This is really cool.

Google's latest product/service is Google Voice. This is one (free) phone number for all your calls and text messages (SMS). You can provide all your contacts with this one number and it will forward the call to your other phones (work, cell, home, etc.) You can route to specific phones based on the caller. In theory, if you have a cell phone plan with a "My Faves" or phone numbers that do not count against your minutes, you could make your Google Voice number a fave. Then only give out that number. All the calls would be free.

Really cool.

The other neat features abound, as you might have guessed. Google number creates transcripts of all your voicemail messages. You can listen to voicemail online, on your phone, or read the transcript. Also, if a call comes in and you aren't sure if you want to listen to it, you can "listen in" on the voicemail being left. If it sounds important you can opt in and begin a conversation with the caller. You can record all your calls and store them online - think of the implications for businesses with this! You can read more about other features at https://www.google.com/voice/about.

I'm sure there are plenty of "cons" to this innovation, but I thought it was worth sharing. We at Mother like to stay on top of what's happening in the I.T. world. You never know where it will go or how it will affect small and mid sized business technology.

Have you heard of Netbook? It's the latest craze in the growing market for lower cost portable computing devices.  Netbook, and products like it, are basically just low end low cost full computers. They typically run Windows XP Home edition, or a version of Linux. They come with Microsoft Works, a low end tool from Microsoft.  (I think it is Microsoft’s way of tormenting a user and forces them to the full version of Office).

That is the one issue with products like Netbook - the cost to upgrade to the tool you normally use – Office.  An Acer Netbook with XP Home and Works at Costco runs about $250.  It is a fully functioned computer.  You buy it, use it, marvel at the “find” you just bought.  Then you find that Works is driving you nuts. What to do?  Upgrade to Office?  Plan on spending another $250 or so.  Now this cheap little computer is not so cheap. Options?  Live with Works, or try Google Apps.  Google Apps are a set of tools that mimic the functionality of Office but are free.  Yes, I said, “Free”.  They work well, have been extended to work offline now, and can fulfill the needs of most casual Office users.  At the office, where you need to work more aggressively with the productivity suite, this may become more a burden.  However, given the nature of these low end computing devices – limited keyboard and screen size most notably – you might only need limited use of the productivity tools.  If you can live with Works, good for you (and I'm not sure I believe you)! But if you are like most of us - try Google Apps.

When is it important to be sure something will work?

When you can't afford to have it fail.

Recently, I mailed some last minute sporting tickets to two of our beloved clients as a thank you. Our administrative assistant chose a different mailing service than the one we normally use. I gave her the tickets to mail on Wednesday afternoon, indicating they needed to be at the clients ASAP. She notified the new service we had packages to pick up.

At 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon I was emailing the clients with one hand, on the phone with the mailing service with the other, and checking the tracking numbers with my elbows. Where were the tickets? Why did tickets dropped off at 4 p.m. on Wednesday and slotted for one day delivery still be on the truck almost 48 hours later? Instead of feeling sure the tickets would arrive in time, I was worried and wasting my time figuring out what happened. Mother paid someone to deliver our packages - but it sure felt like I was doing a lot of the work.

The mailing service failed me because I wasn't sure it would work.

You need to be sure your I.T. is working. When every order counts, when you can't be sure what next month will look like - you have to be sure.

Mother can give you a free I.T. assessment that will tell you precisely what's working and what's not. There's no charge or commitment. Don't let your I.T. fail you because you aren't sure.

Here is the conclusion to Sam's "Mother Law" tips on securing your wireless network.

1. Don't broadcast your SSID
Most Wireless AP (access points) and routers have an auto setting of broadcasting the default network’s name or what is called the SSID (Service Set Identifier). This type of setup makes it completely easy for wireless  clients to connect to your network since they can see it visible through their wireless client application. Turning off SSID broadcast for your network makes it invisible to your neighbors and passers-by (though it will still be detectible by WLAN "sniffers"). That is why it’s important to have complete security through WEP/WPA encryption which is mentioned as the next step in ensuring a secured wireless network.

2. Use WPA encryption
The 802.11 standard, WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy) encryption, has been known for its weaknesses and makes it easy for a very determined user with the right applications and equipment to crack/break encryption of a wireless network and obtain confidential data housed in servers/workstations. A more effective method of encryption is to use WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access), a protocol that was introduced to protect wireless networks with the use of a passphrase. The client end application feature such as Windows XP (Service Pack 2) and Windows Vista have WPA accessibility incorporated in their product. Our organization is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner who will ensure that integration meets the up most Microsoft standards.