iPhone News Galore
Over at the iPhone page on Apple’s website you can view all the new specs on the new Apple iPhone 3G S. I don’t know what the S stands for, but maybe “supercool” works as well as anything. Autofocus camera, video recording and editing, cut, copy, paste, this phone is now loaded for bear. They boast that it is twice as fast as the current 3G and has a longer battery life. The phone will be available June 19.
For the current iPhone users, the new update for OS3 will arrive via iTunes on June 17.
So far, the coolest part of all of this is that the iPhone 3G will be starting at $99. That’s $100 less than the current price.
Here is a comparison of the two phones.
Dell Warranty chat
This post will be interesting to only a few of you, but since its my blog, tough.
The reason I am a Dell Reseller is primarily the support they provide. They will send someone to your home or office and replace the hardware that is failing. The only issue with that is you have to convince them that the part is failing. For most users that is not very fun. It takes hours of phone time and call backs and emails. For me, while not simple, I usually get what I want. I have typically spent an hour or so trying to fix the issue already. I know what they are looking for and how to answer their questions in a way that moves us toward the resolution I am after.
Here is an example of what I am blabbing about. I have a client, let’s just call her Sally. Sally’s WiFi card seems to be acting up. She can connect to her wireless router, but cannot surf. I spend about an hour and a half trying to solve the problem. I tried many different things that are spelled out in the chat below.
I use Dell Chat because I find it faster. I don’t have to wait on hold for a technician and I feel like I can control the conversation better. Also, I get less angry and impatient with the technicians. Sometimes I pretend to be the user, sometimes not. This is a case where I started out as the user and revealed myself halfway through.
6:34:22 PM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
6:34:22 PM System Connected with ALGb_Mark_166901
6:35:17 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Thank you for contacting Dell. My name is Emm, how may I help you today?
6:35:31 PM Sally I am having a problem with my wireless connection. It will connect to my WiFi router, but then nothing happens in the browser. I have tried multiple browsers. I updated the BIOS, Intel Driver and Chipset from the Dell website and even tried swapping th Wifi Card with an known good one – same problem.
6:36:17 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 If that is hte case this might be an operating system issue.
6:37:20 PM Sally The system was recently infected with a virus, so we used the Dell Restore CD – this was in the last month or so. The WiFi has been working fine until now.
6:38:03 PM Sally The wired connection works fine.
6:38:27 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 I see. If you already replaced this with a known good card and the problem is only with regards to the browser, then this is not a hardware issue.
6:38:52 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Browser works fine on wired connection?
6:39:21 PM Sally Yes, it does. I can browse the web. On the wireless, neither the browser or the email works.
6:41:02 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 I see. I’ll try my best to assist you. Can you please provide me with the callback number and your fullname?
6:41:48 PM Sally Bill Robinson 720-840-7227. The computer is registered to either Laurie or Rachel Fisher. I am a Dell Reseller and a technician working on their behalf.
6:42:12 PM Sally I can provide you with their information so you can verify if need be.
6:42:27 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 FGNV4G1 is the service tag of the computer correct?
6:42:35 PM Sally yes.
6:42:53 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Okay. Let me pull up your records.
6:42:57 PM Sally Ok
6:47:33 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Okay. What software do you use to try and connect via wireless??
6:47:52 PM Sally We tried the Intel software and the Windows software that is built into XP.
6:47:55 PM Sally No difference.
6:48:33 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Have you tried the dell wireless utility?
6:48:48 PM Sally Its not installed.
6:48:55 PM Sally where do I get it?
6:49:43 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Have you checked the device manager?
6:49:59 PM Sally no exclamation points or question marks.
6:50:19 PM Sally yes, i looked.
6:50:29 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 But do you see the wireless card?
6:50:32 PM Sally I uninstalled and reinstalled and updated the driver.
6:50:35 PM Sally yes, it is there.
6:51:18 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 Okay. Let me verify again, you already tried a known good card correct?
6:52:06 PM Sally Yes. I have the same machine. The ST for mine is 762b4d1.
6:52:15 PM Sally we are using mine right now. over wireless.
6:52:48 PM ALGb_Mark_166901 I see. Give me a moment to speak with our dispatching team.
6:52:52 PM Sally Ok
At this point the chat session was disconnected. He called me right away, however. He asked if I had performed a Windows Restore. I told him that was a great idea and I would give it a try. It didn’t work.
He then agreed to send me a motherboard. I finished the phone call at 7:28.
So the upshot is, I got what I wanted, he was assured that I had taken all the troubleshooting steps. Throughout the chat process I tried to anticipate his questions and have my answers ready. For example, when he was trying to infer that the Operating system or browser was the culprit, I told him that the wired connection worked fine, thus he had no choice to admit that the issue was hardware related.
If you have read all of this, thank you. While an hour might seem like a long time to work with tech support, its really fairly reasonable. Please tell me your experiences working with technical support.
External backup vs external storage
While I do recommend backing your data up to external media such as hard drives and DVD’s, I do not recommend that you ONLY keep data there.
Backup is the idea that you have your data in one place, and also have it in another. Redundancy is the key. The more places you have your data, the less likely you are to suffer a loss. Two of my clients recently have lost data that was on external hard drives. These drives are no more reliable than hard drives in your laptop or desktop. They fail after a while, sometimes much sooner than expected. Add in the wear and tear that an external drive takes being moved around and you can see that they are about as reliable as a laptop drive.
That said, I always recommend them for backup purposes. The only difference is that I recommend having two of them. One that is attached and being actively backed up to, and one in an offsite or fireproof location that gets traded out weekly.
I recommend SyncBackSE for backup – $40 and well worth it. They also have a free version. http://www.syncback.com
I recommend iomega drives. They seem to have the best performance over time that I have seen. http://www.iomega.com
If you have any questions or suggestions about external media or backup procedures, software or hardware, please add a comment.
Stimulus for Health Care Providers
As part of the provisions in the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, health care providers can get their Bailout!
Providers can get up to $40,000 in stimulus money over the course of five years for using EHR / EMR software in their offices.
I have provided support, installation, hardware, blood, sweat, and tears to seven different medical offices over the last two and a half years. Though mainly working with eClinical Works, I have experience with a few other practice manangement and EMR software solutions as well.
If you are a provider or know someone who is wrestling with the huge stacks of paper based records in their office, pass them my card or contact info. I can, and have helped.
“We have been working with Flatirons PC Consulting for one and a half years. When we were starting to work on implementing a new Electronic Medical Record system, they were recommended to me by another Practice Manager who was working with Bill on the same EMR system.
Bill was instrumental in setting up our system, working with our vendor to ensure we had the correct equipment and that we were operational. We have regular computer and printer issues that are resolved in a very short period of time.
Our company has had great success with our new EMR system and the hardware thanks to Bill’s help.”
Linda G.
Administrator
Westmed Primary Care, PC.
“We are so pleased to have Bill’s knowledge and services available to our practice. He was extremely helpful when we moved into our new office in getting our network set up and running again and trouble shooting issues with our medical software vendor. In the past 5 years I have dealt with multiple IT companies and Flatirons PC Consulting has far exceeded the others. I would and have recommended BIll to businesses.”
Cyndi, Broomfield Pediatrics & Internal Medicine.
Windows 7 Due by the “Holiday Season”
From Engadget I found out that Windows 7 is on track to be out for the holidays this year.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/May09/05-11TechEd09PR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases
What does it mean? It means you should continue to buy XP from a reseller or direct from Dell and if you want to move up to a newer operating system down the road, you upgrade to Windows 7.
I got my hands on a machine loaded with a release canidate or beta of Windows 7 recently. The OS was running on a single core Centrino processor with 1GB of memory. It ran great.
If you tried that with Vista, it would be so slow as to be almost unusable.
Tired of Spam?
We all get some level of Spam in our email. By now, it is unavoidable. If you get more than five a day, this message is for you.
Some of you may have heard of SpamBayes. If you haven’t, and you use Microsoft Outlook for your email, you should probably learn about it and install it immediately.
Get it here: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/spambayes/spambayes-1.0.4.exe?download Yes, its free.
SpamBayes is a pretty smart program that learns what is Spam and what isn’t from messages you have already received and learns as you go.
Before you install, sort your email into Good and Bad. Good email are messages that you received that are not garbage. Bad are messages you received that are spam or unwanted.
Typically, Outlook already has a folder called Junk E-mail that has Spam already in it.
As you install SpamBayes, you tell it which folders are which. Typically the Inbox has good email and the Junk Email has spam.
Moving forward, SpamBayes will create a third folder called Junk Suspects. Check both this folder and the Junk Email folder periodically to make sure good emails are not getting improperly sorted. If there is a false positive – that is, a message that has gotten improperly filed in the Junk or Junk Suspects folder, click on it and select “Not Spam.” If there is a false negative in your Inbox – that is, a message that has gotten improperly filed in the Inbox that is Spam, click on it and select “Spam.”
Please comment on the blog or email me at bill@flatironspc.com if you have issues or questions.
Different businesses may have more in common than we realize. . .
I was having coffee with another Boulder Chamber member today – Rex Van Gorden of Edward Jones. We were discussing a variety of things, but something that he mentioned was the idea that the way he works with his clients, his model, was very similar to mine.
When talking or meeting with new clients, we both discuss their current situation and needs. For me, what technology are they currently employing and what are the business needs? (if they are changing). For him, what are the client’s current investment strategies and what are their goals and dreams financially moving forward?
We both then research and or make suggestions and discuss strategies, look at the costs of implementation and give an estimate or quotation for the work involved.
I imagine most of us in service oriented businesses work along the same lines. Bankers, Financial Advisers, Realtors, Doctors, IT consultants, etc.
As consumers of those businesses have some of the same dislikes as well. Is the service representitive in question pushy or confident? Does the rep seem like they have the necessary experience to meet our needs? Is the cost in line with the expectation and work involved?
My point, and maybe its a tad simplistic, is that most of us that are going to chamber events and networking are going the same direction and getting there in ways that are much more alike than we might think. Most of us are going through the same issues and may be finding different but very simple solutions.
At the next event, don’t be afraid to talk to the person that is in the same business as you are and talk shop. You might learn something.
Also, if you find yourself talking to someone who may not be a good client for your business, they may have some business ideas or have conquered some aspect of business you have been wrestling with.
iPhone OS 3.0
No doubt in part because of user demand, Apple is releasing some new features for the iPhone. They made the announcement on St. Patty’s day.
Over at Apple’s site there is a preview.
New features include Cut and Copy and Paste, mapping tweaks, mms usability and the ability to write email and texts in landscape format. The first and the last of these will have the biggest effect on me. I think it will really speed up my typing of emails. I know it will certainly make reading them easier. Also, being able to copy form one application to another will be a big help.
PC Boulder
I have owned the url www.pcboulder.com for a while now. This spring I will be changing my site, email and business cards over to that name. Flatironspc.com will point to PCBoulder.com and email to the old address will forward as well.
Here is a preview of the new logo:
I am making the change for ease mostly. Some people confuse my business with Flatrions Technology, and some wonder what the name means. I also get people not from the Boulder area who don’t know what a Flatiron is and some who repeat my email as bill@flatiron SPC. This should correct all of those issues. Smaller name = smaller url as well.
So to sum up, same person, same service different name and logo. I plan to have advertisments made for my car and also to have some clothing embroidered with the logo. Let me know if you want something and I will add it to the order.
Thanks,
Bill
Break/Fix vs contract agreements
When people need help, they call me. The machine runs slow, won’t boot, can’t print, can’t get on the Internet, etc. Call Bill, he will come fix the broken machine. I like this model. I get to ride in like the Lone Ranger and fix the issue, leave a few business cards and ride off into the sunset.
The only problem for me? Sometimes things don’t break. Seriously, sometimes I don’t get a phone call for a couple of days. When that happens, its hard to make ends meet. What to do?
I have been mulling over the idea of contracts with some of my bigger clients. A lot of IT shops and consultants work this way, but I have not. For one, its not the way the business was running when I took it over. For all intents and purposes, this was a fine running, money making venture when I took it over. I shouldn’t have to re-invent the wheel, right?
Two, I like the flexibility I have now. If I offer contracts, will I have to also guarantee response times, be available more weekends and evenings, etc?
Let’s count off the pros and cons of the contract agreement model, shall we?
Pros for the client:
1 – Discounted rate on service. If I am the client and I’m going to pay for a block of hours up front, I want a discount.
2 – Preferential Treatment. If I have already paid for services, I want to know that when I call, I’ll be taken care of VERY soon.
3 – Budgeting. I have a much better idea of what my IT expenses for the month will be. Emergencies happen, but for the most part, I should have the same recurring expenses every month.
4. Catch issues before they become problems. With monthly maintenance, log file entries that are possible problems and backup issues should be caught in short order, not after they become large issues.
Pros for the Consultant:
1. Time management. If I have a set number of clients that I know I have to do maintenance for as part of their contract, I can be more efficient in scheduling visits.
2. Steady revenue stream. If I have a contract, I bill a large chunk at the beginning of each month, which if priced correctly, could offset the majority of the expenses of the business, leaving the other income as mostly profit.
3. Referrals. Contract clients would be more likely to give referrals. They see me more often and would come to rely on the service more than the occasional customer.
Cons for the Client:
1. The possibility of paying for services that goes unused. This could be offset with a “rollover plan” for unused consulting time.
Cons for the consultant:
1. Discounting. I hate discounting my fee. However, it would be worth it to have a more steady stream of income.
2. Administration. Tracking the rollover hours, scheduling the maintenance, etc. will take up a bit more time, but should save time on the other side.
I’d like to hear from you. What do you think about the idea of contracts? If you were a client, what would your concerns be? If you were the consultant, what would you be worried about?
