Five Reasons to Start a Small Business Blog
Small Business Computing (09/04/07) ; Martin, James A.

For small businesses, one of the benefits of launching an online blog is enhanced search engine optimization. Internet search engines view each blog entry as a separate Web page, so the more entries a blog has, the more likely a blog will rank high, explains Debbie Weil, author of "The Corporate Blogging Book." A higher ranking on search engines will allow more potential customers to find a particular business. Blogs can be managed by anyone--the owner, CEO, or other employees--and represent a low-cost way to conduct marketing and public relations. A company blog facilitates customer feedback if visitors are allowed to comment on any blog entry. Blogs also tend to be easier to manage and less expensive compared to fully developed corporate Web sites. Google's Blogger service is free, for instance, while TypePad's service costs less than $100 annually; such services offer templates for customization. Businesses that launch blogs need to be careful about continuing them by adding at least two to three posts every week, according to Brian Brown of blogging consultant Pajama Market. Copyright laws should also be observed, and blog entries should not go against a company's confidentiality rules.
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3697251

Manipulating Sheets in Excel
AccountingWEB (09/04/07)

There are a few tricks to learn when using an Excel workbook. By default, there are three sheets in a workbook, and users will see the little tabs (Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3) at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet screen. When a new Excel workbook file is opened, Sheet1 will be the active sheet, but users will also be able to determine the active sheet because it will be the one displayed on the screen and will have a white tab. Users can move quickly between sheets by pressing CONTROL PAGE DOWN to the next, higher-numbered sheet or CONTROL PAGE UP to move to the previous, lower-numbered sheet, and clicking the arrow keys to the left of the sheet tabs will enable users to quickly display sheet tabs when they have more sheets. With Excel 2007, users can add one sheet to a current workbook by selecting Home, Insert, Insert Sheet, and the new sheet will appear before the current worksheet and will be given the next highest available number; and multiple sheets can be added by holding down SHIFT while clicking on the number of new worksheets wanted, and selecting Home, Insert, Insert Sheet. Users can also change the default number by clicking the Office button in the top left hand corner of the screen, then clicking the Excel Options button, using the Popular screen's section labeled 'When creating new workbooks' to change the option to 'Include this many sheets' from three to the desired amount, and clicking OK to save the change. Users can put sheets back into chronological order by dragging the sheet tabs to the locations where they belong. A sheet can be deleted by right-clicking on its tab, and choosing Delete.
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103961

Managing Your Move Into Mobility
ZDNet (09/04/07) ; Braue, David

Mobile gadgets provide significant access to corporate data that is retained in business databases and applications. Australia's Parks Victoria recently gave its employees 1,000 laptops from Dell. The organization needed to keep the machines linked to back-end data systems, including the MapInfo geographical data system and the internal ParkView management system. This situation was remedied by teaming every laptop user with a mobile information service on the Next-G network from Telstra, which would offer a strong connection with extended bandwidth wherever it existed. Around-the-clock connection through Next-G solved a substantial problem for Parks Victoria, whose workers had formerly been required to handle their data mandates by entering large amounts of data onto their laptops before going out into the field. Meanwhile, the clothing company Fossil Australia recently decided to increase the power of its sales staff by giving them a mobile phone entry application, connected to the back-end ERP system over the GPRS via the mobile network. Fossil Australia solicited the assistance of mobile application company Spectra Interface for the job, using its Spectra system to handle the flow of order and inventory data to and from the gadgets. Symbol Technologies MC70 PDAs were chosen because they merged the flexibility of the Windows Mobile application atmosphere with a barcode scanner, streamlining the entry of stock data for order completion.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/hardware/soa/Managing-your-move-i
nto-mobility/0,139023759,339281595,00.htm

Firms Often Slow to Respond When Online Data is Breached
San Jose Mercury News (CA) (09/04/07) ; Bergstein, Brian

The recent announcement by Monster Worldwide that hackers stole contact information for over 1.3 million people from the popular job board has again raised the importance of online security. Although no vital information was stolen, the contact information was used to create a "phishing" email that tricks consumers into providing their Social Security numbers. While Monster will spend $80 million upgrading its site, including security modifications, experts say many companies and organizations will continue to ignore the risk until they are hit by a security breach. Security upgrades are so expensive that many companies are willing to leave their system at risk. A security upgrade can upset users accustomed to the current system. One solution to these problems is Digital Resolve's authentication technology, which lets customers sign on with a traditional user name and password, but scans the user's system for signs that an unauthorized person has accessed their account.
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6796157

Is A 'Voice Over IP' Phone System Right For You?
Forbes (08/29/2007) ; Gerwig, Kate

For small and medium-size businesses that want to combine their voice and Internet connections on a single network, the decision to convert to Voice over IP (VoIP) comes down to the individual needs of the business. Whether the determining factors are cost or a shortage of IT service, experts say the decision to change phone systems ultimately comes down to the particular needs of a company. Steve Hilton, vice president of enterprise research at Yankee Group, says technology should not be the sole criteria when weighing whether or not to switch VoIP. Among the questions companies should ask, according to Hilton, is will VoIP help them grow, protect, simplify and support their business? Businesses should also consider cost savings and added features, and whether the voice quality and network performance of VoIP meets their needs. If companies choose to make the switch, they also need to decide whether they will manage VoIP in-house or outsource the function. Then there is the matter of financing the conversion. Smaller organizations tend to have fewer resources than large companies, which is why experts say it is better for small enterprises to spread out the cost-of-conversion as much as possible. "There isn't one kind of [small business] out there," says Hilton. "For some, skipping the capital expenses and going to a hosted model is the answer."
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2007/08/29/cisco-verizon-nort
el-ent-tech-cx_bm_0829bmightyvoip.html

VoIP Requires Strict Attention to Security Best Practices
Network World (08/16/07) ; Greene, Tim

At the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas this month, researchers released hacking tools against VoIP signaling protocols H.323 and AIX as well as tools to insert audio into VoIP calls. Meanwhile, Palindrome Technologies CTO Peter Thermos revealed vulnerabilities to media gateway control protocol (MGCP) that hackers can take advantage of to reroute calls or cut them off. Although these and other vulnerabilities to VoIP technology continue to emerge, experts say they simply reveal the need for vigilant security and do not represent fatal flaws to the technology. The MGCP vulnerability, for example, can be corrected by changing the protocol itself, Thermos said. He added that users can fix the problem now by blocking unauthorized access to the ports MGCP uses. VeriSign's Akif Arsoy says business will not stop adopting VoIP because they are concerned about these and other vulnerabilities. He noted that business will continue to adopt the technology for integrated voice and data in a converged network.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/081607-voip-security-best-practice
s.html?fsrc=rss-security

Paperless Done Right
CPA Technology Advisor (08/01/07) Vol. 17 , No. 4 , P. 60 ; Johnston, Randy

The process of converting a company's records into a paperless system can be beneficial if the technology is properly implemented, according to experts. There are hundreds of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems currently on the market, but only 15 or so are ideal for accounting firms. Those suitable for accounting firms offer email, portal, practice management, and customer relationship management integration. Another important feature is optional character recognition to facilitate the conversion of hard copies into searchable text, which requires documents be scanned at 600 dots per inch to get a clear image. ECM systems also should feature electronic workflow, which facilitates the transfer of work among staff without the need to print numerous control sheets or cover sheets that get passed around with the documents to detail what must be done. Users should be trained on how to use the systems, and records retention policies must be tweaked so that only the emails and other files necessary in the event of litigation are stored in the system.
http://www.cpatechnologyadvisor.com/print/The-CPA-Technology-Advi
sor/Paperless-Done-Right/1$1623