You may have seen the commercials. Blackberry cell phones are hot. The latest Blackberry Storm has an interface that is touch screen, very similar to the IPhone 3G. The latest Blackberry phones have been especially popular in the business community.  These devices can do a great job with Direct-Push email and complete synchronization of email, contacts and calendar functions between the phone and the user’s office email platform.

However, support for the Blackberry is not built into any office-based mail servers like Microsoft Exchange. In most cases, users that have an interest in the Blackberry product line will need to have a piece of software installed called BES – or Blackberry Enterprise Server. This application typically gets installed “side by side” with Exchange Server on the server at the office, and provides communication between the Blackberry phone and the users email system at the office.

Pricing for Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) is reasonable – the first phone can be connected to BES with no license costs. Each additional phone costs around $99 per phone as a one-time fee. If you would like to consider adding Blackberry access to your office email system, please give us a call.

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay,
Now my database has gone away,
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There’s not half the files there used to be,
And there’s a deadline hanging over me,
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong,
What it was I could not say,
Now all my data’s gone and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for backups seemed so far away,
I knew my data was all here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

With high definition flat screen televisions now becoming main-stream, we get asked from time to time – “How can I get the image on my PC to be displayed on my Television?” The motivation for this question can be quite varied – from showing downloaded movies on a big screen, getting ready for a presentation at the office or employee training. Whatever the reason – the question is the same – how can this be done? There is a number of ways to answer the question. The method that works for you depends on what you have available in terms of connectivity, and how much you are willing to spend. In summary, here are a few options for which one or more may apply to your situation:

A newer flat screen television may already support a standard VGA connection. You may see the connection on the monitor. If this is the case, buy the VGA cable that is required.

Add a video card to your PC that has RCA composite video or S-video outputs. Some higher-end video cards have this. Simply connect up the TV with the proper cable.

Add a “black box” device to your PC that will allow you to plug a VGA cable into it. The other end will come out as RCA composite video or S-video that can plug into most TVs. These devices cost around $50. There are plenty of these available – one is available at http://sewelldirect.com/pc-to-tv.asp .

Need wireless access to your TV? If so, then you need to get the VGA signal into a RCA Composite or S-Video form by one of the methods mentioned above. Then, you acquire a Video Sender which is, in essence – 2 pieces: A sender to send the signal via UHF frequencies to a receiver. The receiver then gets connected up to your TV. Distances between the sender and receiver can be anywhere from 5 feet to 200 feet, depending on the Video Sender and your environment. An example of such a device is: http://www.x10.com/promotions/mk11a_ed_bandit_autofree_v2_burst2_cat2.html

Higher-end “black box” devices that connect up to your PC also support USB, so the need to get your PC to connect up to RCA Composite or S-Video is not needed. An example of this type of box is at: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3557004&Sku=O38-2034.

Graphic cards for your PC supporting DVI are also available. If you want to connect up the PC digitally to your DVI capable TV, an upgrade of your video card to support DVI may be what you want.

Graphic cards for your PC supporting HDMI are also available. If you want to connect up the PC digitally to your HDMI capable TV, an upgrade of your video card to support HDMI may work for you.

As you can see, there is not a one size fits all approach to connecting your PC to your TV.  Costs of implementation and video quality will vary in every situation. If you want to discuss your situation in more detail, please do not hesitate to let us know.

• Windows 7 is a new operating system from Microsoft and will be the successor to Microsoft Vista.  While it is unclear when this will be available, sources suggest we may see the product available as a final deliverable in 2010. Presentations given by Microsoft have focused on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows Shell with a new taskbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and various performance improvements.
   
• Our legacy JETFORM/HPUTIL technology that we use to produce forms from business systems is reaching the end of its life cycle. In preparation for this, we now have a new TFORMER/HPUTIL technology to carry us forward into the future in the development of customized forms such as Invoices, Bills of Lading and special reporting like W2 and 1099.
   
• Internet Backup is available and in use in some organizations. While it is important to have some type of “localized” backup, backup over the Internet can be implemented in most environments.  We have used IBACKUP for almost a year now and it is an effective method with costs ranging from $20 to $99 a month.
   
• Virtualization is a hot term these days. As previously reported, a single server can run multiple environments simultaneously: Windows Server, Red Hat Linux, etc. As with anything, there are pluses and minuses to using virtualization. VM Ware, Microsoft’s Hyper-V, and Virtual Iron are among the providers of virtualization solutions.
   
• As email use continues to grow, so does the capacity required to store these emails. Exchange Servers will grow in size over time. It is best to maintain a policy of mailbox cleansing every few months, asking users to clean up their mailboxes routinely.  There are server scripts that can be created to force the cleanup of mailboxes in many email systems. However, these scripts are not smart enough to not purge important yet “old” email messages – so working out a policy of manual cleanup should be the first priority.
   
• Windows Server 2008 is a 64 bit platform and is the next step for customers currently running Windows Server 2003. Being 64 bit, additional capability can be built into software as additional resources can be utilized. You would want to run this on new hardware. Exchange 2007 and SQL 2008 were built exclusively for this operating system.  Most servers shipped since 2006 are 64 bit capable.  Older servers are not and would need to be upgraded.
   
• Businesses are focusing their efforts in providing connectivity to their customers. With sales calls becoming cost prohibitive and customers demanding access through the Internet, consider opening up your web site to allow for customer interaction with your products or services. Online access to product information, product availability, and order history are a few examples of how you may want to provide your customer with access to vital information.

The Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) established the American Business Ethics Award to honor companies that demonstrate a firm commitment to ethical business practices in everyday operations, management philosophies, and responses to crises or challenges. 
The Buffalo Niagara Business Ethics Award is presented by The Buffalo Chapter SFSP.

Copeland Data Systems has been nominated for this award again in 2009. We are proud to accept this nomination, and we will continue to adhere to high ethical standards that are shared among many organizations in our business community as we have since 1979.

Voss Manufacturing located in Sanborn, NY - designs and builds tooling, equipment, fabrications and machined components for the heat transfer and custom machinery market.

Tom Kammerer, General Manager of Voss Manufacturing adds:

"As Voss grew and became more dependent on computer applications in all aspects of our business it became increasingly difficult to keep up to date with technology and daily IT maintenance. We made a strategic business decision to work with a company which could support our daily requirements as well as keep us in front of our competition. We chose Copeland Data Systems and are pleased with our decision."

If you would like to learn more about Voss Manufacturing, you can visit them online at www.vossmanufacturing.com.