IT outsourcing is the process of contracting out your information technology functions to a service provider that will take on those functions and implement them for you.  This service provider may be a division of the same corporation, or more than likely be a third party who is a separate entity altogether.

As IT costs are increasing for both small businesses and large companies, many of them are finding the paybacks of outsourcing. Some businesses look for services overseas in order to minimize their costs, But business must not look so far anymore because these services are readily available anywhere in the USA. The realization of outsourcing IT for businesses of all sizes has led it to become a multi-billion dollar industry. The trick to making this technique work for your business is to find the right company to provide the services for you.

The ideal service provider will offer cost-effective yet high quality services so that you will obtain precisely and only what you require. Once you’ve found the right business to do the job, you can get your company ready to take advantage of a number of important benefits to outsourcing information technology services.  They include the following.

Affordability – Affordability is only the start to the benefits that a company can obtain from outsourcing. That said, it is a significant one. The labor costs alone remain notably lower while you can benefit from higher levels of service. Companies are no longer required to have to go through the hiring process of bringing in new IT employees which reduces wages, benefits, training and many overhead costs related to in-house It.

Practicality – Many of these service companies are designed specifically to be able to provide specific types of services, such as website updating, cloud services and internet security to name a few. This means that they are already fully equipped to perform their specialized services for you, and that you will be able to pay for the labor without having to invest for capital.

Flexibility -Aside from being affordable, many IT companies offer specially priced packages or à la carte options that can allow you to choose the services that are appropriate for the needs of your business at the best possible price. This helps you to avoid extra spending on services that you won’t even require.  For example, you can choose either specific flat-rate project-based services where you know precisely what will be done and for how much, or you can find services that bill for their services per month, week, or hour.

Availability – Unlike hiring employees to perform the tasks in-house, outsourcing IT allows you to simply find a business that offers the service you’d like. Contact the business online or over the phone and you’ll have access to search engine optimization, website hosting, VOIP and other information technology services.

These are only a few of the many benefits to outsourcing IT that help to explain why so many companies are choosing this option as opposed to attempting to accomplish those tasks in-house.  Though the primary advantage is usually considered to be the reduced cost, there are many other benefits that also occur at the same time. At Telx Computers we are committed to provide you with the best IT services tailored to your specific company needs.

The new iPad 3 hit the shelves in the middle of March 2012.  It features the new revolutionary retina display, improved graphics performance, a better camera and faster connectivity.

The main design difference is, of course, the 9.7-inch Retina Display.  This new display features 3.1 million pixels with a 2048-by-1536 resolution which is higher than Blu-ray and even higher than a 62-inch Full HD plasma television.  No other tablet on the market can surpass the display quality on this new device.

The main processor is the same as the iPad 2, although the chip has been updated.  The included chip is now the A5X processor which replaced the A5 featured in its predecessor.  The difference mainly rests on the graphical capabilities.  This new quad core graphics processor alongside the main CPU was designed to support the new massive resolution.

The camera was also improved from the iPad 2’s, the one-megapixel to five-megapixel upgraded camera offers a better resolution and image quality.  Pictures taken with the new iPad’s rear camera are drastically better than before. Their larger size, combined with a better image sensor, allows for more detail to be captured. Colours are excellent and detail is well above average when compared to a decent 2012 smartphone’s camera. However this may not be the perfect picture taking apparatus, unless you don’t mind holding up in the air a ten inch screen to take pictures.

As for the wireless speed, the new iPad is available in two versions: Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi plus 4G.

Now, looking at the benchmarking overall performance of the new IPad compared to the preceding model.  The iPad 3 features an addition of ram from 1gb to 512 mb but the same processor speed of 1ghz.  According to GeekBench, “In use, it didn’t feel like the new model was any faster than the original at loading apps or rendering web pages and GeekBench, which uses a set of algorithmic processes to determine overall computing horsepower, confirmed this to be accurate when it gave the iPad 2 a score of 754 in our tests. The new iPad scored 770. Put into perspective, the original iPad 1 scored 470, so there was a clear performance jump when upgrading from the first generation to the iPad 2. But despite double the RAM, the new iPad doesn’t offer the same speed boost in terms of computing power — it’s all about the screen and the graphics, and a great deal of that new graphical horsepower is rendering more pixels to fill the massive 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution required by the Retina Display.”(www.Geekbench.com)

In Conclusion, the iPad third generation, is the best iPad thus far.  It will mostly benefit reading, viewing and video editing and gaming in which graphics are most crucial.  However if pricing is in the forefront of your decision in choosing a new iPad and you are less concerned with 3D gaming, video/photo editing, the iPad 2 may be a better choice.

Voice over Internet Protocol (or VoIP, for short) is a set of technologies that uses the internet as the medium to transmit voice. The most popular uses of this technology are video chatting and internet telephony. In this article we will concentrate on the latter.

Internet telephony, therefore, is the implementation of VoIP technology to place and receive phone calls. A VoIP phone may look like a regular phone, but it has been built with special technology to work on Internet Protocol. Another difference between a standard phone and an Internet Phone is that they have an RJ-45 connector (as opposed to standard phones which use RJ-11). This enables the possibility of connecting the phone to a router or switch to be able to place and receive phone calls. A regular phone may be used as an Internet phone when an Analog Telephone Adaptor is set in place.

There are many advantages on implementing VoIP in the business environment. They include:

-          Mobility: Internet phones are not bound to a location. Once the phone has been set up, it could be taken anywhere in the world. As long as it is connected to a network, the user will be able to communicate. So if the user were to, for example, leave the country on a business trip, he would be able to take his phone with him around the globe and pay no extra cost for his phone calls (provided he can find where to connect his Internet Phone) and using the same number anywhere in the world.

-          Cost: Phone calls made over VoIP are usually cheaper than those placed over standard phone lines. Since the user is using his Internet connection as a medium to transmit the voice, VoIP telephony providers are able to lower the costs for phone calls, even those which are long distance.

-          Ease of use: Internet phones have been designed to make tasks such a transferring phone calls and conference phone calls easier.

Along with VoIP, PBX is normally deployed. PBX (short for Private Branch eXchange) allows the creation of private phone networks within a company. Together with internet telephony users are capable of sharing one or more outside lines to communicate, as well as internal communication.

Telx Computers offers a VoIP service called Telx Telecom. You can visit our website (http://www.telxtelecom.com) to learn more or contact us through phone or email to learn more.

The following is a list of tips and tricks helping you get the best out of Windows 7 (Note: These tricks are new feature present in the latest release Windows (Windows 7). In order to find out how to upgrade to Windows 7, contact our Telx Team):

1. Aero Shortcuts: Resizing windows is now much simpler in the newest version of the Windows operating system. Follow these instructions to quickly resize windows while working on Windows 7.
   1. Minimize Current Window: To quickly minimize the current window you may click on the title bar and drag your mouse in a downward motion.
   2. Maximize a Window: The previous trick will also work on reverse. Drag a window to the very top of your screen and it will instantly maximize.
   3. Aero Snap: Want to have two windows open side by side? Simply drag one window towards one end of the screen (sidewise) and the other one towards the opposite end and they will split half-screen.
   4. Aero Shake: If you feel that your desktop is too cluttered, do not start minimizing Windows one by one. Simply click the title bar of the window you are working on and would like to keep open and give it a light shake. All the windows but the one you shook will instantly minimize.
   5. Aero Peek: A quick way to view your desktop is by hovering your mouse over the lower-right corner of your screen (to the right side of your clock). If you click there, you will be immediately taken to the desktop.
   6. Cool Windows 7 Tools:
      1. Snipping Tool: Similar to the Print Screen button, but it allows you to easily get a screenshot from a certain sector of your screen. You can then save it for later use. To open it, simply click Start Menu>All Programs>Accessories>Snipping Tool or click the Start Button and type “Snipping Tool” (without the quotations) and hit Enter.
      2. Search from Start Menu: You can use click the Start button and start typing anything. Files, folders, programs, Control Panel applets, even words in your text documents.
      3. Taskbar:
         1. Live Preview: Hover over the open application icon on your taskbar and see a miniature preview of what this window looks like. This is especially helpful when switching from various open windows.
         2. Pinned Items: Most items can be “pinned” to the Taskbar, making them remain there for easy access when needed.
         3. Jump Lists: By right-clicking the application icon on the Taskbar you can access advance options for running this program (not available for all applications).
         4. Other Windows Shortcuts: The following are Windows shortcuts that will work on most versions of Windows:
            1. Cut, Copy and Paste: Probably one of the most famous and useful set of shortcuts in Windows. They are used to copy, cut and paste most type of data. They are accessed by holding down the Control Key on your keyboard and pressing X, C or V respectively. You can use this shortcut to copy text, even from one application to another, files, folders or just about anything.
            2. Bold, Italics and Underline: These are applied on texts, mainly when using Office or similar programs. Highlight the text, or just before starting to type, hold down the Control Key on your keyboard and hit B, U or I respectively.
            3. Select All: You can select an entire document or string of text by holding down the Control Key and then hitting the A key.
            4. Print: To print from virtually any program hold down the Control Key and then hit P.
            5. Undo and Redo: When committing a mistake, in most programs you can undo that mistake by holding down the Control Key and then the Z key. If you realize it wasn’t a mistake, you can bring redo by holding down the Control Key and hitting the Y key.
            6. Lock your computer: To quickly lock your computer, hold down the Windows button on your keyboard and then press the L key.

SOPA or Stop Online Piracy Act is a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives towards the end of this year which plans to fight online piracy by allowing the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders to seek court against websites providing material that violates copyright laws.

There is a lot of debate whether this bill should be passed or not. On one side we have nearly 150 giants of the media industry that include, but are not limited to ABC, CBS, Comcast/NBC Universal, Microsoft, Dell, MasterCard, The MPAA, and Sony Music amongst many others. And on the opposing side we have some other giants which include Google, Yahoo!, AOL, GoDaddy, and Mozilla Corporation, amongst the greatest.

Basically, what SOPA pretends to do is to block access to certain websites which store and deliver illegal media, regardless of whether their servers are in the United States, and prosecute legal actions against them. Other websites which deal with these illegal websites will have to stop any activity with each other. For instance, Google will not be able to display them amongst their search results and PayPal will not be able to do monetary transactions for them.

Many websites have been warned by the EFF about the likeability of their end if the bill passes, including Flickr (Yahoo!’s personal media posting) and Vimeo (online video posting, similar to YouTube). Some other websites have threatened themselves to shut down if this bill goes through. They include Twitter, GoDaddy, and PayPal amongst others.

So how does SOPA affects you? Well, for starters, major personal media sharing websites like blogs, online media posting and probably even social websites will be shut down. You would now be more restrained at the time to upload your videos, pictures or even your own opinion online or simply sharing on Facebook.

On top of this, legal action could be taken against ANYONE possessing fraudulently or found sharing copyrighted material without proper permissions. Think of the suppression this will have in the spreading of cultural art. People will no longer be able to post covers of their favorite songs online, hoping to one day being “discovered” and give their contribution to their beloved art.

But the major way this bill will affect business is by the migration of lots of businesses overseas. Afraid of legal action, many companies will move their headquarters abroad in hope of a little more of freedom (SOPA expects to be able to take action against website outside of the United States as well). This will obviously cause a great dent in the economy.

So what can you do if you are against the Internet censorship?

-          First and most important, educate yourself. Make sure you are on the right side. Go online and do further research, hear both sides of the story and make a better informed decision.

-          Then, go online to websites supporting your cause. They can be found through a simple Google search. There you will find ways to show your support.

-          Spread the word: Tell your friends and family. Blog about it (before it is too late). Use any means you find effective to get your message across.

-          Stay informed: Being aware of development is very important. Every day the battles go on and the giants keep switching sides (like GoDaddy recently did). Keep reading the news and hope for the best.

The Telx Computers Team is always researching the latest trends that affect the IT Business world and the Internet. We will always keep you informed and if you have any question please contact our Help Desk number. We are here to help.

As we have mentioned before Malware is any piece of malicious software created with the intention of stealing, destroying and creating disruption of services. But that is not the only way a hacker could get the best of you. There are many other ways a hacker can attack you and your data. Sometimes you are unaware of it and in some cases he is able to even have you do all the work for him. In order to prevent this from happening it is a good idea to educate oneself about the different types of Malware, how can they affect us and how to avoid them. The following is a list of most common Internet scams and how to avoid falling into their trap:

• SPAM: or unsolicited advertisement. Nowadays it has grown to great extents. It is not only spread through email, but also by text messages and online videos. In some cases SPAM can carry malicious software. In order to avoid SPAM:
  • Do not share personal contact information with unreliable parties, especially unreliable websites. Do not trust any website requesting personal information in exchange for a free gift.
  • Set your SPAM filter to Medium or High levels.
  • Avoid opening suspicious emails. If the email was sent from a reliable source, but the subject makes no sense (like a friend incentivizing you to visit a certain website or buy a certain product) mark the message as SPAM.
  • If you are informed that your own account is spamming, change your email password immediately and run a virus scan on your PC.
  • Never download any attachments to these emails.
  • Phishing: fraudulent activity in which the attackers pretend to be contacting the attacked party from a legit, well known company in order to steal personal data. Most of the times spread through email. These attacks are not only conducted by computer means, sometimes they are also conducted by phone or as phony websites. Their emails or website look very formal and legit. Do not ever share personal information with these parties. If necessary, make sure to confirm their identity by contacting the company through reliable means (find out their phone number and contact them. Try and find out if the issue is legit). In some cases some online research will let you know of similar scams.
  • Scareware: essentially, scareware causes a screen to pop-up in your computer alerting you of potential threats in your computer, charging fees to remove them. If these messages are not coming from your antivirus or Internet Security Suite, do not trust them. Contact Telx Support for further investigation.
  • Lottery Scam: a message pops on the screen announcing you have been selected amongst millions of users to receive a prize or a life time opportunity, or even a new business strategy. Do not ever trust these advertisements.
  • Chain Mail Scam: believe it or not, cutting the chain will not bring bad luck to you, but keeping the chain alive could. Avoid passing along chain mails, such as jokes, funny pictures, and even moving stories. Sometimes they happen to be full of dangerous codes.

In a nutshell, do not trust any suspicious emails, websites phone calls, text messages or any other type of communication attempting to collect personal data. If such is the case, attempt to contact the company by your own means and try and confirm if the issue is real. Remember the old saying: “If it seems too good to be true, it usually is”. Do not open any links promising deals too good to be true. Always stay alert and never spread potentially unsafe media.

If you believe you are a victim of Malware or Spyware get in touch with the Telx Computers Help Desk Support line and we will take care of your computer.

Probably the most annoying issue with PCs nowadays is network connectivity issues. The implications include, but are not limited to: not being able to send and receive emails, inaccessibility to the internet or server, access to the cloud and many others.

But there are some steps you can take to try and quickly fix them. Follow these steps before contacting the Telx Help Desk and Support Center:

• Check the cables: Sometimes cables get loose or knocked off the socket. Make sure your Ethernet cable is properly plugged in at both ends.
• Determine the extent of the problem (globally): Ask other people in your network if they are having connectivity issues. If they are unable to access the server, just like you, the problem is not likely just in your PC. If they are able to access the server, yet not the internet, there might be an internet outage in your area, contact your Internet Service Provider and find out. By determining the extent of the problem time is saved when attempting to resolve where the connectivity issues are most likely happening.
• Determine the extent of the problem (locally): Open your browser and type a common web address (such as Google, Yahoo! or CNN) to see if you can access it. Try to send/receive emails. Try to access the server (if you have one). A simple issue, like not receiving emails, can sometimes be confused with connectivity issues. By testing different methods of using the network we can clear doubts.
• Restart your PC: Lots of computer issues can be solved by restarting our PCs. Connectivity issues are often included in this category.
• Check your IP address: To do so, open the command prompt (Start Menu>Run>Type CMD> Hit Enter) and type ipconfig. Your IP Address most likely will start with these digits 192.168. If your IP Address starts with the digits 169.254. contact our Help Desk number immediately.
• Power-cycle your network equipment: By turning off your router and modem for a minute, many connectivity issues can be solved.
• Have Windows Diagnose for Connection Problems: Open Internet Explorer and a message will display warning you about your lack of connectivity. Click on Diagnose Connection Problems and let Windows try and resolve the issue.
• Verify your Firewall Settings: Sometimes our Firewall will prevent us to access the Internet to protect our computer. Try turning it off from the Control Panel and see if you gain network access.
• Check your drivers: Network Adapter’s drivers can sometimes fail. Right-click (My) Computer and click Manage. Click Device Manager and see if any devices show with a yellow icon next to it. If one of them is network adapter, right-click it and then click Update Driver. Wait for the driver to be updated.
• Wi-Fi issues: When connected to a wireless network, a new set of different possibilities could be causing you not to get network access. The easiest way to resolve this issue is by connecting your PC to a wired network. If you gain connectivity, contact a Telx Technician, explain to him that your network connectivity is not working through a wireless connection but it is through a wired connection. We will take care of the rest.
• Malware: One of the symptoms of malicious software in your PC is the disruption of certain services, and network connectivity is not an exception. Just run a virus scan in your PC and then restart it.

If none of these solutions fixes your connectivity issues, call a Telx Technician. Luckily we are always just one phone call away!

Malware is any piece of software that was written with malicious intents, in order to create chaos in your computer and compromise your security. They include, but are not limited to: viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing and adware. Nowadays people wrongfully use the word “virus” to encompass everything that refers to “malware”. Even though malware is not as dangerous as a virus it still affects the user experience and compromises data.

The following is a list of tips that will help you protect your computer from those unwanted guests:

• Download an Antivirus: An antivirus or Internet Security Suite is special software designed to keep Malware ashore, by detecting it, preventing it from running and removing it. There are many vendors and versions of antivirus. There are even some which are free. But not everything that looks like an antivirus might be an antivirus. Make sure to download an antivirus from a reputable vendor and only from their website. When in doubt, contact a Telx Support Technician for help.
• Keep your Antivirus up-to-date: Every day, crackers (also known as “hackers”) come up with new ways to breach PC security. On the other side of the battle there are the good guys, the antivirus developers. They make sure to fight back and add new definitions to their software of what a virus means.
• Do not ignore your Antivirus’ warnings: Many people tend to ignore their antivirus, simply because it won’t let them run a certain program or open a file. Open these programs or files only when you are one hundred percent sure of their source and integrity.
• Keep your Operating System up-to-date: Just as in the antivirus headquarters, the Operating Systems developers are constantly fighting back hackers in order to prevent them from accomplishing their nasty intentions by creating patches for the vulnerabilities in their software.
• Regularly update your software: Just as your antivirus and your OS, your software needs to be updated constantly. Make sure to pay special attention to your browser. You will get update pop-up messages periodically.
• Do not open SPAM: SPAM, or unwanted email, it is not only annoying. In most occasions they carry Trojans. Just like the Trojan horse in Greek mythology, a Trojan horse is a program or files that carry a hidden, malicious code within it. When the user opens the file or runs the program, he or she also activates the Trojan.
• Be smart about your passwords: Make strong passwords, do not use the same passwords for all of your accounts and do not share them with people you do not trust are the main ways to keep your passwords safe.
• Be aware of Internet ads: Remember the old saying: “If it seems to be true, it probably is”. Do not send personal information to unknown parties online, specially is they are offering a prize for it.
• Be careful with removable media: Virus does not only spread through the internet. Removable media like CDs, DVDs and thumb drives can also carry Malware. Do not open files in removable media from untrusted sources.
• All OSs are vulnerable: During a recent study, hackers (white hackers, that is, or hackers who use their skills with good intents by testing system vulnerabilities) from the entire world where gathered to determine which OS is the weakest. Mac OS was the first one to fall. If you are running Mac OS, Linux or even Android, you are still prone to attacks, as any Operating System is vulnerable. Do some research on how to protect yourself on your OS, or give us a call. Remember, we are always glad to help and it is better to be safe than sorry. It is easier to prevent a virus than to uproot it.
• What to do if anyways you are infected?: Turn off your PC and contact a Telx Support Technician immediately.

Every now and then, a technological achievement so big comes by, it changes the way we conduct ourselves. This is especially true when we talk about business. During the last century different technologies have been introduced that have revolutionized the way we do business: the calculator, the personal computer, the point of sale (allowing checking out at stores much faster and easier), the smartphone, etc. The ones relevant to this article are the portable ones, namely laptops or netbooks, smartphones and tablets. Let’s get to know a little bit more about each:

The laptop or netbook: Basically, a fully loaded portable computer. It resembles a notebook (reason for which it is also called that), “folds” shut and opens to reveal the screen and a physical keyboard. The laptop PC and netbook come in different sizes.

The smartphone: Essentially, a cellphone with computer-like capabilities, such as internet access, email, and more. It is mainly used for business purposes and it allows exploiting the potential of our businesses while on-the-go.

The tablet computer (or simply tablet): Probably the most powerful contender on this article. It is pretty much a portable, touch screen computer with wireless capabilities. As its name describes it, it has a tablet shape, thin and light, which makes the tablet quite easy to carry around.

So the question is now: at the time of choosing to buy a new computer, should I go for a laptop smartphone or a tablet?

Well, in order to determine that, you will need to first ask yourself: “What type of user am I?”

If you happen to sit on a desk all day and not be much on the go, then your best choice will be a desktop computer. It is far more powerful and, in most cases, cheaper than any of the other types of computers.

If you happen to do some, yet not much on-the-go business, then probably you will be better off with a laptop or netbook. It is more comfortable to use than a tablet and it has better capabilities.

But if you happen to be on the road quite often and find yourself using your cellphone relatively often, then you must analyze which would be a better choice for your specific case. A smartphone is smaller than a tablet, hence more portable, but, because of its size, a tablet is comfortable to use and has better performance than a smartphone.

If you are still having a hard time deciding, make sure to call a Telx Technician. We will be more than happy to help you, not only make the best choice about which technology works best for you, but also which device fits your needs the best.