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ESP Projects
Windows Server 2003 is due to reach the end of its life in July 2015, meaning that Microsoft will no longer support the software with further patches or security updates. This end of life includes all versions of Windows Server 2003 and all the sub-editions of the product: the Itanium x64 editions, the Compute Cluster Edition, the Datacenter Edition, the Web Edition and the Enterprise Edition.
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ESP Projects
Here at ESP Projects, we are often asked about responsive web design; what it is, how it works, and why it’s something that we think is crucial to the success of a new website amongst its visitors.
Traditionally websites have been viewed on a PC (or Laptop) with the aid of a mouse for navigation. But nowadays more and more people are using a variety of devices such as smartphones and tablets, and using their fingers or perhaps a stylus to navigate instead. This change means that the way the website displays its content has to be thought about from a multi-device perspective. There are two approaches to displaying websites on ‘non-standard’ screens, having a mobile site or a responsive web design.
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ESP Projects
As you may be aware from the previous articles, Windows XP will no longer be supported by Microsoft from Tuesday 8th April 2014.
What does this actually mean to your business and are there any risks to your network?
The simple answer is yes, the end of Windows XP support from Microsoft opens the door to major security risks to your network.
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ESP Projects
We have been looking to offer a fully-fledged Phone System to our clients for quite some time now, and after testing many of the different systems out there we’ve finally settled on one which we believe offers the best feature set and provides good value for money.
Based on the common “Asterisk” Phone System, “Kerio Operator” is very flexible; it can be used in conjunction with regular ISDN telephone lines, or can also facilitate calls over the internet (VOIP). An outline of some of the features of this phone system is included below:
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ESP Projects
During October, Microsoft released the greatly anticipated Windows 8.1 update for its Windows 8 operating system
Here at ESP Projects we have been testing the Windows 8.1 release since it was made available via Microsoft’s beta programme. 2 of our tech support engineers installed the final version and have been using it as their sole operating system to gauge how the update has changed the feel of the system
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ESP Projects
In an unexpected but welcome development, Microsoft has recently announced that they are allowing Charities of all sizes to benefit from their Premier Office 365 cloud offering for FREE! The additional features offered as part of this service include:
- Hosted Exchange – Allow Microsoft to host your emails, and take advantage of unlimited shared contacts, calendars and mailboxes
- Skydrive Pro – A central place to access and edit documents and business information from virtually anywhere
- Office Web Apps – Access Word, PowerPoint and Excel with an internet browser to allow you to work across multiple devices (including smartphones).
- Lync – Save travel costs by using Microsoft Lync Online to conduct online meetings, including audio, HD video, and web conferencing
More Inside ...
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ESP Projects
On April 8, 2014, Microsoft will end support for the decade-old Windows XP Operating System.
What this means for our clients is that any PC or Laptop with Windows XP will no longer receive updates, including security updates, from Microsoft. Support of Microsoft Office 2003, by Microsoft, will also be ending on the same date.The security and privacy implications of this event could have significant impacts on your business, so if you’re running either of these products you should plan to take action soon. Some of the concerns are detailed below;
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ESP Projects
ESP Projects’ web development team has been really busy in recent months and I’m delighted to share with you some examples of recently launched sites.
Sheffield Cubed
Launch date: 1st October 2013
Sheffield Cubed is a third sector membership organisation designed to seek out and win contract and funding opportunities which enable our members to meet the needs of local people through the provision of high-quality effective client centred services. The live site can be seen here www.sheffieldcubed.co.uk
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ESP Projects
Google for Nonprofits was launched recently in the UK (England and Wales only, apparently). The programme gives Registered Charities free access to 4 Google services:
- Google Grants: Free AdWords advertising to promote your website on Google through keyword targeting.
- YouTube for Nonprofits: Premium branding capabilities on YouTube channels, increased uploading capacity and more.
- Google Earth Outreach Grants: Free licensing for Google Earth Pro and Maps API for Business.
- Google Apps for Nonprofits: Free version of Google Apps for Nonprofits
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ESP Projects
You may have heard the news this week regarding the uncertain future of the Digital Region network. Digital Region is a scheme to roll out superfast fibre broadband to homes and businesses across the South Yorkshire region, backed by the four councils. This is a project that began in 2010 and has been slowly working its way through the postcodes in the region, to enable businesses and consumers alike to benefit from Superfast Fibre Broadband. ESP Projects has referred several of our clients to this service, and indeed use Digital Region at our own office.
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ESP Projects
Many people contact us about iPhone, HTC, Android and other mobile phones. For some, they are thinking of buying a mobile deal for business, for others they have already bought them, but need them to be configured with the relevant settings for their email and calendars. We’d like to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about these smartphones and what ESP Projects can do for you on this subject.
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ESP Projects
The last couple of months have seen a slew of new products on the market seeking to make use of the new Windows 8 operating system in some novel ways. Indeed, a whole new lexicon has been introduced to cover these computers! Terms like ‘Convertibles’, ‘Sliders’ and ‘Twisters’ try to describe the diverse ways the new devices can be transformed for different uses.
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ESP Projects
Whilst there is some concern nationally at the high cost of Childcare in the UK, we at ESP Projects know from several childcare providers we support that this is not because they are making huge profits! Indeed the margins in this vital area of the economy are often extremely tight and many are only just able to stay afloat.
All the more important then that these organisations can make use of IT to allow staff to focus on their jobs rather than on paperwork. To this end, ESP Projects has recently uncovered some interesting software solutions that can help manage early years childcare facilities. This is software designed and built purely for this purpose and helps in key areas such as:
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ESP Projects
Website readers might be interested to know of a handy little tool that few have heard of but that has been around for over year now. The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a natty little utility designed to run a one-off scan for viruses. It can’t be installed permanently and offers no ‘ongoing’ protection, so it’s not a substitute for Antivirus software. However, it’s free for all and easy to use- all you do is download and run it, and it can do a ‘Quick Scan’ in a few minutes.
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ESP Projects
A couple of our Charity clients have mentioned recently that setting up an Amazon Wish List is an excellent way of obtaining products they would otherwise have to raise cash for. The way it works is that you do some hypothetical shopping, and then create and share a link to your Wish List via your website, twitter, email or facebook page. Potential donors can now easily buy you these products – or indeed suggest an alternative source – rather than giving you money.
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ESP Projects
Our love affair with tablet computers shows no sign of abating, with 100m reportedly sold in 2012, compared with just 20m or so in 2010. According to some analysts, tablet sales may well exceed those of PCs before long and even last years’ sales are said to be more than trebling by 2015. Such high sales figures just can’t relate to trendy ‘early adopter’ types sporting the latest sexy designs, so who is going to be buying all of these tablets?
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ESP Projects
Here at ESP Projects, there is nearly always someone who just can’t resist tinkering with the latest kit, and this month it seems to be Morgan’s turn, with the arrival of his new Nokia Lumia 820 Windows Phone. It’s only been a matter of days, but as we’ve posted before, so much rests on the new generation of Microsoft’s operating system we thought you’d enjoy a sneak peak of his first reflections on the device:
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ESP Projects
Have you ever wanted to text someone but haven’t had your mobile phone handy? Or needed to send information to staff who haven’t got access to the internet? Well now you can! Esendex is a new service that allows you to send text messages to mobile phones from Outlook va SMS ( Short Message Service).
There are three main pricing packages available from Esendex:
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ESP Projects
‘Views’ is the latest online project management and impact reporting tool designed for statutory and voluntary organisations. Developed with backing from NESTA and the Government’s Cabinet Office it helps frontline deliverers of public/social services to assess and improve what they do.
‘Views’ enables organisations to record and report against different outcome frameworks and to publish comprehensive reports in a variety of online and hardcopy formats from a single dataset. ‘Views’ helps users build detailed case histories, whilst also enabling organisations to aggregate, map and measure complex data. Whether that data is hard facts or in multimedia formats, ‘Views’ can provide a single solution for a range of different reporting requirements. Because ‘Views’ is a flexible data platform, it can be easily configured by system users according to national programme templates, or bespoke local requirements.
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ESP Projects
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform from Microsoft.
Its single integrated platform aims to support any type of organisation and give them a customer-centred system with enhanced quality and availability of data. The highly flexible platform can be fully customised to meet any business environment, small or large, commercial or civil.
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