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Is your e-mail REALLY being read? |
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In today's world e-mail is used as a
primary form of communication like never
before. While this has its advantages
over the conventional postal system, it
has several of the same drawbacks. In
particular, that of knowing if your
e-mail was actually delivered where it
should have been, and if it was really
read. With more business communications
and contractual transactions being
conducted electronically, companies and
individuals need accountability and
protection for important outbound
e-mail. To address this growing need,
Automated Horizons has partnered with
RPostŪ to provide the affordable and
easy-to-use Registered E-mailŪ services.
Risks & Shortcomings of Standard
E-mail
In the case of a dispute over content,
timing, sending or receiving of an
e-mail, the traditional archiving of
that e-mail in electronic or printed
form provides limited evidentiary value.
With two clicks of the mouse, the
recipient (or sender) could change
anything in a standard e-mail (and
attachments) and claim it to be the
original e-mail. Also, anyone can easily
delete an e-mail and claim it was never
received or dispute the time of delivery
if the document was time-sensitive.
Problem Solved: RPost Registered
E-mail Services
Unlike a retained copy of an e-mail, the
Registered E-mail system returns to the
sender a Registered Receipt e-mail which
contains a digital snapshot of the
entire e-mail transaction in case of a
subsequent dispute. This includes the
ability to verify after-the-fact:
- Proof that the e-mail was
delivered, with an official time
stamp.
- Proof of the e-mail content sent
and received, including any
attachments.
Simple, Unique, All-in-One
Outbound E-mail Tool
The Registered E-mail service is simple
to install and use, and works with your
current e-mail program. All features are
available at the click of a "Send
Registered" button. Advanced security
features are available at no extra cost
as part of the main service menu.
Registered Email Services
- Proof of sending
- Proof of delivery
- Proof of content
- Proof of time (atomic clock)
- Receiver does nothing different
- No third party e-mail storage
With the check of a box, users can
also opt to...
- Encrypt for extra privacy
- Electronically sign & time seal
e-mail, attachments
- Convert to PDF
- Zip compress attachments
- Remove metadata
- Record receiver's reply to bind
agreement
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Backups: What you don't know could kill
your business. |
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No matter where you are, what kind of
business you have, or what kind of
network you're on, backups are
essential. Everyone knows that backups
are a good thing, even critical, but how
much do you trust yours? Is it a
foolhardy trust? Is all your critical
data really being backed up?
It is vitally important to make sure
you have an understanding of how your
backup procedure works. A good
technician will always explain your
backup procedure to you when it is
installed. Backups are never as simple
as, "Oh, it's automatic, I don't have to
do anything." Most backup solutions in a
business environment require some
interaction on a daily basis, even if it
is something as "simple" as changing out
a backup tape or hard drive. However,
unless you check the backup software for
errors, you could just be changing the
tape or drive, without the software
actually running. Software is not fool
proof, otherwise you wouldn't have IT
support.
Several things that you should know
about your backup process include:
- What software do I use? There
are hundreds of backup software
packages, including individual
software products that have internal
backups (such as QuickBooks). These
internal backups are not a
substitute for an external backup -
one that can be carried offsite at
the end of each day. External
backups run on their own software,
and it is important to understand
the difference. Knowing what
programs are performing your backups
is the first step to being able to
recover data when you need to.
- What am I backing up to? Typical
configurations use individual tapes,
tape loaders with multiple tapes,
and/or external hard drives. Most
backups for workstations and laptops
use external hard drives, and, due
to the relative cost savings, many
networks are migrating to using them
as well. There are online backup
solutions as well, which transmit
your data over a secure connection
to an offsite server, however these
require high bandwidth and monthly
subscriptions based on storage size.
- How do I work my software? You
should always know how to check the
log file/completion record of your
software in order to check the
integrity of the backup.
Additionally, you should know how to
start and stop the backup manually,
in case you ever need to stop a
stalled job, run an unscheduled
backup, or, in some cases, switch
the media correctly.
If you do not monitor your backups
daily, you may not have what you need in
the event of a disaster or network
crash. This can result in lost
productivity, not to mention the
potential documents, e-mail, and other
data.
Should you want us to review or
upgrade your current backup process,
advise you on a backup system, or are
interested in managed services which
will monitor your network, servers,
workstations, and your backup with
real-time, automatic
notification/trouble ticket generation,
please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Preventive maintenance: Not just a
catch phrase.
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As anyone who has had a computer for
long knows, eventually things break.
It could be the mouse, the monitor, even
the individual keys on the keyboard.
Those are minor annoyances. But what do
you do if your hard drive stops
functioning properly?
Or, less critically, what if your
computer starts slowing down, giving you
error messages, or simply won't boot up
three times out of 10?
Do you replace the computer? But wait,
you only bought it a year ago. It should
still be in decent shape. Maybe you
should have done preventive maintenance.
Watch for our upcoming article on
keeping your network running smoothly in
the December newsletter or contact us
today for more information. |
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