Rob
Beating Email Connection Problems in Microsoft 365
Although Microsoft 365 is a solid service, it is not impossible on occasion to have issues in connecting to push email with a mobile device. I recently saw this happen and decided it would be a good idea to take a look at what was going on.
If you suffer this issue then one day your phone or tablet will be receiving emails and then one day it will not. The problem will come from nowhere and will make no sense at all.
There is however a good reason for it and relates to the mailbox protection that Microsoft provides (at any one time there are multiple copies of each mailbox).
If you would like to know more there is an excellent article on the Microsoft Technet Blog.
This is the article link.
The fundamental answer to the problem is to switch your device between either your accounts assigned server address and m.outlook.com. The change of address seems to be enough to solve the problem. The article details how to do this.
Leave a commentWeb Site Update For Penarth Funeral Directors
I’ve just performed a web site update for Penarth Funeral Directors designed to help focus the eye on key areas of the web site. The update itself was to simply frame the left and right hand sides of the web site with pictures of lilies. The net effect of this is to create something that is pleasing to the eye and which due to the curving and positions of the flowers means that they neatly help focus the eye on they key content of each page.
The idea here is simple. Take basic rules of image and page composition and use them to create something that is restful , peaceful and helps users quickly find what they are looking for.
Leave a commentA Beginners Guide To Building Apps
I’ve recently done some work with the IT Donut to create an article about what to do if you have a great idea for a mobile phone app, but no idea on how to actually program an app. As smartphones become more prevalent it seems very likely that more ideas for apps will appear – most of them for people who do not know how to write an app.
You find the article on this link: http://www.itdonut.co.uk/it/communications/mobile-phones/beginner-s-guide-to-building-an-app
What’s new in Microsoft 365
One nice aspect of subscribing to a cloud service is that updates are automatic. You do nothing and one day new facilities are there for you to use. It’s all very convenient and handy.
The only problem with this is that if the service in question is large and powerful it can be hard to know what all the changes are. This is particularly true of Microsoft 365. 365 is enormous and feature rich, so rich in fact that you miss that new feature which might be vital for you.
There is a way around this. Microsoft have a service update Wiki for Microsoft 365. If you use the service then it is worth looking at the Wiki from time to time. It won’t tell you what is coming, but it will tell you what has been added to your service.
You can find this essential Microsoft tool at:
http://community.office365.com/en-us/w/office_365_service_updates/default.aspx
Are Social Networks Like Newspapers?
I was letting the massive design change that Google wrought on Google + last week sink in and was considering about the many comments it had attracted when a thought struck me. Have we reached a tipping point in social networks that will allow several to be viable for a business to use and if that is the case do we need to thing about Social Networks now in terms of how they are used and not in how many people they attract.
I extended this though a bit and came up with this – do we now have to consider social networks the same way in we consider newspapers.
Here’s how the thinking works
Facebook: Has mass market appeal with the largest base of people using it. Yet it mostly focuses on gossip, jokes between friends, mass advertising, celebrity culture and photographs. Is it right to think of Facebook as being a Tabloid?
Twitter : Full of links to titbits of information, fast to read, easy to digest information – is this like one of the glossy Sunday magazines that so many papers put out.
Google + : Discussion is the centre of attention with a high level of adoption by enthusiasts, journalists, photographers, writers, artists and other creative types. Google+ offers powerful image display tools and a sophisticated set of tools for image and video display. Due to its focus on discussion and attention to detail Google+ feels more upmarket than Facebook which makes Google+ more of a broadsheet.
This change of perspective means that its no longer about betting on the biggest or the most public network. You need to think about delivering the right message to the right network to get the results that you need. It also means that you can no longer think about betting on which network is the winner. There is no winning network, just an audience you need to try and reach.
Leave a commentWeb Site Design Update for Findingviews
Findingviews has been around for quite some time and exists as a place to find aggregated information and original thoughts / works about digital artwork. Although not exclusively as you see in the image above it also branches out into T Shirt Design.
However the old design was looking a bit jaded and needed a refresh. There was also a desire to make it more mobile friendly without creating a mobile specific web site. That mean working in a way that would scale easily over a variety of screen sizes. The final part of the spec was to enable simple integration to an arts sales site at Red Bubble. Click here if you would like to see that site.
As a result a new look for Findingviews was created that worked with the full width of the browser but which would adapt to a variable width of screen. Attention was paid to the menu – to make sure that the options were large enough to easily tap with a finger, whilst not being so large as to dominate the screen. Everything else about the site was simplified. Clutter was removed in order to make usage and access easier.
The resulting web site is easy to use and promotes a clear display of information.
Leave a commentEncouraging Conferencing and VOIP
I’ve been a long term user and advocate of Skype. It has capabilities beyond a one on one telephone or video call that makes it incredibly useful for anyone working on any sort of business project.
I’ve also been experimenting with Microsoft Lync for some time as part of my business in assisting professionals and companies make best use of Microsoft 365. As a direct result of this work I’ve decided to fully support Lync as part of my personal communications solution.
Skype is simpler to set up than Lync, and for most people is free to use. Lync comes with a server component – so best suits and organisation with a its own Microsoft servers. It also comes bundled into Microsoft 365. Lync offers a good many things beyond Skype – primarily it is a fantastic tool for running remote meeting and training sessions. Lync is a thoroughbred conferencing tool that focuses on more than just the call.
What does this mean to you as a client? It means a lot of things. It means free calls to me, it means the ability to share screens and the ability to collaboratively work on something. It means we can more easily schedule meetings and information exchanges that really work, and that means my work gets done for you more accurately and more quickly.
Leave a commentMicrosoft Drops Price of Office 365
Office 365, also known has Microsoft 365 has just been give a massive price drop.
You can see the new UK pricings on the Office 365 Blog: http://www.office365blog.co.uk/2012/03/microsoft-announced-price-drops-on-most.html
The 365 service is already great value and represents a way of buying to Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Office that suits small business very well. Microsoft is claiming that these prices are the result of efficiencies in operation and scale. I suspect that this is more of an aggressive move to make using 365 a no brainer for potential users.
This is smart as although 365 is an excellent service it suffers from a complex pricing structure and little advertising. I suspect if more people understood Office 365 then more people would use it.
Leave a comment20 Years of MIME Email
That headline may not mean much to you, but MIME is something I am sure you use. MIME allows attachments to work with Email. It is the key to the most used email feature today – the passing on of documents and other files. Yet it is only 20 years old. Its easy to forget that before then all email was text only.
20 years on there are now several movements in email:
The first and most obvious is to improve the carriage of attached data making email protocols increasingly powerful and flexible.
Then there is sharing movement – that is reducing the passing of attachments by email by introducing methods of downloading and synchronising files. I like this method – when used it correctly it leads to better document version management by reducing duplication and complication.
The third and final one is social networking – which takes us back to the email of the 80’s where we email systems that only talk to people within their limited scope. Facebook messaging is a good example. Its email – but only for Facebook members.
However if you would really like to know more I recommend this 3 page article based on an interview with the creator of MIME.
Leave a commentUsing A Theme Refresh to Update a Web Site
I have mentioned that giving a content managed website a new theme is a great way of giving a web site a fresher more modern look without and the time and expense involved in building an entirely new web site.
Another option is to take an existing theme and alter it in some way.
This can be faster and cheaper than changing the whole theme whilst giving the benefits of updating the web sites visual impact.
The trick here is to find a visual cue that will help improve the sites visual appeal whilst also helping visitors see an on-going evolution.
A good example is the Fast Fluid Power web site. Here updating the home page and adding a wall paper was quick modification which has made the site easier to read by altering the page contrast.
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