New hotel opens near Bryce Canyon

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Bryce Canyon visitors have a new lodging alternative.

The Best Western Bryce Canyon Grand Hotel, operated by Ruby’s Inn, recently opened one mile from the entrance to the national park. The new smoke-free hotel, part of the sprawling Ruby’s Inn complex, offers 164 guest rooms, including 36 suites.

Amenities include a heated indoor and outdoor swimming pool, hot tub, 24-hour exercise facility and complimentary hot breakfast. Each room is equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, flat screen television and complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access. It also offers a business center that includes print and fax services and a 24-hour airport shuttle. The hotel has 2,000 square feet of meeting space.

Rates start at $159 per night, with a variety of special packages.

7 Essential Steps to Creating an Efficient Mobile Office

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1. Get a Laptop

This is an obvious, but vital step. You certainly can’t be a mobile worker if you’re tethered to your big desktop with your 22-inch widescreen LCD monitor. Ideally, you will have a powerful laptop that can replace your desktop and become your primary computer so you automatically have all of your files and necessary data accessible wherever your laptop is. You can even dock it when home so you can still take advantage of your big screen.

If you plan to keep your desktop and use a second mobile machine, step two is a must for you.

2. Use an Online Data Backup Site

If you are working on multiple computers, you have to have a system for sharing files between the systems. This is extremely easy to do these days with services like SugarSync and Box.net. For a monthly fee, these and other similar services automatically backup and synchronize your data across multiple computers, and even allow Internet access to your files.

Even if you have a laptop as your main computer, this is a great way to ensure consistent backup and accessibility of your data in case of a system crash.

3. Make Sure You Can Get Online

There are a lot of wi-fi access points around that you can probably connect to in order to work from anywhere, but in order to have a more stable and secure connection (which you need for a business), you will need a high-speed mobile access card. You can get one from your cell phone service provider (or get access by tethering your BlackBerry or iPhone), or from a company that offers pre-paid or pay-as-you-go wireless access. Make sure you use a firewall and data encryption however you connect.

4. Trash the Paper

Inevitably, there will come a time when you’re working on the road that you need access to some paper files back in the office. This can be a problem if you don’t have another way to get that information. If you start to make a habit of making all paper files electronic, you can create a secondary digital file cabinet, and eventually replace your hard copy files entirely.

For me, this means taking all of my meeting notes on my computer (or transferring them later on), managing my finances and my bookkeeping without any paper files, using electronic agreements, and scanning in any paper files that come my way. It’s a huge time-saver to have all of the standard paper documents accessible (and searchable) on my computer…and it’s good for the environment, too.

5. Get Mobile Phone/Fax Service

If you’re away from your home base, you won’t be able to run a business without a hitch unless you are able to maintain your phone and fax service. While you can certainly use your cell phone to make and receive calls as necessary, it can be more professional to use a virtual phone line and digital fax service so your clients don’t experience any changes in your accessibility.

I am setup to get e-mail notifications every time I receive a call or fax, and can make outgoing calls and send faxes right from my computer so it stays with me wherever I am.

6. Update Your OS and Software

Before hitting the road, make sure your operating system and software reflect the most recent updates and security patches. Not only is this a major time-killer if you have to do it when you’re mobile, but it will likely take a bit longer and result is some annoying downtime.

7. Setup Your Peripherals

The biggest peripheral for me is my trackball. I hate laptop touch pads and have zero patience with them, so my trackball comes with me wherever I go. Other equipment you may want to consider: a surge protector, an extension cord, a wireless mouse, a portable scanner, extra batteries/chargers, and a portable printer (only if printing is an absolute must).

Do you have a mobile office? What steps would you add to this list?

Paper, Paper, Everywhere, Nor Any Piece to Trash

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Network World – According to Parade magazine, paper consumption in the US peaked in 1999. But although paper use may be trending down, most companies still deal with pounds upon pounds of paper every day. Let’s look at three ways to better create, send, receive and retrieve paper and the information thereon.

Reducing paper use saves money and gives you green credit that’s earned, not faked. Am I the only one who finds the “We’re going green!” brochures contradictory?

The first rule of using less paper (no small business can really go paperless) is to print less paper whenever possible. Now that everyone connects to everyone else inside the company and across the Internet, everyone should use e-mail, shared document workspaces or even fax rather than print and snail mail.

If something comes in an e-mail, don’t print the message and hand it to your coworker, forward that e-mail. Copy and send the Web page, or better yet, send the Web address for the page, rather than print it and hand it. It’s always disappointing to see a worker print a page then feed it to a fax machine to send to a coworker in another area.

If you fax, fax smart. Don’t print your message and walk it over to the fax machine and feed the paper into the machine. Check out any of the e-mail-to-fax services, or just e-mail the information. Outbound e-mail-to-fax and inbound fax-to-e-mail services work great and are inexpensive.

If you haven’t discovered the great values in multi-function printers, check them out. I bought an HP PhotoSmart 2610 several years ago. It prints, faxes, scans and copies pages in full color. It saves space by combining four functions in one housing. This model uses ink jet technology, but I rarely print full color today, so the cost isn’t a problem. For black and white only, monochrome lasers cost a bit more to buy but cost less per page to print compared to ink jets.

Ink jet multi-function printers have come way down in price over the past few years since I bought my unit. Epson just sent me a WorkForce 600 multi-function printer that ups the ante over my old HP in two ways. First, it includes an automatic document feeder, a great improvement. Second, it supports wireless networking. Of the two, I feel the document feeder is much more valuable.

Copying or scanning pages on the HP requires me to put the paper on, hit the button, take the paper off, put the paper on, hit the button… With the Epson, I just feed pages into the top and the copies come out the bottom. Or the scans show up in my EspsonScan application on the computer. We can’t blame my old HP for not doing this, but I won’t ever buy another printer or scanner without an automatic document feeder. And the price of the Epson WorkForce 600 is under $200.

RingCentral Fax over Internet

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One fax over the Internet service provider has been helping customers worldwide improve and manage their daily fax communications. Built for small business, San Mateo, Calif.-basedRingCentral’s fax comes complete with innovative e-mail fax capabilities, from toll free and local numbers to advanced fax software.

RingCentral fax service gives everything that should be expected from a modern, business-ready fax solution, with the flexibility needed to easily send and receive faxes, anywhere.

The company released last week RingCentral Online Fax Service download for $7.99. The software is built for the following platforms, WinXP, Windows2000, Windows2003, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Ultimate x64, Win98, WinME, Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Home Basic x64, Windows Vista Home Premium x64, Windows Vista Business x64 and Windows Vista Enterprise x64.

Company officials say that its fax over the Internet is “simple, quick and affordable.”

“Your toll-free or local RingCentral Fax number is always available and will never be busy, even if you are in the process of receiving a fax. Because this is a fax via Internet service, you own no hardware and don’t have to install a dedicated fax telephone line in your office. RingCentral Fax takes care of receiving your fax, and then can forward it to you as an email attachment,” officials said.

RingCentral’s online fax service offers a low additional page charge that’s “two to three times lower than the other fax by Internet services.”

Fax over the Internet service offers a fully functioning, virtual office phone PBX system with a toll-free or local phone number allowing customers to contact the business regardless of location.

Those interested can signup for a “RingCentral Online Fax Service” account free for one month in addition to downloading the fax software for free.

Library opens employment services

Here is a small article that may interest you!

The Louisville Free Public Library has opened The Job Shop, a free employment and career-services center, at the main branch, 301 York St.

The Job Shop offers free computer classes, books and reference materials to help job seekers with résumé writing, interviewing and choosing a new career.

The center also provides free Internet service and access to copy and fax services and video conferencing.

The library has scheduled career-development workshops presented by organizations such as KentuckianaWorks, Dress for Success, Pleasure Ridge Park Business Association, Highlands Commerce Guild and the University of Louisville School of Business.

The Job Shop is open Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m.

How Do I Use An Online Fax Service?

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Online or Internet fax has become an extremely popular service on the web. It is being used by more and more businesses and individuals who want a more mobile and a more secure way of faxing. Yet, many people still don’t know exactly how online faxing actually works.

Like anything that is relatively new, it will probably take a while before this convenient service is widely known in the general population. Perhaps, the greatest stumbling block is that most people are so familiar with faxing via the old facsimile machine in the office; getting their heads around using the web for faxing will take some time.

However, just like email revolutionized how we send and receive our mail, so too has online fax revolutionized how we send and receive our faxes. Internet faxing is simply the more modern way to fax.

Actually, these two new communication methods are closely intertwined since online fax is basically using your email system and your Internet connection to do all your faxing. You send and receive your faxes as email attachments usually in TIFF or PDF format.

Remember, in order to use online fax you have to sign-up to an Internet fax service provider who will act as your intermediary to handle all your faxing. You will receive a local or Toll-Free number which you can give out to all your contacts. There is no need for an extra fax phone line. You will also receive an online site (account) where you can logon and do your faxing. Your faxes are also stored in this online account.

However, what confuses many people is the fact that you can send/receive your online faxes in many different ways including through the old traditional office machine. Your fax service will act as your intermediary to intercept your faxes coming from an ordinary fax machine and direct them to your online fax account.

You can also get desktop applications which will allow you to directly fax from your desktop. Most services will work with Windows Outlook and Windows Office. Finally, most services will let you send a fax by just sending an email, i.e. destination number(at)yourfaxservice.com – It doesn’t get any easier than this.

Each fax service has slightly different procedures and methods so you have to become familiar with your chosen service. Also, each service will have different faxing rates and monthly fees, but most charge around $10 a month. There are less expensive services out there so it pays to shop around, especially when you consider this is a long term ongoing business expense.

The main reason why email or online faxing has become so popular is the total freedom it gives you. Since it is web based, you can send and receive a fax anywhere, anytime, as long as you have Internet access. You can use any mobile device such as a cell phone or laptop to do all your faxing. It totally frees you from being tied down to the old fax machine in the office.

Plus, your faxes can be encrypted so it is much more secure than the traditional way of faxing. And no one but you has to see your faxes since you have your own private access to your account. This is important if you have faxes of a sensitive nature which you want to keep private.

Lastly, another major reason online fax has become so popular, most faxing services are completely scalable for businesses. You can upsize or downsize depending on your company’s requirements or needs. In this uncertain economy, having this flexibility is a major plus.

If you’re not using an online fax service you may just be losing out on one of the most convenient ways of doing business. You really do need it if your business depends heavily on faxing for bringing in new sales and clients; besides you may be falling behind your competition who are probably already using this new more mobile way of faxing.

RingCentral Makes SMBs Look Like Enterprises

Some news about the RingCentral company!

When starting a small- to medium-sized business (SMB), one of the most important aspects is to get the name and offerings of the company out into public view. Once this happens, maintaining company organization with employees and ensuring customers are satisfied with the service helps build the company and its footprint.

Redwood City, Calif.-based RingCentral offers features that help SMBs operate just as big businesses do, with a name-brand IP-PBX. For a monthly fee, SMBs can enjoy dial-by-name, on-hold music, call screening, auto attendant, professionally recorded custom greetings, Internet fax and toll-free numbers. Vanity 800 numbers are also available to incorporate the company’s name or tagline.

Officials at RingCentral said the capabilities they offer are more important than the cost savings of Internet VoIP.

“The things that keep a small business from growing are not that their phone bills are too high,” said Jay Blazensky, the company’s vice president of business development. “Their struggle is, ‘How do I look bigger in this brief window when I’m trying to get my business off the ground?’ ”

Currently, RingCentral Online is offering a free trial plus a ten percent coupon off RingCentral Online Coupon. RingCentral Online is a Web-based telephone and fax service for professionals and small businesses with features such as toll free or local phone number and advanced features not found in traditional phone system.

Switch from fax machines to an Internet fax service

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Switch from fax machines to an Internet fax service

Faxing remains a common form of communication in many industries. And most faxes are still sent and received on fax machines – one of the least-green technologies in any office.

Let’s start with the obvious – paper usage. Every fax that comes into a fax machine requires at least one piece of paper to convey the message. Many take a whole lot more. Often times outbound faxes are printed specifically for the purpose of sending them on the fax machine as well. If something goes wrong on either end, that much more paper is consumed until the entire fax is transmitted correctly.

Then there’s the toner and its packaging. Plus the electricity to keep the machine running 24 x 7, just in case someone on either end wants to send a fax. And when the machine is at the end of its life, there are all the disposal issues you face with any office equipment. It’s a concerned citizen’s nightmare.

The solution here is to move to an Internet fax service – a service that allows you to send and receive faxes via your email account or a secure online server. Because the documents are delivered electronically, you can choose which pages (if any) require printing, helping save a few trees. How many? It’s been estimated that if just one percent of all paper faxes sent in America each year were transmitted electronically instead, 73.5 million trees would be saved. If two or more people need the same document it saves even more paper since you can just forward it electronically instead of making paper copies.

An Internet fax service helps you reduce your energy consumption as well, since you send and receive faxes on a PC, laptop or mobile device you’re already using for something else instead of a separate machine. And, of course, it eliminates the use of toner and the need to dispose of a separate piece of office equipment when its useful life is over.

An Internet fax service also adds convenience. Unlike a fax machine, which is tied to a specific location, you can send and receive Internet faxes anywhere you can get an Internet connection. So if you’re on the road and need to send or receive a fax, you can head to a Wi-Fi hot spot, plug in an Internet access card or use your mobile device.

Less paper, less electricity, less cost, more convenience. Tough to beat a combination like that.

Techie tips for travelers

What things do you pack foremost when you are going on your vacation? Maybe clothes? Food? Nowadays you can pack that technique things that you use in your everyday life. There are some notes about travelling with technical devices. Hope you will enjoy them!

With my mantra being “Pack Light,” I used to be against packing electronics of any kind. But now, I bring my laptop, iPod, digital camera, and mobile phone to Europe. With hotels retiring their fax machines in favor of email, mobile phones getting cheaper and easier to buy, and Wi-Fi hotspots popping up everywhere, it’s never been simpler to get connected.

There are plenty of Internet cafes in Europe. Large European chains such as easyInternetcafe.com offer in-expensive access in big cities. Even small towns have some way to get online — at hostels, hotels, libraries, bookstores, post offices, and so on. If you plan to check your email using a public machine, make sure you sign up for a Web-based account.

If you tote your own laptop, you’ll find that many hotels and cafes offer wireless access — sometimes it’s free, other times, you’ll have to buy a drink or pay a fee — while some towns have Wi-Fi hotspots scattered around highly trafficked areas. Just pay for a password, park yourself on a bench in your favorite idyllic spot — overlooking a sandy beach, on a floodlit piazza, or along a bustling people-watching boulevard — then log on and surf away.

If you’re packing a digital camera, your biggest challenge will be storing photos. Buy the biggest memory card you can afford (or get two). Memory cards are available in Europe, but they’re more expensive. I travel with a six-megapixel camera and a two-gigabyte memory card. Taking photos at high resolution, I can fit about 500 photos onto my memory card. Since I usually travel with a laptop, I upload my photos to my computer. Without a laptop, you could empty — or copy — your memory card as you go, by getting your images burned to a CD.

It’s handy to travel with a mobile phone, whether you’re calling a hotel for directions or getting in touch with that lost travel buddy who missed the train. If you want to use a mobile phone in Europe, you have two choices: Take your own, or buy one once you’re there.

If you’re traveling with your laptop, the cheapest way to talk to loved ones back home is via VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). VoIP lets you converse with people around the world over the Internet for free. The two main services are Skype.com and Google.com/talk. Computer-to-computer calls are always free, and the sound quality is about as good as a standard phone connection.

I’ve just been cruising through several European countries, communicating with friends, family, and office workers with my laptop and mobile phone. My days of chatting in noisy, smelly phone booths are long over.

Libraries Vow to Fight

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Just as the ailing economy pushes more people to use the services of their local public libraries, a proposed budget cut is threatening to close libraries and reduce those services throughout the Buckeye State.

But local library officials hope the public will speak out against the potential 50-percent funding cut and tell state lawmakers to find an alternative.

In Jefferson County alone, adoption of the governor’s proposed 2010-11 biennium budget would result in the closing of five library branches, elimination of bookmobile service, 35 staff layoffs and reduced hours at the Main Library and Schiappa Branch, according to Alan Hall, director of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County.

Hall noted the library branches that would close are located in Adena, Brilliant, Dillonvale, Tiltonsville and Toronto.

“We are asking our library patrons and everyone in Jefferson County who supports our libraries to act at once. We have been told that a decision on this budget and our library funding may be made by Thursday. So there is no time to write letters. We need residents to telephone or e-mail Gov. (Ted) Strickland and our local representatives as soon as possible,” said Hall.

“We learned about the proposed cuts to public libraries at approximately 6 p.m. Friday and are working to persuade state officials that these cuts will do serious harm to the public library system in Ohio.

“During my 37 years working in libraries, I have seen an increase every time the economy is suffering. We have been busier than ever in recent months with people using our computers. We have actually had to reserve computer time during certain times of the day. We are also part of a 73-library system that provides our users with access to 6 million items, including DVDs, books and newspapers,” Hall said.

Other East Ohio library officials including Kitty Koch of the Barnesville Hutton Memorial Library and Yvonne Myers of the Martins Ferry Public Library are calling upon residents to inform state officials of their objections to the decrease in funding.

Koch said acceptance of the proposed budget “will close many, many Ohio libraries and cause drastic reductions for those that try to stay open.”

Koch said letters will not help and urged that the officials be contacted immediately by e-mail or telephone.

“If the governor’s proposal goes through, we’ll have to reduce hours, thus reducing staff,” Koch said. “We’ve already cut our book budget. It will be cut again.”

Koch pointed out that one unemployed woman described the library as “the only place I can try to find a job” with reference to Internet service.

Koch also sought help Monday from Barnesville Village Council, and members voted to officially oppose the proposed 50-percent funding cut.

Myers pointed out a 20-percent reduction put into effect this year already has reduced hours, materials and staffing.

“Another large reduction will greatly curtail programs and services available at this time,” she said.

With a final decision on the proposal expected within days and the new budget taking effect July 1, Myers said it is important for residents to make their voices heard now.

Lynda Murray of the Ohio Library Council also stressed the importance of keeping Ohio’s libraries open. In a message circulated on the American Library Association Council electronic mailing list, she said, “I do not believe that many of our library systems, especially those without local levies, can remain open with those (proposed) cuts.”

Wilson said late Monday he considers libraries “essential to our communities.”

“Libraries help people bridge the gap in economic hard times. I tell people we can find all of the answers in our libraries. Library funding should be one of the last things to be cut. We should be supporting libraries and not cutting them,” said Wilson.

And Domenick said Monday he will oppose any cuts to library funding.

“We have to make up the state deficit, and I have proposed a 1-percent sales tax that would have a sunset date in a year or two. But the library funding is tied into the gambling issue. I am opposed to legalizing gambling, but if that’s what it takes to maintain the library funding, I may have to revisit legalized gambling at the horse racetracks in our state,” said Domenick.

Betty Pokas, Dave Gossett and Erin Donnelly contributed to this report.