Wow!

For all of you who’ve been dreading the switch to Word 2010—fear no more! Frogworks is proud to present a handy-dandy spreadsheet that charts every function you loved in Word 2003 and shows you where you can find it in the new layout.

So, whether you’re just now contemplating an upgrade, or whether you made the leap but still aren’t totally sure how to double-space your lines, this document will be a great reference going forward.

Download the zipped guide here: http://www.getfrogworks.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/528/files/2012/01/Reference_Word_2003_to_Word_2010.zip

Those of you who are already our clients (or who are really scouring our website!) will know that we’re nuts about VoiP.  But we don’t tweet or talk about it as much as we do the cloud, HaaS, new hardware, etc etc.  So what’s that about?  I guess we generally feel like VoIP speaks for itself!  It’s just plain good business, and doesn’t require a lot of extra explanation.  However, in honor of this innovative and cost-effective phone system, we dedicate this blog post.

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol (you’ve all heard of IP addresses, right?) which basically means that it’s calling using the internet rather than a standard phone line.  Because internet is already in most business’ budgets, a company that makes a lot of long-distance calls can save 50% (or more!) on their phone bill by switching to VoIP.  And VoiP offers many of the same features that your standard phone lines do…call waiting, voicemail, conferencing, transferring, etc, as well as allowing you to forward calls to a mobile phone

Is the system perfect? No, of course not. If your bandwidth isn’t up to snuff, the sound quality of your calls will suffer.  If you lose internet access or power, you’ll also lose the ability to make or receive calls. However, the cost savings and convenience of VoIP are making many small-medium businesses reconsider traditional phone lines and look to the future.

If you’re interested in learning more about VoIP, and how it could save YOUR business money, give us a call today! We’d be happy to set up an onsite visit to take a look at your current system and make recommendations for your company’s next step.  Call us today at 240-880-1944.

Here it is everyone, our FINAL Cloud vs. Server video!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziA81Lwmhd4

Let us know what you think, and as always, feel free to share with your friends!

In response to the overwhelming positive feedback about our popular Cloud vs. Server video series, Frogworks proudly presents our FOURTH installment!

http://youtu.be/_y76IYb7RsA

Enjoy, and feel free to share with all your friends!

Cloud vs. Server…who will win in the battle for the future of IT?  We have a guess…

Hey everyone!
All of us at Frogworks are THRILLED to present the second video in our Cloud vs. Server series!

Please take a look…and let us know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyA2XrkuvFg&feature=youtu.be

If you want to learn more, there are still spots open in our FREE lunch and learn seminars in December.

If you’re closer to Frederick, check out our event here: http://cloud9lunchandlearn.eventbrite.com

If you’re in the Southern Maryland area, we have another seminar in La Plata: http://cloud9lunch.eventbrite.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

• For clients who have been with us since the first day—and before!—Frogworks was born.

• For our helpdesk tech Rob’s amazing Google-Fu skills (he’s like a black belt!) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=google-fu

• For cloud-based apps that make it easy for us to access our information from any device, anywhere.

• For mobile devices that keep us in touch and in synch with the office when we’re out in the field.

• For our incredible film crew, who brought the spirit of the Cloud to life with such fun and simplicity. (Haven’t seen the video? Check it out: http://youtu.be/Z0fwLK-9SMM)

• For dual-monitor set-ups, which make remote assistance a snap!

• For offsite back-ups that keep our data—and yours!—up-to-date and safe

• For the contributions of the late, great Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace)

What are YOU thankful for?

Have you ever heard of Evernote? It’s a fun, FREE, and (you guessed it) Cloud-based application that makes synching your memories, thoughts, and to-do-lists easier than ever. Simply install Evernote onto all your mobile devices (smartphones, computers, iPads, etc) and start saving notes, thoughts, recipes, directions, and anything else that comes to mind!

Here are some examples:

1. Save a great recipe on Evernote while you’re browsing on your computer, then pull it up on your smartphone while in the grocery store.
2. Capture and save a cute photo on your iPad, then access it on your computer later on.
3. Make a note on your phone for an email that you’ll want to write the next time you’re at a keyboard.
4. Use Evernote to sync information between different users—if you save a note to Evernote on your phone, your friend and coworker can also access it on their device.
5. Add a task (or cross something off!) from a live to-do list that you can keep and access on all of your devices.

With virtual “notebooks” available to organize your notes, keeping information synched (and searchable) across all your devices has never been easier. Additionally, you can pat yourself on the back for being more green: gone are the days of post-its and legal pads!

Check out www.evernote.com for complete information.

We’ve had a lot of people ask if the cloud is right for them. Check out this video, the first of a multi-part series to help you answer the question : Is Cloud Right For You?

If you like it, feel free to share!

http://youtu.be/Z0fwLK-9SMM

Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help!

Many of our clients have our LabTech frog icon living peacefully in their tray, but other clients might not know what we’re talking about when we bring it up in these posts. Recently, we’ve been discussing the possibility of extending our tray frogs to more clients in order to speed up remote support. In celebration of that, we thought we’d explain to everyone what the froggy icon does, why it’s there, and how you can use it.

Once you have the frog, it will live in your lower right-hand tray. Usually, it accompanies your clock, your volume panel, your wireless indicator, your battery indicator, and other functional applications on your desktop. For most of its life, the frog will simply sit there happily as an indication that you can get quick remote support via Labtech from our helpdesk. Labtech provides software that makes remote connections between desktops easier and safer than ever. If you don’t already have the frog installed on your computer, our helpdesk or assistants may walk you through installation via JoinMe in order to expedite your remote assistance. After the frog is downloaded, it will stay in your tray for the next time remote help is required.

Having the Labtech frog on your desktop means that our helpdesk can remote into your machine easily and quickly. We will always notify you before remoting in to your computer to be sure that you have an opportunity to minimize any sensitive documents, websites, or emails that you may be working on. Additionally, you can tell exactly when your desktop is being accessed by the eye icon that will appear in the lower right. You are able to communicate with the helpdesk via the chat box that will pop up, and at any point you may boot the helpdesk off by pressing “Disconnect Technician Now!”