"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them, the rest of us could not succeed." - Mark Twain

"I had the blues because I had no shoes; until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet."- Denis Waitely

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." -J.R.R. Tolkien

"My mother is such a lousy cook that Thanksgiving at her house is a time of mourning." - Rita Rudner

This Should Clear Things Up

      VoIP (or voice over Internet Protocol) is a way of routing your telephone calls over the Internet instead of using standard telephone lines.
      Currently, the biggest reason people are switching to VoIP is to save money. In almost every case, VoIP service is considerably cheaper than traditional phone service. Most providers will allow you to make unlimited calls anywhere in the US and Canada for one low, flat rate, and international calls for a low per minute rate. For companies who make a lot of long- distance calls to customers or to other office locations, this can be a considerable cost savings.
      Just like all other phone services, VoIP providers can offer voice mail, caller ID, and 3-way calling, but prices and features will vary with different providers so make sure you shop around. And some VoIP providers will allow you to check your voice mail over the Internet; something not offered by traditional phone service.
      So what are the downsides to VoIP? Some providers-notably Skype- may require you to purchase special phones to use with their service. Although VoIP providers promote the fact that you can keep your existing phone number, it may be a slow and difficult process for a VoIP provider to make the transfer. If you are lucky, it will only take a couple of days; but in many cases it will take weeks, a month or sometimes even longer.
      Using a VoIP service for a fax machine can cause transmission errors. You will also need an Internet connection with a minimum of 128K upstream speed in order to get acceptable call quality. Before switching to VoIP, be sure to test your Internet connection for not only up-speed, but also for packet loss, latency and other factors that can negatively impact call quality (www.testyourvoip.com).
      But even if you have a fast upstream connection, your call quality can suffer when you start uploading big files or sending big e-mail attachments because your VoIP traffic has to compete with those applications. There are add-on applications you can purchase to ensure your phone calls take first priority of the Internet resources available.

      I did this to further reinforce the urgency for you to sign up for our Remote Rx Service plan discussed in the opening article.
      If you are already a Remote Rx Service customer, congratulations! You can rest easy knowing we are watching over your network and data to make sure you don't have to deal with the devastation of lost data or expensive downtime.
      But if you AREN'T signed up with this service, the magnifying glass is a reminder that even though your network and backups seem to be working fine, there can be hidden problems lurking under the surface that can eventually come back to bite you.
      For example, your hard drive can malfunction without warning and erase all of the data stored on it. Some viruses are getting harder to detect because they cloak their presence while doing their dirty work. Miss a critical security patch and you're completely vulnerable to a hacker. Worse yet, install a critical security patch and it could blue screen your computer-updates need to be tested to make sure they won't blow your system up. Then there's the dreaded backup failure. The chances of your tape drive backup failing is 100%; all drives fail at some point. What makes this so dangerous is that they may appear to be backing up your data when they actually aren't. Or, the file could become corrupt making the backup completely useless.
      The reliance on Internet access, e-mail, and database programs is, without question, becoming greater and the stakes for losing data are rising. As a business owner, you just cannot afford to put your business at risk, especially since it's so easy to prepare and prevent these disasters from happening.
      To find out how we can help take this burden off your schedule (and your mind), call us today for a FREE Network Health Check offered at the bottom of this newsletter.

      Seems like everyone has an iPod these days. And why not? They're a great (skip-free) way to listen to music when you workout, an easy way to listen to audio books, and they give you access to radio Podcasts for free. Plus you have complete control over your playlists.
      But, they aren't without their share of problems. It's not uncommon for an iPod to suddenly stop working or have problems. When this happens, Apple recommends that you do three things:
      Start by resetting your iPod. First, toggle the hold switch by sliding it to hold and then off again. Then simultaneously hold the "Menu" and "Select" buttons until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
      If that doesn't help, you'll need to reinstall an updated version of the iTunes and iPod software to your computer. This can be accessed through Apple's web site, www.apple.com. Then connect your iPod to the computer and sync it. If that still doesn't fix the problem, you'll need to run the iPod Updater, which again, can be downloaded from Apple's web site.
      Unfortunately, the iPod Updater will erase everything that is on your iPod, so make certain you've backed up your music and playlists before doing this. Then connect your iPod to your computer and wait for iTunes to open. Then click Start>>All Programs>>iPod. Click the iPod Updater listing with the most recent date.
      When the iPod Updater opens, simply follow the on-screen instructions. The upgrade may take some time to complete. Once you've updated the iPod, sync it with iTunes again to restore your music and playlists.
      If that still doesn't fix the problem, you'll have to take your iPod to an Apple store or ship it back for repair. Again, make sure you back up your music files. Apple will NOT replace music that is lost, even if it WAS a problem with the iPod that caused it in the first place.

This article is reprinted with the permission of "The Success Factory"
      "We have talked in the past about how important it is to write personal hand written thank you notes to customers, hostesses, and recruit prospects (even if they don't join you in the business!)'
      "Yesterday, I got my hair cut. My hairdresser is one of the three owners of the salon that I go to. I have been a regular, every eight week customer, for about three years now. In the past year, I have personally been responsible for sending six new regular clients to him. He said thank you, (after I asked if he'd met my neighbor) - but that was all. That is why I found our conversation yesterday a little ironic. He was expressing frustration because their customer base has not grown much lately. He has tried a variety of tactics including networking, advertising and contests amongst his employees.'
      "I asked him if he'd ever considered rewarding customers for referrals. He said, yes, that customer referrals get a $20 gift certificate - hmmm interesting. I asked him what kind of a system he had in place to make this happen (the salon is large over 80 employees). He said he just tries to remember when a new customer mentions that they were a referral from someone else. He told me if he'd ever forgotten to thank me `properly' all I needed to do was remind him. "Well, I replied, now that you mention it -" and I proceeded to remind him of the six recent (and now `regular') customers that I'd sent his way. I said to him very sincerely, I'm not telling you this to get a gift certificate - a simple note thanking me would have been fine at the time the new customers came to him. However, yesterday he gave me a $20 discount on my haircut.'
      "Needless to say, at this point - the whole situation was awkward and got even more uncomfortable when he mumbled something about me guilting him into my gift certificate as he wrote up my sales slip for the cashier (kidding of course).'
      "So, what can we learn from this scenario.

• A hand written thank you note is cheaper than a $20 gift certificate and can be just as meaningful.
• A thank you (whether a gift certificate or a note) needs to be prompt and sincere.
• Have a system in place for thanking your customers and use the system.

Do you have a funny story or a resource you want to share with other subscribers? Send it to me! We are always looking for new and useful content to add including partners who want to submit articles!