Network Services of Cape Cod

Again, in no particular order, more of my favorites:

Parallels – If you’ve actually been reading this, than you’ve probably caught on to the idea that I really like my Mac. One of the things I most like about it is the ability to run Windows. There are many programs that are critical to my business which are Windows only. Additionally, there are some Windows programs that are simply better (in my humble opinion) than their Mac counterparts (Outlook). When I first looked at running Windows on the Mac, I tried Boot Camp. It was great. I was amazed at how quickly Windows XP responded, even after I loaded up a whole lot of software. One thing that I absolutely wanted, though, was the ability to flip back and forth without restarting the system. This meant that I had to look at virtualization software. I looked at Parallels first, as it was first to market, and became used to it’s interface. For more about my early impressions of Parallels, read my blog entry here. Parallels has integrated my Mac life and Windows life so seamlessly that I am able to flip back and forth effortlessly. Parallels is set to release version 4 of their product soon, though I can’t imagine how they’ll be improving it.

Pwnage Tool – While the iPhone is a fantastic tool, with a great deal of software available from Apple’s App Store, you still need to jailbreak the iPhone in order to unlock it’s full potential. One of the most useful features of a jailbroken iPhone is the ability to connect to it via FTP and retrieve phone messages for archive purposes. I am surprised that nobody has released an App Store program that does this more gracefully, but there might be something in the license agreement that forbids this. It seems like such an obvious (missing) feature to me. Who wouldn’t want to be able to archive their voicemails?

iPhoto – One of the things that drew me to the Apple platform was the fact that most of the productivity software the average consumer would need is included with the operating system. While iLife technically is not a component of OS X, it does come pre-loaded on every Apple computer. iPhoto is a fantastic program that makes it super simple to manage your pictures on the computer. The closest equivalent on the PC would be Google’s Picasa (also a great program), but what makes iLife so great is the solid integration between the suite of iLife programs. For every feature that is missing (the ability to synchronize iPhoto libraries, for example), there is a third party add-on that can do the trick.

iPhoto Library Manager – If you have more than one Mac, I highly recommend this iPhoto add-on. Well, it’s not so much an add-on as it is a utility that allows you to manage multiple iPhoto libraries with ease. At home, we typically import all family photos to the iMac in the kitchen. I use iPhoto Library Manager to copy newly imported or updated photos from the family iMac to my laptop, where I manipulate them and manage the family website (i.e. post photos of the kids for the family to see). This program handles the imports with ease, copying all meta-data and leaving out duplicates. It’s an easy way of ensuring that our personal pictures are always backed up.

Snapz Pro X – I wondered what applications people were using to create screen captures for tutorials. A google search revealed this little gem for OS X. I haven’t had time to play a whole lot, but I figured this would work pretty well for me, given that I can run just about any OS I want in a virtual machine through Parallels. If I get any good feedback or suggestions from clients, I will likely use this to create tutorials for the knowledgebase page of my site. To date, I have been posting links to other tutorials and knowledgebase articles on my site, mainly because the interface to add new kb articles is web-based (not my preference.) Here is an example of a screen capture I created which demonstrates how to Restart the Windows Print Spooler service under Windows XP.

There are a whole bunch more, so I’m going to continue to split Part IV into many smaller parts…

Now that I work on an Apple computer more than a Windows computer, I find that there are literally tons of software applications available for the Mac. When I first considered switching platforms, I was concerned that I would not be able to find software. Boy, was I wrong. So, in no particular order, here is a listing of some of the software I use on a regular basis on my Mac:

Microsoft Office 2008 – Since I run parallels on my Mac to gain access to my business applications, Office 2008 doesn’t get a whole lot of use. However, I use Entourage as my default e-mail program instead of the Mail application, due to its’ Exchange synchronization capability. While Entourage has a nice look and feel, it is definitely not a replacement for Outlook. Beyond function and capability, I believe style and layout play important roles in determining the usability of software. When Outlook is running smoothly, it just feels like a better e-mail client than Entourage. The search features (which I use the most), certainly function better in Outlook.

ecto – There are a number of desktop blogging clients available for OS X. When I was looking for an application that met my requirements (easy to configure, easy to use, and lot’s of features), I narrowed it down to three applications: MacJournal, MarsEdit, and Ecto. MacJournal was difficult to configure for use with My WordPress blogs. MacJournal has a nice clean interface, with lots of proofing and formatting tools. Most impressively, there is a built-in mechanism to record audio and video from within the application. I was most intrigued by these features, as I am interested in adding some video content to my blogs. Alas, I could not get MacJournal to upload video to my blogs. MarsEdit, on the other hand, has excellent support for a wide variety of blog types, but I just didn’t like the interface. Ecto, on the other hand, has a great interface, and works very well with my WordPress blogs. While it has the capability to upload video to blog posts, I couldn’t make it work, either. Presumably, there might be some code in WordPress that returns a 500 server error when these third party applications attempt to post certain media types. For now, I have a temporary work around, and I like ecto’s interface and add-ons.

Fetch – Fetch is an FTP application that I use on a daily basis. When I first looked around for FTP clients for OS X, I believe I looked at several different programs. Fetch has a user interface that I really like, and was reasonably priced at only $25. When I’m not using Fetch to make adjustments to WordPress plugins on my websites, I use it daily to extract voice messages from my iPhone. These voice mail files are then attached to the history records in my ACT! database. Pretty cool!

BBEdit – Now that I’ve begun to dabble in coding again (after taking nearly two decades off), I needed a text editor that was easy to use, and would recognize and properly format and display code for various languages. I’ve only scraped the tip of the iceberg with BBEdit, but I am totally impressed with this software. I would recommend BBEdit to any Mac user that has t make occasional edits to websites. BBEdit displays code, highlighting components of the text, in such a fashion as to make it real easy to find what you’re looking for.

Yojimbo – Broken down to its’ simplest form, Yojimbo is essentially a file cabinet for pdf files. This program is so much more. With options to synchronize content between computers via MobileMe, Yojimbo is my primary storage vault for non-business related data. Yojimbo adds an extension to OS X that allows you to print pdf files directly to Yojimbo. Additionally, you can organize your data into folders and simply drag new content to Yojimbo’s interface for easy retrieval later. This one is definately worth checking out if you have a Mac.

Mark/Space Missing Sync for iPhone – Over the years, I’ve used a variety of smart phones, and have employed different methods to record or archive call log data from them. (I’m obsessed with keeping a record of all my calls in the company ACT! database…) When I saw the iPhone advertised for the first time, I knew I had to have one. I was so excited about having an iPhone, that I didn’t consider the fact that I’d be losing the capability to extract call log data. I had used Mark/Space Missing Sync for Windows Mobile for awhile after switching to a Mac. This software was easy to use, and I received excellent support from the developers whenever I had trouble. Unfortunately, there was about a three month period between the release of the iPhone and the release of Missing Sync for iPhone, but thanks to the efforts of a few motivated programmers on the Internet, I was able to put a few stop gap measures into place. Now I am able to effortlessly extract call log data from the phone simply by syncing with iTunes. The call log application allows me to export the calls to .csv format, which I then transfer to my ACT! database via CRMADDON’s Import for ACT!

(Note: I had previously used Natara Comet with a Palm Treo (Palm OS based) smart phone. This software yields excellent results, and I highly recommend it. I had difficulty finding a software package that was so easy and effective for Windows Mobile based devices, but due to terrible performance from Windows based phones, I only ran them for a short while.)

OmniFocus – As many of you know, time management is one of the biggest challenges I face during the course of my work day. While there is no perfect to-do list program or methodology, David Allen has some great ideas as part of his GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology. I used OmniFocus to retrain myself to better use tools that I already had in place. From time to time, I find myself going back to his book, and listening to the audio book when traveling off-Cape. OmniFocus is a great GTD application with real-time sync (via MobileMe) for the iPhone. Highly recommended.

Things – Things is another great GTD application, similar to OmniFocus. There is an iPhone version of Things as well as a desktop version. Things seems to be a little less structured in the way that data is handled. Because OmniFocus was available first, I have used it more than Things (there is no way to export/import data from one to the other). The last version of Things I looked at seemed to indicate that recurring schedules would be available for individual tasks. In either case, the main weakness that I see is the inability for either application to schedule recurring tasks that occur on workdays (weekdays) only.

HelpDesk Pilot 4 – If you’ve used the ticket system on my website, then you’ve used HelpDesk Pilot. When I was looking for a method to improve my productivity by implementing a mechanism whereby clients could submit and track work requests, I looked at a number of free and commercial software applications. As I become more proficient in working with OS X and to a limited degree Linux, I am finding myself drawn to web based or open source platforms for several reasons. First, these platforms tend to be more cost effective for a small business like mine. Second, most software of this type can be easily modified or adapted to an existing website. Last, I have found that porting data in and out of web based applications using MySQL is easily done, even if you don’t have any programming knowledge. Sourceforge is an excellent place to start looking for new software. With regard to HelpDesk Pilot, I found the cost of the source code to be very reasonable, given the features offered. Additional, my requests for custom modifications and feature suggestions were warmly received and well implemented. I’d like to see the developer implement a better billing module for the software which would enable the user to better track billable hours, but I am sure they will come up with something soon.

Sillaj – Here is a great example of excellent software available for free on Sourceforge. I had a little difficult implementing this and had to modify the code slightly in a few places to get all the features working, but it was a great experience! This software is designed as a project management tool. I used it for several months to track time for billing purposes when providing consulting services to clients. I had wanted to use some sort of paperless work order system since I downsized my company. Since I’m terrible at paperwork, but very good at organizing and maintaining data on a computer, this was a great way for me to track billable hours from any computer. It worked from my iPhone, too! Thanks to some great iPhone software developers, I now have an even better solution to my daily job tracking, but Sillaj will undoubtedly prove to be useful in the future.

WordPress – When a client of mine convinced me that blogs are great earlier this year, it didn’t take too long to find WordPress. I had used blogger for a very brief period a few years ago, and had been aware of a few other blogging systems around the net, but WordPress is simply outstanding. Thanks to WordPress users with far more programing experience and knowledge than I have, I was able to create a WordPress theme that integrates the blog seamlessly (as I can get it) into my existing website. If you’ve ever considered blogging, look no further than WordPress.

ACT! Premium for Web 2009 – I had looked at the web version of ACT! a few years ago. At the time, the interface needed a lot of tweaking, and it was difficult to deploy and had a few too many bugs for me. Recently, Sage presented me with an offer I couldn’t refuse in the form of a fantastic upgrade price to the latest version. I had previously decided that I was not going to upgrade from the 2008 version to the 2009 version of ACT! Premium for Workgroups. The trouble is that I often have to purchase upgrade licenses for all other 3rd party add-on software, which didn’t make financial sense this year. Getting back on point, I am happy that I can actually access my ACT! data from an Apple computer running the Safari web browser. Unfortunately, Firefox is not supported, and the interface is very slow. I would still recommend and deploy this as a solution for a small business that was implementing an out of office sales force. This would allow the small business to very easily protect their client data in the event that the employee is terminated.

Google Applications/Google Calendar – I’ve only scratched the tip of the iceburg with regard to the potential of Google Applications. Google Calendar made it very simple for me to display my scheduling availability in a secure manner on my website. I had previously used a combination of iCal and phpiCal synchronization to display a more complex calendar that did not fit quite so nice into the body of my website.

AWSTATS – In addition to Google Analytics, I use this web based application to review traffic to my website. Mike at Design Principles introduced me to this software awhile back. Thanks to this post, I had no trouble getting it configured to run on my 1&1 hosted website. AWSTATS displays more specific data about visits to the site than Google Analytics, but is a bit more involved to setup. I like to look at both to see that nobody’s reading this!

phpBB – When I had first envisioned the content I wanted for my website, I initially wanted a bulletin board system. I did put one up here, though I no longer have a link to it from my website, as it doesn’t serve any practical application. In the beginning, I thought clients might use it to exchange information on computer problems, but in a moment of clarity, I realized that it’s a lot easier for them to simply call me for support. I don’t change my own oil, either. I just bring the truck over to Walter’s Tune & Lube. Great service and much easier than doing it myself.

Recently I was working at a client’s office moving some equipment around. When I went to test the printer, I noticed that the power and ready lights were blinking off and on in unison. I figured there was most likely a problem with the ink cartridges, so I removed them. Upon reinstalling the ink cartridges, I had some difficulty getting the yellow ink to fit. Then I noticed something: half of the four ink cartridges were the wrong ones for this printer. After confirming with staff that the printer had previously been working, I proceeded to force the cartridge into the carriage. Viola! We got a successful Windows test page, thought the utility can’t seem to identify the wrong cartridges:

It had never occurred to me to try this before. I wouldn’t recommend this, but if you have an Epson Stylus printer, you may be able to pull it off.

While I use a combination of iPhone apps, web based applications and OS X software to run my business, the applications most critical to daily operation are Windows based. So, in no particular order, here is a list of the Windows based software that I use on a regular basis:

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 — I use Outlook in conjunction with hosted exchange. While I also access my e-mail on my iPhone and on my Macs using Entourage 2008, most of my e-mailing is done through Outlook in order to take advantage of the Outlook/Act! integration of the ACT! 2009 software. All incoming messages from e-mail accounts that can be linked to clients are automatically attached to the history tab of the corresponding client. Likewise, all outgoing messages are also attached to the history of the appropriate contact record automatically.

Microsoft Office Word 2007 — I think I actually preferred the interface of the 2003 version. I’m still getting used to the ribbon, and the integration with third party applications isn’t as tight as earlier versions of Word. I suspect this is due to the additional time it takes to open the software. Word will remain my primary word processing application , until such time as Sage develops ACT! to work with an open source office suite such as Open Office.

Microsoft Office Excel 2007 — Again, I prefer the 2003 layout to the current version. I only use simple Excel spreadsheets to facilitate the daily import of call log data, SMS log data, and time sheets into the ACT! database.

Microsoft Office Visio 2007 — I use Microsoft Visio to create diagrams of all the networks supported by Network Services.

Microsoft MapPoint North America 2004 — I’m a little behind the times on this one. The 2009 version is now available, but I probably won’t update this any time soon. I simply use this to plot routes when work takes me away from the Cape & Islands area.

QuickBooks Premier – Accountant Edition 2009 — Prior to 2004, I used Peachtree Accounting to manage the business. Since most CPA firms and small businesses I have had contact with use QuickBooks, it made sense for me to switch. At this point, I would never go back to Peachtree. In my opinion, there are two elements of QuickBooks that make the program far superior to Peachtree. First, QuickBooks does not force you to close and purge your books every two fiscal years. This allows for much better reporting from QuickBooks. Second, while Peachtree requires that you define your accounting method (cash based vs accrual) when you setup your company data file, QuickBooks lets you toggle back and forth when viewing financial reports. This is much preferred when viewing a balance sheet or profit and loss statement. Note: I prefer the Accountant Edition, as the general ledger entry screen shows more the one transaction at a time.

Customer Payment Analyzer (untested with QuickBooks 2009)— This is a handy little inexpensive tool that gives some pretty good reporting if you want to get a snap shot of your slow payers. I had previously used a program that used the QODBC driver to parse the data. The old program gave me a more polished report, but took much longer to run, and support from the developer was nearly non-existant. Note: This developer has a number of handy QuickBooks add-ons that may be worth checking out.

PaperSavePlus for QuickBooks — I recently purchased and deployed this software. The developer had to send me a patch to get it to work with the 2009 version of QuickBooks, but it was definitely worth the wait. This software uses SQL Express 2005 to manage a database that syncs with your QuickBooks data file. The database contains all of the transaction data from QuickBooks, and allows you to scan and store any document in .pdf format. Each scanned document is linked to the corresponding transaction in QuickBooks for easy retrieval. Now I can scan and shred all of my old bills, etc! Note: When I first set this up, I was apprehensive that the software would not perform well, or would somehow slow down access to my QuickBooks data file. After using this regularly, I am pleased to announce that not only does it work very well, but that there is no noticeable impact on the performance of my system.

BRC IIF Transaction Creator — This is another QuickBooks add-on from a developer that has a number of very useful QuickBooks tools available. I don’t use this software every day like some of the other apps listed here, but this program is extremely useful for porting data from spreadsheets into QuickBooks. I have used this to import a great deal of data into my personal QuickBooks data file, and have found it useful from time to time in assisting clients in cleaning up their QuickBooks data files, when the ledger is not setup properly.

ACT! 2009 Premium for Workgroups — ACT! has been the mainstay of my business since version 5. ACT! is one of the most versatile CRM programs that I have worked with, and is easily customized for just about any industrial use. Since any document format can easily be attached to a contact record, and then synchronized to a remote database (Premium versions only), document management is very easy. ACT! has a multitude of third party snap-ins and add-on software available that make it a very versatile and useful program. It is so feature rich, that it can be rather difficult for new users.

qManage — qManage is an easy to use help desk style task management program with good ACT! integration. This program is used internally by the company (London Computer Systems) that developed it, so the company is constantly improving the program. The program is inexpensive, and tech support from the developer is very good. I used this program very heavily prior to setting up the online trouble ticket system on my website, so most of my qManage use is for tracking internal projects now. I would highly recommend this program for anyone looking for a simple to use task management system with great ACT! integration.

Stonefield Query — Stonefield Query is the definitive reporting add-on for ACT! that is an absolute must-have for any serious ACT! user. I have used this program since migrating from ACT! 6 to later versions of ACT!, as the customized history reports I have created are for more flexible than the ones built into ACT!. Note: Stonefield Query is another application that I would highly recommend, based on my experience with the company. This company takes good care of its’ existing customers, having assisted me with modifications to my reports in the past. I had one report that I could not program myself, and the support team finished it for me for free. They could very easily have charged me to make the change, but did not. Also, when you need to move the program from one computer to another, support personnel are easy to reach via telephone or e-mail, and also very quick to respond — great company to deal with.

Companionlink Pro — If you have a smartphone other than the iPhone and you wish to sync your ACT! data to your phone, look no further. Companionlink is an extremely versatile program that gives you a great deal of control to define exactly what data you wish to sync.

DoubleLook — DoubleLook is one of the most important programs I use on a daily basis. DoubleLook, developed by the folks at CompanionLink software, runs on my laptop to sync my ACT! database with Outlook in realtime. Contacts and calendar items are synced both directions. This allows me access to contact data contained in the notes or history tabs (from recent jobs) of my ACT! database on my iPhone! Additionally, thanks to exchange server, I can add tasks and meetings on my iPhone and have them automatically sync to my ACT! database with no effort!

CRMADDON’s Import for ACT! — This is one of my favorite programs, for sure. This ACT! add-on allows for the import of data from a great many sources (in my case, from Excel spreadsheets) into the ACT! database. It would not be possible for me to have the level of accountability that I do without this software. On a daily basis, I import all call-log data from my iPhone, SMS data from my iPhone, and also time sheets from an iPhone application. When I have needed help in the past, I have found the developer easily accessible, and an absolute joy to work with. Since the developer is in Germany, he often returns my calls and e-mails immediately, even when it is late at night for me. Did I mention I love this program…

Project KickStart 4 Pro — I had looked at Project Kickstart a few years ago for use as a project management solution. While ACT! is great for all around CRM, I wanted something that would allow me to manage bigger projects easily. At the time, integration with ACT! was very weak, so I ended up use the ACT! sales process to accomplish what I was looking to do with marginal results. Recently, I took another look at the software and the integration is much improved. The program allows for the import of all users and contact records from ACT!, so assigning personnel to projects is very simple. Additionally, the finished project can be exported to ACT!, whereby a task is automatically created for each task item included in the project. The developer did an excellent job with this, as there is no additional configuration required to make it work. Simply select your ACT! database and enter your user logon and password, and the data is automatically ported to ACT!. Even better, when you make changes to the project in Project Kickstart, such as marking a task as 100% finished or changing the date of a task, you can rerun the export, and the tasks created in ACT! will automatically be updated to match the changed records. A few years ago, I found the developers easily accessible for questions, but I have no experience in dealing with their tech support. The installation and use of the program is so easy, that there has been no need to contact them

Scansoft Paperport Professional 11 — Paperport is a program that I have used for many years. I never really used it to its’ full potential as a document management system, though I have a few clients that have done so with good results. Personally, I like the interface for manipulating .pdf files and combining them (as opposed to doing this with Acrobat). I’d like to see Nuance build a program like this for OS X.

Bomgar Representative Client — The Bomgar support client software is used in conjunction with the Bomgar appliance in my office. It is integrated with my website to allow help-desk style support and remote control of client computers and some handheld devices. I have used this for about three years and chose it over a hosted solution such as LogMeIn for general use.

Diskeeper 2008 — While Windows Vista has disk defragmentation built-in and Windows XP has an on-demand disk defragmenter, Diskeeper is a much better ‘fire and forget’ solution. This software is a must for any Windows power user.

Firefox — Firefox is a must have for any Windows user, and the multitude of add-ins available make it my browser of choice, wether I’m working in Windows or OS X.

Foxmarks ad-in for Firefox — Foxmarks is the add-on that allowed me to retrain myself to use Firefox as my primary browser. Just as exchange server allows you to access your mail on any machine, foxmarks allows you to easily synchronize your Firefox bookmarks on all the computers you use with minimal effort.

Ipswitch WS-FTP Professional 2007 — WS-FTP is my favorite FTP client for Windows. It has some advanced scheduling and automation features that are handy for backing up data to and from FTP servers.

QuickTime Player — I use the QuickTime Player on Windows to listen to the voicemails (in .amr format) that have been saved and attached to history records of my ACT! database. While it’s great to have a record of messages in the database, it’s even better to be able to retrieve them and listen to them later!

Symantec Anti-Virus 10.1.5 — I have used Symantec Antivirus Corporate edition for my network, and those that I support since version 7.6. I have always preferred the corporate versions of Symantec Antivirus to the consumer versions due to the smaller footprint, and less intrusive nature of the program. Sadly, I hate the latest release of their product, Symantec Endpoint Protection 11, so I will be looking into a better, less intrusive anti-virus solution in the near future.