Watching a movie that's over ten years old can feel bizarre. The internet they show, if they show it at all, seems primitive and foreign, even if it might have seemed cutting edge when the movie released. Few people, if anyone, had cell phones and when they did, they barely resemble what we use today. Our world has continued to change rapidly and it can be difficult to keep up with ever evolving trends, attitudes and perceptions. The pervasiveness of mobile technology, in particular, is something that drives society more than almost any other factor today. 

With social media and online connectivity, mobile devices are becoming more and more popular and are used incredibly often by people of all demographics. Whether it is a sixteen year old girl in high school or a CEO in his mid-fifties, people use their mobile phones constantly. This leads to the expectation of being readily accessible and having constant contact with people. People like to converse in quick, short messages whether it is through text messages, over Facebook or an online instant messenger program. Because of this rapid response expectation, it is extremely important that you stay in contact with your clients. This can be as simple as posting to your Twitter account on a regular basis (at bare minimum a few times a week) or responding quickly to emails. If people do not feel connected, you will tend to lose them. With people disconnecting faster and faster, making connections is more important than ever.

People are using their mobile devices to connect to everything and anything, which means two things. The first is that having a good, reliable, accessible web presence is more important than ever. If people cannot find you online, they are likely going to move on. General attention spans are short and people's tolerance for any sort of difficulty is very low. If your site isn't easy to use or is hard to find, you are going to lose clients and prospective clients. The second thing is that you need to have a site that works well on mobile devices. A lot of people surf the web from their tablets or on their phones and if it doesn't work properly, people won't want to use it, which will cost you. 

There is an app for just about everything these days. Whether it is for checking the weather or figuring out a how much C02 was saved by walking to work instead of driving, there are apps for just about everything. Often, the fact that a company provides a mobile app is a selling point that they will advertise on their site. While developing such software can mean increased appeal,  it’s not always worthwhile. The first thing to note is that app creation tends to be very expensive. The expectation of an app is generally that it is easy to use and does what it is supposed to do. This can be much more complicated than it appears at first glance and integrating an app can also mean a varying amount of work on your website as well. You can use apps effectively without creating your own through things like Twitter or other social media apps just by using those services. 

People want to be able to buy things online and not have to leave their homes or workplaces. They are also looking more and more to online methods of donating to the non-profits and charities they want to support. This can be done in just a few short minutes instead of having to spend the time to call and process information over the phone or taking the time to fill out forms and send them in by mail. Online donations can be set up easily and ecommerce operations are becoming easier to do by the day with companies like Facebook and Google getting in to the game and having payment services like PayPal available in addition to credit cards. People are spending their money with their mobile devices and eCommerce integration can lead to a huge boost. 

A big advantage is that now more people can connect with you in varying ways from essentially anywhere. While this means that you do have to make sure your site is mobile friendly, and maintaining contact with clients is more important, this also broadens your exposure to potential clients. If you are a regionalized organization, this is not as important as if you can operate on a larger scale, but it does mean that clients, regardless of where they are from, can connect with you from wherever they are at that moment. And just because you are limited in scope to a regional area, this doesn't mean broader exposure can't be beneficial. Whether it is connecting you with other organizations with similar goals, sharing information with others or reaching out to benefactors who are looking to back causes like yours, there are definite advantages to increased exposure.

In short, people are accessing more information from more places and want to be able to do more quickly and easily. They want to connect with people and business no matter where they are and they want organizations to interact with them, not just talk to them. They expect easy to use sites and options to do more things online, like shop or make donations. They want to have more movies and interactive content on sites and they want information available to them. Small steps towards accommodating an increasingly mobile world can make a huge difference, whether that is establishing a social media presence or doing an overhaul of your website to help with mobile viewing and modernize the look and functionality. If you're not sure what you can do to better take advantage, contact us and we can help. 

The evolution of technology is moving at such a rapid pace, it can be hard to see what has come and gone and even hard to keep track of all the new innovations. The world wide web has been around for nearly twenty years now and in that time the world has changed dramatically. Science fiction shows that seemed so ahead of their time and farfetched can now seem antiquated and lacking in technology. Things that seemed impossible even ten years ago now seem to be just a matter of time. In the 80's, having a beeper or a cell phone the size of a brick was a major status symbol. Now mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and tablets are common place. These devices get more powerful seemingly every day and that trend continues as power goes up and prices go down, resulting in more and more people using these devices. A lot of people may dismiss these mobile devices as toys or gimmicks, but using mobile devices can bring a lot to an organization.

Technology has changed and continues to do so . Modern mobile devices now run faster than most full sized computers did even five years ago. This is a lot of power to have literally sitting in the palm of your hand. Even basic cellular phones purchased in the last five years can call, send text messages and email from just about anywhere. Now modern smart phones, like the iPhone or Galaxy S3, can do almost anything a modern computer can do. Information is at your fingertips with these devices. Trying to remember who played that character on a favourite TV show in the 90's? Or maybe you want to check reviews on a restaurant while you are walking downtown. Now it's as simple as a few screen taps and you can find out almost anything in a matter of seconds. 

 Being mobile and accessible is important in today's world. You want to be where your clients are. With a smart phone, you can have access to your appointments, emails, phone and more (including applications like Skype) essentially anywhere you go. This means that being out of the office doesn't mean you are unavailable and allows you to make a more personal connection with your clients. With tablets, you can even give a presentation or show a short video to people on the go without having to carry much in terms of hardware. The tablet screen is more than adequate to show something to a small ground around the table, enabling you to add multimedia and other interactive elements to your presentation. You can also bring someone in to the meeting that couldn't otherwise attend. For example, you are in Winnipeg to meet with a client and your boss, who is in Toronto, wants to sit in on a meeting. While you are at the clients' office, you set up your tablet and now your boss can see, hear and interact with everyone as everyone can with him. The conversation becomes much more fluid and natural and allows for a better meeting.

Mobile applications are also becoming more popular and more powerful. The superior software allows smart phones and tablets to do more than ever before. Although you can do some photo and video editing on these devices, they still aren't generally as powerful as modern desktop systems. One application that makes your mobile device even more effective when you are working from home or on the road are remote desktop applications. This allows you to control your computer from a remote location (essentially anywhere with internet access) from your mobile device. This means you can not only demonstrate a program from almost anywhere, you can also use much more powerful software through your mobile device on your computer.

Mobile devices aren't only convenient to have on the road, they can be very useful within the office as well. If your computer is occupied with a program taking up all of its resources (rendering a video for example), you can still use email or review a document while you wait using a mobile device. Since most mobile devices also include microphones and high definition video cameras, this makes video conferencing much easier, more accessible and extremely portable. Most online learning platforms also support mobile devices, meaning you can learn from anywhere. You can also process spread sheets, edit photos and use social media very efficiently. Mobile applications are generally easy to use and surprisingly powerful. The apps also tend to be very reasonably priced, often free to costing a few dollars for a full featured application.

The best thing about mobile devices, in addition to all the benefits they bring, is that they are now extremely accessible. The interface is very easy to understand and most will be able to pick up a device and begin to use it within minutes, if not seconds. Though they can take a long time to master, these devices are made to be used quickly and easily, especially for basic things like checking your email or browsing the web. They're also very affordable. You can get smart phones for $0 (although this usually requires signing up for a 3 year contract) and tablets can be bought outright starting around $200. For something that will allow you to take high definition video and photos, show high definition movies, conference and interact, create documents, edit pictures, stay connected with your office, attend conferences and seminars, make phone calls, research information on the fly and so much more, that's a great price. The best part is, aside from a case (and in some cases a cellular plan), everything you need for most tasks are included.

If you are wanting to do more and get more out of your time, mobile devices are a great tool. A lot of people already have devices that you may be able to integrate. They're powerful, easy to use and very affordable for everything they bring to the table. Being able to go out to where your clients are will bring you closer to them. Staying in touch over social media and being consistently available will keep you closer to them. Enhancing your presentations, strengthening your tool set and connecting where you need to be connected will only help to reach your goals. 

There are few battles out there that cause as much discussion as the Mac versus PC debate. There are many arguments to be made in favour of both competitors and people will bring up points both ways, many of which are subjective and not all of which are true or logical. I have both a mid-level desktop PC and a Macbook Pro so I have had experience using both. What do I prefer? The honest answer is I love both of my systems. Which one is better for you really depends.

The first thing to mention is that Macs have become a sort of status symbol. Having a glowing apple on your laptop is a way that people will notice you and is something most of us will notice. This shouldn't be either a pro or con in regards to your choice of computer, but it is important to note as it can influence buying decisions. It also means that although PCs are still the vast majority of computers, Macs are increasing their market share and it only looks to increase as Apple products become more and more popular with the masses for a lot of reasons.

Hardware used to be a main separating point between Macs and PCs but today they have very similar innards. Apple controls exactly what pieces go into each and every Mac so you don't see a ton of different models. Macs are well built machines, using quality components and this is a good thing. PCs run the gamut in terms of the quality of each machine. You can get very inexpensive hardware and you can also get very cheap parts that will fail on you due to a huge number of manufacturers. There is no standard for PC  and there are so many options to take into account. A key difference is that Macs all use a unibody design. This means that even when you get an iMac (a desktop Mac), you are using the same type of components as you would get in a Macbook Pro. Typically, the parts in an iMac are more powerful but things like the video card still use the same type of card you would get in a laptop. This doesn't mean the iMacs aren't powerful but mobile parts are generally more expensive than their larger counterparts. 

One problem with Macs is that you cannot upgrade or repair your Mac easily by yourself. Apple doesn't sell Mac parts and, once your warranty is up, the labour and parts cost can be pricey. Even if you could get the parts, working with the Mac hardware can be difficult if you do not know what you are doing even with instructions. With a PC, hardware repairs and upgrades are easier and can often be done quickly with many resources online to help with installation. There are also a lot of different options for parts for PCs. This can be a problem when trying to find the best part whereas with a Mac, there are approved parts so picking the right replacement part is simple.

The biggest difference between a Mac and a PC, aside from the aesthetics which Apple generally does a lot better, is the operating system. PCs run Windows, which most of us have used at one time or another, and Macs run OSX. OSX is a very simple operating system with a clean interface but that takes some time to learn fully, especially if you are used to using Windows. OSX is also the best feature of a Mac. It doesn't consume resources the same way Windows does and uses the resources of the computer hardware more efficiently. This means that when you're doing work that can be hardware intensive (things like photo work, videos and other creative design), the same programs often run better on the Mac platform. Load times, boot and shut down times as well as install times all tend to be significantly faster than on PC.

While PCs may not use resources as efficiently, they can still be built more to be more powerful (or upgraded more easily) and the user experience is becoming more friendly every time Microsoft takes another shot at it. A big advantage PC has is that they are more popular. Most businesses use PC as they have lower upfront costs (there is rampant debate about if Mac is actually any more expensive in the long run) and run most productivity software for business better (although Mac still has an edge with creative works like photo editing).  This means more people are comfortable with Windows and people tend to like what they're comfortable with. It also means PC file versions will be better distributed as more people will be able to open the files. For example, MS Office files on Mac cannot be opened on a PC but PC Office files can be opened on a Mac. 

The biggest problem with Mac is the lack of software. More and more titles are coming over all the time, but the selection can be limiting. At times you'll find Mac versions of software are lacking (although there are times where it is better than the PC version) and often released well after the PC version. The more people that switch to systems running OSX, the better the software development will be for them. This also means that if you are upgrading your systems and changing over to Mac from a PC, you may have to repurchase some, if not all, of the software you use on  daily basis. This can be a major cost but not insurmountable. Out of the box, Mac also comes with a variety of software not included on your PC and there are a number of cheap if not altogether free options that could lower this cost. You can also use Bootcamp to install and run Windows on your Mac which allows you the best of both worlds.

There is no clear answer of which system is better. Both have their ups and their downs, strengths and weaknesses. In general, PCs tend to be better for productivity work, especially with finance work and general data processing. Macs tend to excel in creative mediums for things like video, music and photo work. You can also do photo work on a PC and keep your books up-to-date on a Mac. If you are working on a budget and have limited resources, a PC is going to get you going for less, especially if you already have software for it. There is no overall right or wrong choice, there is just a better choice for you and your organization based on a number of factors. We're here and can help.

We are always looking for the bigger, better thing and when it comes to computer files, bigger tends to be the key word. With many files now moving into or past the gigabyte size range, storage for these large items can be difficult to arrange, especially if you have multiple devices. Emailing documents to yourself can be time consuming and tedious, especially with more than one or two devices. Cloud servers have become more and more popular and this includes the ability to synchronize your files from a central location across multiple systems. We will take a look at some of the services that are available for sharing your  documents with yourself and others.

Cloud servers are storage units provided by a third party in a location other than on your system. This means that if something happens to your device, your data will still be safe and sound on the cloud server. Most of the larger providers also back-up their stored information, so even if something happens to one of their systems, there's another back-up at a different facility with your information. They run highly secure servers and advanced encryption which keeps your data as safe as possible. The type of cloud system we are looking at today is termed "storage as a service" which is exactly that: a service for storing your data. 

The first service we are going to look at is Dropbox. This is a very popular file sharing platform which means there is a lot of support and customer feedback out there. Their free plan is 2 GB with no limits on file sizes, daily bandwidth or the number of devices you can use. They also offer referral bonuses of 500 MB per qualifying referral to a maximum of 18 GB. They have paid services starting at $9.99 per month (or $99.99 per year) for 100 GB and increasing from there. One of the nice things that Dropbox offers is a feature called Packrat. Most services will back up your data, keeping prior versions of your files for up to 30 days as part of the basic service. Dropbox does this as well, but with Packrat, you can keep these prior versions as long as you keep Packrat active. This means you can revert a file to a version you last changed six months ago. A very convenient feature that, while it might not be for everyone, is definitely a nice option to have. It has an annual fee of $39.00. 

Dropbox, fittingly, has a single drop box that is synchronized across your platforms and you simply drag and drop the files you want into the box and they synch automatically onto your other systems with Dropbox installed. You can also edit files online and share your files with others. They offer cross platform support (meaning you can transfer files between Macs and PCs). It also offers mobile support so you can access your data from your mobile devices. When your files update, only the parts that have changed are sent, which means less bandwidth usage.

The next service is CX. CX boasts the largest base storage of any of the free options at 10 GB of space (plus 300 MB additional for each referral to a maximum of an additional 6 GB). It limits you to 2 groups with 2 users per group and a 200 MB group size. A group is simply the number of people that have access to a set of files which means  you can share with one other person two sets of files of up to 200 MB. Paid accounts start at $4.99 per month for 25 GB, 2 groups with two users per group and 1 GB group sizes. Their mobile apps are very highly rated and they have online sharing. The one feature that most of their competitors are missing is the ability for file owners and collaborators to actually comment on the file. This helps when working on a collaborative project as you can leave more information that simply what is in that document. 

SugarSync is a service that receives a lot of attention from reviewers and for good reason. Their free plan includes 5 GB with no limits and referral bonuses of 500 MB up to a maximum of 32 GB. They are the only one to boast streaming of audio files to your mobile devices which means you can save a lot of space on your smart phone by streaming your music. It has great mobile support and is a fully featured suite that is easy to use and is cross platform. It boasts all of the features of its competitors with improved mobile features. Their paid accounts start at $4.99 per month ($49.99 per year) for 30 GB and goes from there.

Syncplicity has a downside in that many of its accounts limit the number of devices and the number of users you can have. With more devices being able to share files, this can be an issue, especially since most of the competitors don't limit the number of devices used. Their free plan offers 2 GB storage, 1 user and 2 devices but no file size limits. They offer mobile support, auto backup and online sharing. Their paid plans start at $15.00 per month for 50 GB, 1 user and 5 devices with unlimited space and devices available at high price points.

Even the big companies are getting in on cloud offerings. Microsoft and Google both have online storage as does Apple. Apple is offering its iCloud service which integrates with your iPad, iPhone, iPod and Macs not to mention PCs. It works with iTunes and will backup your purchased music automatically and download it to all your iTunes enabled devices. This may seem like your 5 GB won't go very far with all your music purchases being backed up but your music doesn't count towards your capacity. You bought 4 GB worth of music? No problem, you still have your 5 GB of space on the iCloud. If you do end up needing more space, you can get an additional 10 GB for $20 per year or as much as 100 GB for $50 per year, which is a very competitive rate. It also will sync many of your devices and apps, especially those running Apple operating systems, automatically making this a very convenient feature. The sharing is limited but still a very strong, free offering. It also fully integrates with your @me email account.

Microsoft is actually offering more free space than either of the other big two at 7 GB on Skydrive. Previously, Skydrive was 25 GB but they have cut that back, which isn't a big loss as most people won't make use of 7 GB, never mind 25 GB. Again, Microsoft does allow you to buy more storage if you choose with 20 GB for $10 per year, 50 GB for $25 per year and 100 GB for $50 per year. Skydrive works with Hotmail so that you can link to larger files instead of having to send them as attachments, improving email handling. You can also send out one link to a photo gallery, for example, to multiple people at different times, without having to do more than insert a link into your email. You can open and use MS Office documents online and share those documents with other people.

Finally, Google offers Google Drive. They give you 5 GB and this is where all of your Google Documents are stored. The wonderful thing is that your Google documents do not count towards your storage limits, much like purchased content doesn't count against iCloud's limits either. All of your photos are stored in Google+ and can be integrated with Gmail but any photos on Google+ do count towards your 5 GB limit. Google offers expanded storage ranging from 25 GB for $2.49 per month to $799.99 per month for 16 TB of space and many, many options in between. One thing to note is that Gmail typically has a separate 10 GB limit but when you increase your Google drive storage, that limit is increased automatically to 25 GB.

With so many options out there, you really do have your choice of providers. Whether you want to go with a popular option like DropBox, a full featured offering like SugarSync or something that will integrate easily with your current devices like iCloud, you can find something to fit your needs without breaking the bank. The paid cloud storage services won't get you the same amount of space you would get if you spent the same amount on a new hard drive, but they're accessible essentially anywhere at any time on almost any device, giving them a definite leg up in that aspect. If you aren't sure what you want, give the free options a try. They may be all you need.

People have always wanted to stay updated on things they are interested in.  In the past, some of this was done was in newspapers (be it articles or advertising) or sending out newsletters by mail. Today this same practice is done by many methods, be it social networking, websites or email. Most methods can integrate an eNewsletter, which can allow you to communicate various aspects of your enterprise over any or all of these current communication tools. You want to send something that looks professional and appealing to your clients and you want to do it  quickly so that you're not spending a lot of your time creating and sending newsletters. There are a lot of services out there to help you effectively market yourself and keep your clients in touch with your enterprises' activities. We are going to take a look over a few of the options out there.

These services are in competition with one another which means they all have similar feature sets. All of the services we're looking at today have several common features. They all allow integration with social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, meaning that anyone that follows you can receive links to your newsletter and also subscribe to your mailing list directly through Facebook. These services will also track various statistics like how many received the newsletter, the number of people who have looked at your emails, email addresses that aren't working and how many people clicked links in the email. They If an email can't be delivered or people unsubscribe, they are taken off your email list automatically which reduces wasted emails.

Getting caught in spam filters can be a major pain. Not only do your clients not see your newsletter, which means that send was wasted, but if a mail server flags your emails as spam, no one will end up getting them. All of the sites boast tools (not all are free but they are all included in certain pay plans) that will help to make your email the best it can be and avoid spam filters. Most of them will allow you to compare multiple versions of your newsletter to find the most effective version so you get the best results. 

Setting up your newsletters is easy on all of the sites. They all have preset templates or you can easily create your own and save them so you don't have to create a page every time. The template selection and ease of use will vary depending on the service you're using but they all have something that works. How well they work for you will mainly be based on your personal preferences. You are also able to preview what your newsletters will look like in various browsers in most of the paid versions of the services. This is important since some things will look different depending on what program is used to open them. Finally, they all have some sort of mobile application with a variety of uses so that you can use these programs from just about anywhere.

Let's start taking a look at some of the services that are available. The first one we'll look at is Constant Contact. This service has full features, including mobile apps and social software integration. It has a free 60 day trial period where you can get in and see what this service has to offer with the ability to add up to 100 addresses. Once the trial is up, you can continue with monthly packages starting as low as $10.50. 

The next one to mention is MailChimp. MailChimp is a very popular service that's used by a lot of companies. It has a full feature set for the paid versions which start at $10/month (with a 15% non-profit discount) but one of the best features of MailChimp for smaller enterprises is its free versions. MailChimp allows you to have up to 2,000 subscribers and send up to 12,000 emails per month. If you have, for example, 500 people that you want to receive your email and you only send three emails to each person per month this free program is exactly what you need. While you don't get all of the features you would with a paid account, you aren't missing anything you need to create beautiful, effective newsletters and if budget is your concern, you can't ask for better than a good service that's free.

Vertical Response is another service that has a free service but this service is only for non-profits. They give you 10,000 free emails every month under their pay as you go system. If you need to send more than 10,000 emails per month, they offer 15% discount on purchased credits. With a full suite of features, this is a great option, particularly for those  that would send less than the 10,000 emails each month. They also offer printed post-cards, coupon generation and other useful resources which they discount by the same 15% for non-profits.

And finally we took a look at Campaign Monitor. One item that we haven't discussed to this point is branding or badges that some of these services will enclose in the sent emails. These are small icons or text that end up on your newsletter showing the service you used to create it. Many of them, like MailChimp, will allow you to take this off with their paid version but force you to have the branding with free accounts. Campaign Monitor doesn't do any branding  so there isn't anything to turn off, which can be nice but is something that you can do as an option with most of the other services. Their basic plan starts as low as $9 per month for 2,500 emails to up to 500 people per month. 

Whether you go with a paid program or one of the free accounts available, these services can help you to take your newsletters that extra step to create a more attractive, better circulated package. The various user interfaces that are designed to help make your email pop vary and will depend on your preferences as to which one you prefer. Give the various services a shot and see how they handle your next eNewsletter. 

Have you ever been at home, too sick to come in to work, when someone emails you looking for a file sitting on your work computer that they need desperately? Or maybe you're on vacation and your boss needs a file immediately from your computer and you're out of town. When these files are needed, getting in to the office to get them can be challenging if not downright impossible. One of the easiest solutions to these types of issues are remote desktop applications. We will take a brief look at what these are, tell you about a few of the more popular options available and give you an idea of the cost involved in these programs.

What are remote desktop applications exactly? These are programs that allow you to use the desired computer to do all sorts of tasks, from emailing and creating Word documents to doing photo editing and installing and repairing device drivers. It allows you full access to everything on your system without actually being there. You simply use your mouse and keyboard as if you were sitting at your desk and work away. With a smart phone, the idea is the same except that you will often be using a touch screen device which can take some time to get used to.

One thing that tends to worry people about having remote access to their own desktops is the idea of someone else getting access to their computer. This is a very frightening idea but one that shouldn't be a reason to not use these applications. Modern remote desktops use highly advanced encryption techniques which can be very difficult to crack. With typically 128 or 256 bit encryption, while it is not impossible, with good practices concerning antivirus programs, your firewall and passwords it is unlikely that anyone can use the program to gain access to your system. 

The first application we will take a look at is CrossLoop. CrossLoop is available for free for the basic version. This allows you to access your computer remotely with full access. You can also share your screen so that someone else can see what you are doing on your system. Perhaps you want to instruct someone on how to use your company's new software but they are working at a remote office in St John's and you are in Regina or you want to show a new design to people without sending a number of large files. With a screen share, they can what you see without worrying about them having access to your computer. 

CrossLoop sports 128 bit encryption so you can rest assured it is a secure connection. There are no options for online meeting. There is no mobile access for smart phones in the free version but it is available in the paid version for Android devices only. This means those of you using iPhones or iPads won't be able to use them to access your computer even with a paid version of CrossLoop. The paid version is reasonably priced at $69.50 per year for the pro account and there are various priced options for just the remote access application depending on the number of computers you are using.

The next application we will take a look at is Logmein. Logmein is a browser based application that works on both Mac and Windows based systems. It does have a basic free version but it is missing several options that are available with the various paid versions. You can use the mobile version, which works on Android and iOs devices with the free version. However, you cannot transfer files between the remote computer and the computer you are working on with the free version which can limit your options. The free version also does not include screen sharing, local printing or cloud service integration and none of the packages have the ability to hold online meetings. The premium has a nice assortment of features and they have a variety of applications available through the site for various costs. The Pro version, which includes a lot of the features you would want for a remote desktop application, costs $69.95 per year.

Finally, we looked at TeamViewer. This remote desktop application boasts a very robust set of features in the free version. Not only can you control your desktop remotely, you can also transfer files and screen share with ease. Fast and easy installation has it up and running in minutes. It boasts 256 bit encryption like Logmein and works with very limited lag. It has mobile support for iOS and Android devices and runs very well on mobile devices. You have the ability to create and attend meetings with the software for up to 25 people, giving you the ability to put together presentations and communicate with others in your organization and beyond

As far as premium upgrades are concerned, as a private user you can download and use the full program for free. Unlike the others, the TeamViewer free version is not just a trial or a limited version that lacks some of the features of the paid version but the full program with no time or usage limits aside from being for personal/private use. They do have corporate licenses available for a onetime fee of various sizes but these really only give you options to use more computers and access more than one computer at a time. 

All three of these applications are great for allowing you remote access to your computer. They all install relatively quickly and easily. They're easy to use and gives you a number of different tools. Overall, TeamViewer has the most features in the free version and performs as well or better than the others. All of them boast top notch security and good support, they all have premium corporate features and they all work. Give them a try and see how easy remote computing can be.

Customer feedback is incredibly important. Whether you are looking to help with a community initiative or are selling a product, it helps to know what people are thinking. A great tool to get customer feedback is customer surveys. There are a ton of options out there that will help you to get feedback from your customers so that you can improve the way you serve them. The cost for doing the surveys can be fairly minimal or it can be expensive, depending on how you want to proceed with them and how effective you want them to be. We are going to take a brief look at some of the options out there to help you get your surveys done. 

The first survey tool we are going to look at is Adobe FormsCentral. This is an online tool from Adobe and it allows you to quickly and easily put together surveys and then analyze the results. With multiple question types, a user friendly interface and a nice assortment of templates, this suite is a great tool. Not only can you create great looking surveys, but FormsCentral allows you to create other documents as well. This helps to add some great value to this package. It also allows for both online and offline surveys using .pdf files and collects data automatically. This is of particular benefit when you have a longer survey that not everyone will finish in a single sitting or when a person has limited internet access.

The first survey tool we are going to look at is Adobe FormsCentral. This is an online tool from Adobe and it allows you to quickly and easily put together surveys and then analyze the results. With multiple question types, a user friendly interface and a nice assortment of templates, this suite is a great tool. Not only can you create great looking surveys, but FormsCentral allows you to create other documents as well. This helps to add some great value to this package. It also allows for both online and offline surveys using .pdf files and collects data automatically. This is of particular benefit when you have a longer survey that not everyone will finish in a single sitting or when a person has limited internet access. 

The next site we'll look at is askitonline.com. This site was started in Toronto in 2006 and has a few really good things going for it. First of all, it has a really simple drag and drop interface where what you see when you're designing it is what you get. This makes it very quick and easy to create the forms you want. The next is that it has the best free version of the applications we are looking at. It allows you to create two forms (which can be deleted and then new forms can be made) and gives you one-hundred responses per month. For most companies, their free responses are a onetime thing and once they're done, they're done. But askitonline.com gives you a new set every month. Granted, you still may need more responses and they do have paid options that include more responses and other options. One other thing of note is that they do not offer templates of any kind, so any project will have to be created from scratch or a previously created file. They range in price from $10 to $30 per month currently.

Another survey provider that began in 2006 was SurveyGizmo. SurveyGizmo is a very feature rich site, which is a good thing. It is competitive in just about every area regarding the features it offers. You can create offline and online surveys, export to multiple formats, developing mobile applications and allows for a variety of reports to be pulled. The biggest problem I have with the software is the interface and the usability of it. I found that the interface was not  as intuitive or as clean and simple as the other survey providers were despite a relatively simple sounding drag and drop interface. This is not to say the interface is bad, it is just not as well honed as those of its competitors. As far as the pricing goes, at $75/month, it is one of the more expensive offerings, even for the highest level packages. Again, the features offered are very comparable to the competitors, but with no lower tiered option that I could find, if budget is a major concern, then this may not be the solution for you however they offer excellent customer service from all reports.

This next provider might surprise you, but then again, seeing as they seem to be getting their fingers into as many pies as humanly possible, perhaps it shouldn't. It is the only totally free option (barring needing more cloud storage space than the 5 GB provided) and that is Google Docs. You can log in to your Google account and choose to create a new form. With templates available or the ability to start from scratch, you will be amazed at how quickly your surveys come together. It compiles the information for you and will provide reports in a Google Spreadsheet. This information can be a bit daunting if you have a large number of respondents but is there nevertheless. It can also be a bit finicky in getting information back. But overall, it is a great, free option.

Finally, we looked at one of the more popular applications, SurveyMonkey. This is the platform that has inspired a lot of imitators and is a major comparison point when comparing features and usability. It is feature rich, especially in the upper tiers of membership. With good mobile and offline survey support, it is a versatile platform. The interface, while I didn't like it as much as Adobe's, is clean and easy to use. You can create quickly and easily using a blank project or one of their many templates. It really does offer a great user experience and as the big guy, it should. 

Recently, SurveyMonkey acquired Zoomerang which was a competitor for a number of years and a very popular platform in and of itself. This merger should not only mean a larger network of people to survey as part of their paid survey audience finding program but the two companies seem to have very complimentary weak and strong points. Hopefully this means a better overall product for consumers. It does have a free trial which comes with one ten question long survey and one-hundred responses total. This gives you a great chance to try it out and see what you think. Paid accounts start at $19/month.

All of the products we are looking at have multiple question types, although a few like SurveyMonkey and SurveyGizmo do offer a few extra options. They all allow you to set up your survey the way you want it within a relatively short period of time. There really is no clear winner as to which one is the best. It really depends on what you are looking for. If you only need a few responses and have a tight budget, you may want to try one of the two free options. Maybe you need twenty-thousand plus responses every time and something that is really feature rich, perhaps SurveyGizmo or SurveyMonkey is the best for you. If you're undecided, I highly recommend setting up free accounts and trying them out for yourself.