Ever wish you had an Outlook expert at your shoulder while you work — always ready with great tips for working with e-mail messages, meetings, appointments, or contacts? If so, this email is for you. See the following to learn new and faster ways to work in Outlook.

These tips are for Outlook 2003, but most also work in other versions

Mail tips

• Set a reminder to reply to a message: Right-click the message you want to set the reminder for, point to Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder. In the Due By list, click the date when you have to complete the reply. In the second list, click a time. In the Flag color list, click the flag color you want, and then click OK.
• Add your own words to a follow-up flag for a new message: Click the Message Flag button and then type the text you want in the Flag to box.
• Send a message to multiple people without revealing other recipients’ identities: To send a message to someone without other recipients of the message knowing, use the Bcc line in the message. Bcc stands for blind carbon copy. If you add someone’s name to the Bcc line, a copy of the message is sent to that person, but his or her name is not visible to other recipients.

Calendar tips

• Automatically add holidays to your Calendar: On the Tools menu, click Options, click Calendar Options, and then click Add Holidays.
• Quickly display several days side by side in Calendar: In the date picker, drag over the dates that you want to view.
• Contact meeting attendees with a reminder or other message: Open the original meeting request, click the Actions menu, and then click New Message to Attendees.

Contacts tips

• Quickly dial a phone number for a contact: Right-click the contact, and then on the shortcut menu, click Call Contact.
• Add a new contact from an e-mail message: Open the message. In the From field, right-click the name you want to make into a contact. On the shortcut menu, click Add to Outlook Contacts.
• Create a task related to a contact: Click the contact, click the Actions menu, and then click New Task for Contact.

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us. Content courtesy of Microsoft

Sentinel Business IT Ltd. Litton House, Saville Road, Peterborough. PE3 7PR

This email was sent to vikrant@trisim.co.uk as a customer or contact of Sentinel Business IT Ltd. Click unsubscribe at the bottom of this email if you do not wish to receive future Tips and News emails.

Most of us have to keep records of our business mileage, and if you are like me; you will find the whole business rather tiresome.

A few weeks ago, I downloaded a great little program called MileBug for my iPhone, which is now available for most phones and costs just a couple of pounds to buy.

It is a little Americo-centric, but still works amazingly well: allowing you to record mileage, expenses and at the end of the period it producing a comprehensive report that even keeps our accountant happy.

For more information, visit  http://milebug.com/

Sentinel Business It Ltd

www.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us.

Did you know ….

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don’t ignore it. Used in combination with other keys, it can save you a lot of time and mouse work. Give it a try:

· Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows

· Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer

· Windows + F: Display Search for files

· Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer

· Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center

· Windows + R: Display Run dialog box

· Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box

· Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows

· Windows + L: Lock the workstation

· Windows + U: Open Utility Manager

Sentinel Business IT Ltd. Litton House, Saville Road, Peterborough. PE3 7PR

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us.

www.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

Many of us use SharePoint as our internal intranet, and very useful it can be too, but there are times when you just want to access a document stored there quickly and don’t fancy digging through the menus.  For those times, it is possible to synchronise those documents into Outlook which is not only very quick to access, but is very useful for people “out and about” with laptops, etc.

Here is how to do it :

Start in your SharePoint document library, task list or calendar.

Click Actions : Connect to Outlook

Answer  Allow

Answer Yes

You should now have a new set of folders in Outlook which holds a synchronised copy of your SharePoint library or List. Simple!

Sentinel Business IT Support

Tel : 0800 043 9186

www.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us.

USB drives are great, but are easily lost or misplaced, and it always seems to be the case that you don’t have it with you when you need it. There are also times when you need to share files quickly that are too big for email.

Microsoft is now offering 25GB of online space completely free. It is safe and secure and very difficult to drop in the street or leave on a train seat. As long as you have internet access you can access your files.

For more information, Google “Microsoft SkyDrive” or follow the link below

http://www.windowslive.co.uk/skydrive.aspx

Sentinel Business IT

www.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us.

With seemingly even the milkman offering broadband services these days, it is easy to forget that companies like Demon Internet pioneered internet connectivity in the UK, and were the best in the market for a long time; often the professionals choice where quality and reliability were more important than saving a couple of pounds a month. Through our various incarnations over the years, we have consistently recommended Demon to our clients, and until around 2 years ago this recommendation gave us remarkably little trouble. That is until THUS and then Cable and Wireless got involved.

Firstly, under THUS, we had tolerated the withdrawal of the Account Managers: who had been invaluable as they frequently took ownership of a problem and dealt with it for you. We shrugged our shoulders philosophically when they then shipped first line technical support off to India. It was after all; the way of the world these days. The first signs of real trouble however, came around the time that Demon introduced their ADSL2+ product into the market. A new technology using Cable and Wireless equipment in the exchanges; quicker speeds and longer reach were promised and initially we were quite excited about it all. Our own line transferred, we were soon enjoying download speeds of 13Mbs. However, with the extra speed came frequent degradation of speed to almost a crawl, and “far-too-often” loss of service all together. As our customer base was gradually moved over to the new technology, our experience was seen to be replicated by most of our Demon clients.

You tend to forget that new technology brings its problems. Looking back to the first introduction of ADSL MAX, all the pain we experienced then is lost in the mists of time, but a quick look at the call logs of the day proves it was no less frustrating. The difference between then and now is how Demon handled it. Back then we had access to London based techies as opposed to Indian based flowchart followers. Our access to the people “in the know” has gradually been curtailed to the point where we are frequently refused access to even talk to them before having to jump through hoops.

So it was, that around 12 months ago it all came to a head when we threatened to recommend to our clients that they move from Demon. With many circuits under our management, encompassing lease lines, SDSL and ADSL, this wasn’t something to recommend lightly. Within hours of muting this to Demon, I had their Head of Channel on the phone. A nice chap called Alex; he listened patiently to my complaints and concerns. He explained that Demon had “lost their way” under THUS, but their new owners Cable and Wireless were taking it all very seriously, and were pushing for improved customer and technical service and it was all be okay soon. “calm down dear … it’s only an internet connection”.

To be candid, I was not entirely reassured, but knowing the disruption that would ensue in moving all our circuits, I took his comments at face value and decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, this faith proved to be misplaced. Virtually a week after that conversation, I called trying to resolve a customer issue. UK “partner” technical support promptly bumped me off to India where I spoke to a chap who knew less about broadband than my cat! Exasperated I hung up. Despite our best efforts we had to wait out the problem without feedback or information.

Next was one of our larger customers who suddenly started experiencing service degradation following an upgrade to ADSL2+ at 2 sites. We could sympathise with this one, as we had experienced the same problem with our own connection. Our solution had been to change to ZEN Internet. On the face of it a backwards step to ADSL MAX, but we haven’t had a bit of trouble since. Back to our customer: Demon technical support, while not bumping us to India this time, demonstrated a complete inability to resolve the issue. It was suggested by them that the problem was inherent with the ADSL2+ kit in the exchange. Where do we go from there?

In summary, until yesterday we had “merely” suffered a catalogue of minor issues and outages, numerous router reboots and many hours onto technical support trying to get them to acknowledge issues. Tuesday 13^th July however saw over 40 circuits completely vanish at 5:15pm and not come back until 2am. I imagine that I was one of hundreds trying to reach technical support, so on this occasion I didn’t even get past the “we are experiencing higher than normal call volumes, but your call is important to us” routine. Obviously it was a major infrastructure issue, so all I could do was ring the customers and keep them informed. All very frustrating.

So, what has the past 12 months taught me? Well, I would strongly discourage anyone from taking services from Demon Internet or Cable and Wireless in the future, and recommend anyone experiencing problems with said companies to move and be done with it. Where to move too is the question? BT are as monolithic and unhelpful as most when there is a problem, and the market place seems to be full of large predators eating up those smaller independents who used to pride themselves on quality of service and technical support. Alongside Demon, Pipex are another prime example of a company once held in high esteem, purchased, assimilated and brought low. Why buy a company for the good reputation and then destroy it?

As a newly inaugurated ZEN partner I would of course have a preference. I feel quite evangelical about the company and their products. I love the way they do business, and they have the same ethos as we do. Yes, one could argue I have a financial agenda in recommending them, although the small financial reward we receive would be more than outweighed if the service was not up to scratch. We all want an easy life, so I wouldn’t suggest jumping out of the frying pan into the fire for a few pounds commission per connection. They are independent, fiercely proud of their product and support and intend to remain so.

Having been reminded what real service is like, we have reached the end of the road with Demon. A little sad really.

Lindsey Hall

14^th July 2010

Lindsey Hall has worked as an IT Consultant to Small and Medium Businesses for 15 years. She is also a director of Sentinel Business IT Ltd, Peterborough: one of the regions fastest growing IT support companies.

The con is both clever and apparently very convincing; the end user receives a cold call and is told that Microsoft has detected a virus on their PC. They are then invited them to download a piece of remote-assistance software. Accessing your PC, the swindlers then have free reign to install whatever they wish.

The “company” behind the scam is called The Nerd Support – although there are others perpetrating similar swindles. The Nerd Support points its victims towards a legitimate looking website, which carries official-looking logos that reassure visitors that it’s a “Microsoft Registered Partner” and is even verified by McAfee Site Advisor as a site that’s passed its “intensive daily security scan” that tests for “dangerous sites, phishing, and other online dangers”. To add to its legitimacy, the site bears a working London 0203 telephone number.

Read more: The unstoppable "tech support" scam | Security | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/359233/the-unstoppable-tech-support-scam#ixzz0sznswaq4

Sentinel Business IT Ltd

Litton House, Saville Road, Peterborough. PE3 7PR

Tel : 0800 043 9186

Web : www.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

For many of us, spam is not only time consuming and irritating, but increasingly it is becoming a security risk to both personal information and company data. The past few weeks especially have seen an enormous increase in malicious and dangerous emails linking to sites carrying viruses.

Sentinel Business IT is now recommending GFI Mail Essentials 2010 to complement your existing network antivirus protection and massively reduce the time you waste dealing with unwanted or dangerous email.

GFi Mail Essentials 2010 starts from just £168.00* for 10 users plus £50.00 for installation and configuration.

For more information, contact Lindsey or Richard on 0800 043 9186

Information for the technically minded or interested is available below

Powerpoint Presentation (4.64MB) Click here to download

Information Video (Youtube) Click here to view

* prices quoted subject to VAT at the prevailing rate. Valid for July 2010

Sentinel Business IT Ltd is offering you the chance to win an Apple iPAD by entering our free quarterly draw.

Entry to the draw is by invite only from Sentinel Business IT Ltd. You must be over 18 and resident in the UK. Any entries completed online by midnight on the 31st August 2010 will be accepted.

To qualify, you must provide details of a friend, colleague or associate who will be interested in receiving information from Sentinel Business IT Ltd for our business IT support services. If an individual makes more than one unique referral, they receive the comparable amount of entries into the free draw.

Terms and conditions apply : http://freedraw.sentinelbusinessit.co.uk

Sentinel Business IT Ltd

Sentinel Business IT Ltd – Reg: 5991134
VAT number: 895 1839 70.

Our unique combination of people, expertise and systems provides timely and unparalleled levels of support and customer service on either a PAYG or contract basis. Utilising the latest “live” system monitoring technology, coupled with over 20 years of IT support experience, Sentinel Business IT provides an unbeatable and truly customer focused service.

Too much power can corrupt absolutely!!

Lightening storms can have a serious impact on unprotected electronic equipment, and a power cut at the wrong time can corrupt an entire system. We have seen this after the storms this weekend.

We would recommend that for home or office PC’s, you consider investing in an anti-surge points or extension bars, and a UPS (battery backup) for your critical workstations and server.

If your server is not protected by a battery backup, then we advise you consider doing so. Please speak to us to calculate the size of unit to suit your needs.

For workstations, we would recommend the following depending on your needs

Surge Protection for normal workstations and routers, switches, etc

Belkin SurgeMaster. Available at PC World for £14.99+VAT

http://www.pcwb.co.uk/catalogue/item/BELSUR61

Battery backup for important PC’s or those than should not be turned off

APC Back UPS. Available from PC World Business at £68.99+VAT

http://www.pcwb.co.uk/catalogue/item/APCBE700

Sentinel Business IT Ltd

These tips are posted free and “as is” and imply or carry no warranty and guarantee from Sentinel Business IT Ltd.

If you are uncertain about any aspect of the information provided and how it applies to you, please contact us.

Sentinel Business IT Ltd. Litton House, Saville Road, Peterborough. PE3 7PR