Do you …
Use the same password?
Many of us create one password and use it everywhere. Once the password is discovered by a scammer/hacker then it can be used.

Have personal information as part of your password?
Many of us use our children or pet names or other personal information as part of the password. A hacker can and will be able to discover this information and use it to decode the password.

Use a real word?
There are software programs that can go through every word in the dictionary until the the right password is discovered.

Write the password down and keep it close to the computer?
Yes, it’s not a good idea, but we all seem to do it.

Password Best Practices
Since many places allow passwords that are case sensitive, use both upper and lower case letters in the password. such as: PaSSworD – Note never use password, or common sequence of letters (abcdef) or numbers (12345) as a password. Those are the most common ones.

Have special characters and/or numbers as part of the password.

Use initials of a phrase that is easy to remember.

Use different passwords for everything.

Auto Attendant
Many businesses use these. They are without an doubt a cost saver. A business doesn’t have to have a call taking receptionist. Just let the automatic voice answer the telephone and with a short menu of command they are directed to where they need to go.

However many businesses have Auto Attendants that are useless or just confusing to the caller. After listening to the commands was that 1 for John at Sales? Or maybe it was 2. Or I was looking to reach Jane and she’s not mentioned. That’s because she has replaced John, but the Auto Attendant was not changed.

Or after the list of items were given, but none of the options seem to be the one the caller wants.

And then there’s the problem when each and every item takes the caller to another menu or a Voice Mail Box.

Voice Mail
It has become a to common practice for some people to always have Voice Mail answer their calls. Or to give their caller no idea on when they may be receiving the Voice Mail and having their call returned. I’m sure many of us have placed a call to a person, left a message, or two or a dozen only only to discover two weeks later that they had just started their two weeks vacation.

Some of these problems can be resolved simply by using common sense. Answer the telephone with a real person who can make a quick decision on the right place to direct the caller. If an Auto Attendant is necessary, check its options and correctness. Always check after any type of office change.

Change the Voice Mail greeting as often as needed. For some people that may only be a few times during the year. An office worker who is at the desk just about every day and the call only rarely goes to Voice Mail and when it does the call is returned within the hours, may only need to change it when they are on leave.

Others may need to change it a few times during the day.

Then again the business can, and really should have a Telephone Usage Policy that is in place and followed by all.

It doesn’t matter whether you consider Global Warming a fact or a hoax. The one thing for certain is that we do harm the environment every day. These are things we can do to not only save and conserve energy but also help the environment.

10) Follow The Three ‘R’ – Recycle/Reuse/Reduce
American’s have become a very wasteful society. When our founding fathers were forming our nation, they used everything with little waste. Washington at Valley Forge, the frontier families who settled west of the Mississippi, even the families of World War II used everything.

Today nearly every item that we purchase is in some type of disposable wrapper. This wrapping is used once and thrown in the trash. This uses another piece of a resource that is diminishing. By following these three ‘R’s’ one may or may not not see a direct savings. But in some cases the cost of manufacturing the products might be less. A recycled aluminum can requires less energy to reuse. than having a new one produced from the raw materials.

9) Drive Smart
There are a number of ways that we don’t drive smart.

We are a mobile society. Many times we jump into a vehicle to attend a meeting across town without looking to see if there are other things we can be doing while in the area. How many of us have gone one place, come back only to realize we also needed to go to another either a few miles farther or someplace between the two? Planning our trips will allow us to use less fuel. it also saves time as well..

Poor maintenance of our vehicles causes us to use more fuel than required. Having the engine routinely serviced, will keep it running at peak efficiently. Don’t forget the tire pressure. Tires at the wrong pressure, especially ones that are low, is a big fuel waster. And don’t forget to have the brakes checked. A dragging brake not only causes the brakes to wear out faster, it will make the engine work harder. And use more gas.

When driving, don’t make rapid stops and starts. This, as well as exceeding the speed limit, can quickly reduce gas mileage. By using the speed control on long trips, the vehicle runs at a constant speed.

8) Heat or Cool the Living/Work Space – Not the World
Does the building have enough insulation? Older homes and building probably don’t. Windows are also an area where energy costs are moving from their desired purpose to change the temperature of the outside air.

Many homes are heating or cooling areas that are seldom used. By setting up heating and cooling areas, one can save money and energy by keeping the seldom used areas warmer or cooler than the rest of the house. Many people may like a warm living room in the winter, but wants a cool bedroom. This would be another reason for separate environmental areas.

Use a programmable thermostat. By using a programmable thermostat you can automatically turn down the heat when it’s least needed, at night when sleeping or during the day when no one is home. Have it raised to a comfortable level shortly before getting up or arriving home. Be certain that it is the correct type of programmable thermostat for your heating or cooling system. Some heat pumps and air conditioning systems require specialized programmable thermostats.

7) Use Water Wisely
Water may be free, but getting it from the ground to the home costs a lot. There’s the cost of pumping it from one location to another, as well as the cost of treating it to be at a usable state. There’s also the cost of removing and cleaning the waste water.

6) Use Energy-Efficient Products
Many older appliances use a great deal more energy than a new one. The 20 year old refrigerator may be working fine, but a newer one could use half of the energy.

Water heaters can use as much as 14% of the energy bill. The older it gets the less efficient it is with one over 10 years being as much as 50% less efficient than as it was when new.

And don’t forget the light bulbs. Most of the energy used by old style incandescent lights is turned into heat. A 15-Watt Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) gives the same light as a 60-Watt incandescent using a quarter of the energy.

5) Turn Off and Unplug
Unplug devices that use a transformer when not in use. Example; battery chargers. Whenever these devices are plugged in they consume minor amounts of energy. Many devices such as TVs and DVD players still use energy when not in use. Turning them off may only save a small amount of the total energy used. Unplug them when they won’t be used for a long period of time.

Turn off computers at night, and use sleep mode as often as possible. When not in use turn off televisions, radios and other entertainment equipment.

4) Light the area reasonably
Office lighting can be the one single source of using the largest amount of electric each month. Reducing the energy used by lights can make a quick and noticeable impact to the bill.

Many offices either use too much light or does not use the most efficient type of lighting. It’s important to have enough lights in an area so that it’s safe, but there may be places where lights can be removed, the size of the fixture reduced or more economical sources of light are use.

Use task lights to reduce the amount of overhead lights. Task lights puts the required amount of light on the project at hand allowing the room lights to be at a lower light level, therefore saving energy.

Don’t light areas that aren’t being occupied. Install timers and occupancy sensors. These are great in offices for restrooms, storage closets and copier rooms.

3) Make it a Habit
Habits are those things that we do without thinking. Developing a habit takes time. At first it may take some constant thoughts and reminders. By spending time considering your actions and doing the things to save energy each day, these actions will become a habit.

2) Pass Along the Word
It’s amazing how many people there are out there that just don’t know, don’t have an understanding or just need to have a person they know and respect to assure them. Pass along the information. Let your friends know when you replace an appliance and see a drop in the electric bill. Or when they throw a plastic bottle or newspaper in the trash let them know it can be recycled and used again. The more people hear it from someone they know, the more apt they are to follow the advice.

1) Switch Off the Lights
When being the last to leave a room turn out the lights. It will always be saving energy and with few exceptions also saving money.

A recent conducted research of Co-Tweet and ExactTarget may assist in making that decision. Here are the Top 10 Motivations for Consumers to “Like” and Follow a Brand and on Facebook:

1. 40% want to receive discounts and promotions

2. 37% want to show support for the brand/company

3. 36% hope (want) to get free samples, a coupon (a.k.a. freebies)

4. 34% want to stay informed about the activities of the company

5. 33% want to get updates on future products

6. 30% want to get updates and information on future sales

7. 27% like to get fun and entertainment out of it

8. 25% want to get access to exclusive content

9. 22% mentioned they were referred by someone to follow this brand/company

10. 21% want just to learn more about the company

The first work day after the Thanksgiving holiday is one the busiest day for on-line shopping.

Why is this?
This is the day when those who don’t have Internet access or even High-Speed Internet access at home will log onto on-line stores to get he best and earliest deals.

Do you have an Internet Policy?
Some employees may spend the majority of that day on-line doing their shopping while you are paying them. By having a policy in place they will be know what is expected of them.

It could be a nice employee perk to allow them some time to do their shopping. Either allow them a set time period while they are on the clock or let them use the company’s Internet while on their time. A little good will towards the employee goes a long way.

Ignoring the potential problem, will only create more problems. If every computer on your system is doing heavy Internet shopping, it could be putting a lot of burden on your system causing slow-downs on the system. Are you using VoIP? The added network traffic for shopping could be causing a problem with voice communications.

Being aware of a problem could keep you from having bigger problems.

© 2007 Steven G. Atkinson – All Rights Reserved