Log into your Twitter account
2. Select Profile Settings
3. Select Profile
4. Select Post your tweets to Facebook
5. Follow the instructions provided

Within minutes, your Tweets will show up in your Facebook status, enabling you to reach two platforms simultaneously. Be warned, this could spam your followers, causing them to stop following you - so it’s best to keep your Tweets or status updates to the most important information.

Join Twitter Ads for Small Business This recently announced service will be up and running soon, allowing small business owners to advertise on Twitter through Promoted Tweets. This service will be released in the near future, enabling businesses of all sizes to advertise.

If you are not on Twitter, would like to join, or know more please contact us.

For smaller businesses with less manpower and resources at their disposal, it's a challenge to keep up with ever-evolving IT trends in order to grow and provide clients with the service they need. But with the help of Managed Service Providers, or MSPs, handling and managing your IT doesn't need to be as complicated or as costly as you might think.

The nature of business has changed. Companies, no matter how small, can market products and services worldwide over the Internet. At the same time, customers can find products and services from your competitors in just a few clicks of the mouse. A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can help you maintain the technology that will give you the edge to compete and win.

Global business requirements

To compete effectively in a global market, your business needs:

• Integrated internal and external business support systems.
• Up-to-the-minute access to sales, order processing, and production information for fast decision making.
• Flexible processes that can adapt dynamically to changes in the business climate.
• A fast, reliable, and secure IP network.

Maintaining the networking infrastructure is often the biggest challenge for a small company. It's expensive to keep up with new technologies and devote IT resources to ongoing network management.

The value of a Managed Service Provider

A qualified Managed Service Provider (MSP) can bridge the gap to give you access to leading network technologies. MSPs provide management expertise without requiring high initial capital investment or ongoing costs associated with technology upkeep. A partnership with an MSP will:

• Reduce costs, including traditional service fees, as well as hardware and IT operations costs.
• Increase support levels and network availability without additional staff.
• Keep IT costs stable and predictable.
• Provide access to the latest technology and skill sets with limited risk.

Let's talk about how you can compete better globally and take your business to the next level without big capital investment.

Onboarding, the process of hiring and training new employees, is a buzzword in all organizations these days. This process can be a long, drawn-out affair often leaving a bad taste in the mouths of employees. For most organizations, it’s getting the employee’s computer ready for work that takes the longest, often leaving IT staff frustrated with the time it can take to set up a computer.

Microsoft has a solution to this problem: Microsoft Office 365. Office 365 is in the cloud, and there is no need to install duplicate programs. On their first day, employees log into Microsoft Office 365 and can be working with limited delay. A big advantage to this program is that it uses software almost all employees are familiar with, reducing the need to train new employees on a new system.

For more information on Microsoft Office 365 and other products, please contact us.

As more small businesses continue to seek ways to make operations more efficient and cost effective, applications such as Office 365 continue to evolve to better meet consumer needs. With over 30 new updates to its efficient cloud-based service, Office 365 promises improved communication between users and clients within the same organization as well as compatibility with new platforms.

For many businesses nowadays, working while on the go is a necessity. This is why there is also a growing need for services and applications that allow people to work and continue to be productive even while they are mobile.

One of these services is Office 365, which is a package offering Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online. Office 365 is cloud-based, which enables people to access files and applications in a much more seamless and efficient manner. This kind of system is especially suitable for small businesses, not only because of its cost efficiency, but also its flexibility of use – which in turn helps members of smaller firms handle multiple tasks more effectively with no loss to productivity, even when they are out of the office.

Office 365 has also recently launched its first major service update, which makes it a more versatile tool for better communication and collaboration. The more than 30 new updates include support for Windows Phone 7, which allows people to access and edit their SharePoint documents from their Windows Phone 7 mobile device; new SharePoint Business Connectivity Services, which enable people within an organization to use SharePoint interface to connect to customer relationship management (CRM) or SAP software, which are common critical line-of-business applications; as well as new support for Lync for Mac, giving users the ability to use instant messaging, presence, and videoconferencing.

If applied and implemented properly, Office 365 can prove to be a very efficient tool for small businesses who want to be more cost efficient without compromising the quality of their output or their productivity. If you want to know more about how Office 365 will impact your business, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

While any kind of business can benefit from the use of social media, there is one aspect of it that many overlook – proper use. One does not simply use social media for business – it's something that, like everything else in your operation, requires a certain degree of planning and correct implementation.

Social media is booming. Since its introduction a few years ago, social media platforms have not only changed the way people connect on the internet, it's also changed the way business is done. When applied correctly, it's a cost-effective tool that helps businesses connect with a much larger audience and client base, as well as potential clients. That is, however, IF it's used properly.

One common mistake businesses make is the failure to draw the line between personal and professional. While showing a human aspect of your business isn't bad at all, doing it too much makes you less consistent as a business entity and makes followers or audiences lose touch of what you're really about.

Another common error is the failure to handle bad feedback correctly. More often than not, one negative comment can balloon into a full blown argument that will only give people an even more negative impression about you and your business. While you should acknowledge even bad feedback, more detailed discussion should be done privately and only between the parties concerned.

Social media is not a "set it and forget it" kind of thing. You need to constantly update and monitor your social media platforms so they don't become stagnant. People will be more encouraged to follow you on Twitter or visit your Facebook page if they have something new to look forward to every once in a while. Make sure, though, that you don't post too frequently – or worse, fall into the trap of making it too promotionally-driven, which comes across as self-serving and impersonal.

If you're interested in knowing more and drawing up a comprehensive and effective social media plan for your business, please don't hesitate to contact us so we can discuss things and better respond to any issues or questions you might have.

Is your accounting department wasting valuable time creating reports using spreadsheets and manual processes? If so, it may be time to check out a centralized reporting system to reduce costs and wasted time. With better business intelligence provided by a robust reporting system, you’ll be in a better position to make sound decisions based on accurate, timely information – as well as easily comply with business regulations – and that's always good for business.

While Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can transform your business in many ways, the time savings that your accounting department will realize may be the most surprising. As organizations grow, the need for coordination of resources and departments is clear. An ERP system supports that growth.

But smaller organizations often spend as much time on accounting as large ones. An ERP system may return productivity rewards more quickly that you imagined.

Automate reporting

It's no surprise that your accounting team spends many hours each month reporting profit and loss. But how much time are they spending on manual spreadsheets for each of the following?

• Making adjustments to inventory and vendor pricing
• Maintaining budgets for multiple departments
• Providing individual reports to departments with data from payroll to supply costs

A centralized ERP system can automate all these time wasting activities so your accounting team can focus on ways to make and save money.

Assure compliance

No one wants the IRS or any other regulatory agency looking over their shoulder. The best way to keep them out of your business is to provide prompt, accurate reporting to meet all agency regulations your industry requires. Most starter accounting packages don't give your finance team the flexibility to build the reports they need to comply.

To determine if it is time to evaluate ERP systems, have your accounting team track the time spent searching, compiling, and manually entering compliance report data for each of your required filings. The time savings with an automated system that pulls data from multiple sources to consolidate information could be well worth the investment.

Microsoft Dynamics ERP provides more options for reporting than any other ERP system on the market. Let us show you how flexible reporting can be.

Healthy business relationships are part of what makes a successful business. And like any other business relationship, it's important to be able to connect with and trust your Managed Service Provider (MSP) in order to maximize your partnership with them and your company's own productivity and growth.

Business relationships are cultivated. Grown. That's what you do – at least if you want your business to flourish. The healthier your business relationships, the more productive and efficient your operations become.

Naturally, this applies to your relationship with your Managed Service Provider (MSP). Your IT is an important part of your day-to-day operations, and contributes greatly to how productive your business can become – so establishing good working rapport with your MSP is especially essential. Here are a few pointers for building and maintaining a great relationship with your current or prospective MSP partner.

Assess what your MSP can provide for you Sit down with your MSP to learn their ideas for your business, then carefully assess whether the services they offer support and augment your operations – current and planned. Look closely at contracts and make sure you understand the fine print, and carefully evaluate whether the service agreement meets your needs. Do some research about prospective MSPs (which is easy to do through the Internet) to verify their claims. Making sure you have the right fit is an important first step in getting the most out of an MSP.

Define roles and manage expectations Make sure that roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and understood early in the process, especially if your MSP is integrated with or augmenting an existing IT operation. This will help minimize overlapping job roles (which is ultimately unproductive for the both of you), as well as territorial disputes and misunderstandings.

Communicate constantly While your MSP will essentially manage your IT, it's still YOUR IT department. Make sure that you open healthy channels of feedback and communication. It's also recommended that you keep your MSP informed of any new directions or strategies that you feel will affect the IT operations that your MSP partner handles. It's a good idea to schedule regular planning sessions and meetings with them so that they will be able to anticipate what you need – and provide it – in line with your own goals and timetables.

Establish trust and respect your MSP's decisions Treat your MSP like you would your IT manager. Give them general direction, and then let them do what they do best: manage IT. Entrusting your IT to an outside contractor can be a difficult decision, but as long as your MSP is reliable and secure, it may very well be one of the best business decisions you've ever made.

In today's highly competitive environment, innovation plays a key role in staying ahead of the game. Fortunately, you can rely on help of business tools such as Dynamics ERP and SharePoint to help your teams collaborate, create, and deliver quickly and creatively.

The key to competitive advantage in today's connected world is innovation. Companies that can continually offer new product features and services will win and hold the attention of customers. To support innovation, how do you keep your employees thinking outside the box and building for the future?

Share the knowledge

Connect your employees to each other no matter where they are. When employees can collaborate in real time instead of emailing documents — not knowing who has the latest version and who contributed what — they keep innovation flowing. Dynamics ERP and SharePoint will give your teams the power to share their ideas in a central location without any slowdowns.

Lack of information, dated information, or disjointed information all keep people from making the best decisions. When you get the right information to the right person at the right time, you allow them to focus on productivity instead of data crunching. With business intelligence built on an integrated ERP system, you deliver information that fuels innovation.

Connect departments

When one department doesn't know what the other is doing, duplicate efforts, wasted time, and poor decisions follow. Dynamics ERP and SharePoint together allow you to share information from all departments across your organization. Help your team move forward together, basing decisions on the whole picture.

You can stay ahead of the competition by supporting innovation and creativity with a connected ERP system. Microsoft Dynamics ERP will help your teams collaborate and connect. Let's talk about how we can help you find creative solutions to get ahead of ever changing markets.

Now that you have signed up to test drive Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, what's next? Here are a few ideas to help you get the most from your free trial.

1. Take the time to watch the instructional videos. There are some valuable tips in the videos and they are short. A few minutes of your time up front will help you get more value from your test drive. 2. Upload some of your own data. Data familiar to you will make the processes more "real" for you and your team. 3. Work through the processes that you think will help your organization the most. Whether it's sales management, customer service management, or marketing, focus on the processes that will make the most difference to productivity. Practice, so that you feel comfortable showing the process. 4. Show your team or manager. By taking the initiative to demonstrate the improvements that could come from implementing CRM, you will help them open their minds to improving the business. 5. Be sure to show them the dashboards. Set up a few of the dashboard charts the way you would use them – it's quick and easy, and they pack a punch when demonstrating the valuable at-a-glance information Dynamics CRM can provide.

By test driving Dynamics CRM online, you are obviously interested in helping to improve the processes that are holding your company back. Once you have started the conversation with the decision makers in your company, an experienced Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner can assist you in taking it to the next level. Let us help you make the most of CRM for your organization. Talk to us today.