As of April 30th, we disconnected our fax number. Over the last few years, we average 4 relevant faxes per year. All the other faxes we received were spam. So we cancelled our fax line and if we need to receive a fax, we’ll sign up with a free fax service. Hello Fax allows you to receive 5 pages per month for free. http://www.hellofax.com/content/pricing?promo_code=FOREM. And if that doesn’t work out, we can always add a device to our work phone line that will detect if a fax is being sent on that number.
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Last week, an unknown company, by the name of Epsilon was breached and had thousands of email addresses were stolen from them. Epsilon is responsible for the email marketing of 55 companies, including Best Buy, Target, and Brookstone, etc.. If you are a customer of any other these companies, you should: – Be cautious of any emails they send you – Do not click on any links in their emails that want you to log-in and verify your account – You should be proactive and go directly to their websites and change your password Here are the details about this breach: How the Epsilon Security Breach Affects You
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Like most of you, at my desk I have the following equipment plugged into a surge protector: – PC (that’s always on due to offsite backups) – Two large monitors – Lamp (Switch to an LED bulb instead of an incandescent bulb) – Printer – Phone & Tablet chargers In an effort to conserve energy, I wanted a way to EASILY shutoff most of these devices and still keep my PC on. A regular surge protector just wouldn’t work because 1) it shuts everything off and 2) it’s a pain to bend down under my desktop to reach the tiny on/off switch. That’s when I found the Conserve Switch from Belkin, not only does it have two outlets that are always on, but it also has an easy to install switch that you can put on the wall near your light switch. So when I leave my office, I turn both switches off. This $40 product will save me about $60 in electricity each year. Give it a try and let me know what you think: http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=459516
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Published in CRN (Computer Reseller News) VARs Behaving Badly (August 2010) SMS Solution Providers See 2010 Sales Rebound (August 2010) D&H VARs Size Up SMB Market, Vista, Competition (August 2006) Small-Business VARs Sound Off (September 2002) Dell’s White-Box Play (August 2002)
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“If you accept the idea that work is infinite and time is finite, you realize you have to manage your time and not your work.” Jim Collins, Inc Magazine
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My Inbox has (0, zero, zilch, nada) emails in it as of today!!! The last time I accomplished this feat was probably 4 years ago. If you are like me, you use your Inbox as a reminder of open tasks. However, when your Inbox starts to grow above 100 items, ANXIETY sets in every morning when you open your Inbox. That’s not to say that I have nothing to do, but I’ve begun to fully utilize Outlook Task (for personal tasks) and SharePoint (for our company tasks). As soon as I get an email, if I can’t handle it right away, it gets put onto a task list with distinct attributes. For example: – If the Task is Important, it gets a Status of “Emergency” and goes to the top of my list. I only keep 10 “Emergency” tasks on my list at one time. – If the Task is related to a proposal, I append a “$” to the front of the Task name. This makes it very easy to recognize the Tasks that will generate revenue. Did you know… (DUK) If you Right-Click on a selected Email, then click “Move to Folder…” and select the Task folder, a new Task will be created with the email contents. …
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In keeping with the natural progression of business communications, Ferreira Group will no longer email Newsletters to its loyal subscribers. I don’t know about you, but my Inbox is already full of stuff I have to do and stuff I have to read. We’ve decided instead to put regular Blog entries on our newly redesigned website that you can read whenever you have a free moment. We plan to use the blog for: – Security Alerts – Product Annoucements – Service Enhancements – Did you know…(DUK) (Our popular Tech Tips Section) If you have any suggestions, feel free to pass them along to us. Thank you, FG Team
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Mass 201 CMR 17.00 (ID Theft Regulation) As of March 1st, 2010, Massachusetts will implement one of the toughest data protection laws. This new regulation will apply to any business that captures and/or transmits personal information. If you obtain a person’s name and any one of these attributes, then this law could apply to you: – Social Security Number – Driver’s License Number – State Issued Identification Card Number – Financial Account Number (Bank, 401K, etc..) – Credit or Debt Card Number – Medical Information Please call us if you have questions about how this regulation may affect your business. For additional information Click Here. Our New Partnerships Over the last few months, we have evaluated numerous products and services to help you conform to the new ID Theft Regulation. Listed below are partners and solutions we have selected for their outstanding products, ease of use and cost: SPAMSoap They provide a a robust filtering solution with a user-friendly console and affordable pricing. Their solution includes: – Spam Filtering – Email Archiving (3 – 7 years) – Web Defense (Anti-Malware protection at the browser level) The most effective way to STOP Fake Anti-virus programs To learn more about SPAMSoap Click…
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I’m pleased to report that the results went better than expected. Within the first day and a half, over 95% of our clients responded that they received the initial test Statement from QuickBooks. The following week, a few more people replied that they were away on vacation and had received the test. I also had two clients that I had incorrect email addresses for but once they were changed, everything worked. However, the final two clients that did not respond was not because they did not receive the email test, but because their replies did not get sent back to me. It appears that these two clients are using Register.com as their email server and they are unable to email me since we have moved our email to 1and1.com. (More to come about 1and1.com in the future)
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The Ferreira Group is making a concerted effort to reduce, reuse and recycle. This page will discuss the various actions we are doing to go “Green”. Hopefully, through the knowledge we gain during this effort, we will be able to share our experiences with our clients, allowing them to potentially reduce their costs, increase productivity and help in the “Green” movement.
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