Imagine this scenario: you’re walking in the french quarter on a cold night and you see a begger with his dog. He asks for help; your nature would be to give to him but you’re worried that it will be used for drugs, alcohol, etc but not food or clothes. You ask his name, he tells you John Doe. You pull out your phone, send a DM that simply says “5.00 to John Doe” to @vcarebacks, and you get a DM back confirming that it’s done and you get a 6 character alphanumeric code.

To add to the “cool” factor it may send out a foursquare-like tweet saying “I gave some vCareBacks here: http://example” – bear in mind, if you’re out at night you’re probably spending at or over $30 on booze, what’s another $5 to help.

You give the man the code and let him know that any he now has $5 vCareBacks from you.

Maybe he scoffs at it because his real intent was to buy drugs or alcohol – or maybe he takes it because he genuinely wants to use it for a real need.

He then goes to any CareBacks-certified grocery store, clothing store, shelter, or hotel and tries to purchase CareBacks for approved goods. When he gets to the counter he tells them is name and any vCareBacks codes he was given. The approved retailer then puts in that info to a website to redeem the money (or DMs again).

Givers and Retailers would have to setup their accounts on the website (w/banking and cc info) before being able to give via twitter).  Instead of DM’ing twitter, you could send a simple text message to a certain number.  To avoid abuse by corrupt retailers, you could have mystery shoppers trying to buy something they shouldn’t…

I’m sure some kinks have to be worked out but it’s almost a metaphor to gov’t giving people vouchers for charter schools. It also empowers individual givers to help people directly.

This idea is a work in progress. Maybe it’s stupid and I’m overlooking something that currently exists. If so, let me know.

It’s like foodstamps 2.0 that non-poor can distribute.

It can be a very frustrating experience, to say the least, but now you can get away from voicemail entirely. Imagine this: someone calls you and gets sent to voicemail to leave a message. Instead of getting that dreaded icon on your phone telling you that there is a voicemail, you’ll get an email which contains their caller ID, an attached sound file of their message, and most importantly, a transcription of what they said.

There are many benefits from using a voicemail transcription service, including:
1. The time savings associated with reading vs. listening to the message
2. The ability to file the voice mail permanently in your email system
3. The ability to easily forward the message to anyone

There are two steps involved in doing this. First, you have to choose a transcription service provider. Then you have to set your phone to “Call forward on No answer” to the phone number the provider gives you. There may or may not be a fee for this depending on your carrier.

Voicemail transcription providers generally charge between $20 – $40/mth. PhoneTag.com and YouMail.com are two good ones.  We’ve used PhoneTag.com are quite impressed with the quality of the transcriptions.

Recently, we’ve switched from PhoneTag.com to a free provider… Google Voice. Google Voice does a lot more than voicemail transcription if you’re willing to give all of your contacts a new number to call you on. If you want to keep your current number, you can just set the Google Voice account to “do not disturb”, which sends calls straight to it’s voicemail. These can be sent to you as text messages or emails.  Be aware that currently the transcription quality isn’t as good as the paid services and it tends to take more rings to make it to voicemail (but free is free).

Try it out. And after a few weeks of massive productivity gains, feel free to take some of your cost savings and invest in some custom software development to make your business run more efficiently.

http://www.suscosolutions.com/SuscoServices.html

Have a great week!

MISSION: To provide businesses with internal and external business applications for all platforms which increase the top line and/or reduce cost, while being a breeding ground for software to take to market.  We are committed to the renewal of New Orleans.

CORE VALUES

ACTION – not reaction. Positive attitudes are a job requirement. No one ever erected a statue of a critic.

EFFICIENCY – we believe in efficiency at all levels, whether it’s our client business processes or our own. We believe in continuous improvement. We accept constructive criticism and become better because of it.

COMMUNICATION – we believe in transparency within the company. We should all know and buy into why we do the things we do. We also believe in managing
our Clients expectations through the whole project lifecycle. We do what we say we’re going to do.

TEAMWORK – we don’t believe in learning the hard way. We leverage our team, both internal and external, to get the job done as efficiently as possible.

Responsibilities
—Assist in Developing Time Estimates for Proposals
—Application Development for iPhone and PHP websites
—Database Design
—Integration of Web Design into Applications
—Testing code
—Client communication
—Designer communication
Technical Requirements
—iPhone – Objective-C, iPhone SDK, Cocoa API, OpenGL, Maps API, Interface Builder
—PHP / MySQL Expert
—Applying and tweaking CSS/HTML (created by designers)
—CMS Solutions (e.g. Wordpress)
—eCommerce Solutions
Other Requirements
—Compatible with all of Susco Solution’s core values
—In the GNO region
—Available on-site as needed
—Working daytime hours (at least 5 hours/day of overlap with business hours )
—Awesome references
Job Description
—Hourly 1099 during probationary period
—Part-time to full-time
—First as 1099, $25 – $35/hr. then as F/T Employee $45k – $55k

We welcome feedback from our network and comments on how to improve this post.

Thanks,
Neel

By simply adding another monitor you can gain to up 50% productivity fairly instantly.  Here’s why:
- You won’t be constantly flipping b/n your email client and whatever you’re working on
- You can actually compare 2 things without struggling to fit them on one screen
- When needed, you can stretch one application across both

This is great for just one user, but if you have a team working for you and you get all of them using multiple monitors the hours of productivity gained will add up very quickly.

It works for anyone at a computer ranging from developers (1 screen code, 1 screen test site) to sales people (1 screen writing proposal, other looking at support material).

If you have a desktop, it’s easy, get an extra video card for $100, get a monitor for $100, and you’re good to go.  If you don’t want to mess with the inside of the computer, you can buy a USB video card instead.

If you have a laptop, it’s REALLY easy, just plug another monitor into your laptop and set the screen properties to “span screens”.

Try it out.  And after a few weeks of massive productivity gains, feel free to take some of your cost savings and contact Susco to develop an iPhone App to better connect to your customers and/or make your workforce more efficient.

http://www.suscosolutions.com/SuscoServices.html

Have a great week!

Neel

Asp.net is superior to ASP Classic. There are four main areas that make ASP.NET a much better choice for programmers. These four areas include: stability, performance, scalability and language support.

#1 Stability

ASP is running under the inetinfo.exe (IIS) process space, making it susceptible to application crashes. This happens because the IIS needs to be stopped or restarted on a regular basis. The ASP.Net process is separate from inetinfo.exe, meaning that it is not susceptible to these types of application crashes. This means that the final product will be much more stable.

#2 Compilation

ASP Classic is comprised of VBScript or Jscript interpreted at run-time which means each page has a specific performance hit due to line by line interpretation. The interpretation of the pages simply results in some inefficiency.

ASP.NET however compiles the code the first time it is accessed. The compiled code results in .NET classes housed within assemblies and allow subsequent page requests to be serviced with previously compiled code. ASP.NET therefore inherently provides a more secure and largely efficient rendering model by incorporating compilation and specifically the reuse of the compiled code. This ultimately means a better experience for the end user.

#3 Scalability

With Classic ASP applications, components used by pages are fairly difficult to update, maintain or replace. In general updating a component in a running application will require the shutting down of IIS, replacement of the component and finally a restart of IIS.

ASP.NET was built to provide specific enhancements that allow scalable and efficient application updating. The ‘xcopy’ deployment model of .NET allows replacement of pages and components in real time and does not require a restart of the web server. If an update needs to be made to a current production application, developers can simply make the change and the infrastructure can account for that change the next time a request is made to the altered page or component. This means that content updates, fixes and enhancements to ASP.NET applications can be made in real time with little to no impact to the user base.

#4 Language Support

ASP.NET supports full server side programming languages and not just scripting languages. Only VBScript and Javascript are available for scripting in ASP Classic where as, in ASP.NET there are no such restrictions. With ASP.NET several programming languages like C# and VB.NET are available to program in accordance to the developers preference where both of them can even be used in the same application. The benefits of using server side programming languages can be seen in the previously mentioned compilation of code and the fact that rich control sets and complex frameworks are available to applications. In summary, the language support of ASP.NET allows for the development of robust, feature rich applications with deep programmatic support.

When your business requires a software solution, you have several directions in which you can go. A credible custom programming firm can help you decide by completing a detailed needs analysis so that they can provide you with the information needed for you to make the best business decision for your company.

It’s not always easy to decide which application is right for your business.  Below are a few pros and cons that may help you decide.

Customized Software – PROs:

#1. Customized software can provide exactly what you need. The actual users are very good at describing the work flow and as a result, the software can be more effectively designed to increase user efficiency.

#2. You own the software and the code behind it which affords you more control over future enhancements so the software can change as your business changes.

#3. Custom software allows for the creation of meaningful reports that are used to make intelligent business decisions.

#4. Once the software is developed the programmer will be familiar with your work process and will be better suited to provide the best technical support understanding common issues, traps, and work arounds and provide continuous improvements to your software.  Unlike an off the shelf software technical support person who usually deals with generic issues.

#5. Since the users will have input into the design, employees will be more readily accepting of the new system. They will also require less training because they were involved in the development.

#6. Your improvement dollars are wisely spent on the functions you actually need to improve your process.

Customized Software – CONs:

#1. Custom Software is customized to fit your needs; therefore you should expect to pay more.  How much more depends upon the scope of the software’s capabilities.  Keep in mind the money you will save in the long run from duplicated work.

#2. Custom software is not readily available like an off the shelf software.  The time frame will depend upon the scope of the project.  The time to develop the software could be reduced by using experienced developers with proven software development practices.

Off the Shelf Software – PROs:

#1. Off the shelf software is readily available for use upon purchase.

#2. The initial cost will almost always be less than a custom software, however you may have licensing fees where you must pay a fee for each user of the software.

#3. Technical support is usually free.

Off the Shelf Software – CONs:

#1. The software may not be able to expand to create other functions that you may need therefore many companies use two different software applications to complete their task resulting in redundant data entry.

#2. You will have to adjust your current workflow instead of the software meeting your process needs resulting in “work arounds” and you not getting the reporting results you want.

#3. If you are experiencing a specific issue with the software, the manufacturer of the software will address the fix or upgrade at their time schedule not yours.

#4. Since the users have no input in how the software would function they may be more reluctant to the change and will require training which can be costly depending upon how many users you have.

#5. Some software manufactures charge annual license or subscription renewal fees.

Hope this helps!

Neel

Many business owners read enviously about other companies automating processes and saving big money, but fail to see how they can apply it to their own business. On first glance, a lot of business owners think that they are too small for automation. The real truth is that business owners just need to spend a little time identifying where automation will help them most.

Here’s the question you have to ask: “What processes do you wish took less time and money and yielded better results?” This question seems daunting at first, but not when it is broken down into smaller steps.

First, think of what processes could be done in far less time and for far less money.

Does your process require the same data being put in over and over again into various systems?

For example, your employees write their time on paper, then someone in accounting puts all that time into QuickBooks, and your office manager tracks how many vacation hours your people are using in a spreadsheet.

Is a human doing what a machine should be?
Is your office manager spending countless hours a week creating the same reports in excel over and over again? Are you accepting all your sales orders over the phone? Are you managing all of your contacts with a book of business cards?

Secondly, think of processes that could yield much better results and then ponder the following questions.

Do you often find errors in your accounting hours?
Do you fall behind on delivering orders?
Do you forget to call business contacts who may have giving you a business card?

Anyone that can answer yes to the above questions can and should automate their business processes.

By automating, you can literally do more with less. You’ll be able to process more information, create more value and get more products out to your clients in less time and with fewer errors. No business owner in their right mind would do accounting with pen and paper, so why do anything else manually that can cost-effectively be automated?

80% of small businesses utilize   QuickBooks to handle their accounting needs.  This includes accounts payable, accounts receivables, time tracking, vendor databases and client databases.  QuickBooks is a revolutionary program that has one big flaw; it does not allow for native importing of other systems data.

Most business and their accounting firms have no idea that they can import anything into QuickBooks with a little help from a custom-programming firm.  By integrating disparate systems with QuickBooks, businesses can increase their productivity and run more efficiently by eliminating redundant data entry.

Benefits to Small and Medium Sized Businesses Utilizing QuickBooks

#1 Data is Entered Only Once

QuickBooks integration means that the data only has to be entered once.   Once the data is entered into a company’s timekeeping or order entry system, there is no need to do anything more.  The data is also entered into QuickBooks in real time, meaning fewer man-hours and more efficiency.

#2 Fewer Errors

There are less data entry errors when QuickBooks integration is utilized, as there is less human data entry needed.  Human beings make mistakes and the ability to eliminate redundant data entry will decrease these errors.

#3 Enhanced Cash Flow

QuickBooks integration allows for faster workflow from the point of entry to the billing stage, which allows the business to bill faster and increase cash flow.

Benefits to Accounting Firms

#1 Emotional Capital

By facilitating QuickBooks integration for their clients, accounting firms will be viewed as problem solvers by their clients.  Being seen as an advisor that can help with broad areas of the business, will lead to more referrals and more overall work for each firm.

#2 Less Errors

Because the information is automatically updated, accounting firms will find that there are fewer errors in their clients QuickBooks files.  This decrease in errors and time spent correcting information will allow the accounting firm to work faster and more profitably.

#3 Files Will Be Received Earlier

Accounting firms will discover that their clients will hand over their QuickBooks files earlier, which will allow the firms to handle the busy tax seasons with ease.

#4 Higher Rate Accounting Work

Because clients will be spending less money on bookkeeping services, accounting firms who recommend QuickBooks integration will see that these same clients now have larger budgets for higher rate accounting work.

Methods

There are two main methods used to facilitate QuickBooks integration.  These are batch imports and backend integration.  With batch imports, the business owner can create an export file, view the contents and then choose to import that file into QuickBooks.  With backend integration, the two systems talk to each other directly meaning that all is completed in real time.

Good examples of businesses that can benefit from QuickBooks integration are accounting firms, staffing agencies that utilize time tracking systems to pay their employees, online stores who sell products online and then must record the sales data for accounting, and large construction companies that utilize complex work order systems.

A credible custom-programming firm can be utilized to integrate QuickBooks into most web applications or desktop application.  This integration enables small and medium sized businesses to grow by reducing man-hours, increasing efficiency and improving company productivity.