VOIP
- What are you buying when you buy a SIP Trunk
- Voice dial tone over the data connection rather than a PRI
- Bandwidth.com
- Many are seeing cost savings in the $1k’s
- Make sure your PS/ALI (911) is compatible
- Do you need to keep copper for Fire, Elevator, etc…
- In some areas this can be done wireless
- What about Hosted PBX
- Bandwith.com can be trusted for this.
- Response point is second possible solution
Gapps or Exchange or hosted exchange
Approachability – Friendly IT
- Users have to be able to approach IT
- How do you help your users ask questions when they should be asking question?
- Use a Ticketing System they can ask for things they might not think to ask when chatting in conversation.
- Ask for meeting times be proactive don’t wait
- Set appropriate expectations for the users when you will be able to respond.
Metrics
- Tracking ticketing time
- How much does a new staff member cost?
- Do leadership make Technology a priority?
ChurchIT RoundTable
CITRT
Admin or Not to Admin cont.
What happens when they have admin rights and things go bad
- SysInternals Process Explorer
- If you allow Admin access you "Must" have standardization and images of each "flavor" of workstation.
- What do users "need"?
- Does Software and Hardware get purchased Centrally?
- Some applications get un happy when they don’t have local permissions
Spyware Removal
Application Deployment/Virtualization
- CloneZilla
- Ghost
- Fodproject.com
- Casper Suite – jamfsoftware.com
- Mac OSX Imaging
- PrinterShare.com
- Vmware VDI
- Ardence by Dell
Passwords
- Ewallet
- SecretServer – Multi User
- How Frequently do the passwords change
What is the burden on IT of the "pitfalls" of Social Media
- Leadership has to decided assisted with by the direction of IT what the orgization’s going to "Use" social media for… then IT has to come along side with the vision/mission
- We have to digest social media for our leadership so they "get it"
- Find an advocate for IT on staff… find someone who can digest Technology on your behalf.
ChurchIT RoundTable
CITRT
Revisit SLA of DR with Executive Team
Computer Emergency Response Team Cert – http://www.cert.org/
StorageCraft – http://www.storagecraft.com/
IM
- Allow/Block?
- Content Filtering -
- Open DNS
- Dan’s Guardian
- Sonicwall Content Filtering
- Untangle
- IPCop
- Estro
PC and Mac Solutions for Mac remote clients
- Not Blocking IM – But Archiving it?
Why do IM?
- Step between email and a phone call
- Reduce Email Ping Pong
Why Not do IM
Colaboration Tools
- Live Mesh
- Groove
- Adobe Connect
- Skype
- FreeConfrencecall.com
- Callaflower.com
- Mobile Content Filtering
- Convenient Eyes – Accountability Software
Spam
- Postini – $1500 min
- Resellers are a little more $$ but they provide support direct from Google doesn’t
- Barracuda
- Sonicwall
- ExchangeDefender
Inbound and Outbound filtering
- Catching outbound emails containing credit card information
Data (PCI) Compliance – how are you managing data on laptops etc.
- Policy /Guidelines
- Enabling TPM
- Cornel Spider – Searches computer for security numbers http://www2.cit.cornell.edu/security/tools/
- If its important enough to keep from people seeing it… its important enough to have backed up centrally
- Make the Network Work and make the network Secure… those two are mutually Exclusive… there has to be balance.
Admin or not to Admin (locally)
- Why Local Admin – Super rapid growth couldn’t support locked down machines
ChurchIT RoundTable
CITRT
In the past I have been known to write about customer service that was lacking… But this time I have to share some customer service that just left me speechless….
Natalie and I decided to do our own lawn fertilizer and weed control this year…. and yes by “we” I really mean me. I just couldn’t pony up the $200 for someone to walk my lawn… I already owned the sprayer and spreader so we made the decision to go back to our own lawn care.
I purchased Scotts Weed-Be-Gone and Scotts Turf Builder Plus Weed Control and applied them as directly six weeks apart but still had some weeds growing… annoying.
So I called the customer service number and got a delightful representative who was very willing to listen to my concerns…
I know some of you might find it hard to believe, but I hadn’t called with the intention to get anything free or replaced… I just wanted to make sure that I was applying the products correctly and to see how soon I could re-apply the products.
So while we chatted the customer service representative assured me that I had read the instructions and followed them correctly and then says, “I am processing your refund check for both products, where should I send the refund”… I was speechless…. I had no anticipation of a refund, but Scotts was willing to stand behind the product they would send me a check even without sending a proof of purchase, just because I had to call and the product hadn’t performed as expected!
WOW an A+ to Scotts for Customer Service! There is no wondering if I’ll switch brands next time I shop for Lawn Care products! Kudos for good Customer Service… the Art of Caring about customers isn’t dead!
General
So this weekend I was watching some tastily programming on the food network and I saw a little dive in Minneapolis making burgers with Cheddar-Jack cheese… which is fine except they put the cheese inside the burger then cook it… The result a gooey cheesy burger… I had to try.
My first attempt turned out much better than I anticipated. So with this Idea being so simple but good I had to try it and take photos.
Prepping the Burgers stuffing the cheese
The Cheesy Burger on The Grill
The Cheese Oozing out of the Burger
Tastes Better than I expected!
General