My Journey to Gmail

After three years of dipping my toes in the pool, I finally jumped in both feet first.  Google has been my primary tool for web site analytics, chat/instant message, blogging, rss reader, voice/voicemail, bookmark synchronizing and search alerts.  But I've been holding onto Microsoft Outlook for dear life.  It was familiar but also problematic and error prone. 

The straw that broke the camel's back was my last computer upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 64 bit.  I realized that the need to restore my e-mail and accounts on my computer was too much of a pain.  If I needed to sync my outlook contacts, it was via a usb cable, not over the wireless data network.

After configuring Google's Gmail to pull my POP3 e-mail, importing my Outlook contacts and enabling e-mails to be sent from my business e-mail, I was off and running.  Google makes this process simple.  The hardest part was getting use to labels versus Outlook folders.  Gmail gives you the ability to label e-mails with names similar to dropping mail into folders.  Rules can be set up to label e-mail as in comes in just like Outlook and archive messages do they don't show up in your inbox.  E-mail searching is much faster and  now have the ability to add and share multiple calendars to keep track of personal and business obligations.  Google Mobile App for the blackberry allows me to sync selected calendars and contacts to my mobile device.

Google Apps comes in a business and personal usage edition.  The business version cost $50 per user per year which isn't a bad price considering you get increased e-mail and file  storage at 25GB of e-mail per user and 10GB storage plus 500MB per user for shared storage.

Google has had their share of outages which makes many businesses leery of Software as a Service  (SaaS) applications.  Determine your threshold for e-mail and document downtime versus your expense of hosting your own solution and software.  Keep in mind that you need a good, fast internet connection, maybe two incase the first one fails.  Google Apps may not be the right fit for all small businesses and should consult with your trusted technical advisor before making the switch.

Aaron Magruder

amagruder@nonstopnetworks.net

(816) 846-0676

NonStop Networks, LLC

Cisco Unified Communications Solutions

http://www.nonstopnetworks.net

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Focused on solving problems for small and medium sized businesses who are frustrated that their communication systems are letting them down, worried about security and concerned with rising technology cost.  Helping businesses communicate in real-time with customers and staff - anytime, anywhere.

There is no warranty in the information listed. It is always recommended that your seek the advice of a trusted professional.

Keeping Track of Schedules Driving You Mad?

Do you find it difficult to keep track of families, business, staff or co-workers activities?  What about tracking client appointments or scheduling people in the field?  It is frustrating to add the same event to multiple calendars and phones.  Small Businesses may not have the funds available to purchase Microsoft Outlook or Exchange E-mail server.  But they do need much of the functionality Exchange provides.

Google Calendars is a free, simple but comprehensive calendar that allows you to create a personal calendar for yourself plus additional calendars for other purposes such as Company Events, Family Activities or Holidays.  Each calendar can be made Public or Private as well as shared with specific family members or co-workers.  Additional security can be added to shared calendars to give people access to view only all the way to add/modify/administer the calendar.  Calendars can be combined and presented on a single page on your company web site.  This is extremely useful if you want to have a company events but also display other shared calendars to your customers.

Maybe you have Microsoft Outlook for your e-mail and calendar today.  No problem, Google Calendar has a sync tool that allows you to sync events, at a scheduled interval or manually, from Outlook to Google Calendar, visa versa or both ways.

How do you get your schedule to your mobile phone.  If you have a blackberry or other smartphone with a data plan, there are a couple options.  Google has apps for the Blackberry that allow you to view your Gmail, Calendar and more from a single interface.   The second is to use Blackberry Desktop Manager to sync your Outlook Calendar from your PC to your phone.  I personally sync from Outlook to my Blackberry but also have the Google Apps installed on my Blackberry.

Notifications for shared calendar is a great feature.  Receive and e-mail or SMT text message at a predefined interval keeps you on track.

This isn't a comprehensive list of Google Calendar features or an endorsement but free tools like this are out there for the small business.

NonStop Networks, LLC

Cisco Unified Communications Solutions

http://www.nonstopnetworks.net | http://forum.nonstopnetworks.net

Focused on solving problems for small and medium sized businesses who are frustrated that their communication systems are letting them down, worried about security and concerned with rising technology cost.  Helping businesses communicate in real-time with customers and staff - anytime, anywhere.

There is no warranty in the information listed. It is always recommended that your seek the advice  of a trusted professional.