Ask Computer Boffins

SEO - No tricks, just write interesting content!

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:38:00 +0000

A few months back we had a discussion with an existing client about Search Engine Optimization. It turns out they had read all kinds of information on the web about how to boost their Google search results and wanted us assist them.

Whilst I am quite knowledgeable about the subject I wouldn't consider my an 'expert' in this field. However it appears to me that if you have 'interesting' content on your website then people will come and read it!

So rather than embarking on some magical journey to 'tweak' your search engine results or collaborating with hundreds of other people in some kind of 'link building' scheme - You would do something totally absurd and write about interesting things!

As it happens that was our suggestion to our Law Costs Draftsmen clients. So we helped them to establish a Blog and built-in into their existing website. Not a particularly interesting ro technical solution I know - but it now, few months later, it would appear to have paid off - According to a recent post on their Legal Costs Blog they have a regular readership of over 12,000 a month!

Perhaps I should ask if I can advertise on their site now? Ha! ;-)

This file may not be safe if it contains code that was intended to harm your computer. Do you want to open this file or cancel operation?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Do you want to get rid of this Access 2003 security message?

If you have full-blown version of Access you can goto Tools -> Security and change macro to 'Low' however if you only have the runtime version you can't do that!

However if you download this nifty program you can get rid of the message.

Download a fix for This file may not be safe if it contains code that was intended to harm your computer.

Access runtime 2003

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:34:00 +0000

Had a request to create a quick price comparison program for a customer recently. As it was only a very small project I decided MS Access was ideal.

My client didn't have Access installed on all his machines so I installed Access runtime 2003 onto the remaining ones so that all his employees could access the new system.

I had some trouble tracking the download down - so now that"ve found it I thought I'd let you where you can Download Access 2003 runtime

Microsoft Activation Servers Down - October 10 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:23:00 +0000

It's SOD's law that if anything can go wrong it will!

I'm trying to upgrade a customer's machines today from office 2003 to office 2007 with Business Contact Manager. We deliberately scheduled it out of hours so that it wouldn't interfere with their regular work. But the GODs are against me because I can't activate the darn software as Microsoft Activation is down for maintenance!

No problem you might say - use the phone activation - OH YEAH RIGHT I'll just type in the handy 54 digit code and then wait for the 54 digit reply! I mean COME ON there has to be a better way for phone activation? I've got 15 Machines to do!

Computer Keeps rebooting after windows Update

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:51:00 +0000

Had an interesting support issue today - a client called and said their computer kept rebooting.

It was Vista machine, about 3 months old.

I tied all sorts of things: safe mode, system restore, disabling all non-microsoft services, new profile.

But everytime it booted just after login screen it would black screen and reboot.

I won't bother you with the details but it turns out it was a conflict with recent Windows Update and some of the Acer utilities. I uninstalled all the acer rubbish including acer emanagement, erecovery etc. and the machine booted fine.

I tested this on an identical Acer machine at the same location and it too had the same problem after performing windows update.

Result : remove all that manufacturer crap from your new machines before you put them into production. You never know when it's going to screw something up!

Change Computer Name in Snow Leopard

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:39:00 +0000

I am attempting to add my new Snow Leopard MacBook to an Active Directory domain and I had a little trouble finding how too. The first thing I wanted to do was to change the computer name.

After Googling the issue and finding no results, I decided I would post the solution when I discovered it:

To change your Computer name on Snow Leopard:

1) System Preferences -> Sharing

I also changed my WINS hostname at the same time so that they matched:

1) System Preferences -> Network -> Click Network Adapter (Airport or Ethernet) -> Advanced Button -> WINS

Enter your computer name, domain and wins server address in the relevant boxes.

CIAO

Snow Leopard - A near perfect operating system?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:41:00 +0000

As you may or may not know, Apple have, today, released their latest operating system, Snow Leopard, to the world.

I know what you’re thinking: “yeah, yeah so what!”

But wait – this isn’t the usual hype and pomp that Microsoft seems to pump out every couple of months!
Take it from me, this is no Windows Vista style release!

Unlike most bloated, over-hyped, hardly-any-new-features software these days, this latest release from Apple is about as close to a perfect operating system as you can get! What’s more it’s ahead of schedule (one month early), faster than previous releases, contains new features and it’s cheap!

What? Cheap? But that’s because you’ll have to upgrade your computers to run it, right? Nope!

The price of Snow Leopard is………wait for it……….it’s…........... ……………………………… it’s ...........£25 !!!!!! ($30 US / Canada)

TWENTY-FIVE QUID ! Apple have clearly gone insane! As we all know Operating-system upgrades always cost upwards of a hundred at least, and that’s excluding the bigger hard drive and extra RAM that we always need too!
No folks, it would appear that Apple are showing the industry (once again) how things SHOULD be done.

Snow Leopard truly is an optimized operating system. It starts up faster, programs open faster (Safari the Web browser for example takes a whopping 3 seconds; iTunes will keep you waiting around 7 seconds) but wait, the second time you open the same program, the time is halved! – OH COME ON!
Apple really doesn’t seem to understand how this industry likes to work does it?

Things are not just faster – they are also smaller. Snow Leopard is only half the size of its predecessor; following installation (around 15 minutes), you’ll have more disk space than you started with too!
The new features may not jump out at you nor be immediately obvious but it seems that Apple really took the time to consider every little aspect of their system. Minor tweaks show how much thought they put into it : For example the clock automatically adjusts when you travel, the menu of nearby wireless hot spots now shows the signal strength for each one (not just the one you are on). You can read a PDF document or watch a movie from the file’s icon, without having to open it. Movies display in a handsome, frameless window and even include a “Send to YouTube” command built in.

“Those are pretty minor changes” I hear you shout –

Ok, then what about Microsoft Exchange address book, e-mail and calendar support built right in? No extra software required. Even Windows doesn’t provide that!

Now I know the Windows fans out there will be saying “This is all well and good but I can’t get all my software for the Mac” – well that may be true, but did you know Mac can run Windows too! Not only can you choose which operating system to boot into, but you can even run them both at the same! Sharing files and printers between them and everything! So if you absolutely HAVE to run some weird, bloated, virus-infected Windows application – you can. * Please note, though, that you CAN’T do this the other way around! *
Windows obviously has enough trouble running itself without worrying about how to run another system at the time!

“ok, ok but Macs are expensive” is the next argument I hear the Windows fans shouting – Well lets consider that for a moment. Sure you can buy a Desktop PC from a budget manufacturer for say £400? But it’ll come with XP (if you’re lucky) or Vista Home, so to get the full feature set of Windows you’ll need to shell out some more money for an ‘upgrade’ to the business edition.

Secondly – are you aware that the Mac does NOT suffer from Viruses? So you won’t need to buy any Anti-Virus software, you won’t suffer from spyware, malware and all that junk that seems to clog up Windows systems and requires them to have a “service” every couple of months! So that’s less work for people like me and more money towards your Mac.
Take all that into account and the Mac doesn’t seem quite so expensive after all!

If you’re not quite ready to run out and buy a Mac just yet – hang around for a couple of weeks. Windows 7 should be out in October and you will be able to upgrade then for between £79 and £199 depending on which version of Windows 7 you require. If you were in the US or Canada you could get the same upgrades for between $99 to $299 (But hey in the UK we’re used to being over charged for Computers, Games, Consoles and such like huh?)

Windows 7 is being released in (at the last count) 7 different versions. Depending on what features you need and when you order it and whether you’re on one of Microsoft’s business licensing schemes you’ll have a multitude of slightly different versions to choose from. But don’t despair if you find out you have bought the wrong version you’ll be to ‘upgrade’ again (at additional cost) to the version you SHOULD have been given in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining about Microsoft ‘s strategy here - I for one can’t wait! I make my living from assisting my customers with their (mostly Windows based) computers and networks and from what I’ve seen and experienced of Windows 7, I don’t think the phone is going to stop ringing for a while yet!

On the other hand my clients that use Macs and upgrade to Snow Leopard will probably only call to say how pleased they are that they bought an Apple!

Microsoft and the mobile phone

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:58:00 +0000

Hi All

Am I the only one that is disappointed with Microsoft's response to the windows mobile?

I've been a long time user of Windows Mobile and always sung it's praises. IMHO it's a far better product than those crappy lackberies and far more advanced than anything the other major mobile manufacturers can produce. However Microsoft's products have always felt a little 'lacking'.
I can't quite place my finger finger on it - but the Windows mobile experience has felt a little short of where it should be!

About three years ago I asked my Microsoft account manger if I could get some 'trial' windows mobile phones to show my customers. Of course their answer was 'No' you have to buy them at full price! So of course I didn't bother.

Result : about 75% of my customers purchased competing products when their contracts were renewed. Those that did buy Windows mobile were more than happy and continued to purchase them up until the present day.

Now the problem is - I came to Canada in 2006 to open a new business and quickly realized that the Canadian mobile phone market is way behind anything europe has to offer (I mean many suppliers are still working on CDMA meaning no SIM cards thus your handset is fixed to one supplier only).
So although my, SIM card based, UK mobile phone could be used in Canada - A new job I was doing for IBM required regular long distance calls meant I was paying in excess of $100 a day in charges!!

So I looked for a new contract with a windows mobile but eventually found an iphone on Rogers for a reasonable amount.

This is where my dilemma started. The iphone is a GREAT product. After using one for a couple of weeks, I decided to give Apple another look (I haven't used Apple products since I bought an ibook in about 2003 in order to gain my Certified Helpdesk Technician credential) then my daughter took it over so I hardly used it again!
However after using the iphone I decided to purchased a macbook for travelling, which I loved so much I decided to buy a 24" imac for the office which again I Loved!
At Christmas my Wife and daughter both got ipod touch. We're all completely in love with Apple products now and I'm even recommending them to my clients.

My point is - that you often get introduced to a new supplier or product through the most unlikely channel (who would have thought I would become an Apple fan!). But, as a consumer, when you DO experience a GREAT product or service you tend to go back to them.

So if Microsoft can't get the Mobile phone market or the MP3 market right - they are at risk of losing market share in every other field too!

Microsoft - the next GM?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Hey all!
The latest, all-singing, all-dancing version of windows is on the way! Forget all your computer worries - Windows 7 will cure them all! It's the answer to all your computer woes and will make the world, the universe, ney EVERYTHING perfect!

The only problem is - I'm not sure which version to buy. I'm lost trying to figure out just how many versions they are going to release! Apparently there is going to be lite version for netbooks, a home version of 'bigger' laptops, a home ultimate edition etc. etc. etc.

I'm sure the business idea behind this multi-product lineup is 'up selling'! Every time a user realizes they need a new feature that they don't have in the current cut down version, Microsoft thinks they are going to go out and buy the next upgrade for Windows!
Now I see two problems with this! Number 1 (I don't know about you) but I think that's going to P!$$ off a significant number of users!
Secondly has Microsoft missed the boat here? But it seems to me that users want simplicity, that's why Netbooks have taken off in huge numbers. Most people are happy to sacrifice a smaller screen and less power for a cheap PC. People have realized that they don't the 'all-singing', 'all-dancing' Laptop or PC that the manufacturers are trying to sell us.

But NO! Microsoft wants to try and flood the market with the slightly different versions of the same thing. Now I can think of another company that tried that recently. They were a north American company with a monopoly market. But the consumers caught on. They realized the product was not as good as the competition and that much of it was simply rebadged or repackaged. That company was GM!

In my opinion what's going to happen is when people realize they have been 'stiffed' with crappy cut down version of Windows - they won't immediately run out and buy an upgrade - they will turn to FREE fully featured operating systems like Linux instead or turn to Piracy - downloading dodgy copies of windows 7 in an attempt to get the features they want and need and should have ha from the beginning!

I believe that one of the reasons Vista failed was this stupid 101 choices problem. The IT industry is famous for it's K.I.S.S. saying so why is Microsoft going against it? XP is, relatively, simple for consumers - Home or Professional that's why it's still popular!

Don't get me wrong - I'm not some sandal wearing anti-Microsoft weirdo - but I fear that if Microsoft don't get their act together soon - they are going to turn into next 'Big Blue' and some small outfit from Albuquerque will be telling stories to our children about how they 'got one over' on the mighty Microsoft.

Things were simpler in the 'old days'

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:57:00 +0000

As an IT professional about 80% of my work is based on Windows and software that runs on Windows - this means I'm constantly striving to keep up-to-date with the latest software that the big vendors ship out.

There was a time early in my career when things seemed simple : a client said "I need a server" ahhh I'd say "you need Windows NT Server!"
If they said they wanted to buy desktops for business - I'd say "you need windows NT Wokstation" and if they were buying a PC for home - well they got Windows 9x. A mail server = exchange, proxy server = Proxy Server 2. You get the idea?

Was is just me? or were things just simpler back then?

Along came Windows 2000 - Undoubtably a much better product that arrived in a few more flavours:
"A new operating system sir?, Certainly - would you like professional, server, advanced or datacentre?"

The thing is - for me; I knew my client base so i could concentrate on the products that were relevant for me. For example datacentre was out of my sphere so I never bothered myself with it.

However around the time XP came out - Microsoft start spewing out different flavours of gosh darn everything. XP pro, Xp Home, Small Business server Standard, Small Business Server Premium, Office SBE, Office Basic, Office Professional, Outlook Standard, Outlook with BCM, Windows 2003 Server, Window 2003 Advanced Server, Windows Xp Media Centre, blah....blah.....blah. It felt like every week there was another packge from Redmond with yet more disks for me to look at and more products to get familiar with. The thing is I can only be an expert in so many things (yes I know that's hard to believe ;-) ). But, really, it takes time to learn a new product, time to become familiar with it's particular quirks.
So what did I do? I started ignoring all the hype and stuck to the products I knew well and the ones that got the job done.
I'm not saying they didn't release decent products, just that to me and the vast majority of my customers - most were irrelevant. SUS sounded like a great idea but with fast broadband these days do we really need it? In my experience it takes up vast amounts of disk space, unnecessary admin and regularly screws up! ISA, far too complicated - there are much easier ways to achieve the same results and, to me, the whole idea (a firewall on a server that also runs your operating system?!? That's a bad idea to start with).

And now we have the rumors about Windows 7 - How many versions are they planning?

Looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me!

If only things could be like they were in the 'old' days!
The Summer holidays were always sunny, I could go to the cinema, buy a bag of popcorn and get a taxi home for $1 (and still have change) and nobody locked their front doors!

Conficker Virus

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:45:00 +0000

As you may already know - A new 'super' virus is doing the rounds and this one threatens to activate on millions of computers on April 1st 2009.

The Virus was first discovered in October 2008 and, of course, targets the Windows Operating system (take that smug look off your face Linux and Apple users!) and was considered so dangerous that :

- Microsoft has offered a $250,000 reward for information on the individual(s) behind it.

- The Canadian Internet Registry Authority has locked all previously unregistered .ca domain names expected to be generated by the virus over the next 12 months.

- The Polish national register for .pl locked over 150,000 domains

Most anti-virus vendors have now released updates to their software that will detect and delete the virus - so ensure your anti-virus software is up-to-date. If you don't have any or your subscription ha run out then visit www.avg.com for a free home user version or 30 day trial of commercial version for business use.

Our suggestion is to make sure you have good backup strategy in place too - just in case!

CallManager Express - Blind and Full-Consult transfers

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:06:00 +0000

An interesting debate was started today during a new Callmanager Express install:

During lunch one of the junior engineers asked why anyone would use SIP firmware on the handsets instead of SCCP.

A member of our group suggested that the only reason he could think of was to do with call-transfer options available on each platform:

When setting up the Unified CME system the engineer has to select either blind or full-consult transfer mode and set it system wide. If you intend using SCCP handsets you'll only get this option on softkey whereas with SIP image on same handsets you get both options on softkeys.

Now we agreed that most customers normally want consultative transfers (permanant blind transfer is just rude!) but what happens if you need to do a blind-transfer say to voicemail? Is going to SIP the only option?

CME Expert, Anthony Fear, came up with the answer :

"Setup the system up with full-consult transfers but when you need to do a blind transfer - hit 'Transfer' as normal, dial extension and when you hear ringing tone hit 'Transfer' again - Viola a blind transfer in SCCP!"

"Quite why Cisco don't use the same 'Xfer' and 'BlindXfer' softkeys that you get in SIP Image is a mystery. But hey there you go!"

Apparently SIP firmware offers a 'semi-blind transfer' but no-one in the group knew exactly what this meant and so although this could be a legitimate reason to choose SIP over SCCP we decided it's a pretty lame one!

CallManager Express Non-Dialable MWI

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:32:00 +0000

We've been working on integrating Trixbox with CallManager Express (Full documentation to follow shortly) and stumbled across an issue where a user had accidentally discovered the MWI on and MWI off extention number on our CME system.

To his great amusement he was able to dial the mwi extentions and switch on or off the mwi indicator on any phone on the system. By default these special CME extentions are dialable - This lead us to investigate a way of making them non-dialable like intercoms. Well it turns out it's quite simple. Simply change the number under each number from say 9000 to A9000 and then in Unity Express (or your alternative Voicemail System) simpy change the mwi extentions to the new numbers.

To change the MWI indicator numbers in Unity Express

Reverse Telnet to CUE module : service-module service-engine 0/1 session

Then enter global config:
en
conf t

, then enter:
ccn application ciscomwiapplication

then change the following lines and replace the ???? with your non-dialable mwi extentions:
parameter "strMWI_OFF_DN" "????"
parameter "strMWI_ON_DN" "????"

Viola - CUE can now switch on and off your mwi lights but pesky users cannot!

Regards

Anthony Fear

Cisco Unity Express CallerID problem

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:49:00 +0000

We were asked today to help with a Voicemail problem on a CallManager Express system. Turns out that since the installation of the VoIP telephone system, the voicemail module has only been recording callerID on an intermittent basis.

Anthony Fear (our resident CME expert) took up the challenge -
"testing showed that only extentions that were also registered on CUE were able to leave their CallerID, all other callers were recorded as "unknown number". This turns out to be a default 'FEATURE' of CUE. In order for CUE to record any number presented to it you have to enable the feature, heres how:"

"Reverse Telnet onto the CUE module as normal and enter global config, then enter the command : voicemail callerid now all callers numbers will be recorded by the system (unless they withold them of course!)."

So there you go - easy when you know how!

Cisco Nat Port Forwarding

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 14:33:00 +0000

We are trying to replace a Netgear ADSL router with a Cisco ADSL Router - we've used the GUI configuration tool to get it working but we don't how to configure port forwarding like we had on the netgear! So we can forward smtp, http and such like to our Windows server. Can you help?
This depends on the model of router you have but basically if it's an IOS sytle router then I'm guessing you have used something like the SDM to configure the router? I'm also guessing that you are using NAT (network address translation) on your router which is probably configured on a dialer0 interface. Have a look through the config and you should see a line like:

ip nat inside source list 100 dialer0 overload

If you do then you are use using NAT. You can configure port forwarding (PAT) with a command like:

ip nat inside source static tcp [internal ip] [port number] interface [interface with nat outside] [port number]

example:

ip nat inside source static tcp 192.168.1.1 25 interface dialer0 25

be careful if using this type of command because if you have http enabled on your router then you won't be able to forward port 80 to your server. You'll have to disable it first!

alternatively if you have a fixed ip address on your adsl interface or you have a range of ip addresses on your adsl interface then you can do this:

ip nat inside source static tcp 192.168.1.1 25 84.12.35.69 25

where 84.12.35.69 is your static ip address or one of the range of addresses you have allocated by your ISP.

DMZ
you can also leave out the port number to have everything passed directly to you internal this is useful for debugging or if your internal system has a firewall of it's own!

ip nat inside source static tcp 192.168.1.1 84.12.35.69

Hope this help.

Anthony

No email addresses being generated for new user

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:58:00 +0000

I was trying to add a new user on a client's SBS 2003 server today - Did all the usual stuff, set the home directory, created a roaming profile, created an exchange mailbox but even after waiting a few minutes (well ok 60 mins to be exact - over the years I've seen some servers take up to 30 mins to finish creating the exchange mailbox) I noticed that the email addresses specified in recipient update policy were not being applied to the account.

I checked everything and double checked again. So then i tried removing the mailbox from the account in ADU&C and adding it back again. Still Nothing....

I started going through everything obvious and then going through the not so obvious:

Application Log - No Errors!
System Log - No Errors!
Sophos Log (ok by this point I was getting desperate) - Still No Errors!

It was at this point that I happened to spot that the same exchange alias name existed in another account "ahhhh! that must be it!" I said to myself - feeling rather chuffed that I've solved it.......made the necessary changes and put my feet up waiting for impending success - But NO! Still nothing!

So, of course, I started Googling but didn't find much. Except a few distant entries that suggested restarting exchange services might help - "yeah right" I thought to myself. But figured I'd give it a go in the evening when everyone was off the server. So this evening I begrudgingly logged on to the Client's server, navigated to the services app then stopped and re-started all the exchange services.

And yup you've guessed it - by the time I'd opened ADU&C the flaming email addresses had been generated and everything was working perfectly!

Sometimes you know - I really hate computers!

Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 09:13:00 +0000

Question from Wellingborough Electrical

"Having Installed Business Contact Manager, when I open up Outlook it says that This Version of Business Contact Manager does not work with Exchange email accounts....."

You have the old version of BCM. Download the latest version from Microsoft and re-install. This version has some other updates including a fix for this.

Blogger RSS Feed Not Updating

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 09:04:00 +0000

Question from Brown Dogs Chest Freezer

"My blogger rss feeds are not updating when adding new posts. 3 of the original entries are there but nothing added after that is appearing!....."

Turns out it was problem with the settings in the 'site feed' page.

Site Feed URL should be your full http reference i.e. http://www.computerboffins.com/blog/atom.rss

Site Feed Filename is atom.xml

Site Feed Path should be the path on your ftp server - it had been put down as a http reference. Instead it should be the relative path from your ftp login. i.e. /computerboffins/blog

It is now resolved and working as intended!

What Is VoIP?

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:05:00 +0000

I was recently asked by a client what all this VoIP stuff is about! So here's a quick introduction.

What is VoIP?
VoIP (or Voice over Internet Protocol) is a great new way to make and receive phone calls using your computer network instead of your standard phone line. VoIP systems convert your phone calls into data that zips through your high-speed Computer network or Internet connection just like email. It comes out the other end like a regular phone call. Your callers will never know that it's any different since it sounds just like a regular phone call.

Why Use VoIP?
Cost and Flexibility! With traditional phone systems, you predefine how many lines you require and pay rental on each line. When you have used up all your lines, callers get a busy tone. With an IP phone system there is no concept of lines as information flows over your computer network. So for example a single telephone line with ADSL Internet connection can handle about 7 concurrent calls with VoIP, saving over 700% compared to traditional PABX systems.
Furthermore because your phones use a computer network they no longer have to be physically located in the office. They can, for example, be located at employee’s home, perhaps a remote office or with a business partner such as outsourced IT department! Phones can be located virtually anywhere where there is an internet connection! But they can be called and used exactly as if they were connected to your office system.

Do I need expensive Phone Equipment?
No! VoIP systems are flexible meaning you can use standard household phones with an adapter or a business class IP phones with easier access to the advanced functions. Your not tied to manufacturer or a supplier so you can use any equipment you choose - you can even use a PC or laptop to make your calls instead!

Claimed my Blog at Technorati

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 16:01:00 +0000

Technorati Profile

CallManager Express

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:50:00 +0000

I've been investing in some Cisco Equipment and training over the past few months - particularly the CallManager 4 systems because I believe they offer an excellent opportunity to tie some of our in-house skills together and also because I see an amasing opportunity to provide client's with an excellent product that not only has an excellent feature set (Video Conferencing, Remote Handsets, Integrated Messaging) but also potentially a competitive advantage product by developing applications to go onto the handsets (but more about that in a future blog).
Now I've been recommending Cisco equipment to my client's for years simply because of it's unrivalled reliability (when was the last time you had to replace a faulty Cisco device on your network?) Ok I know they do fail, but compare it to any other manufacturer and you know it's good stuff! But it never occurred to me that they might produce a decent Telephone system. Afterall some fo the buig name telephony manufactureres out there have been doing it for years - how could a networking company possibly compete? Well I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong.

Now this is just a personal opinion but let me make this point very clear - CallManager Express IS NOT A GREAT TELEPHONE SYSTEM - it lacks some basic features available on other systems, it's expensive compared to other VoIP solutions out there and it's a pig to administer - however as a complete solution incorporating network infrastructure, integrated communications, security, Qualify of Service and all the rest of that jazz that we all need - Cisco's offering is quite simply the best solution out there.
Now don't get me wrong there are better telephony solutions available and there are cheaper solutions out there (Asterisk PBX is the obvious choice here and one I'm familiar with so I can speak with some confidence on this matter) but everyone of them brings their own issues. The simple fact is that whatever VoIP solution you go for - Asterisk, Nortel, Microsoft?!? you're going to need a reliable, configurable network infrastructure to put it on and what's the obvious answer there? Cisco of course!
So take my advice and make your life easier and implement a full Cisco solution - you'll thank me in the end!

I'll cover some of the main advantages (as I see them anyway ) in a future blog - but the phone is ringing and I'd better get back to work demonstrating to my client's why this CallManager Express system is so darn good!

Ask Computer Boffins is live !

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Fear) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:08:00 +0000

Well after much discussion, toing and frowing and general wondering - we've finally decided to create a blog.

With the help of our friends at www.blogger.com we've setup an account, edited a template and posted out first Blog page.

The aim of this blog (as well as being a outlet for our general rantings about all things I.T.) is to provide a mechanism for us to provide a general question and answer forum to anybody who requires it - that includes potential, existing and never-to-be clients. So if you have a question and would like Free Technical Support - drop us a line. We aim to answer within 24 hours.

Regards

Computer Boffins Team