Getting Started: Tools and Tips for Going Mobile
Small Business Computing (05/30/07) ; Curran, Sally

Mobile employees will easily determine which equipment they need on the road and which devices can be left at home. Often printers, scanners, and other bulky items are unnecessary on the road. However, workers will need to be aware of their data's physical and virtual security, employing firewalls, passwords, fingerprint scanners, and cable locks to keep thieves out. Lenovo Product Marketing Manager Damien Herrick indicates that cable locks are good because they sound alarms when people attempt to move gadgets without the proper key. However, he notes that while physical security and firewalls protect data from intruders, conducting sensitive transactions in cafes and airports can be dangerous, which is why he recommends that workers use virtual private networks. Herrick also recommends Skype and other VOIP devices in combination with broadband access to keep in touch with the home office as a means to avoid dropped calls, spotty cell phone service, and high expenses. Mobile workers with Blackberry devices can simply pay a bit more to add Web Messenger to sort out important emails from junk mail, and the program will alert users when new messages arrive. Finally, Herrick notes that Nice Office, a Web-based program from EAgency can help small businesses keep their CRM, email, and other systems in sync for those workers in the field on wireless devices, and the program still provides hefty protection against online intruders.
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3680391

Small Business Accounting Done Right
CPA Technology Advisor (05/24/07) ; Johnston, Randy

Small businesses have a number of options to choose from for their accounting needs. Intuit's QuickBooks line, for instance, is currently the market leader in the U.S. for small business accounting. Included in Intuit's QuickBooks line is an entry-level version called SimpleStart, which is intended for small businesses with no inventory requirement and minimal to no payroll requirement. Intuit also offers several other versions of QuickBooks--including Pro, Premier, and Accountant's Editions--along with offerings in a number of vertical industries such as construction, NFP, and healthcare. These versions can be sufficient for a company with a limited number of users, less than $10 million in sales, and fairly simple inventory needs. A competing product is Microsoft Office Accounting, which comes in two versions: Office Accounting Express, which can be downloaded for free; and Office Accounting Professional, an upgrade that includes inventory, fixed assets, and other advanced features. However, some businesses have grown tired of doing their own accounting and are turning to products offered by accountants. Thomson Tax & Accounting, for example, offers a product called Client Bookkeeping Solution that allows end users to do some of the data entry and printing at their own location. Meanwhile, practitioners take care of reporting at the firm.
http://www.cpatechnologyadvisor.com/print/The-CPA-Technology-Advi
sor/Small-Business-Accounting-Done-Right/1$1580

How to Make Your Cellphone Act Like a BlackBerry
New York Times (05/24/07) ; Pogue, David

For those workers who need constant access to emails and other data, but who do not have a Blackberry, Treo, or smartphone, Google, Teleflip, and Yahoo all offer free services that deliver email messages to cell phones. Google's Gmail for Mobile allows users to delete, search, reply, forward, and open mail attachments easily, though some text formatting can be lost, but the program does not refresh itself, forcing the user to reopen or refresh the program to get new messages--unlike BlackBerrys which automatically alert users as messages arrive. Experts also note that because the program uses Java programming language, the program can only be used on about 300 phones available from AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Yahoo's Yahoo Go 2.0, a final version will be available near the end of June, has features similar to Gmail for Mobile, but it also offers other online tools as well, including maps, Web searches, Flickr photos, various news updates, and other functions. However, these additional functions also bog down the speed at which functions can be completed, and it is available for even fewer devices than Gmail for Mobile. Teleflip, on the other hand, is the only one of the services that can be used with Verizon phones; it checks for incoming mail at 15-minute intervals and translates those emails into text messages for readability on the cell phone, but messages only reach cell phones if desktop and laptop email programs are closed. Text messages are limited to 120 characters, which forces the program to send longer emails in chunks, though these chunks can be easily scrolled through to get to the meat of an email. All of these services are free from the providers, with additional add-on features for a small cost, but cell phone providers will charge extra for Internet data packages that allow users to receive email on their cell phones.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/technology/24pogue.html

Technology: Handle With Care
Accountancy Age (05/24/07) ; Meall, Lesley

While technology can improve productivity at firms, small and large companies alike must become aware of the hidden dangers related to Internet use. Most firms employ firewalls and anti-spam filters to ward off viruses and spyware, but very few small firms have written protocols governing how employees should utilize the Internet and other tools. Experts agree that written policies governing Internet use can be essential in ensuring that workers do not accidentally divulge sensitive company information, waste time on the Web, steal copyrighted materials, or implement unlicensed software, among other offenses. Even inadvertent actions of workers on the Web can land firms in legal hot water from hacker attacks to patent infringement lawsuits. In addition to written Internet use policies, which should be updated periodically, small firms should also install document retention strategies to ensure that regulators and litigants can gain access to pertinent documents in a timely fashion. Experts also report that enterprise-wide instant messaging programs can archive communications between workers and store the data in order to protect firms from liabilities. Other products, including IM Auditor and Intergate Intercept, can help firms retain documents and protect their operations from worms, viruses, and other privacy breaches.
http://www.accountancyage.com/articles/print/2190445

Virtualization in the SMB Environment
SmartBiz.com (05/21/07) ; Scott, Walter

Not long ago, virtualization was strictly the domain of large enterprises because it required sizable data centers and significant IT budgets. However, the development of high-performance workstations and servers based on Windows, Linux, and similar technologies has helped small and medium-sized businesses with a limited IT staff and a limited IT budget to also enjoy the benefits of virtualization. Thanks to this development, companies are no longer confined to a single operating system on each of their computers. But in order for SMBs to take advantage of virtualization, they need to understand and exploit several technological issues, beginning with the process of deploying a server. Though it is more efficient to build a single system and deploy it again and again rather than building each new system from scratch, SMBs must ensure that a system built in one location works in another. This can be accomplished by creating "transportable images," which can be designed and tested on one hardware platform and deployed on another, regardless of its hardware configuration. Using transportable images reduces configuration time and deployment time, and gives SMBs the ability to deploy a system without knowing a hardware platform's hardware configuration at the outset. It is important to remember, however, to select an imaging program that will allow the business to move from a physical to a virtual machine, as well as from virtual to virtual, virtual back to physical, and physical to physical.
http://www.smartbiz.com/article/view/2115

Landline or Online: Is Your Business Ready for VoIP?
Inc. Magazine (05/07) Vol. 29 , No. 5 , P. 46 ; Bennett, Elizabeth S.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony--which sends voice calls over the Internet--can slash costs considerably for companies, especially those that make regular international phone calls and host teleconferences. However, businesses must plan ahead to avoid problems associated with call quality and downtime. Some companies that have deployed VoIP report decreased call quality when network traffic increases or large amounts of data are downloaded. Others worry about a loss of phone service when their Internet connections are down--a problem solved by D.W. Morgan, a California-based supply-chain and logistics firm, by adding a second T1 line from a different provider to use as an alternate if the first line does not work. D.W. Morgan also improved call quality by devoting one circuit to voice traffic, made possible by a T1 reconfiguration. Companies would be wise to upgrade switches and routers to ensure that their networks can accommodate both voice and data traffic.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070501/technology-telecom.html

Victory Laptop
Entrepreneur (05/01/07) ; Kooser, Amanda C.

Mobile workers can choose from an assortment of laptops when smartphones are not enough to do the job. Those interested in Tablet PCs might want to consider the ThinkPadX60 from Lenovo, which features a 120GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, a 12.1 inch display, a user-friendly keyboard, and a mini-joystick to replace the traditional mouse. The Hewlett-Packard Compaq nc6400 enhances visibility with its 14.1 inch display and boasts a fingerprint reader for added security. Road warriors who want the flexibility of using both the Mac and Windows operating systems without the need for two machines should consider Apple's MacBook Pro. Most business laptops feature built-in Wi-Fi.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/may/177216
.html