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Thread: small business software

  1. #1
    AO übergeek phishphreek's Avatar
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    Jan 2002
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    small business software

    Hi all,

    I'm setting up a machine for my girlfriend's father.

    He is an electrician and does a LOT of side work.

    His old PC finally died on him and we just went out and got him a new machine.
    Its nothing fancy. Just does what he needs it to do.

    The reps where he went were trying to sell him a top of the line machine and he'll never use 1/2 the features.

    So, I went with him and got him a general run of the mills box thats good for internet, office applications, finance/book keeping, etc. Nothing overkill.. but it'll last him at least 3+ years. 2.8ghz/512MB ram/80GB HD/Burner/etc
    (for $350 you can't beat it.. plus a new printer and 17inch monitor.. gotta love rebates)

    I have quite a few office applications setup for him.

    M$ Office Pro (general word processing/spreadsheets/etc)
    M$ Project (manage tasks/time/etc)
    M$ Visio (sketches of buildings/layouts)
    Quicken Home and Business (manage finances/buiness accounts/etc)
    Paper Port Pro (Scanning and Faxing software)
    OmniScan Pro (so he can keep/modify copies of papers)

    He will be using Outlook for contact management, calendar, e-mail, etc.
    We'll be setting up/syncing a palm pilot for on the go contact management/calendar/etc.

    For protection... we're using Norton Internet Security/AV
    Locked down box/policy
    Disabled unneeded services
    Disable/Delete unneeded UIDs
    Multiple UIDs and PWDs for different users and groups (his wife will also be using it for internet)
    ACLs on filesystem with only myself and him as Admins
    Encryption on important/private files like quicken data files
    Adaware/Spybot
    Updates/Service Packs and patches for every application I could find them for
    He is on dial up and won't be using the internet too much...

    Are there any "Must Get" applications that are either free or low cost that would help him out?

    I'm thinking along the lines of inventory mgt.
    Software that will act as a business answering machine with multiple messages available.
    Any software that you feel would be helpful?
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  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    im sorry i dont know of any answering software. but you could always set him up an access database using the inventory control and service call examples. make him some nice easy forms and reports.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Hey Hey,

    I've never used it, but I have a couple friends who have purchased the software, and the site has a demo you can download before you decide to purchase and at $40, I'd say it falls in the neighbourhood of cheap software. What software am I speaking of you may ask? Well that's simple... Advanced Call Center -- http://www.voicecallcentral.com/advancedcallcenter.htm

    If I had a modem, I'd definately be testing it out right now. The only think it doesn't do is allow messages for specific people, but it can determine who's calling and play customized greetings, it can record phone calls in progress (instead of taking notes while on the phone), will verbally tell you who is calling, as well as display it... has hold options, yada yada yada.. It's like having a fairly high end telephone with only a simple software package.

    Anyways if you do get a chance to try it out, let me know if it's any good. It may warrant me stepping out and purchasing a modem.

    Peace,
    HT

  4. #4
    Regal Making Handler
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    My brother is an electrician, who works for a company that installs and maintance industrial cooling systems. His company have setup a database that the engineers can access from on site, the database includes common problems encountered and solutions.

    Of all the gizmo's the company has trialed, this is the one thing that my brother feels has not been a total waist of time. Access is via a bluetooth enabaled device laptop or palm plus bluetooth phone.
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