1. Inform and remind team of purpose just before meeting

By informing attendees just before they are not only less likely to forget it but they will also come with any material or information needed to support the discussion topics.

2. Minimize participants

Invite only those who are truly needed. As the number of participants goes up so does the tendency to get bogged down. Often, those who are not needed will show up to obtain any information resulting from the meeting.

3. Establish and follow an agenda

As a rule, every meeting should have an agenda that has at least three points; the topics, the time allocated for each topic, and the “talker,” the one who is taking the lead for a given topic.

4. State the purpose and intended outcome

Meeting leaders should not assume that everyone automatically understands the meeting purpose and the desired outcomes. By stating them clearly at the beginning, it will get the meeting started quickly and keep it on track.

5. Attempt to involve each team member

Meetings can often get off balance when a few attendees do all the talking and dominate the discussions. The meeting leader should attempt to involve each member to ensure that group synergy occurs.

6. Use diagrams, pictures and graphics

The adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” is no truer than in meetings. They can reduce meeting durations by as much 28%. Whenever practical, encourage participants to use diagrams, pictures and graphics instead of handing out pages full of text.

7. Park important but unrelated topics

There may be times when an important topic, which is not on the agenda, will come up. Rather than divert the focus of the meeting, it may be better to list (park) the topics for another meeting.

8. Record action items, actionees, and due dates

Many times meeting discussions are very interactive but if the results are not translated into action items may fail to be productive. Almost every meeting should conclude with a) a description of actions to be taken, b) who has accepted the action, and c) when the action item is to be completed.

9. Issue a brief written meeting summary

Taking a few minutes to document a meeting can go a long way. By summarizing a) who attended, b) main topics discussed, c) conclusions reached, and d) actions to be taken, information will be easily recorded and disseminated. Meeting summaries should be kept to one page containing “bullet-type” statements.

10. Periodically measure the effectiveness of the project meetings

When project meetings begin being held many meetings will often be the most ineffective due to new participants, circumstances, unfamiliarity with roles, etc. By periodically measuring a meeting’s effectiveness, they can often be brought to a higher level of efficiency.

Source: IT Business Edge

LightBound can help with your virtualization services, server hosting, off site data backup service, cloud services, Storage as a service, and disaster recovery needs.

1.      Commit to leadership first and everything else second

Gartner and Korn/Ferry’s research reveals that the highest performing CIOs are effective because they embrace the idea that everything they need to accomplish will be achieved through people, by people, and with people. They don’t pay lip service to that idea. They live it. They lead.

2.      Lead differently than you think

A high-performing CIO is an incredibly complex and creative thinker. Yet when the time comes to lead, they don’t rely on their superior ‘smarts’ and analytical skills to come up with the best possible solution. They act collaboratively.

3.      Embrace your softer side

Effective CIOs manage the paradox of gaining more influence by letting go of control and allowing themselves to be vulnerable. In turn, that vulnerability enables them to create deep, personal connections — connections that provide the ability to inspire people both inside and outside their organization.

4.      Forge the right relationships to drive the right results

This skill may not be surprising. High performing CIOs spend a greater percentage of their time and energy managing relationships that exist sideways: with internal peers, external suppliers, and customers. They purposely invest in horizontal relationships which form the foundation to drive extraordinary results.

5.      Master communication

The best CIOs know that their colleagues - especially the people who work for them - are always watching. These executives understand they are always on stage. They take advantage of that situation by constantly reiterating core messages and values. Through their focus on clarity, consistency, authenticity, and passion, they make sure their message is not only understood but also felt. They want to communicate a feeling that compels people to take the right actions.

6.      Inspire others

In exchange for a regular paycheck, most people will give an adequate performance. But they will only give their best work if they believe they are involved in something greater than themselves. The best CIOs provide a compelling vision that connects people to how their enterprise wins in the marketplace and that their contributions are meaningful and valued.

7.      Build people, not systems

By developing people all around them, these CIOs increase their capability and capacity to deliver results. They also know that leaving behind the next generation of leaders is the best thing they can do for the organization — it will be their lasting legacy.

Source: IT Business Edge

LightBound can help you with your virtualization services, server hosting, off site data backup service, cloud services, storage as a service, and disaster recovery needs.

Give Presentations

Tired of lugging your bulky laptop around just to give presentations? With the VGA Adapter and supporting software, business users can make use of the much more portable iPad for this task. A number of software supports the VGA Adapter, such as the free Presentation App, or Apple's own Keynote. Getting the presentation onto the iPad will probably require the requisite files to be synced in advance, though some of the presentation software supports alternative means of moving the files over. And unless you create the presentation on the iPad, you will probably want to first check that the transferred files display as expected.

As an added bonus, Apple has also promised a future update that will allow Keynote presentations to be streamed via AirPlay to an Apple TV.  While not terribly useful for conference rooms where projectors are still predominantly VGA-based (the new Apple TV is HDMI only), the capability offers compelling value in certain scenarios – such as being able to conduct a presentation using a large-screen plasma or LCD at a trade show using an iPad.

Use as a sales brochure

Rather than lug along a stack of heavy sales brochures or other printed documents, why not just load everything onto an iPad? All it takes is some preparation to convert the requisite promotional materials as image files for viewing under the default Photos application. File them appropriately in separate folders, and you now have a veritable compendium of your company's products or services in the palm of your hands.

Access desktop files

Ever left the office for a meeting and then had to turn back because you needed some documents on your office desktop? Or you simply didn't have the time to fire up your laptop to take one more look at a spreadsheet? Well, a number of solutions are available today that allow you to synchronize your work-related files with a cloud-hosted solution. From there, these files can then be accessed from your iPad using the appropriate free apps.  LightBound can help with virtual storage and even hosted desktops as a service.

Increase productivity

Different kinds of software are available to maintain productivity, including Microsoft OnNote to maintain a list of ideas for new blogs and articles, as well as a plain text application for general note taking and to maintain your to do list. Discovering you can read and edit the OneNote Notebooks using MobileNoter on the iPad, while Simplenote allows you to do the same for the notes on your desktop. Because everything is automatically synced to the cloud, you doesn’t even have to remember to perform a manual synchronization, or leave your laptop on.

Use as an external monitor

There are a number of apps that you can get for your iPad that will transform it into a wireless monitor to extend your display area. There are a few solutions available, and one called DisplayLink app, which in tandem with the company's free iPad client software, allows you to use the iPad as an 1024x768 monitor for your Windows 7 laptop with full Aero support.

Cacth up on reading

The iPad with its larger display is very well suited for catching up on some reading when traveling, or while waiting for the clients to arrive.  Aside from the bunch of dedicated ebook applications such as iBooks and Kindle for the iPad, there is also a large number of RSS news readers that can help you keep apace of developments in your industry. Finally, iPad clients of both Read It Later and Instrapaper are available for you to catch up on Web pages flagged for reading from your desktop.

Access company email

One very practical feature of the iPad is its ability to connect to not just POP servers, but also to an Exchange Server or IMAP-based mail server. Users are not only able to access and read their e-mails in the latter two scenarios, but are also able to perform basic folder management and filing tasks. Moreover, the iPad's large screen and ability to render HTML e-mails in high fidelity allows users to tackle their inbox at practically the same productivity level as from a full-fledged workstation. Finally, a recent iOS update has made it possible for an iPad to connect to more than one Exchange Server for users that require this functionality.

Take your office with you

With apps offering the ability to edit and review Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, workers can literally bring their office along with them. While these software do represent an additional cost, and might not have all the desired functionality, they do work well in a pinch. In addition, they also price cheaply in comparison to desktop software.

Organize your schedule

There are many types of calendaring software that allow you to manage your work and personal schedule for the iPad. Schedules planned on Microsoft Outlook can be synchronized wirelessly to your iPad, or when synchronizing via iTunes – many of the apps also support syncing to cloud-based calendaring services such as Google Calendar.

Manage Social Media

The 10-hour battery stamina of the iPad means that you can leverage it for your social media interactions without constantly worrying about it running out of juice. Businesses are now aware of the importance of engaging their customers on an individual level via sites such as Facebook and Twitter. And while enterprises have the budget to pay dedicated specialists to perform these tasks, the responsibility in SMBs usually falls on the shoulders of employees in the sales and technical departments. On this front, the iPad makes an excellent platform, with dedicated clients for just about every social network out there. Safari works well, too.

Source: IT Business Edge

LightBound can help you with your virtualization services, server hosting, off site data backup service, cloud services, storage as a service, and disaster recovery needs.

How is your team positioned to collaborate, share information, and communicate with your customers at any time or place? While mobility is an indispensable business tool, the two most common challenges for small and mid-sized businesses are cost, and the communications complexity it creates.

These complexities fall in three categories:

1)  Device fragmentation, with employees using a range of mobile devices from smart phones and PDAs, to tablet PCs and laptops. 

2)Reachability, with employees having multiple office, mobile and home phone numbers, multiple voice and digital mailboxes, and diverse device dependent capabilities. This makes it very difficult to reach the right person with the relevant information to 'close a deal', whether this entails making a sale or solving a customer or operational problem.

3)Connectivity options, in addition to cellular: Wi-Fi hot spots in hotels, café's and airports, and possibly your own locations (e.g. warehouse, conference room); wired connections in hotels and in guest offices; and wired or wireless connections at home offices for teleworkers or those in need of periodic remote access.

Many of these challenges can be met by bringing together your business and mobile communications capabilities through Unified Communications.  The emergence of Apple's iPhone and iPad as well as Android-based devices has further expanded the value of mobility from voice, email and text, to include access to a broad range of applications, leveraging broadband wireless connectivity.  The expanded mobility options when coupled with Unified Communications have created an unprecedented opportunity to differentiate yourselves and enhance the service to your customers.

• Imagine your mobile users having a communication experience that is consistent whether they are in the office or away...on wireless or wired connections...using voice or data communications.

• Imagine the productivity gains if employees could use their laptops, desktop PCs, or smart phones as an extension of their office environment - anywhere and anytime.

• Imagine having unified mailboxes including missed telephone calls, email and fax. Imagine allowing your employees to recapture the estimated 30 minutes every day, currently wasted looking for information or trying to contact customers, colleagues and partners.

• Imagine no further than a cloud- based Unified Communications service.

From a user's perspective, Unified Communications provides a single control panel from which to access directory information, launch and or receive calls, participate in conference calls, initiate instant messaging sessions, track the availability of coworkers and manage his/her availability. The availability of coworkers is indicated by a 'presence' icon associated with the user, indicating whether he/she is talking on the phone, on the road or whatever. Unified Communications provides a consistent user experience and a set of collaborative capabilities that make mobile users much more effective, wherever they may be or whatever devices they are using.

Put simply, mobilizing your business through Unified Communications can transform your operations and your customer service. For example, your call center is no longer constrained to a single geographic site, with agents being able to work at multiple sites or even from home. You will now be able to track down and engage the specialist that can best meet your customer's needs, drawing on a geographically distributed pool of specialists.

There are a few important steps you can take immediately.

1)Invest your capital in the right mix of mobile devices for your people.

2)Don't waste your capital on legacy premise-based telephony systems, and instead roll out cloud - based Unified Communications. This avoids bolt-on Unified Communications solutions promoted by traditional vendors. It also has the benefits of easier deployment and scalability, substantially lower operational costs and no technology obsolescence. In fact, taking this approach can ensure you have 100% of the enterprise level features you need at a cost savings of 50% or more.

3)Leverage mobility to enhance customer service by extending call center operations to any employees who can help address a problem or opportunity.

You have a great opportunity with your next business phone purchase to drive customer service to new levels through the confluence of communications technologies as a platform for differentiation. Several studies have shown that customers are willing to pay a 10% premium or more for great customer service, so making such a change can quickly impact your bottom line. Effectively adding mobility and Unified Communications capabilities into your solution can accelerate that payback. You can access the full suite of Unified Communications capabilities from your laptop, anywhere you have internet access.

If you would like to more information about LightBound's VoIP PBX services, please Contact Us or go to www.lightbound.com  and click on the Voice tab.

The LightBound Backup and archive solution meets these challenges head-on with a robust and common content archive interface approach. Its interface integrates with a range of data sources using HTTP/REST based environments to intelligently collect data, simplify management, and reduce the costs of data retention. Most requirements for enhanced security, encryption and compliance are exceeded.

• Unify Data Retention – Reduce complexity with a single platform featuring encryption, compression, deduplication, retention and data aging managed from a simplified interface for data retention.
• Integrated enterprise search, compliance and e-discovery options boost the value of the data retained within the LightBound archive solution.
• Consolidated Backup with Archive – Integrated single pass backup and archive provides content preserved views of data while taking advantage of storage management features.
• Reduce Management Costs – Administrators can easily deploy, setup, and manage large scale distributed data environments easier than ever while enabling LightBound software as the broker to the collection and retention of data.
• Support Heterogeneous Hardware Platforms – Traditional approaches are tied to specific hardware platforms that limit flexibility. LightBound software unlocks the use of all hardware throughout the lifecycle of the data archive.
• Enable Retention Lifecycle Management – Provide analytics and reporting throughout the creation, retention and deletion of all content.

Use Cases

Big data growth impacts all industries and departments, for every use case across the globe.  LightBound software's powerful architecture provides flexible options to address the diverse needs of some of the highest growth vertical markets, such as:

• Healthcare

   PACS

   Patient Records

• Digital Media

   Digital film

   Broadcasts

   Streaming video and audio

• Financial Institutions

   Financial transactions

   Applications

   Checks and deposit images

• Insurance Companies

   Insurance claims

   Photos

   Policies

Give us a call and let LightBound help you with your virtualization services, server hosting, off site data backup service, cloud services, and disaster recovery needs.

Summary

LightBound Business Continuity

Description

Is your business prepared for the next ice storm or natural disaster?  LightBound’s next lunch and learn will revolve around Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity planning and helping you reduce your business losses.

Did the recent ice storm result in loss productivity due to power outages or because your employees were not able to get to work?  How much did that cost your business?   Mark Clausman, President, Sterlyn Group, will be presenting on how to evaluate your Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plan.  Strategize the cost of down time and the associated risks to your physical environment and data assets.  Consider the benefits of utilizing a Business Impact Analysis / Risk Assessment as well as leveraging LightBound Cloud Services to streamline and automate your Disaster Recovery Plan.  Attendees of this seminar will be eligible to win an engagement with the Sterlyn Group to evaluate BC/DR plan and for LightBound Cloud Services to facilitate this plan.

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking to not just survive but thrive during the downturn, an IP phone system may be just the answer. It will give them communication capabilities previously available to only the largest companies. It will let them work in ways that they would have found impossible before. It will help them accomplish more with fewer resources. And it can save them considerable money.

But even if a company is more than ready to move to IP, choosing the best system for its individual circumstances isn’t easy. There are several contrasting approaches to IP telephony, each with its own benefits. The biggest differences among them are who owns, operates and maintains the equipment, and where it is physically located. These differences produce major variations in cost, convenience and ease of management.

This report analyzes the three leading options, which go by the names of premise, hosted and hybrid-hosted. It describes each approach, explaining how they work and the equipment and support they require. It also lists the advantages and disadvantages of each.

PREMISE

The traditional approach is for the SMB to buy and operate the equipment. It either installs the IP PBX itself, or has a dealer or VAR (value added reseller) do it. The equipment sits in the company’s own premises, connects to its LAN, and distributes calls to IP phones also connected to the LAN. The company owns the equipment and software, and administers and maintains them. Calls can come to the IP PBX from the communication service provider over traditional PSTN lines or over the company’s broadband Internet connection.

The premise approach has several advantages. Although the upfront cost is higher than with hosted service, at the end of the day the company owns the system, rather than having to make payments forever. And with ownership comes increased control – companies can customize or extend the capabilities of their systems more than they could with hosted service. Another advantage is that it’s not necessary to rely solely on the Internet to deliver calls. A premise based IP PBX gives you fallback capabilities should your Internet service be interrupted. Security is also higher because all messages and call data remain on the company’s premises.

But when compared to hosted solutions, there can be a significant disadvantage depending on the needs and resources of your organization. The biggest is monitoring and maintenance. Someone has to be available virtually all the time to make sure the system is running right. Someone also has to maintain and upgrade the software on a regular basis. Premise systems typically require maintenance contracts that add significantly to the total cost of ownership. Accessing the system for administrative tasks such as moves, adds and changes also requires either having someone on site to do it, or establishing a special connection setup to allow remote access. The latter typically involves opening a special port through the corporate firewall, which can not only be a tricky process but may be against company security policies. Configuring remote users can also be complicated and thus expensive.

PROS

▪ Own the system with available financing options

▪ Can customize to suit needs

▪ Doesn’t rely on Internet for quality, reliability

▪ Messages, prompts, records remain on company’s own premises

CONS

▪ Significant costs for hardware and software maintenance contracts

▪ Requires on-site staff for monitoring and maintaining

▪ Administration requires on-site staff or special connection setup

▪ Configuring remote users can be tricky

▪ Hardware, software upgrades eventually necessary if user numbers grow

HOSTED

Hosted VoIP, also known as hosted IP PBX service, runs on equipment belonging to and located in the data center of a service provider. Calls travel to and from the SMB’s offices via its broadband Internet connection. Hosted services can provide many of the features and capabilities that traditional phone systems offer. Users can make or transfer calls by dialing each other’s extensions. They can also make conference calls, park and pick up calls, and answer calls forwarded to groups of extensions, known as ring groups. That’s not to mention all the new capabilities that IP makes possible, such as listening to voice mail messages through e-mail or another online interface, or placing calls by simply clicking on names in onscreen address books.

The business is left with no associated asset. Security is another concern, since voice mail messages and call records reside on the service provider’s premises, not the company’s. Call quality and service reliability can also be significant worries, since both are totally dependent on the company’s Internet connection.

PROS

▪ Low upfront costs

▪ Increase capacity exactly as needed

▪ No need for maintenance contracts or staff

CONS

▪ Quality, reliability depend on Internet

▪ Pay full rate for little-used extensions

▪ No end to payments, no eventual ownership of equipment

▪ Messages, prompts and call records reside in service provider’s data center

HYBRID-HOSTED

The hybrid-hosted approach combines the key elements of hosted and premise systems. The customer buys and owns the IP PBX equipment, which resides on its own premises. But the vendor monitors and helps manage the equipment from its data center. This arrangement offers most of the benefits of both hosted and premise solutions, while doing away with most of the disadvantages of both.

As with conventional premise solutions, hybrid-hosted systems let companies pay once to purchase the equipment rather than paying forever for extensions, some of which may see little use. There’s also no dependence on the Internet for the quality and reliability of calls, though Internet transport is an option. And messages and call data remain within the company.

And as with hosted solutions, hybrid-hosted systems significantly decrease the hassles and headaches of premise solutions. Part of it is ease of use. Administrators and managers can access their systems from anywhere via web browsers, rather than having to be on premises or to have configured special routes through their firewalls. Setting up remote users is simple too, and linking branch offices is a one-click process. Users can even configure their own extensions from wherever they are.

Perhaps most important, the hybrid-hosted approach alleviates monitoring and maintenance headaches. From its data center, the vendor proactively watches the customer’s hardware and software, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, for impending failures, and takes action before they happen. It also transparently maintains the software, pushing out automatic updates without the need for someone on the company’s premises to do anything. The vendor can also choose to back up call records and generate reports, taking a significant load off the premise equipment. And it also backs up the customer’s configurations (though not its voice mail messages or prompts due to privacy concerns), allowing for easy recovery in case of disaster.

PROS

▪ Own the system with available financing options

▪ Can customize to suit needs

▪ Doesn’t rely on Internet for quality, reliability

▪ Messages, prompts, records remain on company’s own premises

▪ Vendor monitors for faults 24/7

▪ Vendor backup of customer configurations with easy disaster recovery

▪ Automatic software upgrades

▪ Easy remote administration through web browser

▪ Easy setup of remote users

▪ One-click linking of branch offices

CONS

▪ Upfront costs higher than with hosted solutions

▪ Hardware and software maintenance contracts recommended

▪ Hardware upgrade eventually necessary if user numbers grow

WHICH ONE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

To summarize the choices, companies using hosted systems have lower upfront costs and zero maintenance worries, but call quality and reliability are totally dependent on Internet connections, and all call data, including messages and prompts, resides with the provider. With the premise approach, companies buy and own the equipment and control the call data, but they also have to spend considerable money and staff time administering, monitoring and maintaining their systems. Users of hybrid-hosted systems own and control the equipment and software, as well as the call data, but can leave much of the monitoring and maintenance up to the vendor, while administration is simplified.

Ultimately, of course, the choices are all about cost. Poor voice quality or unreliable service can lose you significant business. Spending staff time taking care of equipment also means spending money. But the most important cost to keep in mind is the cost of doing nothing. Not moving to IP telephony means giving up the opportunity to make your business work better. It means missing the chance to save money through increased employee efficiency, or to increase revenue through making better use of employees’ time and talent. In short, failing to take advantage of opportunities such as IP telephony can be most expensive option, even – or especially – during a downturn.

Light Bound can be your Virtual Service Provider. We help you answer that email and return the telephone call without worry.

LightBound is your Fonality Authorized Reseller for trixBox Pro Editions for VoIP PBXsolutions both hosted and premise based IP Based Telephony.

LightBound, your Virtual Service provider, can combine your managed services, voice and data services to provide you with a seamless Cloud Service that is economical and provides the business continuity that all businesses require regardless of their technical expertise. 

In simple terms, virtualization adds a layer in between the physical hardware and the operating system. This in turn encapsulates the entire system, making it a virtual machine (VM) where hardware becomes agnostic and creates it its own “bubble”. This environment allows you to have multiple VMs running on the same physical hardware without conflict.

Portability is a benefit of this technology. Any VM can be transferred to other physical machines easily. This ease of portability can come into play when considering backup recovery and disaster recovery options.

Virtualization minimizes downtime if there is a hardware failure by allowing the VMs to automatically find another physical machine and restart themselves when they are running in a highly available cluster.  Virtualization can also provide “green” benefits to your physical environment by reducing electrical power usage and cooling load consumption when server hardware is consolidated. 

These solutions can be implemented locally or most of these benefits are already included when leveraging a hosted cloud service like LightBound. Give us a call and let LightBound help you with your virtualization services, server hosting, off site data backup service, and disaster recovery needs.

Cloud Computing can take many different forms. But the simplest definition is a good or service provided through and over the public or private internet.  

This concept is particularly useful when it comes to streamlining your business because it offers opportunities to outsource essential but not strategic parts of your organization. Some cloud services that come to mind include CRM applications, accounting software, offsite data backup services, etc. Anything that can be hosted by another company is another way to put it. Therefore email, web pages, VOIP service providers, and even hosted virtual server platforms are considered Cloud services.

LightBound can help you navigate your way through the cloud. If you are considering any of these options feel free to give us a call and we will be able to point you in the right direction.