Without a doubt, email is one of the most ubiquitous parts of daily office work in businesses today. It is often the first and best choice of contact, allowing for clear expression of information, with recent advances in the medium granting more and more features to users that offer further functionality. One valuable feature that is quickly becoming an industry standard is Cloud archiving for business emails. By backing up copies of your digital correspondence through the Cloud to remote and digital servers, you can enjoy many benefits, including: Opportunities for Improvement An increasingly common service for businesses these days is data mining, in which a business has the entirety of its data analyzed for patterns and other noteworthy trends. The information gained from this process can be highly beneficial, allowing a company to eliminate areas of redundancy and capitalize on unrecognized strengths. By archiving your business’ emails, you can offer that much more data for a mining service to comb through, which only improves the results of the process. Failsafe Capabilities One of the basic benefits of any Cloud service is that it keeps a safe backup of your information in case of emergency. Whether a natural disaster compromises your on-site hardware or a human error accidentally deletes the wrong file, a regularly updated copy of your email data is always available to you through the Cloud’s archive. Legal Security Industry requirements and standards tend to mandate that any business have a clear and accessible record of all communications. In the event of any legal concerns, it’s good to know that a complete record of any correspondence undertaken on the company’s behalf is available to you through the Cloud at a moment’s notice. Accurate and Convenient Reference  Aside from a legal context, for your own purposes a complete backup of your company’s emails can be very valuable. By retaining an infallible record of how your business operates over email, you can ensure that not a single memorable action taken in the name of your company is forgotten. Reduced Expenditures When compared with Cloud-based archive benefits, processes employed by companies to access and utilize stored data is exorbitantly more expensive. For one example, Osterman Research looked at a 500-seat organization responding to a regular audit that would require access to a great deal of stored data. All variables considered, the study found that it would cost the company approximately $74,538 to process the information, and concluded that a Cloud-based archive could cut that figure in half. Cloud-based email archiving can do so much for your business, increasing convenience and security all while lowering costs.To learn more about how your business can benefit from Cloud email archival, contact {company} today at {phone} or {email}. 

When your email doubles as your work space, it is important to keep it organized. That being said, this can be a frustrating and time-consuming task. Thankfully, managing your email has gotten a whole lot easier thanks to these innovative apps: Outlook Microsoft rolled out its Outlook app for iOS and Android about two months after acquiring Accompli. The decision gave users a more desirable alternative to the Outlook Web App, and a more powerful alternative to the default iOS Mail app offered. Some of Outlook’s key features include: Your inbox is separated into ‘Focused’ and ‘Other’ to help prioritize important emails. It will support IMAP and various email services, including Office 365, Outlook, Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and iCloud. Files can be selected from OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive, or from recently sent and received files. Microsoft’s Office apps are equipped with a ‘Send with Outlook’ button. Microsoft has also been working on improved document collaboration features in Outlook. They have added in workflow between Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and of course Outlook to make editing files on a mobile device much easier. Google’s Inbox There’s no denying that most of us tend to get our answers from Google. Well, Google’s answer to email clutter is the simply named Inbox. Google’s Inbox app offers Gmail users tons of innovative time-saving features, some of which include: The ability to bundle email into social networking, news, updates, and trip bundles. Offers highlights. Offers reminders (and Snooze). Reminders written in Google’s note-taking app, Keep, are added to Inbox automatically. Inbox has got your back, and will suggest that you add a Reminder if someone sends you a ‘to-do’ email. Spark Spark has rolled out its version of the smart inbox as well. The app is loaded with a lot of cool features, and it is definitely smart with natural speech search and the ability to easily toggle between views. Some other helpful features Spark has to offer are: Integration with third party apps including Evernote, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Pocket, Evernote, and OneNote. Features to customize everything from widget shortcuts to email workflow. For people who use multiple email signatures, Spark also lets users swipe between them from within an email. The ability to minimize an email you’re working on. Zero The name says it all! Zero is all about keeping your inbox clear. Instead of prioritizing or grouping emails, Zero’s Mailfeed takes a different approach and offers a summary of each email in full screen “cards”. Here is how they work: Swiping a card upwards will push the email to the archive. Pressing the star icon will keep it in the inbox. Reply to an email by swiping right to get the inbox view. Although you are aiming for ‘Inbox Zero’, they have developed a clever way to focus on what you want to keep, not what you need to delete. Along with this, when scrolling through Zero, the interface is similar to that of a social media app, which works well. Boxer The Boxer app is offered in a free and paid-for version on iOS, and also as a freemium app through Android. Boxer supports Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, and IMAP. It offers Box, Dropbox, Evernote, and Facebook Calendar integration. It also has unique swipe features, such as: A short right swipe on inbox items (which brings up a grid of shortcuts for things like sending a response, creating a to-do list, or making a note). A long right swipe (which offers a shortcut to the to-do list). A short left swipe (which will archive the email). A long left swipe (which will delete an email). On iOS, the free version of the app is limited to one webmail account, and you don’t get access to Boxer’s custom quick templates. Though, it does still provide a short list of stock replies. Mailbox by Dropbox Mailbox by Dropbox allows and encourages users to transfer as much as possible out of the inbox, while still providing easy access to the archive. The Mailbox app has its users choose one of three ‘rules’: Archive all messages. Archive all messages, except for unread. Achieve all messages, except for starred. Mailbox offers a lot of unique swipe actions as well: A short left swipe will display a grid of scheduling shortcuts. A longer swipe offers a list of to-do shortcuts such as ‘to buy’, ‘to read’, and ‘to watch’. Users are allowed the option to create their own shortcuts, too. Mailbox obviously uses Dropbox when it comes to syncing and storage for file attachments, but by default, the app will send attachments as Dropbox links (as opposed to attaching a file to the message). CloudMagic CloudMagic is a search-focused email app that provides a simple and clean design. In April 2014, CloudMagic won the Webby Awards People’s Voice for their visual design, and again in September, winning the “Best Design” award at the Evernote Platform Awards. Aside from the design and search capabilities, here are some key features of CloudMagic: It can send attachments from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. It supports IMAP, as well as Google Apps, Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, Exchange, and iCloud. Introduced ‘cards’, which are activated by tapping on the content of an email (or the card icon next to the sender’s name) for the option to complete tasks in third-party apps. It offers easy bulk email actions. CloudMagic recently displayed a new contact-focused add-on. The add-on is called Team Contacts, and it is being aimed at business users that want to help their colleagues introduce new contacts from outside of the organization. For now, however, it only works with Google Apps. {company} helps you stay up-to-date on the latest apps designed with your productivity in mind. Contact us at {phone} or send us an email at {email} for more information.

The never-ending search for an IT service company for your business can feel like you’re soaking a paper cut in lemon juice. Trust me… We’ve felt the pain! (Of both…. Don’t ask…) When you are looking for an IT services company, it is essential that you completely understand the three service plans that most IT companies utilize and offer their customers. Choose the wrong one and you’ll be overpaying for something you never use – kind of like the unwanted television network in your cable package. There are three basic models to consider: Cost for Time and Services. This is also known as “break-fix” service, which means that there is an hourly rate paid for a technician to solve issues when and if they arise. Thus, they fix your system if it breaks. This one’s pretty simple, right? Managed IT Service Support. In this model, the IT service company that you hire becomes your IT Department and can help you daily. Thus, the company provides support for all of the devices, including computers that are connected to your server(s). On-site help is also offered, along with security against viruses. This type of package let you get your full eight hours of sleep – or that’s the goal anyway. Software-Related IT Services. This third model gives customers remote IT support or help desk support. However, these services do not include all of your company’s needs. This means that if you have a problem that is not within their application, they will not be able to help you. Useless? Quite possibly. So Which One Will Rock Your… Boat? Managed IT service support is generally a necessity for businesses because this type of IT service ensures that your systems are running well through routine monitoring and maintenance. Managed support also protects your system from being hacked, from computer viruses, or from any other computer-related issues. This is my personal favorite because I’ll never have to deliver the bad news that you’re not covered! A Cost for Time and Services (only when you need it) approach to IT services may be a good idea for a company if there is already an IT person in-house or team that solely works on IT projects. However, if this isn’t in your budget, managed IT service support is probably your best option. After all, prevention services, which are provided by managed IT services are also more inexpensive than waiting for an emergency to occur and paying a large amount of money to a technician in order to fix it. When your company utilizes an “only when you need it” approach to IT, your company’s interests and the interests of your IT Company become at odds with one another. You may be wondering, “Why would there be a conflict of interests?” Well, the IT firm you hire to fix issues when they arise has no reason to make your computer system run as efficiently and effectively as possible because they are paid by the hour and are only paid when your system is not working at its best. Thus, you might have to pay more money for a problem that could be solved if you had a more permanent relationship with your IT services company. Not all companies are honest, which can cause unnecessary stress and expenses for you and your company. Now for the question we’ve all been waiting for! What about the Cost?  Hourly Emergency Service Fees: These costs are estimates and may not be accurate for all IT companies offering hourly service options for when your system has a problem. Generally, however, the charges per hour are between $125 and $225 with a 1.5 hours minimum. Managed IT Services: If you decide to hire a managed IT service company (like us), the cost will be monthly based on the number of devices that must be monitored and maintained. Looking at the city of {city}, the monthly fee is between $300 and $500 per server, $50 and $150 per desktop computer, and approximately $15 for each smart device like a cell phone. This may sound like a lot but Managed Services will drastically reduce your stress, and will cost you less in the long run. When you hire us as your trusted Managed Service Provider, here’s some services you’ll receive right away – just to name a few: Patches for security – these should be applied at least weekly and possibly daily to protect against urgent and potential threats to your system Updates to antivirus software and monitoring Updates to firewall protection and monitoring Constant computer backup and test restores Installation of a spam filter and updates to it Security against spyware and removal if necessary Observation of hardware for signs of emergency Optimization of the system, including desktop computers for speed and efficiency We’ll support you in all of your IT needs! (And may even bring you a coffee in the morning if you’re nice). We promise to keep both your network, and wallet protected! Contact {company} today for your FREE, No-obligation, 27 minute consultation. {phone} or throw us an email at {email}.