Meet our team! We’d like to introduce you to Josian. Josian has just been promoted to a full time position with our Support Center. Call our help desk for support? Josian will often be a friendly voice you hear.

Here is a little bit about him!

Where are you from? I’m from Puerto Rico. Picture an endless Florida summer with many mountains.

What are your career goals? I always wanted to be a doctor, but I gravitated towards computers. Luckily Healthcare IT has emerged as a career option over the last several years, so I hope to combine my interests in both IT and the medical field as my career evolves.

Favorite thing to do that’s not working? I enjoy nature walks and stargazing. Spotting the International Space Station in the awesome Florida night skies is especially fun.

What’s your favorite thing about ComputerCare? Working with a professional team and the right tools to get the job done. It’s amazing how solutions are created and applied everyday due to the varied companies we serve. Help Desk has never been so enjoyable.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Have fun and enjoy your day at work.

ComputerCare would like to announce that Mike Remer has assumed the daily responsibility of service delivery oversight and management for ComputerCare. As president of ComputerCare, Mike is excited about shifting back to his former role and being able to interact more with our current clients on a regular basis.

Part of reason for this shift is to place an increased focus on service delivery across the board. Some of the areas Mike will initially be focusing on as Service Manager are reducing response times, resolution times, and improving communication with our clients. This change is part of ongoing strategic efforts aimed at refining and improving service delivery following a year of rapid growth and expansion. We look forward to the feedback and input from our clients as we move forward with this change over the coming weeks.

Recently, ComputerCare CEO Heather Remer was featured in Business in the Heart of Florida Magazine!  This article series focused specifically on “Women of Leadership,” and interviewed several prominent women business leaders in the community. Heather, who is co-owner and CEO of ComputerCare, answered several questions that ranged from “do you feel being a woman has especially helped or hurt you in your industry” as well as “what advice would you give to women who are considering starting a business.” Heather was also asked about what mentors she seeks out for guidance and what aspects of her job she enjoys the most. When asked what three words best describe Heather, her response: “persistent, pioneering, improving.” The team at ComputerCare only has one word to add: PROUD!! Congratulations to ComputerCare’s very own Heather Remer for her recognition in Business in the Heart of Florida Magazine’s series “Women of Leadership.” To read the full article, follow the link here.

Many of you have already seen our recent video but for those of you who haven’t, here it is. Things were getting a little crowded before our recent move and, to ease some of the tension, our team put together a little video that we have been sharing with our clients, partners, friends and family. If you want a chuckle, take a look!

Over the next couple of weeks, ComputerCare will be revamping our phone system to eliminate prompts, reduce or eliminate hold times and allow clients to reach a technician more quickly. We expect this to significantly improve the experience for our callers. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your feedback.

Cornerstone Financial Group is hosting a free Better Business Planning seminar October 4th and again on December 6th, 2012 at 11:30 am at Cornerstone Financial. The seminar will cover many topics related to business planning and is led by Cornerstone wealth advisor Matt Barker. Topics covered will range from how to fund the purchase of a business, why choice of entity really matters, as well as choosing which benefits are best for your company, plus many others. The seminar is free, however space is limited. If you are interested, please RSVP by contacting Jen Greer at 352-378-7456 today!

Matthew Barker of Cornerstone Financial Group invites you to attend a free and in-depth discussion about some tough issues that face parents and their family’s future. This free seminar, scheduled for September 27th and again on October 23rd 2012 at 6:00 pm, will cover topics ranging from who will make decisions for your child if you are unable to do so, who would raise your child if you were unable, to learning about being properly insured and how best to fund your child’s college education. The seminar is held at Cornerstone Financial Group and is free to attend, however space is limited. Contact Jen Geer at 352-378-7456 to RSVP.

ComputerCare focuses not on just addressing client technology needs, but also evaluating client business processes to help determine what technology solutions are right for each business we work with. This is why we have now partnered with SPC International to provide training to our staff to increase our ability to serve our clients and partners in a way that increases their productivity. SPC International is dedicated to working with IT service providers to implement best practice service delivery models geared at strategic, proactive service. Most recently, Heather Remer, CEO and Mike Remer, President, attended an intensive 2 day boot camp in Orlando, Florida, where Heather and Mike worked on effective strategies to streamline business systems and technology both in house and for our clients.

“We are very excited about his partnership. Not only will it give our staff a greater understanding of the business needs of our clients and improved methods for delivering service, but most importantly, it will translate to improved services to our clients and partners,” says Mike.

For more information on partnering with ComputerCare LLC for your business needs, contact Michael Remer, President at 352-378-8433 or email info@computercarellc.com.

Feeling like the majority of your day is spent sorting through, responding to, or being interrupted by your email? It’s time to reign in that email monster and get it working for you rather than against you once again. Imagine the glory of it all when you open up your email box to find it (queue the trumpets) empty!

Here are some tips I’ve compiled that will help you get back in control of your inbox:

 
1. Utilize filters. You can have your IT provider set up specific rules and filters so that emails come in and are automatically filed into certain folders for later review which brings me to my second suggestion…
2. Read Getting Things Done by David Allen. But before you do, take his tip and organize that inbox. Don’t leave all of your emails hanging out in your inbox. It becomes a nightmare trying to find anything AND will very likely start to slow down your email application over time which can be a bummer.
   1. Action Needed – anything requiring YOU to do something
   2. Read and Review – for you to read or skim when you have time
   3. Waiting For – You are waiting for info from someone else
   4. Someday/Maybe – You might need this info at a later date.

Start with the following folders:

You will need to set aside some scheduled time during your day, week or month to address the contents of each of these folders of course.

But doing so this way rather than trying to address each email as it comes in OR ignoring them completely will be much easier on you mentally and reduce your feelings of frustration.

3. Utilize David Allen’s 2 minute rule. If you can address the email in less than 2 minutes, go ahead and get it over with.
4. One last David Allen plug. The “Do, Delete, Defer” method. Want a clean inbox? Handle every email the first time you touch it. Respond to it, delete it if it is not important (sometimes this is a tough decision), or defer it. Deferring could mean moving it to one of your folders to be addressed later, or delegating the issue to someone else. Either way, get it OUT of your inbox.
5. Process your email in batches. Don’t open every email as it pops up on your screen. Instead set aside some time every half hour, or hour or so (or if you are really brave, once a day) to go through your inbox. You are going to have to deal with interruptions throughout the day. Don’t let something as controllable as your email be one of them.
6. Send bridge emails. People understand we are busy but don’t appreciate being ignored. When you get an email that is going to require some time, thought or energy to respond to it, send a bridge email which is simply an email to let the sender know you received their email but are unable to respond right now. If you can give them a time frame for when you will get back to them, great!
7. Avoid CCing people when not necessary or responding to emails with “Thanks.” Certainly people want to feel included and appreciated, but sometimes we take this to the extreme and your inclusions and gratitude turns into interruption and annoyance.
8. Follow up when you say you will. It is very frustrating to email a request to someone only to have to follow up multiple times due to a lack of response. Even worse, it degrades the trust of your team as they start to learn they cannot trust you to follow through. Create a work atmosphere where everyone is held accountable to what they agree to including following through on email requests. You and your team members should be able to rest assured that when an email request is sent, it will be taken care of and the sender can put the request out of their mind and focus on the next task at hand.
9. Share these tips with your coworkers. As bombarded we all are these days with email, it is the very rare person who couldn’t use a tip or too to get control of the email monster. Plus, the easier and less stressed your coworkers are, the better your work environment will be.

Due to the flooding in Thailand hard drives are in limited supply. This problem is affecting all major computer and component manufactures. Unfortunately, this means:

• Increased cost for hard drives

• Decreased availability for hard drives

• Longer than normal delays for warranty replacement

While we are not seeing a high increase in solid state drive (SSD) pricing yet, as supply starts to be effected this could increase as well. Unfortunately we do not have any information as to how long the shortage will last but we will do our best to keep you posted.