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Congrats and Goodbyes! |
Firstly, a huge congratulations for Cuchulain who has successfully passed his 1st year IT apprenticeship and his A+ Essentials Exam with an above average pass rate.
He has worked incredibly hard over the last 12 months and we have seen him grow within the business using the skills he has learnt both at college and within AKM. He is fast becoming a great asset to AKM and all our customers - long may it continue.
And a goodbye to Cornelia...
Cornelia will be leaving us at AKM at the end of the month and pursuing her dream of becoming a primary school teacher. I am sure that there is going to be many years of hard work and tears for her, but we are all sure it will be worth it in the end.
Opportunities like this don't come around very often and we wish Cornelia every success in the pursuit of her dream - you'll be missed by your team and customers alike! |
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IT tip from one of our satisfied customers.. |
Another tip for another day that not many people seem to know around here is that holding down when clicking a link opens that page in a new tab in IE7, and holding down opens that page in a whole new window. So many people seem to copy the URL, open a new window, paste it, then click back to the first page etc. It makes life a lot easier (especially when comparing prices etc) if you can have all the windows open straight away and tab between them. Ctrl+Q shows the different tabs you have open in IE7 in a preview pane.
Final useful thing is the .docx add on for Word 2003 users that allows them to open 2007 .docx files - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en. I get quite a few e-mails saying 'I cant open this file', and this is the reason why. |
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Sage 50 Accounts 2009 |
Its here.. Sage 50 Accounts 2009
This month saw the launch of Sage 50 Accounts 2009 and as there are a number of new features which will be of interest to you we thought we'd tell you all about it!
So what's new?
1.Clear your mind with an in-built diary: Did I remember to make that follow up call? When do I need to pay our suppliers? The in-built diary helps prioritise every item on your customers daily workload. It sets reminders for recurring tasks, and integrates with Microsoft Outlook to automate diary events, such as following up promised payments. You can also link tasks to contacts, so customers have all the details they need right then and there.
2.Keep track of the flow of your money: The improved dashboard lets customers see an instant view of the credit position of their business. They can see where their money is, how old their customer or supplier debt it, what's due, what's overdue, what's disputed, what's promised to pay and what's still to be allocated - all in one place.
3.Chase the right payments to keep your business breathing: Always know who you should be spending time chasing payments, for example what's overdue, when money's due in and who has promised payment. Promised payments are automatically added to the diary, and if they're not received, you'll be reminded to follow them up.
4.Plan ahead to avoid the crunch: Customers can now see who they need to pay, based on supplier and age criteria. So they can see what payment commitments they'll need to make in the coming weeks and months, to help them plan ahead.
5.Give the right person the right message..on time, every time: Different people like to be contacted at different times in different ways. That's why customers can now record and store names, telephone numbers, email addresses, office addresses, preferred contact times and mailing preferences for all of their contacts, all in one place. And when they make invoice, letter and statement runs, they can use these details to send them via email in a batch. So they always know that their message will reach the right person.
6.Build your communications, build on your professionalism: Payment disputes? Information requests? All contact can be recorded on your customers communication history, together with a follow-up, so they'll always have the right information to refer back to. Whenever they generate a letter or statement, these details will be automatically recorded into the communication history.
7.Keep your customers and supplier relationships strong with flexible payment methods: Your customers suppliers might insist on being paid in different ways. That's why they can now do a cheque run for all suppliers who like to be paid this way, or an e-payment run for those who want BACS payments.
With Sage Payments Solution, your customers also have an easier way to pay - directly by card. This can be done over the phone or even on the web, then posted directly into your accounts to ensure everything's kept up to date.
8.Quickly and securely run your reports together: The new batch reporting feature allows customers to create their own batches of reports and run them off all in one go. They can password protect and pdf file containing sensitive financial information, so only those with the authority to access the files have the means to do so.
9 Handle your transactions fluidly with improved Bank Reconciliation: Bank Reconciliation is easier than ever before. 'Smart Totals' lets customers see the value of any highlighted transaction. And with the new retrospective bank reconciliation report, they'll be able to see the reconcile balance of their account at any given time- particularly useful at month and year-end.
10.Keep your software as fresh as your business: Customers want their software to perform to the highest possible standard. The automatic updates feature lets them know if there's anything they need to make their software more efficient, and quickly updates it for them.
11.Mistakes are natural, corrections are easy: Everybody makes mistakes, but correcting them has never been easier. Customers can now find, view, correct, or even delete transactions or postings at the touch of a button.
12.Breeze through the new features with ease: Our improved assistance feature means customers can quickly learn these new features with ease. There's also a library of videos to guide them through them, and they can try out a new area of the software or a new posting with our practice feature first
So if you would like to see how these features could work in your business, call Tammy on 0845 459 0076 for more details. |
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Protecting your PC |
The internet is a great resource for any family or business as it can provide information, knowledge and fun at the click of the mouse. However, there is a lot of nasty stuff out there on the internet, so just how can you make sure that your family or co-workers aren't accessing it, either intentionally or by accident? There is a wide range of software on the market to filter your internet and program use, but we have narrowed it down to the two we think work best.
Net Nanny
Net Nanny starts at around £20 per year for the basic package. Using Net Nanny has features such as:
- Blocking pornography, hate sites, questionable chat rooms and more
- Filters Usenet, Peer-to-peer downloading, instant messaging, FTP and email
- Only installing computer games with the parental certificate you think is appropriate
- Integration with popular search engines, which means the 'Safe Search' option cannot be turned off
- Manage and maintain internet policies remotely, as well as monitoring web browsing and instant messaging from anywhere and any computer.
Net Nanny also allows you to view what websites have been visited, and what websites have been attempted to visit. You can also see full chat logs from instant messaging services, which give benefits such as seeing who your children are talking to or making sure your workers are keeping on-task.
CyberPatrol
CyberPatrol starts at around £20 per year for a single license. Using CyberPatrol allows you to:
- Set usage time and duration
- Block downloads of games, music, images and videos
- Filter out undesirable websites and images
- Protect against online predators
- Guard against inappropriate topics/language in chat rooms or instant messaging
- Monitor online activity with a list of websites that the user has visited, highlighting the attempted access to inappropriate websites.
There are pre-made settings which allow you to filter depending on the age of the user, but these can be edited and changed around, allowing you to customize how strongly 'gambling' or 'chat' (for example) sites are blocked. You can also set up certain access rules for each user account on the computer, allowing you to have full control over what is blocked for whom.
Overall, the program you decide to use is completely up to your own personal opinion, as they cost exactly the same. They both offer very similar features, but it depends on what you are looking for and which program interface you are more comfortable using. Free trials as well as more information and detailed pricing can be found on their websites, linked below.
Links:
http://www.netnanny.com
http://www.cyberpatrol.com
http://www.child-internet-safety.com/products.php
http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk/usingcomputersandtheinternet/linksbytopic/internetfilteringsoftware/ |
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