BEI Blog
Are you still receiving faxes on a traditional fax machine? It might be time to think about replacing it with a fax service that will send those faxes to an email address as an attachment. This has a number of benefits:
- It may end up being less expensive than the phone line you are currently using
- Paper faxes get jammed or lost – it is much easier to track and store electronic files
- Electronic faxes can be easily forwarded, stored, etc.
We have used and like the following options.
There are many more – if you have one you like let us know! We don’t resell these services but are happy to help you set them up if you need assistance.
Wednesday, May 11 in DC
Thursday, May 12 in Tyson’s Corner
Tuesday, May 17 Webinar
REGISTER
Some people call their iPad a tablet, and some think of a full PC with the ability to recognize handwriting. One website even lists the Barnes & Noble Nook as a tablet! We focus on tablets that are most useful in our client’s businesses. We’ve been buying these for our clients for a while now (most frequently for healthcare practices) and think that now is a good time to consider making a purchase.
In this seminar we’ll review tablet PC applications, features and specific products. Note that we’ll focus on business uses rather than home.
This tip won’t apply to that many of us, but those who can use it will love it. If you have dual monitors at home and access your office computers via terminal services you may be frustrated because terminal services only uses one of your home monitors. The traditional command to start a terminal services session for remote access is mstsc. Using mstsc /span instead will launch the session across both monitors.
If you start terminal services by clicking on a Remote Desktop icon that is stored on your desktop that looks like this 
and then follow these directions:
Click on the Windows button at the bottom left of your screen.- Type mstsc /span and the Remote Desktop window (shown below) will appear.
- Connect as you normally would and your session will span both screens.
Note: we’ve written before about how we LOVE using dual monitors.
Most of us at BEI have two monitors on our desktop computer and don’t know how we ever got along with just one. We might leave Outlook open on one monitor while we use Word or Excel on the other, we might be remotely connected to a client’s desktop while we peruse documentation on the other monitor, or we might be working in PowerPoint while using the other screen to search for images to add to the presentation.
Dual monitors are often less expensive than a large monitor, so it make sense to consider this option. Many new desktop computers support dual monitors without requiring any additional hardware. To see if you have more than one monitor connection, look at the back of your computer for two Video Graphics Array (VGA) connectors or two Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connectors or one of each.
If you only have a single VGA or DVI connector, you will need to install a second video adapter or replace your current video adapter with one that has two VGA or DVI connections. We’re glad to help if you need assistance either ordering the right parts or completing the installation.
Sometimes you send out an email but would really like the reply to go to another person or just another email address. Maybe you’re sending an email from your home email account but want replies to go to work. Or, you may be initiating a request but want someone else to follow through.
Select Options – Direct Replies To
You’ll then see this:
Check Have replies sent to: and then select Select Names.
At this point you can either select names from your Global Address List or enter any email address you wish. Note that you may want to keep your own address and add another so that replies go to you AND someone else.
Note: you should make sure that the email address that you use will accept outside email if that is a requirement. There are some groups (for example, the default group ALL USERS will not.)
That Big Proposal is Due but My Street’s Not Plowed!!!
Did you run into this or a similar problem over the last few weeks? Couldn’t get to the office and the ol’ VPN or Go-to-My-PC just wasn’t cutting it? Or maybe you’re really old school and had NO option to work remotely? There are very good and cost effective options for being productive from home (and we mean working just like you do in the office using all the same applications – not just checking email.)
- We can install a terminal server that will let your staff access all your data and applications as if they were in the office and with a very similar user experience/speed/responsiveness – much better than VPN. With terminal server it is easy to control user access and privileges. BEI uses terminal services for its employees when they are not in the office. The price for this starts at about $4,000 for hardware, software and installation services (this price range would provide remote connectivity for 10-20 people, depending on their work load.)
- If you have a Small Business Server, you can be setup for Remote Web Workplace, which lets you remotely work on your desktop at the office.
- A SharePoint intranet site, either on your server or online, lets you share documents and collaborate with ease.
To request information about remote work options, contact Jonathan Krasner at jonathan.krasner@beinetworks.com or 703-528-8300 x105.
