Cost Savings Alternative to Microsoft Office Software

Have a small office or home office - or just looking to use Microsoft Office but don't have the $$ to pay for the software (Office Professional 2007 retails at $499.00 - and thats per workstation. As many of you know - we strongly believe in properly licensed software and will not install or provide bootlegged software - but there is a cost effective alternative.

Here's how to create and open Word, Excel, PowerPoint files legally with out needing to pay for Microsoft Office.

A tool created originally by open source developers, now owned by Sun, is available for download at no cost. It is great for home offices, students, or the extra PC that you don’t want to spend $499+ for Office. You can save documents in either the open source format, or in the proprietary Word – Excel – or PowerPoint formats, which can later be opened from Word – Excel – or PowerPoint. There probably are a few features missing from Office – but all in all makes a good solution for the business or homeowner looking to save money and still create and opne documents in the standard formats.

To download it go to - www.openoffice.org
Or click the image:

Telephone On-Hold Messages

Have you ever been placed on-hold listening to nothing but dead air or the annoying commercials and DJ chatter of the radio? What do your callers hear when placed on-hold?

A customized telephone on-hold recording allows a business to impact and entertain callers, educate and inform them of promotions, and reduce hang-ups. Watt Media provides everything needed, including a professional script and voice-over, any style of background music, equipment (if needed), and periodic updates for maximum effectiveness.

Affinity Consulting has been utilizing Watt Media's professionally produced on-hold music and messaging for 5+ years. In the event our clients, candidates, or associates are put on-hold, they hear our professional message, which not only ensures them they they have not been hung up upon (no-one on hold appreciates the dead silence qaundry - did they disconnect me?) but also gently reminds them of our total services and options. It is a small investment to make in your professional image and the sanity of your on-hold callers.

Want a sample? Call me (954) 340-4599 x202 and I will promptly put you on Hold!

Coral Springs-based Watt Media, Inc. helps businesses enhance their image and promote their services by offering customized telephone on-hold recordings. They also offer website design, hosting, and e-newsletter campaigns. Amir Watynski at Watt Media, Inc., http://www.watt-media.com/, can be reached at 1-800-250-8233, or at amir@watt-media.com.

Lightning Strikes! - Protecting your Equipment

The fact is that we live in the lightning capital of the world, in addition we live in an environment with multiple power surges at home and the office. An although a power surge can feel like a slight inconvenience, it can wreak havoc on our computer equipment.

Even short power outages can interrupt our work flow and efficiency, by losing the email, word or excel file we are working on. Not to mention losing your entire hard drive, PC, or monitor.

Most of these issues can be handled with two devices:

• Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
• Surge Protector

I would recommend everyone on a PC, especially in a corporate environment have a UPS. From vendors like Office Depot , Best Buy, or CDW, they run from $50-$150.00 and have a Surge Protector built in. This will protect you from damaging surges as well as give you time to save and exit Windows properly on a power outage. On quick power dips, the lights may dim or flicker, but your PC will maintain working. At minimum - be on a Power Strip - ensuring it has the Proper Surge protection.

Couple of Key Hints:

• Read the label on the UPS box - make sure it can handle a Computer and Monitor or specific watts of the equipment plugged in to it.
• Make sure the Power Strip is a Surge Protector as well.
• Don't put Laser Printers on a UPS, most can't handle the high loads of laser and and on power loss, it won't typically be an inconvenience to simply reprint a document.
• But do make sure your Laser printers, copiers, and other electronic devices are on a Surge Protector.

And for you Big screen LCD and Plasma TV owners, which sometimes cost as much as the cars you own, buy some small dollar protection and make sure you use the manufacturer's recommended Surge Protection.

Choice is the classic advice - "Don't be penny wise and pound foolish" Pay a few extra dollars now or Pay significant costs to replace valuable equipment and data recovery later...

Gus Anderson, can be reached for further questions at 954 340-4599 x202 or via email at ganderson@affinitycgi.com.

Opening Word 2007 files with Word 2003

This is a question we continually are asked and wanted to publish it for all of our clients and associates.

If you have not yet made the switch to Office 2007 including Word 2007, you maybe experiencing problems when you are trying to open documents sent to you in Word 2007 format with your Word/Office 2003 Products.

Don't despair - you don't need to spend the time and money to upgrade to Office/Word 2007 to read these new formatted Word Documents. Surprisingly Microsoft has provided a translator for Word 2003 users to import and read Word 2007 files.

To access Microsoft's translator - click this link and download the FileFormatConverters.exe file to your desktop then install. You'll now be able to read Word 2007 formats in Word 2003.

Word 2007 to 2003 Translator

Gus Anderson, can be reached for further questions at 954 340-4599 x202 or via email at ganderson@affinitycgi.com.

How much Data can your Business afford to lose?

How much Data can your Business afford to lose?

More and more each year, businesses are moving from paper to electronic forms of data collection; from Accounting information, employee details, Sales commissions, orders, and contact data. With the increasing amounts of electronically held data, there come unique risks of loss.

Mix in the increased hurricane activity, like that in 2004; and there are significant reasons to be properly prepared.

Having a complete Business Continuity Plan involves minimizing areas of risk where your business is vulnerable and creating a plan to reduce that vulnerability.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor:
• Over 40% of all companies that experience a disaster never reopen.
• Over 25% of the remaining companies close with in two years.

But disasters to your data don’t just come packaged in natural furies like Hurricanes and Tornadoes; they arrive discreetly as virus attacks, employee sabotage, surges from lightning hits, accidental erasure, and computer malfunctions. Limiting your exposure along with a having a secure backup plan is a key component of your overall Business Continuity Plan, even for those small “disasters”.

I am frequently asked the question, “How often should I backup?” My response being, “How often could you afford to lose data and not be able to recover?” So the first step is to identify your reliance on your specific business data, and the frequency which you should be backing up.
Second, implement a strategy that accommodates storing the data on a reliable media type, and keeping that media offsite. Third, publish the plan and schedule for you or assigned employees. Fourth, commit to the backup regiment so that it becomes a habit. Lastly, and maybe the most overlooked part of the plan, fully test the restoration of the backup data.

Some Key hints are:
• Use Tape media as the primary backup, it is the most reliable and least susceptible to accidents like dropping.
• USB Drives are a good backup source, just not as reliable as Tapes, but can be a valuable secondary and more frequent backup.
• Utilize RAID configurations in your computer servers; which are redundant hard drives, so that Drive B can take over instantly if Drive A fails.
• Properly secure and store your backups; they contain valuable and proprietary business data.
• You can never have too many layers of backup protection.

Although, many of the points here are technical in nature, a backup plan is more of a business concern than a technological one. Research business continuity planning and backups on the internet and from you local Emergency Management centers or seek help from a qualified professional.

Backups always look more affordable after you lost the data, and the first thing you would be willing to pay for after a “disaster” of all forms.
After looking at the costs to protect your business from a data disaster, take the time to ask yourself “What is the possible cost of not having a plan?”

Gus Anderson, can be reached for further questions at 954 340-4599 x202 or via email at ganderson@affinitycgi.com.