If you have only a handful of employees or work on your own from a home office, this is for you.

Over the years, we've fielded thousands of calls from customers and prospects, hailing from companies large and small. For those of you in small offices/home offices, it's remarkable how technologically sophisticated your business can be with just a phone, a computer and an Internet connection.

That said, all too often we see small shops stopped dead in their tracks by technology issues they could have avoided. Here are our Top Five Tips to avoid those snafus.

1. Get an IT person on retainer. You have a mechanic for your car, a plumber for the toilet and an electrician for the high voltage stuff, because they do those jobs faster or better than you.

   Likewise, you should have a geek for your network. Find a competent IT consultant the same way you found your other experts: Ask your friends. A skilled IT person will save you the opportunity costs of bad decisions, wasted time and stupefying frustration.

2. Invest in a business-class router. That $50 router with a $20 rebate under your desk may have been the best one sold by the store, but it's not the best that's made. Does it make sense for your business to run on a $50 box? There are reasons why it could be made so "affordably."

   For anyone having more than a handful of computers, we suggest getting a router designed for branch offices, like the low end models from SonicWall. Investing $400 now for a rugged router will avoid having to rouse your new IT guy later on.


3. Get off wireless! Wireless is a great toy for causal browsing at the coffee shop, but it's not ready yet for business critical applications. Wireless can be notoriously unreliable, especially if your access point is buried in the basement and you're perched up on the third floor.

   Turn off your PC's wireless interface by clicking Start > Control Panel > Network Connections. Right click the Wireless Network Connection and choose "Disable." Always plug directly into that business-class router you just bought. Wires work.

4. Read your ISP's fine print. So your cable company gives you a gazillion bits/second of Internet for pennies, whereas your previous employer paid Ma Bell big bucks for a measly T1. Feeling smug? Don't. Read the fine print. Somewhere it will say, "Many factors can affect your actual speed." This is doublespeak for times like "each afternoon when the high school kids come home and start file sharing."

   The problem is that most cable systems (and some DSL providers) toss your traffic onto the same dinky pipe as all your neighbors. Sure, your connection flies when you're the only one online at four in the morning. But if it slows to a crawl at 3 pm when the neighborhood kids flock home, it's time to switch to a business-class plan.

   By the way, bottlenecks can also occur deep inside an Internet service provider's network. If the ISP has too little backend capacity, it might resort to a blunt measure like "traffic shaping," which attempts to limit the bandwidth consumed by kids' file sharing. (Ask some of our Canadian buddies, many of whom regrettably have no alternative to the nation's two huge traffic-shaping cable service providers.) Unfortunately, that practice can also inadvertently trash legitimate high speed network-based applications. If you use a web-based application that doesn't run at full speed, contact your service provider to find a remedy.

5. Get a PC just for business. Kids download. It's in their DNA. Anti-virus software usually does pretty well keeping nasties away from their hard drive, but if your kid happens to run one of those nefarious applications, there is no limit to the damage it can do.

   Last month a Microsoft security expert conceded that often the only way to truly rid a PC of a nasty varmint is to erase its entire hard drive and re-install Windows and all the applications from scratch. He didn't dare mention how many times you get to reboot while downloading and re-installing dozens of security updates to bring that old copy of Windows up to snuff. (Forget about your evening plans.)

   It seems that Macintosh inventor Jef Raskin was shortsighted in the early 1980s, when he predicted there would be a "computer in every home." We now see that there should be one for the kids, and a second PC just for the business. May the twain never cross paths.

— Rich (with a big "Thank You!" to Brian Doe, Glance's Director of Customer Care)

The Gossamer G4 Ultralight backpack

Each summer I do my best to set aside a week when I can ignore the email, phones and other intrusions of daily life, hoist a pack on my back and head deep in to my favorite mountains around Yosemite. The more distance I mark between me and the trailhead, the happier I feel. I get to enjoy spectacular views of granite mountains, rugged canyons, alpine lakes and cascading streams that few ever see.

My pack carries all that I need for the week. When my kids started tagging along in the 1990s, that pack had to haul most of their gear and food as well, making its initial weight occasionally top 80 pounds — about the same as a window air conditioner.

Two years ago, when my hiking buddy suggested we trek 70+ miles along parts of the John Muir Trail and bag Mt. Whitney again (14,496 feet!), I determined it was time to try hiking "ultralight." My target pack weight, food and all, would be under 35 pounds — half my usual.

To cut weight, I decided to replace my trail-worn 6.5 pound pack with Gossamer Gear's elegant G4 Ultralight, which tips the scale at just 16 ounces.

How did Gossamer strip 5.5 pounds out of a pack? Part of it came from using strong, lightweight materials. But Gossomer's most clever innovation arose from the "dual use" design philosophy.

Instead of throwing a few pounds of aluminum and padding into the pack's frame, their design has you slide your foam sleeping pad — which you have to carry anyway — into a slot in back of the pack. The pad gives the pack the stiffness needed to keep its shape, while providing a cushy feel on your back — all for zero incremental weight. Taking it one step further, the design lets you trim another ounce by inserting spare clothing (socks, gloves) into the pack's shoulder straps and waist belt, in place of supplied foam inserts. (That's a tad too extreme for my style.)

Gossamer's approach shows how less can truly mean more. I was able to hit my target pack weight, scrambling along the trail at near teenage- trekking speed. And my view at the top? Unforgettable!

— Rich

New "scale-to-fit" view shows the whole picture

Guests with a smaller screen than yours now see your whole desktop without scrolling. Glance's new "scale- to-fit" technology works for guests on any Windows, Mac or Linux computer. It's perfect for PowerPoint™ presentations and web demos.

Zoom with the 'Z' key

If your guest wants to see an actual-size view of your screen, have him tap the "z" key on his keyboard. It toggles his view between "zoom-to-fit" and full "100% zoom."

No Java™? No problem!

Glance uses Java technology whenever possible to help guests join sessions, so they don't have to manually download any software. Most Windows PCs, 100% of all Macs and most Linux computers have Java.

Before, a guest on a PC without Java had to download and install it to be able to join your session, which could take several minutes. This same guest now connects in seconds. Glance automatically presents him a link to a one-time install of a tiny Glance Viewer, built with Active-X technology. Your guest clicks the link and then "run" or "open." Moments later, he's looking at your screen.

New bandwidth test

You might also want to check your Internet connection's actual speed using a slick new Speed Test tool on the Can You Glance? page. The faster your connection, the faster Glance runs.

"Hardwired Inc. was founded on the concept that science and technology can be used to help people manage complex business relationships. Our Hardwired Relationship Management software product offers solutions to key management issues such as hiring, motivation, conflict resolution, team building, and sales generation.

"Glance has changed the way we do business. We now use Glance both for executive training sessions and as a sales tool.

"In the past, companies would send their executives to us for a full day of training. But it was difficult to schedule those events, so we developed a new training product.

"We now offer two-hour mini-sessions to small groups of six or seven executives, delivered in real time over the Internet using Glance. Clients schedule sessions at their convenience. They are pleased with the savings in time and travel costs and the convenience of being trained without having to leave their office or home.

"We also use Glance to demonstrate our custom software program for profiling groups and individuals. The software is very visual. Glance lets our prospects get a good understanding of how the software can help them.

"Glance has really improved our closure rate and made it possible for us to reach out globally. We now have customers all over the world.

"We considered other web conferencing services, but they were expensive and had many features we didn't need. Glance is simple, easy to use and reliable. Our customers connect instantly, without getting their IT department involved.

"I can't imagine doing business without it!"

— Ken Lathrop, Founder and President, Hardwired Inc.

At Glance Networks, we believe people prefer simple ways to work together at a distance.

Glance has virtually no user interface and no confusing "modes" of operation, so it takes just seconds to learn. Glance installs on just about any PC in about a minute.

Invited guests connect in seconds with their web browser and do not have to download Glance software.

Follow this link for more information, or begin your free trial now.