Small Business Computing Staff

by Amy H. Blankstein If you can’t stand to be separated from your cell phone during those interminably long flights, an airtime reunion is at hand. This summer, Virgin Atlantic Airways introduced its Earth Calling service, allowing passengers to send and receive cell phone calls in flight. Don’t get too excited just yet. As of […]

by Jamie McAfee Get ’em while they’re hot. Here are this month’s latest and greatest offerings — from gadgets and gizmos to killer applications and ASPs. This section highlights the latest trends and keeps you abreast of the newest products to hit the shelves. Frugal Friend Tired of paying too much for those recurring monthly […]

by Chuck Gajeway DSL, or digital subscriber Line, is often promoted as the premier Internet connection technology for small businesses. Using standard voice lines and featuring enough speed to support a network, the per-user cost of DSL can be lower than that of dial-up service. As more telcos, competitive carriers, and ISPs offer and market […]

by Liz Levy Just about every type of business has a site on the Internet to showcase its wares or sell its products or services, those that exist on the service side of things face different challenges than companies that sell products. While “e-tailers” are primarily concerned with the selling and shipping of physical goods, […]

by Matthew Klare Document scanning has become increasingly common as businesses realize that it’s considerably more efficient to capture, store, and transport a document’s image than to store or move the paper itself. Scanning documents at the point of origin, or collection, and working with electronic files rather than paper-based files, permits more flexible indexing […]

by Carol S. Holzberg Every time i walk into my doctor’s office I’m amazed that they can actually find my medical records. Rows upon rows of color coded folders are stuffed into ceiling-high cabinets. One day, I am going to march in to that office with a scanner under one arm and some document management […]

by David Schloss Companies spend a fortune every year on mailing campaigns because of the high costs of materials, labor, and postage. Outsourcing is a popular option for large mailings, but many firms charge exorbitant rates to take a project off a company’s hands. As the number of pieces in a mailing increases, economies of […]

by Matthew Klare Gateway’s 7210 Server is a solid choice for businesses needing to keep hardware expenditures reasonable yet ensure that today’s purchase can grow to accommodate tomorrow’s needs. Unlike the many server appliances available to small businesses today, the 7210 offers a good range of expansion capabilities at a very fair price. For $1,799, […]

by Alan S Kay Networking is scary. it involves running cables along inconvenient routes and configuring arcane settings. It’s time-consuming, frustrating, and annoying. It’s also vital to a business’ operations. That’s why wireless networking has such great appeal; it connects together computers and laptops, even in different offices, allowing them to surf the Internet and […]

by Steve Bennett it’s a dark, stormy night and you’re hopelessly lost in an unfamiliar city. The morning meeting with your big, new client is just hours away and you just want to find your hotel and get a good night’s sleep. You could be fast asleep if you had brought Garmin’s eMapp handheld 12-channel […]

by Lowell Rapaport Need a fax machine? an e-mail station? A scan-to-file utility? Adobe’s all-in-one solution to such problems is it’s Acrobat Messenger program. Based on Adobe’s Acrobat technology, Messenger combines scanning with e-mail and fax software to provide a total communication system. Using Messenger is easy, even for technophobes. A log-in screen keeps track […]

by Victoria Hall Smith before you know it, the year 2000, and our individual witnessing of the turning of a new century, will be but vibrant memories to savor. And just as soon as the fireworks are over for 2001, we’ll all be in the thick of the dreaded tax season. Thinking about taxes now […]