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Mobile Solutions for your Business

Derek — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:30:05 +0000

Times sure are changing and it is becoming increasingly important to find the best way to make your teams efficient to reduce overhead costs. Over the last few years Eligeo has worked with many businesses to help them take advantage of Cloud technology to automate and streamline their business processes. It doesn’t cost as much as you think and the results are incredible.

Mobile Signatures & Invoices

A current project we are currently working on will allow us to automate the way a residential cleaning company tracks and invoices customers. Utilizing any tablet, this business will soon have the ability to pull up work orders and job lists right from their database sitting back at their office. The employee can access all pertinent information related to the job and then upon completion of the work simply close the work order and invoice the customer. From there they can either print a receipt from a mobile printer or easily email the customer a receipt.

This is the future for many businesses. This particular customer is saving on paper, data entry and lost revenue costs. In addition they are also providing themselves with real time data views of sales data which in the past was only available weekly. Now it is at their finger tips.

How does the elimination of paper work? Well, that work order we discussed is simply signed by the customer using a stylus right on the tablet screen. This signature is saved along with all other work order details into their database back at the office. This makes it easy to pull up information whenever needed.

Simple, Cloud Databases

Mobile solutions are becoming increasingly easier to use than ever because of Cloud tech. This concept isn’t new but it is being used a lot more than ever before because of the ease of accessing these services. What is cloud? All it means is that there is a server sitting somewhere remotely from where you are. It could be at your neighbours or in a data centre in Vancouver. It could also mean a lot of other things that I won’t touch on here as it can be pretty technical. Bottom line though, is that it works. And it works well and it is cost effective.

The types of database solutions range from solutions such as Microsoft Azure or any basic hosting service. It all comes down to how much volume, usage and traffic will be going through the solution. An expert from Eligeo can help you determine the most appropriate service for your solution.

How do you get your own Cloud Mobile Solution?

That’s easy. Give us a call for a free no obligation quote as we can help you discover hidden profits within your business by deploying mobile solutions that make you more effective than ever before.

Automate Your Field Team

Derek — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:04:29 +0000

Many of the businesses that we meet in Calgary have one common problem when it comes to maintaining customer information and records: paper.

Eligeo has been working with customers throughout Southern Alberta identifying their needs and determining the best way to automate the processes within their business. One way of doing this is identifying where a lot of wasted time is spent and how you can eliminate this time by utilizing technology such as SharePoint to make things easier for you and your staff.

The Problem

Businesses are using paper to track invoices and work orders. This leads to cost in paper and manual data entry to be completed when the paperwork gets back to the office.

The Solution

Utilizing the power of SharePoint which is part of the Office 365 suite that allows you to create custom forms to capture information using any mobile device. This information can then be easily stored into a database of your choice.

How we build your solution is doing the following:

We take any manual hand written forms that you already possess
We identify where we need to store that information (custom database in your office..etc)
We then translate those written forms into electronic forms that you can complete on your phone
Your field staff can now load up these forms from their mobiles phones or tablets to capture important data

What kind of forms?

The most common forms are checklists that you may do for inspections or summaries of the work completed on-site with your customer. This information can easily be captured and stored into a database for viewing later or immediately by a supervisor back at the office.

How much does it cost?

Thanks to the power of the cloud and Office 365 you don’t need to worry about cost as much as you had to in the past. For only $7 per month per user you can subscribe to Office 365 and have the full power of SharePoint and capabilities to automate your work force.

Actual development of the forms for your mobile devices is cost effective as well as the tools that have been developed by Microsoft allow for a quick turn around on form creation. Each project varies but you can contact us for free no obligation quote today.

What’s in a phone? Say, a smart phone?

Derek — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:27:29 +0000

Are you a PC or a MAC? I loved these commercials when Apple was pitting Justin Long against the PC.

So these days it has now turned into the iPhone versus Android world. Although there are still the RIM and Windows Phones kicking around but the real battle right now is between Android (primary samsung phones) and iPhone’s.

So what type of phone is the best fit for people?

Well according to a few websites out here, here are some characteristics:

iPhone

You’re probably a big Mac loyalist to begin with so you’ll buy anything Apple branded
You love your “Apps” and love that you can get close to 1 million of them
You want something easy to use
You like the cool factor

Android

You hate being restricted
You much rather make a phone call then play HD games on your phone
You like to tinker with your phone and experiment
You one of Google+’s biggest users

BlackBerry

Who?

Alright, I was being a bit silly with this blog since it is fun to highlight the humorous side of things when it comes to the whole smart phone market. No matter what you phone you have you likely enjoy defending your phone as much as possible. I think a lot of people do this simply because the cell phone has become so personal since we store so much information on it.

So I’ll be a bit serious from a business owner perspective what phones have the best advantages and disadvantages.

I’ll start with what a lot of business people have, the BlackBerry. In recent years, especially the last, many owners have started to move away from the BlackBerry in favour of the iPhone. This is especially true in our client base. The Blackberry has one thing going for it and that is the keyboard. The security features in a BlackBerry phone is and will likely always be far superior to any other phone but in most situations the security offered by an iPhone or Android is sufficient for what most business owners do.

Next up is the obvious, iPhone. There is no doubt that the iPhone has changed everything for cell phones. The simple concept of having Apps has made it easier to automate business processes and to develop solutions that change the way businesses operate. For us at Eligeo it isn’t uncommon for us to pop onto a server from a smart phone to add a user to a network.

As for the Android platform. It depends on the phone you buy as there are so many different models using Android. The most popular models are from Samsung including the flagship Android phone Galaxy Nexus. The nice thing about Android phones is that they also have Apps but it is much easier to develop apps and get them published on an Android system.

Finally, Windows Phone 7. The current flagship phone in Canada is the Nokia Lumia 800 which runs Windows phone 7. We have this in our office and it works like a dream especially when setting up Office 365 on your phone. SharePoint works great as does contacts, calendar and email. Windows Phone is gaining traction with Nokia on board but it may still take some time. Developing Apps is a lot easier than any of the phones list above as Windows Phone development is very similar to that of building an application on a desktop.

Is there a perfect solution? Not really but there are lots of options available to you. Find a phone that is comfortable and works for you and of course fits in with your business needs. Eligeo supports all mobile devices and can help you connect any of them to your networks with ease.

How Virtualization Technology is changing Small Business

Derek — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:57:38 +0000

You’ve probably heard a lot about different types of technology solutions out there and one of the most common everybody is quite familiar with is cloud. Whether you’ve seen the cute Microsoft commercials depicting the Cloud or even the iCloud commercials for your Apple products, you have a bit of a sense of what it is. But what really is the cloud? What does it mean for small business?

Before I jump into what Virtualization is, let’s talk about the cloud. Whether you know it or not, you’ve been using this technology for years. Here is a quick definition of what the Cloud is:

A place where data and software is stored on a remote server rather than on a users local computer.

So if you really think about it, we’ve been doing this Cloud thing for years. Whether you were using Hotmail before Microsoft bought it or uploaded pictures to websites in the early 2000′s. We’ve been using the Cloud for years, it’s simply that in recent years they have now coined a term for it. But where it gets really exciting is when we start talking about Virtualization.

Let’s virtualize your computer environment. Less servers, more server space, less costs. Sounds good hey? And for once it isn’t too good to be true. Many of our clients are starting to utilize virtualization from VMWare and Microsoft in many different ways. Here are some examples:

Data Backup

What would happen if your server crashed and you were down for several days? With a new storage solution we are able to create a “virtual machine” copy of your server. This is done in 15 minute increments so we are basically making an identical copy of your server just in case.

How it works is a software program is installed on your server and it then can do several things. It will write to either an external hard drive or off-site location an identical software copy of your server. The beauty of virtualization software is that you can run the virtual machine server on any physical server.

So let’s day your primary server at your office crashes. At Eligeo, we are pro-actively monitoring all systems and in the event that a catastrophic failure occurs we can quickly bring back your server online using the backup image that we’ve stored on an external hard drive or another remote location. You’re literally back online in 10 minutes.

One Server, instead of 2,3 or 4..etc

A virtualized server (or hyper-visor capable) can handle multiple server instances. This means instead of buying 3 or 4 servers you can actually buy one physical machine and install multiple “virtual servers” on it. This is great if you need one server for a line of business application, another for a database and one other for your file shares. They are cost effective and easy to implement.

There are a number of applications that can be used for virtualization technology and the best way to find out more about it is to talk to an I.T. professional at Eligeo to help you plan the best strategy for your business.

Realizing your current provider isn’t meeting your needs

Derek — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:41:01 +0000

As Eligeo has grown over the last several years we have taken on a lot of customers who have had a previous technology provider available to them. Discovering when it is time to move on is always a tricky proposition for business owners and managers as sometimes you just don’t know what you don’t know.

We’ve seen a lot of different situations and one of the most common is the “I.T. guy”. This is the individual who has serviced a company for several years but ultimately failed to be there when they needed him most. Those times would be server outages, data back up recovery or just general support when you just have a quick question. With a managed service provider such as Eligeo Information Technology you are not just hiring an I.T. guy but you are hiring an entire company of professionals working for you every day and available to take your phone call.

With Eligeo we work to ensure that our customers have a complete disaster recovery plan to ensure that if disasters strike then the downtime is minimized to minutes rather than days. Our strong relationships with our vendors and partners is evident as we seek to ensure that we continue to deliver best practices to the customers that we serve.

Identifying where your current provider is hard but what you can do is contact us for a free assessment on your business. We can provide valuable input into the systems and processes that you have for your current I.T. infrastructure and make recommendations to help build a stronger foundation.

Eligeo IT – TechTip Tuesday – How to use Cute PDF

nicole — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:37:45 +0000

Watch the video below for a step-by-step guide by Eligeo IT on how to convert to PDFs using Cute PDF. Folllow us on Twitter @eligeo or like us on Facebook at EligeoIT for regular TechTip videos every Tuesday.

Tech Tip Tuesday – Out of Office Replies in Microsoft Office

nicole — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:35:28 +0000

Watch out Tech Tip Tuesday video below on how to create an automatic out-of-office reply in Microsoft Outlook.

Eligeo IT featured in SMB Nation Magazine

nicole — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:47:37 +0000

Eligeo Information Technology is featured in the November/December 2011 edition of SMB Nation Magazine. The article takes a look into Microsoft Office 365 and how it has helped businesses since its launch on June 28, 2011. Office 365 allows people to access their files from anywhere, as long as they have internet connection. Derek, from Eligeo IT, was interviewed as a case study for small businesses using Office 365.

Eligeo IT opened in 2008 and started out using Google Apps for Business with Microsoft Office. After finding some difficulties with Google Apps, Derek came across Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS). Derek used Microsoft’s BPOS at Eligeo IT for a while, until Office 365 was announced. BPOS was the precursor to Office 365, which means Eligeo IT made the natural switch and immediately loved the new system.

Now, months later, more than 50 per cent of Eligeo IT’s customers are making the switch as well, with the hopes that more will make the transition. Derek says that he has heard nothing but positive responses from clients and has had great experiences himself. Office 365 offers companies a user-friendly, cost-effective and easy-to-install option.

Click here to see the article on Page 15 of SMB Nation Magazine.

Try us out. 1 free hour on us

Derek — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:28:47 +0000

If you’ve been hesitant on trying out a new information technology provider or were curious to see how an I.T. company can help your business we want to invite all prospects to try us out for 1-hour free. To top it all off we will also include several bonuses to help give you better insight into your business as well as our services.

What do you get for 1-hour free?

Free 1-hour tech visit to look at any issues you desire
A completed 12-point office inspection report
A completed recommendation report within 48 hours
A completed network audit/analysis report within 48 hours

All of this for just trying us out. Call today: 403-770-9238.

Is data in the cloud really that scary?

Derek — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:22:35 +0000

Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to prospects and new customers about the benefits of cloud computing as well as the pro’s / con’s. Most business owners are very protective of the data for their business including such things as financial records, customer receipts, customer communication, staff correspondence and maybe even staff photo’s. When I talk to customers about moving their data into the cloud their is a small hesitation for many customers to make that transition because of one thing: control.

Control. This is a big reason many people get into business in the first place is that they feel like can control a business better than the people they worked for before. So when it comes to such things as data it isn’t a surprise that many business owners hate the idea of moving their data into somebody else’s building for protection. But are you really giving up control? I think it is having as much control as you do now since you really can’t stop an employee from stealing data or potentially burning down a building.

When data is sitting in the cloud you are entrusting your data to established businesses that include vendors that we deal with including Microsoft, Mozy and Panda Security. You sign a contract with these businesses to ensure that they protect your data from theft, fire and loss. They have essentially become your insurance policy against the loss of information from your business. This is no different than the security system installed in your office to the security guards at your gate to the employee that secures a safe at night. You’ve just simply changed the way you deal with the control of data backup.

Online Data Backup shouldn’t be scary but it is something that is best discussed with an expert who understands how online backup works and how it can impact your business. If you’re interested in learning more about online data backup please contact us today.