Track-It!
I’ve used Track-It! at a couple of previous jobs, but I never explored all the available features until a few months ago when I was put in charge of the IT department here. I needed a way to organize all of the requests that were submitted to us and also keep track of all the desktops and laptops we had floating around. Track-It! was the easy solution. Right out of the box you can easily set up a helpdesk web page that allows users to create work orders and also check on the status of any previous tickets. For users who can’t connect to the website for whatever reason, we were able to configure Track-It! to monitor an Exchange mailbox and generate work orders automatically based on incoming emails.
The website also allows you to post Announcements for all your users. So if an entire application is down you can let everyone know before your phone starts ringing off the hook (assuming they actually check the website). There’s also a solutions database that you can fill with helpful information about common errors and easy solutions. Once again, that requires users to actually use the website and check it regularly.
The asset tracking feature works well enough. For my situation it’s not really ideal because a lot of our users are remote and only connect to our network once or twice a day for a few minutes at a time. Track-It’s inventory feature requires an administrator to manually discover new computers on the network and then manually push the Track-It agent out. If the user only gets online in the evening, finding that computer and pushing out the agent becomes a challenge.
There are other great features available that we don’t use right now. There is a remote control agent that allows you to take control of a user’s computer to fix a problem remotely. You can also enable a password reset option that lets users reset their own Windows password by answering a series of security questions. This requires that your Track-It! database not be located on a domain controller, which is why we don’t have it enabled right now. Maybe we’ll get around to that later this year.
The biggest obstacle in implementing Track-It! is training the users and making them aware of all its features. I’m sure there are more robust programs out there, but for smaller companies like the one I work for Track-It! is a good fit.
Firefox 3.5
Well Firefox 3.5 has been released. I just downloaded and installed it and only one extension needed upgrading to stay compatible which is cool. I lost a very good extension when the upgrade from 2 to 3 occured. I have not made much time for TheJux and a few other side project lately. Just purchased some software for Managed Services and getting that setup so I can offer it to my clients and also going over all the business, marketing and technical training on this has absorbed most of my “free” time.
Anyway I have Firefox 3.5 installed and will be playing with it. I read that it was as fast as the original Chrome which would be cool. I may even switch back.
GA Hack
Read an interesting article today about Google Analytics being hacked on people’s websites. Infected sites will redirect users and most likely infect them with a virus or spyware. So I guess that means we should stop keeping track of who visits our sites? OK so maybe we just make sure our servers are secure and we do not get hacked - no problems yet.
Chrome Extensions
Found an extension today that will put the RSS subscribe in the address bar. No more insane searching for the subscribe icon on a site. I do not know why this is not built into the browser.
Alice.com
So I read about Alice.com and signed up for a free account. It appears to be focused on common household products and having those items shipped to your home instead of driving to the store. I have not checked my last few grocery store receipts to check prices so I am not sure if the prices are lower. I have looked at having my groceries shipped to me (years ago) but there were no companies offering it in my location at the time. Anyone tested the site?
Yay for Boxee!
So today as I am scanning the net looking for stuff I find out Boxee has made a new release…for windows. Although I didn’t pee myself I could have. Boxee is one of the cooler programs I’ve come across lately for streaming video, music, picture media but it was only for Linux so I couldn’t really recommend it to just anyone. I installed it to check it out and it wasn’t to bad, a little clunkier than the Linux version but still pretty rad for a first time platform release. You have to create an account with them and do a little reading to find some of the cooler features but it’s well worth it in the end. Although it’s new, if you have any questions send them my way.
myTouch
T-Mobile has a new Android phone - myTouch. I have been reading about the features and keep looking for a new phone with Outlook Sync capability. And the sync has to be wireless - I do not want to go back to sync with a wire. Moving to a wireless sync was a fantastic thing. I can add events to my calendar on my phone and it syncs back to the office and they know where I am. I add a contact and it syncs back to the office and I can send email. That is a feature I cannot lose when I upgrade phones. My phone is over three years old so it is near the end of its life.
Weekly Review
Well about five weeks ago I started a weekly review. I used to do monthly meetings and then for one reason or another they stopped. With the new place in Jennings, I thought it was a good idea to start meetings again. Nothing too formal but something that will define the coming week and how everyone is doing on the general goals of the business.
I read an article today that suggested the same thing for all your goals - business and personal. The meetings have helped me a lot. It helps me understand where everyone is, what is on everyone’s list, and how I can help with anything they may need help with. I also like to have a monthly run down. How do you keep track of your goals?
Company Finds Million
One of the RSS feeds I subscribe to has a category related to venture capital. I see article after article - company gets 4.7M in funding, company gets 1.3M in funding, company gets X.XM in funding. So how much money would be going out if people were not afraid of the economy? Or more importantly where are my millions? Oh I guess I have to have some brilliant idea that will make billions of dollars.
Opera Unite
WOW - I have seen several articles about Opera Unite and I kept ignoring it. I just watched the video and if it really can accomplish all that without a server that is fantastic. I downloaded the Alpha release. I guess it is time to install it.
UPDATE: Has anyone else installed this? Have an account I can share with? Look me up - pmbaker