Productivity in the cloud - take good notes

What are you you using?
We often find our self working on many projects at the same time.  Why is it that every project always needs attention at the same time?  The day started like this...
Project A    
AT&T calls (8:30am) to get in to my client's building...the inside wiring needs to be done for a T-1 loop. Who are the sites contacts to call? What was the installation time window? 
Project B 
Megapath calls about a new DSL circuit.  The modem installed today will not sync up.  The circuit drops every 30 seconds.  This will delay the project for the next vendor schedule tomorrow.  Who is that vendor again and who should I contact?
Project C
I started a job back in July 2012 and worked on and off until about October 2012.  The electrical contractor needed to finalize some billing.  What parts did we use?Do you have copies of the receipts?

Ok for each of these task the cloud came to my rescue.  My Evernote account has all my job notes, receipts and any documents used during the job.  My Google drive is my first go to storage for any attachments I need to save.  So the question is, are you using any of these and how?

#evernote#googledrive#productivity#notes

Cisco announces the Meraki acquisition and the next day here  I am installing another MR16.

I met Meraki a few years back at a trade show.  They were there introducing a small product line, a long with handing out cool brown t-shirts.  (you don't see much of brown in the tech world)  The enthusiasm they had about the products and the company is what caught my attention.  I followed their progress and soon there after started using the AP units.  I continue to recommend their products and the over all cloud network solution. 

Take a look at the references sited below to find out more about the company.

Via Meraki.com:

Meraki brings the benefits of the cloud to edge and branch networks, delivering easy-to-manage wireless, switching, and security solutions that enable customers to seize new business opportunities and reduce operational cost. Whether securing iPads in an enterprise or blanketing a campus with WiFi, Meraki networks simply work.

Via ZDNet.com

"The privately held company, which has about 330 employees, has midmarket customers that Cisco can't reach. Meraki counts Applebee's, Starbucks, a bevy of school districts and state and local government customers."

#meraki#wifi#cloud#installation#managed#services

t-bar ceiling mount

removed 

Plan ahead

Planning ahead can save you many headaches and money. Planning for future growth and technical enhancements to your office is not that hard. We have helped many companies design, (during construction) a structured cabling plan to accommodate voice, data, wifi, sound, video and fiber applications. Notice this conference room with plenty of conduits to house the cables needed for a room that can be used for not only typical phone and computer connections but we will be setting up a complete multimedia experience.

Thinking outside the box!

We use Box.com for all our business data storage.  The platform works very well on the web and with mobile devices. Ask us how.

By Rachel King for Between the Lines

"At the heart of BoxWorks 2012 in San Francisco this week are two major announcements for the enterprise cloud storage giant.

First up is Box Embed, an HTML5-embeddable framework that brings together Box's suite of collaboration features and cloud-stored content to third-party applications.

Thus, Box Embed also comes with 10 new enterprise partners: Concur, Cornerstone OnDemand, DocuSign, Eloqua, FuzeBox, Jive, NetSuite, Oracle, SugarCRM and Zendesk."

#cloud #storage #mobile #managed #services

Wireless or wired?

In the last few years we have seen traditional wired solutions decreasing in popularity.  This has been seen both inside and outside of the building.  Although structured cabling is still essential to any (brick and mortar) business, we have seen companies select business grade WIFI like options like Meraki (try it for free) over trying to re-cable small offices.  4G and 3G mobile communications takes over outside the building.  Many of our clients have been using 3G wireless to lower telco cost and reduce downtime for mission critical communications.  The copper phone line dial-up backup has been replaced by the wireless backup.  

I can't see the entire copper infrastructure going away anytime soon but there are many options moving forward like wireless and fiber taking the new lead.  Please read this interesting article below.


Sited from http://www.lightreading.com/      

"Or, as we move into the age of small cells, mobile video and voice-over-IP as the medium and mechanism of communications is that too simply a laughably outdated idea? (See Small Cell Service: If 9 Was 6.)"

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

#meraki #managed #services #mobile #4G

What does IDF mean? Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF)

An Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF) is an area, room, rack for wiring or cable from a Main Distribution Frame (MDF) - also called the Combined Distribution Frame (CDF) - and leading to individual cables installed for work area outlets (WAO) to support each piece of equipment such as workstations, personal computers and other end-user devices. 

We are often asked this question by contractors and customers when we are out working on site.

If you need a telephone or computing device in a certain area, it must be easy enough just to plug it in to the wall right?  What goes on behind the walls and and behind those equipment rooms or black cabinets (IDF's) is what makes it all happen.