Small Business Computing Staff

by Cathy Brower The other day I was trying to order something by telephone, only to be told that the computers were down and I would have to call back later. Well you know what, I never did place that order. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets frustrated enough to forget […]

by Angela R. Garber It’s not uncommon for an hr manager to find herself buried beneath reams of paper. The nature of the job entails keeping track of countless details for each employee ­ name, address, social security number, names and number of dependents, salary, which health insurance plan they have selected, how much life […]

by Steve Bennett Pull back the curtain of any e-commerce Web site, and there you’ll find its real potential for success. The processes that churn on the “back end” are what drive the sales transactions and other activities taking place on the “front end.” “Back end” has come to mean a number of different behind-the-scenes […]

by Liz Levy MAGIC WANDThe RemotePoint RF, from Interlink Electronics, is a USB remote, perfect for PC presentation givers. The remote has a 100-foot cordless range with no line-of-sight restrictions and no interference from fluorescent lighting like other infrared devices. Using RemotePoint RF, the user has “point and click” command of a PC through a […]

by Madeline Bodin Lisa Monroe runs a successful systems integration business in Powell, Tennessee. She has cultivated a deep relationship with her clients, who seem to respect the knowledge and skill her firm represented. Why then, did she mess with success three years ago, adding computer-telephone integration (CTI) services to her business? Telecommunications was a […]

by Gina M. Costa Workers are missing in action. If telecommuters aren’t responding to phone calls, e-mail, or pages, then what are they doing? “With the right [equipment] there is no reason to not be able to reach employees, no matter where they are,” says Lisa Strauss, proprietor of Lisa’s Tea Treasures, a California franchise […]

by Robert Richardson Small businesses have always had one big advantage over their larger brethren: the close attention they can give to everyone who passes through their doors. But on the Web, that’s been turned upside down. It costs a lot of money to teach a site to treat each visitor as an individual. The […]

by Joe Rudich Time is a valuable resource, and in the business world, any way to save or better utilize it is worth a look. A new breed of communications network technology, previously only available to big corporations, has arrived to do just that for small businesses. Today, companies of all sizes and shapes can […]

by David G. Propson Controlling a beast like this isn’t easy, especially when your business depends on it. It’s an everyday problem for brothers Larry and David Zogby, the owners of Manhattan’s RDS Delivery. The messenger service has almost a hundred couriers, and among them they deliver over a thousand packages a day. That’s a […]

by David Haskin Jeff Multz is. He started planning for disaster after seeing it strike his clients. He runs Atlanta-based Emerging Market Technologies, which provides customer relationship management services and software. “A tornado ripped through an office in the Midwest and there was nothing left. They had no backup, and they declared bankruptcy 32 days […]

by Robert J. Wagman Don’t expect any lawmakers to take up the political hot potato of taxing Internet sales ­ at least until it cools off a little. Last Winter, Congress’ 19-member Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce dumped the issue back into Congress’ lap when, after two years trying, its members could not reach a […]

by Amy H. Blankstein For Doctors, negotiating the insurance bureaucracy is as difficult as battling a dread disease. It means hours spent filling out forms, haggling with payer representatives to iron out inconsistencies, and waiting weeks or even months to receive reimbursement. The process clogs productivity like plaque in an artery. But Dr. Mark Michaels, […]