RingCentral is a company that specializes in providing business VoIP services, fax services and mobile communication solutions. RingCentral is moving from one (1) Office product to multiple Office editions with differentiated feature or functionality.

New Pricing Editions

Effective July 4th, RingCentral Office has changed to an editions pricing model (US Only).  Each edition now includes specific feature sets and is priced differently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do existing Office customers get moved to new editions?

No.  Existing customers or users will continue to be granted a special exception on their current plans: Entrepreneur, Office Metered Toll-Free (MTF) and Office Unlimited.

Q:  Can existing users be upgraded to the new editions?

Yes.  They can use the upgrade wizard.

Q:  What are the benefits of these new Office editions?

The new editions offer the following:

• Offers you flexibility to select the best feature or functionality set based on your business needs at a low monthly price.
• Enables your large business to move up the market through enterprise level capabilities.
• Provides one complete solution for any location and any number of employees.
• Enables advanced call management and phone system administration.
• Lets you manage, access, and use on smartphones and tablets.

Q:  What are the differences among the new Office editions?

There are various differences among the new editions, namely:

Standard:  Cloud PBX with call management features and mobile apps, unlimited calling/faxing/texting/conferencing and 1000 toll-free minutes.

Premium:  All Standard edition features, Salesforce CRM integration, Automatic call recording, Premium support for 10+ users and 2500 toll-free minutes.

Enterprise:  All Premium edition features and unlimited toll-free minutes

Refer to the table below for more information:

For answers to more frequently asked questions, click here.

For more information regarding RingCentral,

please contact us at 856-745-9990 or click here.

Small and Medium-Size Businesses (SMBs) will often take shortcuts to cut costs when purchasing.  To avoid disasters such as a loss of data or work, SMBs are strongly suggested to focus on the ten points below.

Hardware

Considering the rapid change of technology requirements, a pro-active approach for replacing desktops, laptops, servers, and networking hardware is to look five years into the future.

Backup Software

Although built-in backup software and Windows Server backup are adequate, purchasing a third-party backup solution will have the ability to recover from an image.

Internet Connection

Providing your SMB with a consumer-grade DSL line would not be an efficient business plan. Setting up a network that provides your business with more bandwidth than required will prevent a network bottleneck from occuring.

Firewall

Securing your business with only Windows built-in firewall is not ideal.  Configuring a Cisco, Fortinet, or Sonicwall is more secure, reliable and flexible in a SMB environment.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage provides scalability, reliability and portability.  Cloud storage is divided into three categories:  Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).  Many companies are transferring to Cloud services for access to data outside the network.

Website

Online presence has become an important key for all businesses.  A solid solution is to have a strong website, blogging and effectively using social media.

Redundancy

Redundancy is an appropriate investment towards ensuring that your SMBs network does not go down.  Similar to backups, redundancy does not affect everyday business but should an incident arise, you’ll be glad it’s there.

Support

IT Support is a necessity, whether it’s an in-house department, third-party service provider, or support for software.

Mobile Devices

The ability to work from outside the office and accessing data from anywhere  is now an important key for businesses.  Setting up a virtual private network enables laptops, tablets and smartphones to connect and work from anywhere.

Printers

Supply your SMB with a printer that has the sustainability and features required for business use.

Microsoft TechNet Subscription service is a subscription program and resource center for IT Professionals.  On July 1, 2013 Microsoft announced that as of August 31, 2013, all sales for TechNet Subscription service will be discontinued.  Active accounts will have access for the remainder of their subscription.  Once the subscription period ends, subscribers will no longer have access to the TechNet Subscriptions benefits portal.Microsoft is focusing on developing free offerings for the IT community.

Improved Free Offerings for IT Professionals:

• TechNet Evaluation Center is a free evaluation software available for 30-180 days with no feature limits. 
• TechNet Virtual Labs allows you to evaluate software without the need to install bits locally.  For more information or to visit the Virtual Labs click here.
• TechNet Forums is a free online forums where IT professionals can ask technical questions and receive rapid responses from members of the community. 
• Microsoft Virtual Academy is a free online learning site, with over 200 expert-led technical training courses across more than 15 Microsoft technologies (additional courses added weekly).

Takeaway:  Five useful tools that are satisfactory for Disaster Recovery.

Quick Disaster Recovery

Quick Disaster Recovery can restrict applications from opening at Startup and re-enabling Windows Administrator tools such as Task Manager and Registry Editor. (Free)

Clonezilla

Clonezilla is compatible with Windows, Mac OS and Linux.  Clonezilla has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning.

There are two versions available:

1. Clonezilla live – Backup and restore on a single computer.  (Free)
2. Clonezilla SE – Backup and restore on 40+ computers simultaneously.  (Free)

Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8.  Macrium Reflect has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning, schedule backups, supports RAID and GPT and has a Linux Rescue CD.

There are three versions available:

1. Home-use Desktop Version (Free)
2. Pro Desktop Version ($58.99)
3. Pro Server Version ($199.99)

DriveImageXML

DriveImageXML has the capability to perform disk imaging/cloning, browse and restore images.  Browsing images allows you to restore files, folders or the entire disk image.

There are three options available:

1. Home-use license (Free)
2. 5 user license ($100.00)
3. 100 user licenses ($500.00)

System Rescue CD

System Rescue CD is a Linux rescue disk compatible with Linux and Windows.  This rescue disk can recover data, manage partitions and edit configuration files. 

The System Rescue CD can be modified to your specific needs by adding specific tools or scripts.  (Free)

For disaster tips for your office or home, click here.

Takeaway:  IEEE 802.11ac is the next generation wireless networking protocol as the successor of IEEE 802.11n.

What is 802.11?

IEEE 802.11 is a group of physical layer standards that provide the foundation for wireless networks.

802.11 Timeline:

• 1997:  802.11 – 1 or 2 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum (Legacy)
• 1999:  802.11a – 54 Mbps in 5 GHz spectrum
• 1999:  802.11b – 11 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
• 2003:  802.11g –  54 Mbps in 2.4 GHz spectrum
• 2009:  802.11n – 600 Mbps in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrum

802.11n vs. 802.11ac

802.11ac offers the freedom of a wireless network combined with the capabilities of Gigabit Ethernet.  In a 5.0 GHz spectrum, 802.11ac will provide up to 500Mbps (single) or 1000 Mbps (multi).  Final ratification for 802.11ac expected in December 2013.

Takeaway:  Creating numbered or bulleted lists would be simple with the ability to adjust or remove automatic indents.

Simple Solution

This simple solutions works with the current list only. If you add to this list, Word will remember the indent. When you start a new list later in the document, it won’t.

1. Create an numbered or bulleted list.
2. Double-click any number or bullet in the list to select all.
3. To change the indent position:

• Select the Decrease option in the Paragraph group (Aligning all items to the left margin)
• Select the Increase option in the Paragraph group. (Aligning all items to the right margin)

Entire Document Solution

The entire document solution will adjust the settings for all numbered/bulleted lists in the document.  Instructions below will default the list to be aligned at the left margin (0), you can adjust accordingly.

1. Create an numbered or bulleted list.
2. Double-click any number or bullet in the list to select all.
3. Right-click the selection; select Adjust List Indents.
4. The Adjust List Indents window opens.

• Number Position:  0 (Where the numbers / bullets will align.)
• Text Indent:  .25 (Space between numbers/bullets and text.) 

Takeaway:  Ten popular features that are missing from Outlook 2013.

Right-click Lookup

Outlook 2013 does not include ‘Lookup’ when right-clicking a word.  This feature is still available:

1. Open a new e-mail message.
2. Click inside the message body.
3. Select the Review tab.
4. Select ‘Research’ in the Proofing section.
5. Press [ALT] and select the word or phrase that you would like to look up.  Also, you can type the word or phrase in the ‘Search For:’ box.

Right-click AutoCorrect

Outlook 2013 does not include ‘AutoCorrect’ when right-clicking a word. This feature is still available but will have to be entered manually.  (Right-click Add to Dictionary is still available using a right-click.)

Import/Export Formats

Outlook 2013 only allows .pst (Outlook’s data file format) and comma-delimited data as import formats.  Previous versions allowed many file formats to be imported and exported.

Meeting Workspace

Outlook 2013 does not include Meeting Workplace.  Also, this feature cannot be added to the Quick Acces Toolbar.  Meeting Workplace was a website that supplied Attendees, Date, Time and Location for meetings.

Outlook Mobile Service

Outlook 2013 does not support Outlook Mobile Service (OMS).  OMS let you create and send text/multimedia messages to a mobile device from Outlook, similar to e-mail(s).

Windows Search

Windows 8 does not support using Windows Search to search Outlook e-mail. Previously, you could using Windows Search without opening Outlook to search for e-mail(s).

Calendar Publishing

Outlook 2013 does not support Calendar Publishing; the replacement is Office.com.  Microsoft cut service for previous versions on April 5, 2014.

Drag-and-Drop

Office 2013 does not support “dragging-and-dropping” e-mail(s) in the To-Do bar to create a calendar entry.  You can “drag-and-drop” an e-mail to a shortcut to create a calendar or task entry.

Notes and Journal

Office 2013 supports ‘Notes’ but ‘Journal’ is no longer available.

Suggested Contacts

Office 2013 does not support Suggested Contacts.  Suggested contacts gathers contacts that are not in your list and suggests them.

Takeaway:  Microsoft Surface RT is the first Tablet equipped for enterprise.

Apple and Android are dominant for consumer consumption, but Windows RT is the best candidate for enterprise use. 

Surface RT Tablet

The Surface by Microsoft is a crossover between a laptop and a tablet.  The Surface RT is a slim tablet with a kickstand and the option of a Touch Cover or a Type Cover.

Surface RT is running Windows RT Operating System on a Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 Processor.  Storage options are 32 GB or 64 GB.  According to recent news, only 16 GB available for the 32 GB hard drive and 46 GB available for 64 GB hard drive.  

Surface RT for Enterprise use

Surface RT is pre-loaded with  touch-enhanced versions of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote).  Unlike the iPad, the RT has the ability to increase storage with a USB port and MicroSDXC card slot.

Effortlessly join and integrate a Surface RT into a Windows environment; with the capability to retrieve and share network resources.  Providing a “true desktop browser” and the basic functionality, commonly used with a desktop computer, allow the transition from desktop to tablet to be easy.

Finders Keepers Sale!

You Found It, Now Claim It.

15% off your order of $75 or more.

Visit:  www.bigbeagle.com

Offer expires Sunday, July 21, 2013.  Coupon Code: rsa751a