IT Service Contracts: Essential Recurring Revenue

 Gifts  Comments Off on IT Service Contracts: Essential Recurring Revenue
Jan 072024
 

Professional companies need consultants that offer IT service contracts, not simply those that handle emergencies on an as-needed basis. If you don’t offer on-going IT service contracts, you end up with either too many people calling you, or not enough. IT service contracts allow your clients to get the most out of their IT investments because it helps them implement long-term fixes and plan for the future. They can also make your life easier by providing a schedule and a plan for dealing with the needs of your customers and bring you a source of dependable revenue.

Recurring Revenue

The best companies will request IT service contracts to handle their many needs. Your success or failure in the future will depend upon the service you provide through these contracts and will in turn determine their importance to your business. One-shot deals and simply relying on emergency work and spot-checking will leave you both frazzled and uncertain.

You can use recurring revenues obtained through dependable IT service contracts to help build your business foundation. There is no way to determine how long your company will last unless you implement this type of revenue into your business plan from the very beginning.

It Service Contracts Are Essential

Once you start to use IT service contracts as part of your major business plan to provide recurring revenue, you need to start thinking about whether or not you want to get involved with clients that don’t want to sign long-term clients. The ones that do are asking specifically for your services, and want to develop a relationship with you that will last into the future. Their investment will be essential to building and growing your business, and will help you plan what shape and form your growth will take.

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How to Compare Mortgage Deals from Different UK Lenders

 Gifts  Comments Off on How to Compare Mortgage Deals from Different UK Lenders
Jan 062024
 

Before you start shopping around for a mortgage in the UK, it’s important to understand how mortgages are regulated and sold. There are some things you need to know and consider before you can go out looking for a mortgage.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) requires lenders to show you a special document called keyfacts. Make sure you read the keyfacts before getting a mortgage or choosing a financial advisor. The keyfacts will help you see the features of the mortgage product, how much it will cost you and also help you understand what service you are being offered. You’ll also be able to use this document to compare mortgage products or services from different lenders.

Also, check that the firm you are dealing with is authorised by the FSA. If they are not authorised you will not have access to complaints procedures and compensation schemes if things go wrong.

Some of the things you should consider when choosing a mortgage lender includes:

– Competitiveness of the lender’s rates,
– Mortgage fees and penalties,
– Customer service and the lender’s reputation.
– Trust (You’ll want a lender you can trust, and a company you can work with effectively since you’ll have to deal with this lender for many years to come.)

Ask your friends or family for recommendations of potential mortgage lenders or brokers. Then contact some of the lenders and discuss your needs with them. Using keyfacts to compare different mortgage packages and services will help you get a better deal. Read expert opinions in national newspapers and magazines. These publications usually publish editorials that rate mortgage and loan deals from various banks and lenders. This information will give you a better idea of what to expect when you start shopping around for a mortgage.

Take time to choose a lender so that you can save money on your mortgage. There are hundreds of mortgage deals available out there so don’t be tempted to settle for the first offer before finding out what deals are available elsewhere. Shopping around for a mortgage will help you to get the best financing deal. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, you can use the services of a broker or use an internet site that offers a mortgage comparison facility.

Finally, think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

Disclaimer: Information in this article does not constitute financial advice and should not be used as such.

A guide To Buying A Projector

 Gifts  Comments Off on A guide To Buying A Projector
Dec 292023
 

Good presentations make the foundation of the successful business deals. So while making presentations make sure that you have an easy access to a good projector which suits your requirement as this is going to at as a catalyst for a business deal to happen! The picking of projectors is mainly dependent on the type of work or the kind of business that you have. As for an advertising firm presentations are very frequent so they make doubly sure that they procure a good projector!
The other factor that determines the selection of a projector is the dimension of the room or the conference hall where the presentation is scheduled. As the clarity and readability of the data projected varies from the projector which is designed to function in small room as compared to large room , so presentations for larger areas and for a great number of people should be made through more sophisticated projectors.

Portability of the projector is the another issue, if you usually travel from one place to another for their business presentations then make sure that you invest in a good quality portable projector that is easily transported and provides an easy set up. It is mandatory that it can be set up instantly as who would be carrying a throng of technical people when doing mobile presentations. A projector that easily connects with a personal or portable computer will be ideal to make your presentations simple but sophisticated.

Norms suggest that a portable projector with a minimum brightness capacity of at least 800 lumens is fine to handle the presentations. In contrast to this larger projectors must have a brightness capacity of at least two thousand lumens to make the presentation clear even to those who are seated at the back of the room. A projector must have at least a minimum of 1500 lumens to be able to project effectively in a room where plenty of light comes in as when there are no blinds or curtains

Once you have decided on the type of the projector that you will be using, then make sure that you use projectors in a dark room but if it cannot be avoided, always position the projector at an area where there is less light. It is also important to take note of the resolution of your projector as this signifies the amount of pixels it can display. . Projectors can be easily installed but it is best to consult technical people for setting up the projector especially if they will be mounted to the ceiling. Make sure your projector’s efficiency will last long by using alcohol or a special cleaning solution for the projector lens.

So go ahead and make a appropriate selection from a wide variety of projectors that are available in the market and just to tell you that vendor will be one happy person to give a trial presentation, so make sure that you don’t miss on that as it will throw more light on the projector features.

Methods to Fight Spam!!!

 Gifts  Comments Off on Methods to Fight Spam!!!
Dec 212023
 

Fighting Spam..

Industry experts estimate that three out of every five e-mail messages that are sent today are spam.

This is not only a nuisance; it is costing us all time and money which could be better spent on productive ventures.

Bizwala is committed to fighting spam & blocks a great deal without customer intervention. Our systems are updated daily and we are always working to improve our spam filtering.

Though we may never be able to block it all, we can offer some suggestions to combat spam effectively.
————————————————————————–
Q: How can I prevent spam from reaching my e-mail account?

A: People who send spam compile their mailing lists in many ways. Methods to compile such lists include:

Sending spam to e-mail addresses that are most commonly used. A common tactic consists of building lists of targeted addresses that use frequently used words such as “webmaster” or “info” (for example, “webmaster@mydomainname” or “info@mydomainname”).

Obtaining e-mail addresses that are automatically “harvested” from web sites by specialized software.

Compiling lists of e-mail addresses that are either chosen or generate at random (for example, ” joe1@mydomainname”, “joe2@mydomainname” or “joe3@mydomainname”. This method is becoming increasingly frequent.

Because spammers often send spam to undefined e-mail aliases such as aabbcc@domain.com, ccddee@domain.com, mfrds@domain.com, you can combat the receipt of spam effectively by not using a catch-all address . (The catch-all is an alias that is used to recieve mail sent to undefined addresses/aliases .)

Q: What is spoofing and how can I fight it?

A: “Spoofing” occurs when a spammer uses some version of your domain name in the “From” address field. Spammers use spoofing to try to hide their identities and to pass blame for spam to innocent Internet users. The large amount of spam messages — many of which are sent to invalid address — result in a significant amount of “bounced” e-mail (that is, mail that returned as being undeliverable). Unfortunately, bounced mail is sent back to the address found in the “From” line of the spammed message.
Typically, the “From” line is also an undefined e-mail address not found in your mail settings. To combat receiving bounced mail messages, you can use the “devnull” alias that we mentioned in the previous question and answer.

Q: Even if my account is not generating any spam, can the mail server I use get blocked because of spam?

Unfortunately, yes. The main cause for blacklisting your mail server depends on where the spammed e-mail is ultimately received and how the ISP who maintains that location reacts to spam and to spam complaints. Many account holders with Bizwala forward e-mail messages that are sent to there hosting account. For example, a message sent to info@mydomainname could be forwarded to myaccount@aol.com or myaccount@yahoo.com. At other times, clients may be forwarding e-mail messages to accounts that are invalid or otherwise not in use. The processing of the forwarded e-mail message is handled by the mail server that your account uses (specifically, the MTA or Mail Transport Agent). Because a Bizwala mail server is the MTA, it is possible that the mail server could be blacklisted even though you (or any other Bizwala client) is not responsible for sending the spam in the first place.

In short, you must be careful about where you forward e-mail, how you report spam, and to whom you report it.

Note: Bizwala reserves the right to terminate a client’s services for violations of our Acceptable Use policy. Unacceptable use includes forwarding e-mail messages to addresses that are invalid (not within the client’s control) and/or sending mail with malicious intent.

Q: How can I filter spam in my Inbox once I receive it?

First, do NOT click any links in the spam or try to reply or unsubscribe to the spammed e-mail message. Often, these links will subscribe you to even more spam lists despite the fact that those links appear to promise that you will be unsubscribed. And, as spammers are always looking for legitimate e-mail addresses to spam, replying to a spam message in any way only tells the spammer that your e-mail address is valid.

Second, some e-mail programs have built-in functionality that deals with spam that reaches your Inbox. Outlook 2000 (and newer) is one such a e-mail program.

Outlook creates a folder called Junk Mail, where you can move junk e-mail and then review it before deleting. Or, you can have junk e-mail delivered to your Inbox, but color-coded so you can easily identify it. The list of terms that Outlook uses to filter suspected junk e-mail messages is found in a file named Filters.txt.

You can also filter messages based on the e-mail addresses of junk and adult content senders, allowing you to move or delete all future messages from a particular sender. You can review the Junk Senders list and add and remove e-mail addresses from it.

If you do not use Outlook 2000 or higher, please refer to your mail program’s help files for any information related to spam filtering.

Q: Are there any low cost programs out there that I can install to help filter the spam?

A: Yes. There are many programs available that use a variety of methods to help e-mail end users filter spam. Effective spam prevention should include client-side software (that is, software that is installed on your local computer). Below are some links that you may want to visit:

Cloudmark Safety Bar: http://www.cloudmark.com

Realize that there are many products on the market that you can install on help filter spam. However, as we are not affiliated with the vendors or authors of those products, we cannot specify which of those products would work best for your specific situation. We ask that you “do your research” in order to locate which product is best for you.

Q: The spam that is reaching me is being sent to defined e-mail accounts. What can I do about it?

A: If any of your defined e-mail addresses are receiving too many spam messages, it may be well worth it to you to change your e-mail address. For example, if “info@mydomainname” is the recipient of too much spam, it may be a good idea to delete “info@mydomainname” in favor of “information@mydomainname. We realize that this may be a tough decision, but such an action could be a huge benefit as it would immediately reduce — if not entirely eliminate — the amount of spam that you would be receiving at your e-mail address.

Q: How can I prevent my e-mail address from being added to spammer’s mailing lists?

A: As mentioned above, spammers use a variety of methods to compile lists. We have created a help document that will give you some useful tips about how to prevent your e-mail addresses from being added to lists.

Protect Your Privacy

If you plan to enter your information to any Web site, please review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policies of the Web site. If the policies do not clearly indicate what will be done with your information, you should reconsider posting any details to that Web site.

Publishing Your E-mail Address on Your Web Site

Instead of having a simple “mailto” link on your Web site, such as “Please e-mail me at joe@example.com,” consider using an approved form mail script that allows Web site visitors to fill out a form to send you e-mail. Bizwala offers such a script free of charge. This will help prevent e-mail address harvesting robots and other spammers from capturing your address. email support@bizwala.net if you need assistance in setting up a spam deterrent form mail

Member Profiles

Try to stay away from creating and posting a member profile, on any Web site, for others to see publicly. Spammers are always reviewing such information for new e-mail addresses.

Product Registration

Many of us register products online. Many times the product registration form has options pre-selected that enable the company to solicit you by e-mail, even though you may not want it. Be sure to review the options you are selecting and any options that may have been selected for you by default.

Posting to a Newsgroup

Never post anything to a newsgroup with your real e-mail address. Consider cloaking the address or using a “disposable” e-mail address. Consider creating and using an e-mail address from one of the free e-mail address providers.

Do Not Reply to Spam or an Unsubscribe Request

Never reply to a piece of spam or request to be unsubscribed. Your reply confirms that your address is working and provides the spammer the opportunity to add your address to their list or sell it to another entity. This actually helps facilitate more spam.

Report Spam

An effective way to help prevent spam is to report it to the ISP or mail administrator where the spam originated. Such reports help ISPs to identify the user or users who sent the spam. Report the spam, including full headers from the spam, to the ISP abuse department or postmaster e-mail address.

Federal law strictly limits the information that online service providers may disclose about their users. However, e-mail messages do contain some information about the sender.

E-mail headers contain an Internet Protocol (IP) address that corresponds to the sender’s Internet service provider (ISP). A line in the e-mail message contains an 8 to 12 digit number, separated by periods. For example: “Received: from [123.456.78.91] by . . .” The “123.456.78.91” represents the ISP’s unique IP address for the sender. Most spam headers have multiple “Received: from” lines. If the e-mail message has not been forged then, in general, the first such line from the bottom is the true origin of the spammed message.

After you identify the IP address, you can search to determine which ISP provides this person with Internet access. A Web site that attempts to determine the actual computer with that IP address is located at http://www.arin.net/whois/index.html

-Article written by
Wendy Jo McLeod
Spam solution providers

Laptops Options: Research, Review, Discover and Save

 Gifts  Comments Off on Laptops Options: Research, Review, Discover and Save
Dec 172023
 

So you want to buy a laptop. You’ve browsed the Internet for hours, read laptop reviews, compared prices, printed reams of information, or at least created a folder full of new bookmarks. What did you get so far? Overwhelmed, a window on your screen telling you your printer ink is low and a flashing message on your printer telling you it’s out of paper! You then go through all that printed matter, reading it again and highlighting the important parts. Or, call up that bookmark folder and click, click, click and click again. Think you’re any closer to making a decision?

Searching the Internet for information on the best laptops for my needs revealed some very interesting discoveries. Before purchasing my notebook, I want to be informed and educated, armed with facts and figures prior to my purchase. By reading many laptops reviews I gleaned much information that was not only useful, but some of the discoveries can actually save money.

If you’ve read one, you’ve probably read five articles on how to buy a laptop. They’ll all give you the most important points to consider: A quick review here:

What will you use it for?
Size (dependent upon what you will use it for).
Hard Drive: Preinstalled software takes up space. Make sure there’s enough actual hard drive for your storage space.
Processor: For processing applications, the higher the number, the faster the speed.
RAM: It runs the applications and data on your operating system (i.e., Windows XP or Mac OSX)
Connectivity: Wireless and plugins. Check before you buy.
Battery Life: 2-3 hours is common. Remember, the bigger the notebook, the lower the battery life.
Portability: Remember, the larger the notebook, the heavier.
Accessories: Docking stations, extra battery, carrying case. You might want to include some of these in your budget.
Price: Shop and compare. Don’t shy away from the little guy either. They have good deals too. Chances are he cares more about you than the giants do.
You now have the checklist in hand. Great, you’ve done your homework. But somehow it feels like you’re on a scavenger hunt! Everything on that checklist has to go into just one laptop! Fear not. It’s not that hard. In fact, it’s fun and exciting when your choices are revealed. And here’s where the amazing discoveries are found.

Go to a laptop comparison site. I like the HP website. Here’s what you will discover. Intel Pentium M is a standard in many of the most popular laptops, even in the cheap notebooks. AMD, by comparison, is also worth your consideration. Memory: You’ll be amazed at how many laptops come already equipped with 512MB. Hard Drive: 40GB seems pretty standard, and adequate for most. CD/DVD burner: you probably should get it, even if it raises the price a little. Video Graphics Card: The standard graphics chip for Pentium M is pretty sufficient for most users. Battery: Expect the standard 4-cell Lithium ion, 2 hours battery life. Warranty: One year is sufficient. Price/Deal: You don’t have to exclude the small dealers. Your warranties and tech support will come from the manufacturer, not the seller.

In summary, buying a laptop is not all that difficult, even if you don’t know much about them. A little browsing and you’re sure to find all your specifications neatly packaged in one great notebook at the price you are comfortable with. You don’t have to customize, there’s one already out there for you. And you don’t have to stick to one brand to get the features you need. In fact, you’ll see that different brands have the same features. So choose the one with the best deal and SAVE. But do the homework – hindsight always has 20/20 vision!

Why Deploy Employee Surveys?

 Gifts  Comments Off on Why Deploy Employee Surveys?
Dec 162023
 

From postcards on the table at your favorite restaurant to

letters after a brief hospital stay tucked in with your

prescriptions, surveys represent the most effective way to

secure an honest answer to: How did we do? More recently,

these surveys have made their way into the workplace,

providing a method of gauging employee attitudes at the

office.

Spending 40 hours or more every week with the same people,

there’s no question what type of outlook you want these people

to have. A positive employee with a can-do attitude takes the

prize every time, and not just because of how pleasant it

makes things in the workplace. Happy employees create a more

efficient office, primarily by sticking around.

Toby Velte, former CEO of FireSummit, Inc., knew the way to

his employees’ heart, and it wasn’t increased pay. He

recognized that his employees were after more than just

compensation; they wanted to be happy while they were at the

office. He obliged with supplying a game room, free soda, and

network video game sessions.

“We paid 15 percent less than other companies,” said Velte.

“But … I never had one person quit.” Knowing what his

employees wanted gave Velte a leg up in limiting turnover, one

of the worst sieves of company profits. With estimates of

turnover costs at 150% of the employees’ yearly salary (more

for newer employees or management), it makes sense to make the

effort to find out what makes your company culture tick, and

how to open the lines of communication with employees. In the

end, it means keeping the customers happy, which starts with

employees excited to be at the office.

Clients, after all, have an uncanny ability to know the

general manner of everyone they come in contact with. Be it

the smile in the employees’ voice, the relaxed way in which

the employee deals with the customer, or just a bit of a sixth

sense, that attitude flows through and affects the overall

relationship. Surveys have shown that customers who feel a

kinship with a company will remain loyal customers, and it

follows that maintaining that connection stems from creating a

positive work environment.

Surveying employees about their impressions of their employer

is the best indicator of the overall culture in a company.

This culture will permeate every aspect of the organization

affecting co-workers and clients alike. But just surveying a

company’s employees isn’t enough.

Velte made sure that he knew where he stood compared to his

competitors as well as what his employees expected in the

workplace. Competition is fierce in today’s market, and

companies who pay attention have an edge over those working in

a void. With headhunters cold calling lists of employees in

every industry these days, knowing what’s offered by the

competition can go a long way toward heading off expensive

employee turn over.

The cost of employee dissatisfaction can be remarkable, and

many companies try to prevent the loss of employees by

throwing money at them. While it may work for a little while,

the undermining factors will go unnoticed, resulting in

throwing more money at the problem. With employee surveys,

however, it can be easier to see where the money should be

going, and often companies find that their costs go down

significantly.

Employ

ee surveys
are one of the necessary steps in identifying

problems and opportunities for improvement. Then, using these

survey results and a benchmarking database, a company can

determine what the trends are for their industry, and where

they stand compared to their competitors. There’s a reason,

after all, that Fortune magazine publishes a “Best Companies

to Work For” edition every year, and that pay is only one

factor that they consider.

Sky Shop

 Gifts  Comments Off on Sky Shop
Dec 132023
 

From scattered, far off situated and theme based markets of mortar and bricks, to one stop shop departmental stores, and now growing prevalence of online shopping, we have indeed travelled a long way in terms of trend and means of shopping in the modern day life. The breakthroughs in the Internet technology has actually rendered the globe an exhaustive and a rather small marketplace with unparallel easier accessibility and comprehensive range of products and services.

The modern day life is both busier and more demanding, the consumers being more aware of their rights and choice. Besides seeking purchases sitting at home with the convenience and security of a VIP postal order, the consumers also seek to weigh their options and get the most economical price for the product or service in question. Online shopping or Internet shopping or Web Shopping facilitates convenient and speedy transactions that evoke the physical analogy of buying products and services at a brick and mortar retailer. Further, online shopping allows the user to seek out the lowest price for the product or service in question, as Internet technology offers price comparison services comprising of store ratings and reviews. The pool of relevant information provided by a search engine on net allows the consumer to educate himself/ herself about the various options and price tags available for the product. Of course, it is always advisable to go for purchasing from a reputable website only to ensure quality and reliability. What’s more, as newer products keep on adding to the already lengthy list of products and services, web is updated consistently to offer latest deals.

Online shoppers commonly use credit card for making payments. However, one can also use a debit card, electronic money, cash on delivery (COD), cheque, wire transfer and postal money order. Upon acceptance of payment, the product in question is delivered to the consumer via traditional means.

To know more about this site visit this site: http://www.xoxoskyshop.com