MACPA’s 2009 Small Practitioners Conference Technology tools – How does your firm stack up? Presented By: Peggy Feltner ZenaComp Incorporated Executive V.P.

Security How do you keep your clients information confidential? Solutions: Firewall Every network should have one! Warning IP addresses on the internet and what they are SonicWall, CISCO Land and Wireless Encryption 128 or higher should be used Uploading and Downloading Files Establish a FTP or File Transfer Protocol process Remember “computing” is not easy for everyone, including your customers Password protection Mission Critical Files, your’s and your clients should be password protected. Word, Excel, pdf’s – establish your consistency EULA – End User License Agreement The Internet is Public Domain – simply read the “data” agreement you are assuming when you sign up for an online service

Communication Are you on information overload? Frustrated with how to communicate with your prospects, clients and colleagues? Solutions: efficiencies Have a Domain Name There is difference between pop mail and Exchange Mail Insure you are backing it up Organizing into folders Setting up rules Stop the SPAM from even getting to you A Hosted Exchange solution – you getwww.appriver.com a hosted Exchange Mailbox Outlook 2007 for your desktop/laptop Spam filtering Contacts, Calendar, Public Folders Remote Mail access from anywhere

Communication Are you on information overload? Frustrated with how to communicate with your prospects, clients and colleagues? Solutions: Contact management Personalized Mail Merge Send Out Cards? eNewsletters for your industry that you can subscribe to? eBlast with Send all of your contacts, prospects, colleagues an Use distribution lists Train your Clients? Schedule your day If a client sends you an how do you automatically respond to them? Do what you say Out of Office Assistant Let them know you’re with a client and will get back with them at a specific time Skype a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solution How much are you spending on telecom Utilize a headset for “hands free”

Working Remotely How do you support multiple clients On Multiple versions of accounting software? Solutions: GoToAssist Secure, encrypted end to end remote support Work on your clients workstation from your office No need to drive to the client site Increase your monthly client touch process About $100 per month GoToMeeting Conduct a virtual meeting Don’t just talk to your customers show them and talk About $100 per month PDA devices iPhone Blackberry PDA’s should be implemented in an automated plan a redirector to the desktop is often frustrating creating duplicate records and stress

Your Office Tools How do you access and share data in your office? Solutions: Computing environment – what’s new? Windows Server 2008 – 64 bit Watch for compatibility issues Windows 7 – skipping Windows Vista Ultimate? Free upgrades already being offered to boost sales now! Does your firm need a server? Microsoft Small Business Server offers: Windows Server 2003 or 2008 with Active Directory permissions Exchange Server for full utilization Sharepoint (Web services 3.0) What is a peer to peer network? Two or more computers connected via a switch, hub or router to share data and or printers

Prevention How do I prevent virus’ and spyware From getting into my computer? Solutions: Keep your Anti Virus current New virus’ are written everyday, just because you have Anti Virus that updates regularly doesn’t mean the scan engine within it will catch the virus Best one? Depends on your “computing’ environment Keep all software updates current Office, Quickbooks, Peachtree, Adobe Mark your calendars for the 3 rd week of the month Use Multi level defense Spam blocker – outside your network Firewall – outside to inside your network Keep it professional – home office equipment isn’t for kids Keep it clean – no cutsie google toolbars Don’t just click Don’t be tempted

Prevention How do I backup my data? Solutions: Imaging An entire image of your workstation/server is taken and can be applied to a new workstation/server Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery Backup to an external device USB external drives 1TB = $ Standard backup software vs Online Backup’s EULA – End User License Agreement The Internet is Public Domain – simply read the “data” agreement you are assuming when you sign up for an online Service Archive old data Establish a process when you loose a client Burn an entire directory to a DVD

Presentation Is your firm represented well On the Web? Solutions: Domain Name – Register one for your company, $10/yr? address – Have a professional one Website – have it work for you! Cloud computing Use your Website to process your business transactions Customer portal Common documents (upload and download) Articles of interest Testimonials Social Networking Last year at this time Social Networking existed for teens and college kids Facebook has introduced more areas and more data collectors for you to take advantage of Linked In – exercise - Establish a professional image on the web Think before you post – you’re a trusted advisor and the internet is used as a resource for everyone

Q & A Reference sites: